DAY SIX: Jenny Lake...

For those of you who are annoyed that my blog is nothing but a recap of a vacation I came back from two and a half weeks ago:  Rest assured.  I'm almost done, and plan to be completely finished by September. 

Maybe.  Because I just looked at my calendar and realized September is Sunday. 

If I don't meet my own self imposed goal, I promise to back post and start anew in September.  Because, let's face it, football season starts soon.  Which means I'll have more time to write when the TVs in my house have been monopolized by all things pigskin, Game Day and Tony Romo.

Sigh.  It is just that time of the year.

In the meantime, back to Wyoming.  Where it wasn't a million degrees like it was today in Dallas, Texas.

(Sigh.  Why do I live here again?)

In many ways, our trip to Jenny Lake was the last day of the vacation.  Less than twenty four hours later, we would be in an Urgent Care waiting room with a very sick toddler.  But at the time, Trevor and I were blissfully unaware that our trip was about to take a turn for the sleepless and incredibly cranky.

But I digress...

...Jenny Lake is not far from Moose, and is located just inside the Grand Teton National Park.  It is also incredibly crowded during the summer.  So much so that we couldn't even find a parking spot after multiple orbits of the main lots down near the campground.

So, not knowing what else to do, we headed up the road a bit.  There is another junction for Jenny Lake where the road makes a large loop along the water's eastern edge.  There are several places where cars can pull off the main road to enjoy scenic overlooks of the area, and it was in one of these that we managed to find a parking space, leave the car and explore a bit.

At first, though, I thought a pretty view was all we'd get.  The parking lot was crowded with tourists - many bused in on large charters.  Granted, the view of the Jenny was gorgeous (see photo above), but the lake we wanted to enjoy was a steep 30-50 feet below the overlook with all the human congestion.  Most of the trails to the water's edge were roped off in the immediate vicinity of the parking lot, and I didn't see an easy way down (at least not with a toddler in tow).

As a last stitch effort, however, we walked along the trail (that I later learned goes all the way around Jenny Lake) for a about a quarter mile, and found a path down to the water's edge.  It was steep, but completely doable (even in birks while carrying a toddler!).  But the best surprise was at the bottom:  THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO ONE THERE.  We had that particular stretch of shoreline to ourselves for most of the visit.

The shoreline was rocky, but Trevor seized the opportunity to teach his son about the importance of throwing rocks into the water.  Which is a really, really BIG DEAL for 36 year old men and boys of (almost) 19 months alike.  Banner took the lesson to heart, and is now very excited about the combination of "woks" (rocks) and "wa-wa" (water).  As in "all woks needed go back in the wa-wa" like yesterday. I'm pretty sure Banner could have happily tossed rocks into the water for several hours without complaint or distraction.  Just like his daddy.

Boys.  I swear.

All in all, we spent about an hour and a half by the water's edge.  Trevor made everyone peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and we ate them under a cloudless sky while watching a family of four from Minnesota swim fully dressed in the lake like a$$hats.  The water was freezing, though, so they didn't stay long, and we soon had the beach to ourselves again.

It was - quite possibly - the most relaxing day of the entire trip:  warm sunshine, an amazing view of the Tetons, a few rocks, a mountain lake and my boys.  It really doesn't get much better than that.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the afternoon: