We have finally left our new “best stop” – the Covered Wagon Ranch – and driven the short 130 miles south to the Grand Tetons. Yes, for those of you who are even slightly wondering, the name was derived from the French. The literal translation is “Three Grand Breasts” and if you have ever seen them in person it’s hard to disagree. What you may not know is that the Tetons were originally one huge mountain. About 1.5 billion years ago two large sections (on the left and right hand side of the peak) broke off and fell down in to what is now a valley. The last ice age also helped out by forcing the debris even further down the mountain, so what you now have are three peaks vs. only one.
We drove in to the southern entrance to Tetons National Park through Jackson Hole. It’s a small park by most standards, but none the less breathtaking when you get in. We slowly drove a couple of miles in to get a feel for the area when the paved road narrowed and turned to gravel. It was difficult to get two cars through without someone giving the right of way. Luckily we were neither in front of nor behind any other car when we made a sharp right hand turn around a blind curve – and BAM – there they were – two HUGE moose about 12 inches from the right side of the car. Thanks goodness I was only travelling about 10 MPH! As soon as I made the turn the poor moose literally must have jumped out of his skin as his reaction was to try and donkey-kick the car to protect himself. My heart stopped, Berk yelled “look out”, her jaw dropped to the ground, and I tried to speed up to get past him in hopes of avoiding the local body shop. Luckily it worked! I stopped about another twenty feet up the road to see if all was OK and then some knucklehead in a Jeep, travelling much too fast, drove right off the road to avoid the same moose. If there was anyone who deserved a little driving wake-up call it was him. He recovered from the near miss, got back on the road and did his very best to pass me within about 30 seconds of all this happening – all on the same gravel road that could barely hold two cars. Berk summed up the close encounter quite well when she said “I never knew moose’s were THAT big” – and neither did I.
We have finally left our new “best stop” – the Covered Wagon Ranch – and driven the short 130 miles south to the Grand Tetons. Yes, for those of you who are even slightly wondering, the name was derived from the French. The literal translation is “Three Grand Breasts” and if you have ever seen them in person it’s hard to disagree. What you may not know is that the Tetons were originally one huge mountain. About 1.5 billion years ago two large sections (on the left and right hand side of the peak) broke off and fell down in to what is now a valley. The last ice age also helped out by forcing the debris even further down the mountain, so what you now have are three peaks vs. only one. 
We drove in to the southern entrance to Tetons National Park through Jackson Hole. It’s a small park by most standards, but none the less breathtaking when you get in. We slowly drove a couple of miles in to get a feel for the area when the paved road narrowed and turned to gravel. It was difficult to get two cars through without someone giving the right of way. Luckily we were neither in front of nor behind any other car when we made a sharp right hand turn around a blind curve – and BAM – there they were – two HUGE moose about 12 inches from the right side of the car. Thanks goodness I was only travelling about 10 MPH! As soon as I made the turn the poor moose literally must have jumped out of his skin as his reaction was to try and donkey-kick the car to protect himself. My heart stopped, Berk yelled “look out”, her jaw dropped to the ground, and I tried to speed up to get past him in hopes of avoiding the local body shop. Luckily it worked! I stopped about another twenty feet up the road to see if all was OK and then some knucklehead in a Jeep, travelling much too fast, drove right off the road to avoid the same moose. If there was anyone who deserved a little driving wake-up call it was him. He recovered from the near miss, got back on the road and did his very best to pass me within about 30 seconds of all this happening – all on the same gravel road that could barely hold two cars. Berk summed up the close encounter quite well when she said “I never knew moose’s were THAT big” – and neither did I. 
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