At the end of the trip, Grant sang the TLC hit song Waterfalls to me but rewrote the song. And it couldn’t be more fitting.
(It’ll make sense later)
“Don’t go chasing Buffalo,
Please stick to the bison and the bears that you’re used too…
I know that your gonna wanna rely solely on the backup cam, but I wish you would turn your neck…”
We had booked a flight to Idaho Falls about 5 months ago and then kind of forgot about it until a week beforehand. People plan months in advance for this epic vacation spot, and our naivety was on full display when we began researching. A lot of things were booked, sold out, or just priced out of control. For perspective, $250+ tax a night for a Motel 6. Wow.
Tip: If you plan on going to this area, camp, or if you plan on “glamping” be sure to book in advance to save money otherwise know you’re going to be shelling out some money! …I know, we don’t camp either.
Our flight was on Allegiant, which is a fairly nice ultra-low-cost carrier. We boarded early Thursday night for the 1 hour and 45-minute flight, made it to our seats, and then nothing. We finally got an announcement that there was a small maintenance issue. Then after a while, we learned it was the bracket that the phone sat on in the cockpit broke. 2 hours later they received permission to duct tape the phone and were off!
Upon landing, we grabbed our rental car (Chevy Malibu) and looked for food. There wasn’t a lot open besides bars, but there was a pizza joint that was open until midnight on a Thursday to cater to those drunk bar patrons. Grant and I each grabbed a slice and then we checked into our Best Western Plus. Grant was excited because they had a hot tub, but that hope was quickly scratched when we entered and was told it was closed permanently. Tip: be sure to call the hotel if you are interested in any of the amenities because a lot of these hotels advertise one thing and in reality have another!
The next morning, Friday, I got up early and went exploring. Idaho Falls is nice, but there are waterfalls… it’s an entry spot for Grand Teton Park most of all. After snapping a few photos, checking out the Japanese Friendship Gardens, local bakeries, and grabbing snacks at Walmart— I scratched off everything I wanted to see in Idaho Falls. It also happened to be the same time that Grant woke up!
I returned to the hotel, sleeping beauty got some breakfast from the hotel, and we hit the road for Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Or as Grant likes to call it, Jackson’s Hole. An antler-centric small town with cute shops and restaurants was a great starting spot for our adventure. Thank you Rachel for the recommendation!
We picked up a souvenir, and grabbed a delicious bite at the Local Restaurant and Bar on the square, Grant liked the Huckleberry Old Fashion and kept heading north to check out the national parks this area is known for.
Our first stop was the Grand Tetons. This area is known for its spectacular mountain ranges and natural beauty. Fun fact: Grand Tetons means large nipple or teat, which is kind of funny. It’s about the multiple mountain peaks, but the five-year-old boy inside of me finds it worth a giggle. So while I was laughing at exploring the Grand Nipple, Grant was still giggling about seeing Jackson’s hole. Can you believe might be parents soon?!? I know… What a lucky kid.
For an area that is supposed to be known for its calmness, this area was packed. People were everywhere! It is summertime and the weather was extremely comfortable so that shouldn’t shock anyone who is experiencing 100-degree weather as they read this. There were multiple parking lots full and we did have to walk further than we expected. Lake Jenny was the spot that I wanted to see the most in this area and their lot was packed. There was only one parking spot and it was in a lake. I let out Grant and did my best “Floor is Lava” impression and jumped on rocks to squeeze back in the car. Of course, Grant found this hilarious as did other bystanders, and decided to record my triumph (sorta) of balance.
We did the Grand Tetons fast, but that was just because we wanted to get up to Yellowstone. And also because Grant was unaware of how loud and unapologetic he was when expressing his boredom. Somehow the day escaped us, but we pushed on not knowing what time sunrise would fall. That’s because cell phone signal is non-existent in this area. As someone who is wired with gadgets from head to toe this was a…let’s call it a challenging experience to overcome. There were many of “I’ll look that up” followed by “Never mind no signal.”
We were smart and did download a few podcasts for the trip knowing this might be a problem. We watched a Max Original show called Smartless that followed Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes talking to interesting people. The show was how they went on tour with their podcast and we found it interesting. While I enjoyed listening to the podcasts having started with the video component the podcasts seemed incomplete. Still with the options being Grant’s tired music, Christian/Country music, or deep Republican radio — this was a great listen. I did learn that Trump only lost the election due to Hunter Biden’s illegal activities being kept under wraps even though the FBI knew he was guilty. For some reason, this information was not played on radio stations in San Diego! Haha.
Up next on our journey north was— Yellowstone. We were greeted upon entering the park by way of a fox just walking aimlessly down the middle of the road. I initially thought it was a lost dog until it got closer. Grant and I of course were talking to it trying to coax it over to us. The fox was just the first of many animals that we would see throughout the park.
From there, we tried out our expert map navigation skills and stumbled our way to Old Faithful. It went from 70 degrees to 40 degrees quite quickly and we were woefully unprepared. Then the rain and hail began to pelt us as we left the car. Eventually, we made our way to the Yellowstone Educational Center, which is located right in front of Old Faithful. Some signs give you an estimate of the time when Old Faithful will build up enough pressure to erupt. We were a smidge early so we stalled and looked at the exhibit. The sign says it may be 10 minutes early or late so we went out early to get a prime view. We are in lightweight raincoats, in the freezing rain, waiting for this geyser to explode…and waiting…and waiting…and waiting…nothing. We did take some funny photos of Grant to fill the time.
