When I arrived in Jackson I dumped my bags in my room and then got back in the car to drive the Wilson Moose Road. It’s a road that runs from Wilson to Moose and Moose is inside the national park. I didn’t realize that many Californians, several residents of Washington state, and half of Utah would be staying in Jackson too. Traffic was worse than the beltway at 4 o’clock on a Friday before a three day weekend!

As I was inching my way along a guy in a giant pickup with Texas plates pulled up next to me. “Is that supposed to be blessings? Like sprinkles of blessings?” I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant but I said “Sparkles, because my car sparkles” which must not have been what he was looking for because he pulled away without comment.

I found the Wilson Moose road and it was super fun except a large stretch was gravel. I’m hoping that some of my annual park pass fees will help them pave more!

I drove to the store at Moose Junction and bought some water and a sandwich and then drove over to Mormon Row for a parking lot picnic.

The sun was setting but it was really cloudy so I decided to call it a night.

The next morning my insomnia paid off when I woke up before sunrise. I dressed quickly and drove back to Mormon Row. I got a couple of shots and then drove to the Oxbow Landing. That was worth the early wake because the lighting was perfect.

While I was there a woman stopped me to tell me she loved my car. She had seen me on Mormon Row. We talked about how beautiful the park was. She was Hawaiian and had a friend from Chicago cat sitting for her! I offered to fill in if her other Chicago friend can’t make it next time! She had just been to Glacier National Park which has suddenly moved to the top of my list of places to visit. She showed me her pics and WOW. Eventually, I moved on and stopped by the overlook at a lake for another pic.

AT that point, I realized I was getting VERY low on gas. I motored to the gas station in the park but it wasn’t opened yet. I decided to head back to Jackson and fill up and have some breakfast. I picked up some detergent from the front desk, took advantage of their laundry facilities and had a little nap. Afterwards I went back to Moose Junction for a sandwich and then drove to the top of Signal Mountain.

On my way up the mountain, I spotted a large deer looking animal. Although it seemed a lot larger than any deer I’ve ever seen before so maybe it was some sort of elk without antlers?

After lunch, I drove over to Jenny Lake. I took a wrong turn and ended up in a parking lot at the trail head. There was a park ranger there who stopped me because she wanted to ask about my car. She asked me if I could be in the 4th of July Parade in the park on Monday. I was crushed that I had to turn her down!

I headed back to the hotel to reorganize all my stuff before heading out tomorrow. Since I’d spent so much time sitting this week, I walked over to the town square for dinner and a little shopping. I stopped in the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for a beer while I reconned the dinner options.

Tomorrow I drive to Deadwood by way of Yellowstone. After seeing the quality of the pics at sunrise, I’m going to try to hit the road right before the sun comes up!