The Teton Mountain Range is one of my favorite places. The granite mountain range rises up from the grasslands and the glacial lakes without any foothills to obstruct their view. Fort this reason they appear monumental and majestic.

Grand Teton National Park is located 10 miles south of Yellowstone National Park. The Teton mountain range and its lakes were established as a national park in 1929. The surrounding valley was added to the protected area in 1950. The park consists of approximately 310,000 acres of a diverse ecosystem.

I have been lucky enough to visit The Tetons 3 times, this visit was just me and my husband. We stayed in a cabin at Jenny Lake Lodge and had a gorgeous view of the Tetons. Jenny Lake Lodge was first operated as a dude ranch called Danny Ranch in the 1920’s. It is now a AAA 4 diamond resort. A gourmet breakfast and a five course dinner menu are included in your stay as well as complimentary daily activities. There are no televisions or air conditions in the accommodations and no pets are allowed. It is a bit pricey, but the location can’t be beat and the view is exquisite. If you can request the Chokeberry Cabin, it had a phenomenal view from the porch. You can book your stay through http://Gtlc.com, http://Nationalparkreservations.com or by calling 307-543-3100.

Dave and I decided on String Lake hike, which was a short walk to the trailhead from our cabin. It was a gorgeous morning as we headed off and the Tetons were impressive against the blue sky. String Lake hike starts off flat and meanders north to the junction of Leigh Lake. We took a small detour at the northern end of the trail to view Leigh Lake and then made our way back to the route and continued on to the west section of the hike. Along the trail, we were fortunate to see a cow moose feeding in a small pond down the hill from the path. Moose mostly feed on willows, they can dive up to 18 feet and stay underwater up to a minute to feed on aquatic plants. String Lake trail is approximately 3.5 miles, but with our extra excursions we finished with a 5.5 mile hike.

Jenny Lake Visitor Center is a hub of activity. It was extremely busy in July and cars were parked all along the roadway. You can take a shuttle boat across Jenny Lake, http://Jennylakeboating.com for $20 round trip (12 to 61years) or $12 adult one way. Across Jenny Lake is Cascade Canyon and several trailheads can be accessed from this spot. In a previous trip we did this with our children then walked back to the visitor center around the lake.

Dave and I drove around the valley one day and stopped at several of the pull offs. We explored Cunningham Cabin, which was established as the Bar Flying U Ranch by J. Pierce Cunningham in the 1880’s. The original cabin is still standing. We also wandered through the buildings on Mormon Row. The Homestead Act of 1862 promised 160 acres to any person willing to improve the land by building a dwelling and cultivating the land. After 5 years on the land, the original settler was entitled to the property, free and clear. Mormon families began homesteading land in Grovont area in the 1890’s with the hopes of a new life.

Oxbow Bend is another fabulous viewpoint of the Teton Range on the Snake River. It is an overlook along highway 89/191 between Jackson Lake Junction and Moran Junction. It is a popular area to view the sunrise or sunset and is also home to a variety of birds, otters, moose and bear. We had family pictures taken at this spot at sunset a several years ago.

Another activity to consider is a dinner float trip down the Snake River. We did this in 2017 and had a wonderful time.

Grand Teton National Park is an incredible destination with extraordinary views. We keep coming back here to experience all the wonders this park has to offer.

Yellowstone National Park is the site of a super volcano, one of the largest in the world. Huge volcanic eruptions occurred at the site, the latest being 631,000 years ago. The center of the volcano collapsed and formed a 30 by 45 mile caldera. Yellowstone National Park is the site of the caldera. The heat powering the volcanic eruptions all those years ago still fuels the geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mud pots. Yellowstone National Park is home to more than 10,000 hydrothermal features. There are approximately 500 geysers, the largest concentration in the world. Yellowstone still has several hundred to thousands of earthquakes per year and several entities monitor daily activity to keep visitors safe. The caldera continues to rise and fall, with plate movements, averaging around 5-7 cm per year, in certain parts of the park. Yellowstone became a National Park March 1, 1872 and is 3,468 square miles.

