Yellowstone and Grand Tetons

It has been a while since I've had cell phone and internet service, but I am back! I don't think I have ever felt more in the middle of no where than my time in Wyoming. I must say, I've enjoyed it. After we left the ranch, we headed up to Yellowstone. It was very busy up there!! There were tons of traffic jams around the park due to a bear, elk, or bison sighting. Some of the highlights from Yellowstone were: West Thumb gysers, Old Faithful, Lake Yellowstone, Grand Prismatic Springs, stanging on the edge of the lower falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and also coming out of the cabin in the morning to see a bison 50 yards away grazing. Bison were everwhere! One day we were stuck in a traffic jam and realized it was because a bison was walking in the middle of the road, yeah, I could have touched it, but didn't want to get gored. We definitely learned a lot (I know we are nerdy teachers). About 1/3 of the trees in Yellowstone were burned in 1988 due to a fire, and you can still see some of the effects. In addition, there is a rampant beetle plague that is effecting the conifers throughout Wyoming. It was pretty sad to see so many dead trees:( We also had a "it's a small world" incident. Evan was talking to a lady at the front desk, and she mentioned she was from Maryland.....and her ex-husband lived n Severna Park (where Evan is from)......and one of her good friends worked at the church that Evan attended in high school. The Grand Tetons were a nice change of pace. It was far less crowded, and unbelievably gorgeous! The cool thing about the Tetons is that there are no foothills. So, it's like "bam" mountains! We started of with a yummy dinner and a huckleberry (a big thing out there) margarita in the Jackson Lake Lodge with an amazing view of the Tetons from the 50ft. high windows. The cabins that we stayed in at both Yellowstone and the Tetons, were well, rustic. They were built in the 1920s and not much was changed since then. It was a fun experience, but I'm not ready to go pioneer or anything. The next day we drove around the park and went to Mormon Row which is the sight of one of hte most famous pictures of the Tetons. We will post pictures, I promise it just takes forever with the mobile broadband. In closing, I have a random phenomenom Evan and I have been contemplating. Why did we see so many temporary tags on cars in Wyoming? There were tons! Is there a big car sale that we should know about? Are rental companies now using these tags now? Was there a big car heist? All in all, Wyoming gets two thumbs up. The people are tough as nails, and you have to be to live through their winters and stand up against that wind.