The first day of the tour was mostly a driving day, leaving Colorado and heading into Wyoming. We were on the road for over 6 hours before we got to Sinks Canyon and stopped to see a river that disappears into a mountain then comes back out a quarter of a mile down the canyon. Apparently it takes 2 hours for water to come out of the other end once it goes in. Who knows what happens to it in between!

Camp was in nearby Lander. We had two tiny patches of grass on which to put up our four tents, but we just managed to fit them all in. Not the worst night's sleep, but also not the best.

Up and on the road again at 8am for day 2. En route to the Grand Teton National Park, we stopped at the World's Largest Jackalope Exhibit in Dubois. "What's a jackalope?" I hear you cry? Obviously its jack rabbit crossed with an antelope, so basically a rabbit with antlers, and about as common as Nessy. And of course there was a giant one in the shop that you could sit on for photo opportunities.

Arrival in the national park was slightly anti-climactic as we couldn't actually see the Tetons to start with. The haze from the forest fires is still hanging around but did eventually clear a bit, so I can verify that the mountains do exist. After a parking lot picnic lunch, we headed off on a 'hike' around string lake. Sadly no exciting wildlife to write home about yet, but I did see my first chipmunk. The lake was beautiful though, and we took a slight detour to see Leigh lake too.

Next stop was Jackson Hole, a great little cowboy town with arches made of antlers and awesome ice cream from Moo's. After an hour perusing the various taxidermy-laden shops, we went to the world famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, sat on saddles at the bar and played some pool.

Our campsite once again turned out to be a tiny patch of dirt and the weather forecast was rain all night, so in a lucky turn of events, we were offered a cabin for $16 dollars (approx £12) each and got to spend the night inside with a mattress and pillows and most importantly not in the rain. And did I mention the TV? That's right, we finished the night watching a Friends season 10 marathon.

Next stop: Yellowstone

Wildlife count:

Bears - 0

Moose - 0

Elk - 0

Coyotes - 0

Bison - 1 (spotted from the bus)

Antelope - loads

Jackalope (stuffed) - 2

Jackalope (live) - 0

Chipmunks - 2