Kate wanted MORE cancel stamps, so she plotted a convoluted route from Fishing Bridge to Jackson Hole, WY that hit every cancel stamp (that was open) within 100 miles. Maybe it was only 20 miles.

We drove down John D. Rockefeller, Jr Memorial Parkway to get from Yellowstone National Park to Grand Teton National Park. The parkway is not a national park. It is 24,000 acres of land managed by the national park system, as park of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, to provide a scenic connection between Yellowstone and Grand Teton. It was established in 1972 to honor the philanthropist and conversationalist, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., for his contribution to the national parks.

The Grand Teton range is stunningly beautiful. We do not think Grand Teton is as beautiful as Yellowstone, but you can get much closer, more easily to these mountains than you can in Yellowstone. Before we made it to any of the visitor centers, we could see the north end of the mountains across Jackson Lake. (Click here for the high resolution version.)

We talked to two women from Holland that drove up shortly after us. They were trying to take pictures here too. Sadly, a swimmer came through and caused ripples in the lake, which ruined their picture. Fortunately, John finished a few sets of photos for the panorama before the swimmer arrived.

First, we stopped at Colter Bay Visitor Center on Jackson Lake. The mountain view was impressive. The lake view was unimpressive. Colter Bay was just packed with boats. We suspect that the lake is covered in boaters all summer. (Post cards and Cancel Stamp #1, #2, #3, #4)

Next, we stopped at Jenny Lake Visitor Center. Part of the Teton mountain range was visible from our parking place, so we stopped to admire the mountains.

At Jenny Lake, we planned to go hiking on the 1-mile trail. The only problem was that we had to park 1 mile away just to get to the visitor center. At least there were pretty flowers on the side of the road. We also saw red and blue wildflowers on the drive, but we never did find the red or blue flowers close enough to take pictures of them.

The Jenny Lake Visitor Center was located in the historic Harrison R. Crandall photography studio. He served as the first official Grand Teton National Park photographer. He was the resident artist from 1929 until retirement, in the 1960s. Sadly, the place was swamped with people, like Disneyland, so we returned to the road. (Cancel Stamp #5)

The next stop was the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center. Kate recorded some birds on the Merlin App that we had never heard of. John took pictures of some flowers on the side of the sidewalk.

Inside was a massive discovery center with various animal pelts to touch, horns and antlers, informational displays, a topographic park model, and a 23 minute movie. There was also the ubiquitous information desk and gift store. (Cancel Stamp #6)

The pictures below have the timeline and actions that occurred to create the Grand Teton National Park

The Rockefeller family donated land next to the Grand Teton National Park which resulted in the creation of the Lawrence S Rockefeller Preserve.

To get to the Lawrence S. Rockefeller Preserve, we had to drive slightly north and down a poorly maintained, barely, tow lane road. The preserve only had about 25 parking spaces, so we had to wait in line. John sent Kate off to get cancel stamps while he inched his way towards a parking place. When he was next in line for a spot, Kate returned, and we left. Those people waiting behind us got a freebie. (Cancel Stamp #7, #8)

At this point we were hungry. We went to Dairy Queen to get $7 meals, except they are $8 in Jackson. On the way out of Dairy Queen, a travel trailer passed in front of us. They clearly need to carry bear spray.

When we drove further into Jackson, the $8 meal made sense. Jackson is 100% a tourist trap. Every block has a knick-knack shop, bar, restaurant, and excursion shop. We checked a few chain grocery stores in town a blood pressure machine (no luck) and a post office. The prices are high, streets were narrow, and traffic was bad. We give it a 4.7/10 as a city.

On the way out, we stopped at the National Elk Refuge. The elk refuge was established in 1912. The rapid settlement of the area had cut off elk migration routes and wintering areas. During a severe winter, elk were dying off in the thousands due to starvation. The local outcry of the residents caused the government to establish the preserve. We also learned that Kate is only slightly taller than the antler of a 7 point elk buck. (Cancel Stamp #9, #10, #11)

The last place we went was the National Fish Hatchery in Jackson, WY. (No, we did not get samples.) This facility was working to preserve and maintain two fish. The Finespotted Cutthroat Trout is raised in large numbers every year, about 200,000 fish. After a year in the hatchery, they are released into the wild. About half of the release fish are sterile to avoid excessively impacting the environment. The other fish is the Kendall Warm Springs Dace. This small speckled minnow is only found in the 85 degree waters of the Kendal Spring in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The spring and 984 feet of stream compromise its total habitat. It is endangered, and the hatchery is maintaining a backup population of around 50 fish.

At the hatchery, we saw a violet-green swallow. They have iridescent green and purple feathers. They are very pretty, but also very fast. This makes this a test of patience to photograph that John was not interested in at that instance. They were also outside Yellowstone, so they do not count for the Yellowstone bird list. (Cancel Stamp #12)

The drive back was uneventful, aside from slow drivers in front of us. We were surprised and disappointed that there was almost no animals visible the entire day. Maybe they were on holiday, Elk Easter, or something. It started to drizzle on the way back, and we stopped at a pull-off to photograph white clouds that looked like a tidal wave crashing over the mountains.