We started the tour from Salt Lake City, Utah, to go to Jackson Hole, a valley located in Wyoming. On the way, we passed Idaho, the Potato State of US. Idaho is world famous for it's A-class potato, which can be as big as a small watermelon, weigh about 5 pounds. FYI. the ones which we can found at the supermarket are usually C- or at most B-class. Those giant potatoes are delivered to McDonald's or to chips companies. Idaho was also good for keeping black cattles (just saw them there for the first time) and horses.
Jackson Hole is the most cowboy city in Wyoming, the state with most cowboys (I thought it was Texas). After having a steak for lunch at Teton Steak, we explored the downtown a bit. It was small but nice, with western style of stores; a real touristic town. In winter time, they say this place is crowded for skiing, and for the other seasons with tourists who can do lots of activities, like hiking, horse-riding, kayaking or fishing in the Snake River. Sometimes one can also see the Air Force Two plane at the airport, which means the Vice President is in town ;)
There are three must-see things in the town:
1. The four elk-antler arches. The arches are made of hundreds/thousands of real elk antlers. They are from elks which spent winter in the National Elk Refuge. The bulls shed their antlers during spring, the scout collected them and then sold them in public auctions. The arches are built by Jackson Hole Rotary Club in 1960.
2. Silver dollar bar, known for its 2,032 inlaid silver - and -
3. A metal plate dotted with tens of bullet-holes which forms an indian's head. I think it's really cool, because it was made with a series of gun shots in 1961.
Both the bar and the bullet-holes painting are located in the Wort Hotel.
We also passed Grand Tetons. It was the mountains that inspired the symbol of Paramount Picture, and the scene for an imaginary place called Brokeback Mountain (movie-2005). Btw. Grand Tetons means Big Boops in French (named by French trappers in 1929), pardon if I am wrong. It's also a National Park (NP), but I did not get a chance to visit it. From a far they look beautiful.
Just on the opposite direction, one can see the Rocky Mountains (Rockies), which is a broad mountain range in western North America. They stretch more than 4,800 kms (3,000 miles) from northernmost British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in US. [Wikipedia]
We stopped shortly at Jackson Lake Lodge, just to take pictures at Jackson Lake. It was a beautiful combination of mountains, lake and a tiny island.
Then we continued to a NP which is very famous for the beauty of its scene, the geysers, the hot springs and a huge collections of america's wild life. The Yellowstone. My favorite from all of the other places I visited during this trip.
Yellowstone National Park is America's first and foremost National Park, drawing over three million visitors yearly. Established in 1872 by the United States Congress "for the preservation of" its many wonders and "for the enjoyment of the people," and now encompassing 2.2 million acres. The Park has five entrances and some 370 miles of paved roadway. Situated in the northwest corner of the Wyoming frontier, Yellowstone is a treasure that inspires awe in travelers from around the world, boasting more geysers (about 250 active geysers from amidst 10,000 total thermal features) than anywhere else on the globe. [www.yellowstone.net]
We started the tour in Yellowstone with West Thumb Geyser Basin. It had many thermal pools which were deep blue or greenish. The basin We only had a chance to see one spot that evening, because we should avoid to drive after the sunset, since there are no lightings in the NP, and there is a big danger to hit any of the wild animals crossing the streets at night. So we went to Yellowstone Park Inn & Suites, where we spent the night. On the way back I saw a group of young elks grassing by the river, not far from the street. I also had a chance to watch the nice colored sky during the sunset and had a walk in the "downtown" there. And thank God it did not storm at all that day, as predicted, if it did, we were not going to have a good day.
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