Day 7 – Grand Teton National Park to Jackson, WY to Arco, ID

Day 7 – Grand Teton National Park to Jackson, WY to Arco, ID

August 2, 2013

There was a small sign posted in the bathrooms at Yellowstone a few days ago that said something like “Gastronomic Virus – Extremely Contagious – Please keep hands washed, etc”. I think Alle and I both caught a small version of it during these past 24 hours. Not to get too specific, but everything we have been eating has been “going straight through”. Well, at least we won’t have to worry about gaining weight on this leg of the holiday.

That said, we launched ourselves from the Grand Teton Park this morning and headed down to Jackson on route to Arco, Idaho. Jackson is a “touristy town”, but it is a well done touristy town. The shops are more upscale, the tourists look a bit more well-to-do, and the main town square is rustic but hopping with activity. We parked our oversized RV a bit outside of town so we didn’t have to worry about hitting anything like street signs or unsuspecting tourists. We walked into the main square and the boys immediately spied an ice cream spot. So, being on holiday, we all had an early ice cream.

After successfully moving our RV to the local post office and getting lots of post card stamps, we headed out of town. We are still driving on US-20/US-26 West. We have been on this highway for much of our trip. It is a mostly quiet, scenic road and so much nicer than the interstates. On the interstates, every truck that passes us shakes the RV and Ricardo has to grip the steering wheel to keep from hitting the rumble strips along the side of the road. It is not the most relaxed drive. We took the scenic route out of Jackson which runs along the Snake River. The road (and the river) run through a beautiful canyon with white water rafting places dotting the road and their boats dotting the river.

 

 

Coming out of that set of canyons, we entered into Idaho.

The road slowly flattened out and for the next four hours we drove through open, barren country. There was hardly a cross road, let alone other traffic. Wheat and potato fields were on either side of us. Coming into Arco, ID we passed a large nuclear energy plant and campus. We found out later that Arco, ID was the first city in the US to be completely powered by nuclear energy in the 1950’s. Quite a claim to fame. The business is still going strong, although quietly.

We were very happy to pull into the KOA RV camp site in Arco, ID, which is surprisingly pastoral and welcoming. We had a very late dinner of burgers over the campfire. Everyone is exhausted. We are heading a few miles away in the morning to see the Craters of the Moon National Monument and then onto Sun Valley, ID.