Yellowstone National Park contains 5 hydrothermal features: hot springs, geysers, travertine terraces, fumaroles and mud pots.

Hot springs are the most common hydrothermal feature. Surface water seeps underground and is heated by magma. It then rises as superheated water. Lack of constriction in its underground plumbing keep it from being a geyser. The worlds third largest hot spring is Grand Prismatic Spring at 370 feet across. The colors in the hot springs are caused by minerals such as sulfur and iron as well as thermophiles. Thermophiles are microorganisms that thrive in extremely high temperatures and convert light into energy.

Geysers are hot springs with narrow spaces near the surface of the ground. Constriction prevents water from circulating easily and pressure builds below the surface and the hot water and steam blows through the constriction. The worlds most famous geyser is Old Faithful. It is one of the most predictable geysers, erupting approximately every 94 min at an average of 130 feet high.

Travertine terraces are located in the Mammoth Hot Springs area of Yellowstone National Park. The terraces are an interaction of hot springs that rise up through limestone, dissolving the calcium carbonate, creating chalk white travertine terraces. They are the fastest changing features and emerge and dry up quickly.

Fumaroles (steam vents) are the hottest hydrothermal feature. There are over 4,000 in Yellowstone National Park. They mostly occur on high ground and are noisy like a tea kettle. Water boils away before the surface so it is just heat and vapor.

Mudpots are acidic hot springs with a limited water supply. The acid decomposes the surrounding rock into clay and mud. Hydrogen sulfide and microorganisms convert gas to surlfuric acid and causes the smell released from the mudpots.

This was our third visit to Yellowstone National Park and the first visit without our children along. We decided to concentrate this visit on two areas of the park, Upper Geyser Basin and The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It was also the first time we booked lodging in the park.

We spent 2 days at the Old Faithful Inn which is located in the upper geyser basin. The Inn was opened in 1904. The lobby is 76 feet tall, has a huge stone fireplace and unique overhanging balconies. The Inn has rooms with all queen beds, with and without private bathrooms. I highly recommend getting a room on the east wing facing the geyser basin since these rooms have a view of Old Faithful. Reservations open up 13 months in advance on the 5th day of the month. The rooms go very quickly, all of the rooms on the east wing were gone within 5 min. With this in mind, you need to do your research and know what you want and act quickly. Lodging reservations can be made at yellowstonenationalparklodges.com. For lodging questions call 307-344-7311. Old Faithful Inn has a dining room serving buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as Bear Paw deli serving to go sandwiches, snacks and ice cream. Bear Pit Lounge serves drinks, appetizers, burgers and wings. The Inn has a gift shop in the lobby. There is no WiFi service available at the Inn, however we were able to get cellular service at places in the park.

There are 2 other lodging options in the Upper Geyser basin. Old Faithful Lodge and Cabins have double or single beds with private and shared bathrooms. It also has a cafeteria and a bake shop. Old Faithful Snow Lodge is behind the Visitor Center and is the newer lodging option. All rooms have private bathrooms. Snow Lodge has the Obsidian dining room serving game dishes for dinner and the Geyser Grill serving American fare. The Firehole Lounge is a bar serving drinks and appetizers.

The upper geyser basin has 150 thermal features in 2 square miles. The basin has boardwalks to traverse the area, keeping visitors off the potentially hot ground. As you amble along the boardwalks, you will be amazed at how many geysers, hot springs and fumaroles there are in such a short distance. The Old Faithful Inn will have a timetable in the lobby of when the most predictable geysers erupt. With this in mind you can time your walk through the basin to see as many of them erupt in the time that you are there. Keep in mind that the basin is a favorite hangout of bison and we did see a big bull bison laying near one of the boardwalks. Visitors are encouraged to stay at least 25 yards from bison. Several people are gored every year by bison when they feel threatened! For this reason, do not try to take pictures with them or try to pass them if they are on the boardwalk.

