July 1-4, 2016

We arrived at Yellowstone yesterday and drove right through to the Lizard Creek campground in Grand Tetons about 12 miles south of Yellowstone. We’re not big on crowds, so we figured we could camp in the less-crowded Tetons and do a day trip to Yellowstone. Seems kind of sad to do a day trip to Yellowstone, but we are trekking across the country to get to Berkeley, CA on July 8, when Ernesto needs to go back to work and I start my internship at St. Gregory’s of Nyssa in San Francisco.

A day trip to Yellowstone had us visiting a variety of spots to get a sense of the multifaceted geology of the park—Old Faithful; Midway Geyser Basin and Prismatic Pool; Artist’s Paintpot; Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Hayden Valley; Yellowstone Lake; and the Grant Village Post Office to mail some postcards. The geysers are hauntingly beautiful and otherworldly and the canyon area was spectacular and intriguing. Great day!

Yesterday, we did a day trip in the Grand Tetons, which are huge, spectacular and much higher (10,000 to 13,000 feet) than I anticipated. Again, we visited a variety of spots to get a feel for the place—the mountains; Jackson Lake; remote roads with wildlife; Mormon Row, an historic settlement—ending with a tram ride up to a 10,450 foot peak, the name of which I don’t remember at the moment.

As we were leaving the part on July 4^th, we stopped at the two Teton Park Chapels—Chapel of the Sacred Heart, a mission of the Catholic diocese of Cheyenne; and the Chapel of the Transfiguration, a remote site of the Episcopal Church of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They were both beautiful, but I was really taken with the huge window behind the altar of the Transfiguration Chapel overlooking the Teton Mountains—what a great way to celebrate the Creator and creation!!

Photos are posted on instagram (jujuannlulu) and facebook