Time in Teton Valley and Idaho

Greetings everyone!  

I type this from Vale, Oregon - about a half hour from the Idaho border.  Tomorrow, we head to Bend (about a 4-hour drive) and will be there in a state park for 13 nights!  We will catch up to our original travel plan and we are really excited. 

Let me back up - after 5 long travel days (and great progress cross country), we landed in Victor, Idaho for 4 nights.  It felt great to stay in one place for a few days - Paul especially needed a break from all that driving!  Victor, Idaho is on the west side of the Teton Pass, about 25 miles from Jackson, Wyoming and about an hour from the Grand Teton National Park.  It is a cute small city, and we stayed in a lovely campground.  Victor is not far from Driggs, Idaho, which is a bigger city - also in the Teton Valley, west of the Grand Teton Mountain range (so essentially, the "back side").  It is a beautiful area, and we enjoyed every minute!  First a few pics of the campground.  The weather overall was great - we did have some rain and the morning we left, there was even a little wet snow (yikes) but it was short-lived.

We took an amazing hike in Alta, Wyoming called Sheep's Bridge Trail which followed along the Teton River, which was flowing like crazy with all the snowmelts.  Paul captured a few cool videos here and here.  The trail also went through fields of beautiful wildflowers, and we had amazing weather.

After the hike, we headed to Grand Targhee Resort where we had lunch and then took the Chairlift to the top of the mountain where we had the most breathtaking views of the "back side" of the Teton mountain range.  It was also cool as several mountain bikers took the chairlift to the top and biked down - it was fun to watch them, and I included a photo of how the bikes got to the top - they had their own special chair lift.  The altitude at the top was nearly 10,000 feet and we were feeling it!

When we got back down to the resort and were getting ready to leave, we saw this sign, which cracked us up.  We did bring bear spray with us on the hike but thankfully didn't need it.  We did not have it, however, for the chairlift ride!

The next day, we headed into the National Park briefly visiting the beautiful headquarters and checking out the village of Moose.  We will be returning to the Tetons the first week of September and will do more exploring and hiking of the park then.  

We also went into the city of Jackson for lunch and walked around - Paul took a photo as we "window shopped" - LOL.  It's a cute town and we scored a rock star parking spot!

On Sunday morning after 3 glorious days and 4 nights, we continued our trek west.  Last night, we stayed in Jerome, Idaho - about 1 hour south of Sun Valley - at a Harvest Host property called Mendoza Ranchette.  Another wonderful farm in a bucolic peaceful setting - we so enjoyed our evening and the weather was lovely.  Both last night and this morning, we walked down the road along fields of wheat, corn, and other crops.  We continue to enjoy these special places as it allows us to catch a glimpse into the daily life of those living in these beautiful areas - a nice change from a regular campground.

Tomorrow, we head to Bend, and we can't wait to explore the area.  We will be posting again soon.  Thanks for all your love and support!  

Cheers and love, Paul and Jen