Additionally, we drove to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and drove the South Rim. Visitors can view the canyon and Yellowstone Falls from many view points along the way. All of the viewpoints are a short hike from the parking lots. The Yellowstone River runs through the canyon and produces the upper and lower Yellowstone falls. Yellowstone Falls are an impressive site and should not be missed. There are several hikes you can do from the North and South rim to view the falls.

As well as the short hikes we did on our South rim drive, we decided to venture off on a different kind of hike than we had done before. Cascade Lake Trail started at the Cascade Lake picnic area north of Canyon Village and was 4.4 mile round trip. The hike has minimal elevation and goes through a lodgepole forest and meadows. Due to the rain that the park had experienced the meadows were filled with beautiful wildflowers. Also as a result of the rain, the trail was rather muddy as you got closer to Cascade Lake and the mosquitos were scary bad, so take lots of bug spray with you. We did not see any wildlife but this area is prime grizzly bear habitat and other hikers had seen a grizzly that morning. Make sure you have bear spray with you and that you know how to use it.

Obviously we love Yellowstone National Park and keep finding ourselves going back to experience the wonders of the area.

All maps printed by the National Park Service.

70 miles west of Key West, Florida lies a group of 7 islands called the Dry Tortugas. These islands were first named Las Tortugas (The Turtles) in 1513, by Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon. Sailors soon started calling them the the Dry Tortugas, because they lacked fresh water. The Dry Tortugas sat at the crossroads of strategic shipping lanes and were surrounded by coral shoals. The islands could be very dangerous for ships, so a lighthouse was built upon Garden Key in 1825 to warn the mariners of the shoals.

In 1829 the United States knew it could control navigation to the Gulf of Mexico and protect the river trade along the Mississippi River by fortifying the Dry Tortugas. In December 1846 construction of Fort Jefferson started on Garden Key, the second largest key in Dry Tortugas. It is the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas, consisting of over 16 million bricks. Since the Dry Tortugas lacked fresh water, an innovative system of cisterns to filter the rain water were built. Unfortunately the cisterns were faulty and the water was not fit to drink, they could only use it for cooking and washing. To obtain fresh water they assembled 2 steam condensers that distilled 7,000 gallons of sea water per day. Construction of Fort Jefferson lasted for 30 years, but was never finished and the army abandoned the fort in 1874.

During the Civil War, the North recognized Fort Jefferson as a strategic military outpost to control the Gulf of Mexico. The fort was used as a military prison by the Union, and the first prisoners arrived in September 1861. On July 24th 1865, at the end of the war, 4 civilian prisoners arrived. All 4 men were convicted of complicity in President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Dr. Samuel Mudd was the most famous of the 4 men. Mudd was a surgeon and tobacco farmer in Maryland. The man who shot President Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre, John Wilkes Booth, arrived at Mudd’s house, as he was trying to escape, seeking medical care. Mudd set Booth’s broken leg and sent him on his way. Although he proclaimed his innocence, he was sentenced to life in prison for his actions. Mudd provided medical care to the inhabitants of Fort Jefferson during a yellow fever epidemic that killed many on the island. Due to the medical care he provided and recommendations of several officers he saved at Fort Jefferson, he was pardoned March 11, 1869

The area became a wildlife bird refuge in 1908, a National Monument in 1935 and Dry Tortugas National Park in 1992.

The only way to get to Dry Tortugas National Park is by boat or seaplane. Yankee Freedom, a high speed catamaran is the official ferry to the National Park, http://Drytortugas.com. This is the mode of transportation we took. The ferry leaves from the dock at 100 Grinnell Street in Key West. There is a parking garage across the street from the dock, and I would recommend getting there early because it fills up quickly. Tickets were $200 per adult age 17-61 and $190 for seniors and students. Children under 2 are free. If you have a National Park Pass it is $185/$175 respectively. Park entrance, breakfast and a box lunch are included in your ticket. Our breakfast consisted of a bagel and cream cheese and lunch was a Jersey Mikes sandwich, chips, cookie and a drink. Check in time was 7a, boarding 7:30a and departure at 8a. During our ride to Dry Tortugas our guide gave us information on the island and Fort Jefferson. We did see some sea turtles on our trip and also some Cuban refugees in a boat headed to the United Stated.

