August 1 - Well, it only took till about 10:30 AM for us to regret having told Kieran the translation of "Grand Tetons" (hint: the name was conferred by French trappers, presumably long deprived of the company of women, upon seeing the mountains from their less rugged western side.) Snickering aside, we are loving it here. I have seen most of the Colorado Rockies, the Canadian Rockies in Banff, the Sierras, the Cascades, and a fair bit of the Alps, but ...

July 31- 5 AM rolled in way too quickly, but the prospect of more wolves got us out of bed right on time. We headed straight to Slough Creek this time, arriving by 6 AM, and were rewarded with views of the four pups frolicking and playing, plus a good look at the alpha male, who is black. It was good we got there early, as shortly after light hit the hillside (around 7), they all retreated back to the den. We took another "quick" drive down Lamar Valley...

Yellowstone! July 28- After our worst camping night thus far (the campground, which was the only one in the area that had any spots available, lost our reservation and thus put us in a parking lot next to the fish cleaning station with an extension cord-- fortunately this didn't set the tone for this leg of the trip), we headed into the Park. First stop- Old Faithful. In part to experience it, in part to get it out of the way. Yes, I really did overhear a w...