First Day Rain

We started out just about on schedule yesterday morning and it was a dreary, cloudy and rainy day. We were hoping that the weather would clear, at least by the time we reached the Grand Tetons but, alas, it didn't. We arrived at the Yellowstone east entrance at about 8:30 AM and were a little surprised at what we saw as we drove into the Park:

Yes, it had snowed during the night and it was just rain by the time we arrived. We still saw our reliable buffalo while going through the short drive in the park:

You can barely see the snow capped mountains in the background of the shot above because the rain and clouds were blocking any great view. At this point we were still hoping that we would be driving into clearing weather as we drove south.

We arrived at the entrance of the Grand Teton National Park:

The further into the park we drove, the more we knew that there would not be good pictures of the grandeur of these mountains as a result of the nasty weather. We were right. Below is a picture taken at one of the turnouts along the drive:

It is for this reason that we decided to make a change in our plans for this trip. First of all, we decided to change our hotel from the one we had a reservation for in Rexburg, ID, to one in Jackson, so that we wouldn't have to travel over a pass from Jackson into Idaho that very well could have been treacherous with this weather, considering the elevation of that pass. Further, we would be doing it late at night after our planned dinner and show at the Bar J Chuckwagon in Jackson. We found a nice hotel in town called the Virginian Lodge, which was just on the edge of town and our room was $103 after we talked him down from $130.  The extra cost ($50) was worth it to us to save the drive into Idaho.

This change in plans allowed us to spend extra time walking around this nice town of Jackson:

Notice the archway made from elk antler sheds. These arches were at each corner of the park in town square. We walked through this downtown area for about 2 hours and enjoyed going through the shops and even stopped at this place where they were having a liquidation sale and I found my friend, Bigfoot:

We went back to the hotel and freshened up for our reservation at the Bar J Chuckwagon.

The meal that Josie and I both selected - combo beef and chicken - was a disappointment. First of all, the meal was served caffeteria style and we walked through the line to get our plates filled and the chicken and beef was overcooked and the homemade baked beans were too hard. Neither of us enjoyed the meal. The entertainment was a different story. The "Wranglers" were outstanding and they provided a very funny and entertaining 2 hours of western music:

Overall, our first day didn't go as planned, but we made adjustments in our schedule to try and circumvent the bad weather. Today, instead of going to the Aerial Tramway this morning, we will go back to the turnouts where we stopped yesterday and take new pictures of the mountains that we didn't see. It is crystal clear and bright out this morning, so the "before and after" pictures should be a stark contrast. We hope so...