Upon arrival at the Fort, we disembarked and took a 45 min tour. Our guide was very enthusiastic and made the tour interesting. After the tour we explored the fort and then headed to the beach to snorkel around the Fort. We had brought our own snorkeling gear, but snorkeling gear is complimentary with your ticket on the ferry. We were able to see a lot of fish, some rather big. Snorkeling around the moat was fantastic, it has holes in the wall and the the marine life like to congregate there. We also saw numerous fish around an old sunken anchor. After snorkeling we were able to shower off with clean water on the deck of the boat and change into dry clothes in the restrooms. We ate our box lunches on our trip back to Key West. We departed Garden Key at 3p and arrived back in Key West around 5:30p.

I would suggest bringing with you on the ferry: Bathing suit (we wore ours on the boat with a cover up). Camera. Sunscreen, sunglasses and hat. Towel. Change of clothes. Cash for the gift shop (they do not take credit/debit cards). National Park Pass

We did see several seaplanes arriving to Garden Key. Key West Seaplane Charters, keywestseaplanecharters.com is the only company allowed to land at Garden Key. For a half day trip the price is $451 for adult and $361 for a child. For a full day charter the cost is $792 and $634 respectively.

You can take a personal watercraft to Dry Tortugas. You must file for a free boat permit and stop in Garden Key to pay the National Park Fee. Space is extremely limited due to damage from Hurricane Ian, so plan accordingly.

Being the National Park enthusiasts we are, we visited 3 of them on our vacation in Florida. The second park we visited was Everglades National Park. We booked a tour with Wild Lime Adventures, http://Wildlimeadventures.com. The tour consisted of a 1.5 hour nature walk with a naturalist, at the Shark Valley visitor center and a one hour air boat ride on Miccosukee tribal land. Since we were heading to the keys from Coral Gables, we drove to the meet up spot at the Miccosukee General Store, parked our cars and took the van to the Shark Valley Visitor Center. To get to the Shark Valley Visitor Center take US 41 (Tamiami Trail) 30 miles west of the Florida Turnpike exit for SW 8th St. The Miccosukee General Store is on US 41 on the right side of the road, before you get to the visitor center. You do get a discount for meeting them at the store. Wild Lime does have transportation options from Miami, Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale hotels, as well as from cruise ports and airports. They will store your luggage for the day if you are switching hotels or locations. Meet up time at the Miccosukee General Store was 8:30-8:40. The cost is $169 per adult age 13 and over and $139 for children ages 5-12.

The Everglades is a unique ecosystem and is actually a 40 mile wide slow moving river. Water flow is essential to the all the habitats in the Everglades. The Shark River Slough and the Taylor Slough (pronounce slew) are the main drainage areas for the freshwater flow. We were told by our guide Zac that it takes 1 gallon of water 1 month to move through Everglades National Park. There are 2 main seasons, wet and dry. The wet season is May-November.

There are 6 habitats in the everglades: Marine and Estuarine, Mangroves, Freshwater Marsh, Cypress, Pine Rockland and the Tropical Hardwood Hammocks. Marine and Estuarine is where the sea grass beds reside and provide food and shelter for marine life. In the Mangroves the fresh and salt water intermingle and provide bird nesting sites and nesting sites for fish. A Freshwater Marsh is a wide shallow slow- moving river typically full of grasses providing a diverse habitat for wildlife. Cypress trees can withstand flooding and flourish in the wetland conditions. They form patches of forests called cypress domes. Pine Rocklands grow on limestone outcroppings on higher ground, making it a dry habitat. Tropical hardwood hammocks are a closed canopy forest that grows on slightly elevated land and rarely flood.

