Janet’s Webpage

Just got back from vacation! It was great. Lots of driving, but great.

Dad took us all with him on the PAPS conference this year to Yellowstone. The first day was a bit stressful; I’ve planned up the whole thing from lodging to rental car to itinerary and was starting to feel the pressure. Before leaving, I checked again for Hatchet’s rating and found that there were a lot of mixed reviews. There were complaints about sound proofing (or lack of) which we found was absolutely true. Unfortunately our cabin was right next to the hot tub and we shared a wall with some late sleepers. One night I turned the thermostat down too low and everyone but me froze in the evening… minor details.
I arrived on the first day at Jackson Hole and got on a shuttle to down to get the rental car. The flights went surprisingly well. I flew from DC, Jennifer from New York, and Mom, Dad, and Jason flew from San Francisco. We all arrived at around the correct time and we had enough time to eat and press coins at Jackson Hole.
The next morning we drove to Yellowstone. I knew the park was big, but I kinda put that thought aside when I planned on the returning trip. We drove from South Entrance to Grant Village, then to Old Faithful. This took about 2 hours. Then we drove to Madison and Norris, finally stopping at Canyon Village for food. This took another 2 hours. We only stopped around Biscuit Basin and Firehole Falls for a few short walks.
Dad made his presentation on the third day. Afterwards we went hiking around Leigh Lake (we were aiming at Jenny Lake, but got terribly lost). I really enjoyed the Tetons better than Yellowstone. The view is spectacular with the clear mountain peaks. You can see all the way from the plains with all the wild flowers to the base of the mountain. At the bottom of the mountains, there are grass and trees and other vegetations. About half way up, the mountains become bare and there are only rocks and snow at the top. The mountains link together to form a huge wall and the wall stretches as far as the eye can see.
We spent one more day at each park. PAPS originally planned a Yellowstone tour but never bothered to pick up the attendees at the Hatchet. We then drove ourselves (and met up with the tour bus several times) to see the Grand Canyon and Mammoth Springs.
Last day we spent hiking around Jenny Lake, to Hidden Falls. When Dad went off with his fellow conference attendees, we drove to Old Faithful again to press coins and watch Old Faithful erupt. It was, literally, like watching water boil.
It was a great time. We rarely get together on trips and it’s chaotic when we do. But when it’s all over, I always feel that the vacation’s been too short. I think next time we should have two cabins… and maybe two cars, or at least visit somewhere that do not involve so much driving time.