While I am very happy that we were able to salvage this trip, these first few days have been very trying. Essentially, we covered 5 days worth of vacation in 3 days. Today was the last day to cram things in before we got “back on schedule.” And we started the day right: fabulous breakfast (including GF quiche and banana bread!) and great conversation with our fellow B&B residents.
Then off to Yellowstone via WY 14 – one of the most amazing routes I have ever driven (okay, Frank drove so I just rode). It goes through Big Horn National Forest. We drove up and down as much as driving west. At one point we were over 9000 feet! The scenery is magnificent. Well, I’ll let you judge for yourself.
Then we stopped in Cody – home of Buffalo Bill – to grab some picnic supplies and get the top down on the convertible. Then off we went to the Shoshone National Forest. More unbelievably beautiful scenery and a picnic by a river. Note that the sign next to the one announcing the picnic area announced grizzly bears. And yet we ate there anyway. It was so beautiful and peaceful.
Then on to the chaos that is Yellowstone. I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. I was shocked to see acre after acre of tree skeletons. (Note: need to Google that and see what I should have learned before we went.) After the peaceful beauty that we had just come through, the bus loads of tourists with selfie sticks was a bit jarring. We managed a short hike to the natural bridge – I got to climb things so I was happy. Funny that there was a sign that described how tiny this arch is compared to the ones in Utah (which we will be seeing next week!)
The traffic and the tourists were hard to take but we were determined to see the Grand Prismatic Spring and so we did. And it was pretty amazing.
But the number of buses and the pain of getting through the park made a trip to Old Faithful just too much to bear. So we headed south to the actual destination for the day: Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. 
We arrived just in time for sunset. We grabbed a couple of burgers and retired to our lovely but stupidly expensive cabin to call it a night.
Numbers for today:
- States covered: 1 (Wyoming)
- French lessons: 1 (Bon jour monsieur!)
- Average gas mileage: 22mpg
- Miles driven: 246
- Elevation change: roughly 6000 feet
- Number of steps: 11,312
The Cannon Family's travel blog 
Some fires killed the white bark pine trees (this is normal and expected in the ecosystem). However, I think that most of the dead trees in the forests you are seeing in the Tetons are due to the white bark pine beetle. The Colorado Rockies were also ravaged by those irksome pests – so sad to see such beauty reduced to death. The beetles no longer die off in the milder winters (harsher winters used to kill them off). Very sad. Anyone who says that there is no such thing as climate change is a nincompoop. Has deleterious consequences for the other parts of the ecosystem too…