The Everglades are teeming with wild life. We saw alligators, many species of birds, turtles and fish on our nature walk. The Burmese python is a problematic predator in the Everglades, it is not native to the area. They were either accidentally or intentionally introduced to the park and eat many different kinds of animals. Studies have shown that the python is probably the main reason that mammals in the park have severely declined. The Park has been investigating how to control the python and remove them.

After the nature walk, we took the van to the air boat departure site. We met our air boat captain Elvis and we headed out on our excursion. Airboats are not allowed in Everglades National Park so our boat trip was on Miccosukee tribal land. Elvis grew up in the Everglades and in his youth lived on Native Tree Island, which we visited on our tour. One of the alligators that inhabit Native Tree Island also grew up there and remembers Elvis and allows him to rub her back when he visits his old home. The island is uninhabited now, but ceremonies and demonstrations still happen on the island. We saw a great many alligators, herons and numerous other species of birds on our airboat ride.

If you have time after your visit to Everglades National Park, head on down to Robert Is Here fruit stand, http://Robertishere.com and grab a yummy milkshake and some exotic fruit to take back. The address is 19200 SW 344th St, Homestead, FL 33034.

Being the National Park junkies that we are, we decided to hit all 3 of Florida’s National Parks on our visit in February 2023. The first park we went to was Biscayne National Park, which is 20 miles south of Miami. Biscayne National Park encompasses 172,971 acres and was established as a National Park in 1980. The park is truly a unique experience because 95% of the park is water. The park consists of 4 distinct ecosystems. The shoreline mangrove swamp, shallow waters of the bay, limestone keys, and the offshore Florida reef.

The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is located 9 miles east of Homestead FL and can be reached by taking exit 6 off the Florida Turnpike. Turn Left from the exit ramp and continue to SW 328th Street. Turn left and continue to the end of the road. The park entrance is on the left . The park district and park waters are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all year. The Visitor Center is open 9a-5p, seven days a week. The park does not have an entrance fee. The Visitor Center offers a beautiful museum featuring dioramas, audio and video. Several films are also available for viewing. There is a small gift store located on the top floor with a few snacks available.

We had a small group snorkel experience booked in the afternoon with Biscayne National Park Institute (http://Biscaynenationalparkintstitute.org). The trip was a 3.5 hour experience and began at 1:30p. We arrived at the visitor center and explored the area. We had our own snorkeling equipment, but all equipment can be rented at the Visitor Center. Fins are required for all participants. The boat did have some shade. Drinking water is available, but they ask you to bring a refillable container to minimize trash. They recommend bringing a light jacket and towels. Do not bring anything that can not get wet. I would also suggest a snack such as a granola/protein bar as well.

The guided trip is on a 28-31 foot powerboat. Your captain chooses the snorkel site based on the day’s weather and sea conditions. The open ocean was too murky for snorkeling, so we stayed bayside and snorkeled near the mangroves. We were able to see many species of juvenile fish and lobster at both sites we snorkeled. The snorkeling sites we visited were shallow and they do not want you to touch the bottom of the sea floor with the fins. I found that floating was a great way to allow the fish to come up to you. You can use the roots of the mangroves as leverage to guide yourself deeper into the areas of the mangrove swamp. This is where you can see additional varieties of juvenile fish. But do not grab a mangrove root with orange/red fire coral attached, you will get a nasty burn.

On our way to and from our snorkeling sites, our captain and guide (Lewis and Dan) discussed the history of Biscayne Bay, the people and the keys associated with the bay. Once back at the The Visitor Center, we unloaded from the boat, returned any rented snorkeling equipment and our life jackets. We changed out of our wet suits in the bathroom and headed home.

Most people that visit the Miami area, do not venture into the National Parks. I strongly encourage you to explore the beauty the area has to offer. In order to fully experience Biscayne National Park, one of the water based tours is essential. You will not be disappointed!