So after being outside for 30+ minutes, seeing a few small eruptions, and waiting a few minutes after the +10 minutes we called it. And you wouldn’t you know, as soon as we gave up our prime spot and started walking back— boom! It erupts at full force! A sight to see and something I get to scratch off my bucket list of must-dos!
Not far from there is the Grand Prismatic Spring. If you look up Yellowstone you are bound to see this beautiful multi-colored body of water. The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world. I can now say that I took Grant to the largest hot spring and he was too chicken to get in. Haha! That was probably a smart choice as it averages at about 160 degrees. Fun fact that I had to google because I didn’t know myself: the bright, vivid colors in the spring are the result of microbial mats around the edges of the mineral-rich water. It’s bacteria that causes the colors. So if Grant didn’t boil over, his face would have likely melted off with the bacteria— or Grant calls it, a chemical peel. So smart decision!
Just something to note if you’re going in this area— be sure to do the hike up to see this. The closer you are the less impressive this is. You don’t see much. You can see some of the rings, but up close you lose the vastness and colors.
At this point, it was 9 pm and we were exhausted. We closed out Friday’s adventure with a stop at our new hotel (Days Inn) and Bullwinkle West Restaurant Bar in West Yellowstone. Shout out to both as the reviewers were mixed, but both were fine with us. Also, with shoutouts— going through Wyoming crossed state 48 off my list of US states. I am coming for you— West Virginia and Delaware…I am not sure when, but I’ll scratch you off my list soon enough.
Saturday morning, I got up early again and went exploring. If you have seen one gift shop, you have seen them all in this region. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else in West Yellowstone.
So we hit the road north again for Big Sky, Montana. We started the TV show with the same name, got bored, and stopped tuning in. That pattern continued. We showed up, got bored, and turned around quickly. With Bozeman being the next stop.
The countryside is beautiful so the drive was very serene and relaxing. We did come across a festival of sorts where kayakers were competing in an obstacle course of sorts, weaving in and out of the rapids, to get the fastest time. It was incredibly impressive to see as these athletes require so much strength and endurance to do what they do. We finally made our way to Bozeman and it was a clean small town. Reminded us of Berkeley, CA. Nothing stood out for us, as a “woo” check this out… so we grabbed a bite to eat and ventured forth to our next stop.
Well…we did pause in Bozeman to figure out what our “next stop” was since the internet is spotty. Grant found our final hotel White Buffalo and finally a hot spring that was useable— Yellowstone Hot Spring in Gardiner, Montana. A quick drive back south found us there in no time. If you do visit this place be sure to bring your towel as they do charge for towel rentals. This also was another gateway town that put us at the north entrance of Yellowstone. After drying off, we ventured back toward the park entrance.
The park is one road in and one road out. Narrow roads, windy roads, guard rails throughout…and constant cars on the sides of the roads snapping photos. Here is where I messed up. We spotted some bison that were coming up and I wanted to pull over to snap a photo. So I started to back up to park lawfully at a turnout. What I did not see as the backup camera did not show— was that there was a guard rail out of sight. Scratch! Scratch! Scratch! Oh no…shoot….It’s not that bad…Yikes. We immediately got out of the car and realized it wasn’t a minor scratch. We knew this was going to cost us. So Grant insisted on documenting this momentous occasion and has already begun making jokes at my expense about it. Callback to the beginning of the blog:
“Don’t go chasing Buffalo,
Please stick to the bison and the bears that you’re used too…
I know that your gonna wanna rely solely on the backup cam, but I wish you would turn your neck…”
Now with the context, it probably makes more sense. I pouted in the car and wanted to find a solution to the problem. Should I call the rental company? Should I call insurance? Should I call my credit card company as I should have coverage? All of these questions swirl in my head as this has never happened to us before. So I pull out my phone…nope. No signal. This was an itch that I could not scratch.
We kept driving through the park as we were stuck. Our hotel was at the West entrance of Yellowstone and the fastest way was through. Yellowstone did reward us with more/safer opportunities to see bison, grizzly bears, and elk so that was something positive. I feel like if you want to look official like you fit in, be sure to bring a camera lens that is the same size as a telescope. These photographers are serious and a tad aggressive to get a photo of an animal “in the wild.” I think the photographs were more “animalistic” than the bears they were trying to snap a photo of. Haha!
Eventually, we scratched (not our car - again) and clawed our way through the photographers, and made our way to the Lower Falls of Yellowstone. Referred to as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, the falls measure twice the height of Niagara Falls — so they are quite impressive. This was Grant’s favorite spot in the entire park and I have to agree with him. The best spot to see the views is definitely “Lookout Point.” There are two options to view the falls, an easy-to-stroll lookout point and a curvy downhill path that leads you to a wood deck with mostly unobstructed views. My opinion—do the hike! You’ll be inspired to come back after seeing the falls and so it won’t be as bad hiking straight up!
Traffic can be a nightmare at this park, but the later in the evening the better it gets. Earlier risers tend to be hikers so the rare night owls in this area benefits. Our final hotel for the trip, as the downward progression continued, was White Buffalo Hotel. Don’t stay here. If you want scratchy sheets and a rock-hard bed— then maybe, but if you would be better off just camping! With the signal, I finally was able to scratch the itch and make the calls I needed to get a game plan for how to deal with the “scratch.”
Sunday we got up, drove back to Idaho Falls, and piddled around. We got to the airport extra early to deal with the damage. As I write this— we are none the wiser. Trying to figure out if we should go with insurance or not. Not sure if the damage is less than or greater than our deductible. Not a great way to end a trip, but these are all life experiences!
I am ending with a positive spin on the “scratch.” We have only “scratched” the surface of our adventures and I can’t wait to apply this valuable lesson for the future. Until next time!
