On day four of our trip we left Rapid City, SD and headed west towards Riverton, Wy. The goal was to head out early so we could arrive at our overnight stop early in the afternoon and just relax. There wasn’t in the much of scenery outside of the ongoing prairies so we didn’t stop much along the way.
We arrived at our hotel in Riverton around 3:00pm and decided to just hang out in the hotel room for the evening. We wanted to charge our batteries for the next day’s drive, which would take about 10 hours or so depending on how much we stopped.
The next morning we headed out around 6:00am and drove straight to Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park. It took about 2 hours to get there and we passed through some cool canyons and forested areas along the way. During our last trip to Grand Teton NP we seemed to hit all of the spots at the wrong time of day for light so we thought getting there early would help.
It did. The only thing that might have helped more was if there were some clouds, but there wasn’t much in the way of wind, either, so at least we had nice reflections on the water. Definitely better than the hazy skies we had on our earlier visit.
We made our way up the highway and pulled over at Schwabacher Landing. This area is where beavers have dammed up some of the little streams and created some ponds. Photographers like the area due to the reflections of the Grand Tetons. There were lots of ducks swimming around on the ponds and we got to see a Bald Eagle flying around as we pulled into the parking area. Unfortunately, it didn’t stick around long enough for me to get my camera out.
After about an hour of taking photos we hopped back into the car and zipped back home so we could get to the grocery store before it closed. The girls slept most of the way, but the drive went by quickly. We made it to the store and had time to make dinner and relax before climbing into bed.
All in all, we drove about 2,500 miles over the past 5 days. Most people would think it was crazy, but it really wasn’t all that bad. We got to see some cool places and it sure beats just sitting around the house. I’m sure we’ll find another excuse to go on another road trip again soon.