Monument Valley was part of our big Utah adventure and it did not disappoint. Monument Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park on the Navajo Reservation and encompasses 91,696 acres. The Tribal Park was established in 1958 and is located on the border of Arizona and Utah. Monument Valley has a desert climate with a low elevation of 4300 ft and a high elevation of 6300 ft. The Navajo name for Monument Valley is Tse’Bii’Ndzisgaii.

Approaching Monument Valley on US route 163 in Utah, you come to Forest Gump Point. This is the area during the Forest Gump movie, where he stopped running and you can see several of the rock formations in the background. This area was very busy with cars pulled to the side of the road and in the middle of the road taking pictures. Continue to follow US route 163 to Monument Valley Drive, take a left to enter the park.

We arrived early afternoon, perused the gift shop and headed to our private tour with Monument Valley Safari, (http://Monumentvalleysafari.com) that was scheduled for 1p. We had booked a 3.5 hour tour with a Native Navajo guide. The cost of the tour was $95 for an adult and $75 for youth 8-17. Children under 7 are free. The tour is the only way you can traverse the restricted backroads in the park, and covers approximately 36 miles. We met our tour guide Bobby, in the lower parking lot of the Visitor Center and headed off on our tour. The scenic drive stretches down a very sandy dirt road with 11 pull offs, to view the rock formations. The first formations that you can see are the East and West Mitten Buttes and are quite impressive. The next formation is Elephant Butte. I had a hard time seeing this formation as an elephant 🤷‍♀️. You come to the Three Sisters next and it is very easy to see the three spires. John Ford’s Point is the last stop before the restricted roads. In the 1900’s John Ford filmed several movie scenes on this point. In the 1939 film Stagecoach, featuring John Wayne, there is a scene at the point with a horse and rider. You can pay to have your picture taken on a horse to depict that scene. There are several Native American roadside stands to purchase souvenirs at the beginning of the loop and at Ford’s Point. After Ford’s Point we headed to the back country section of our private tour.

If you want to visit the Tribal Park independently, the first 17 miles of the tour is accessible by all visitors. The 17 mile loop is on a first come, first served entry and during peak season be prepared for long wait times. The entry fee for the driving tour is $8 per person. Motorcycles are not allowed on the Loop drive, due to rough terrain and deep sand dunes.

As we were traversing the restricted backroads, our tour guide Bobby gave us a great deal of information on the area and Navajo history. We stopped at a homestead where we were able to enter a traditional Navajo hogan, to observe a Navajo woman weaving. Her works were gorgeous, but expensive. I completely understand why, due to the time involved and the the way she dyes them with all natural dyes. You also will be asked to leave a donation for your visit. We stopped at several areas where you could view petroglyphs in the rock formations. I am totally fascinated by them. It really makes you think about the time and life before us. We also visited 2 arches. In one of the arches, Bobby played a song on the Native American flute.

We headed further into the back country after the arches and we were able to see more petroglyphs and the tower. Several movies have been filmed on this site including Mission Impossible II. After this we headed back to the Tribal Park Visitor Center, which is where we began our tour.

Our accommodations for the night was The View hotel. The View Hotel is the only hotel located inside Monument Valley Tribal Park and it is adjacent to the Visitor Center. We chose to stay in cabins with decks overlooking the valley. Hotel rooms are also available. There is a restaurant on site and that is where we had dinner. Due to covid restrictions the traditional Navajo takeout menu was not available. Keep in mind that the restaurant is closed for lunch. I also recommend making reservations for dinner, especially if you have a large party like we had. Reservations for the hotel can be made on the National Park Reservation site. The site also has a few other available lodging sites listed. Nationalparkreservation.com

Monument Valley is a beautiful Tribal Park with extraordinary sandstone buttes. I would highly suggest the backcountry tour with a Navajo guide and staying at The View Hotel. One day is sufficient due to the fact that the park is isolated from other activities.