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Idaho
My family had a reunion with the intent to see Yellowstone National Park, but we ended up staying in Driggs, Idaho, which was an hour drive into Wyoming. Idaho is known as The Gem State because rare minerals are found all over the state. We rented the Teton Timber House because it was very affordable and very nice.
Wyoming
Wyoming was likely named by the Algonquin word mecheweami-ing, which meant on the big plains. Settlers in Pennsylvania thought they were saying Wyoming, thus the name Wyoming Valley, PA arose. PA US Representative Ashley requested the new territory be named after his beloved birthplace in the Wyoming Valley.
Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park are spectacular places to visit. Wyoming is The Equality State because it was the first state to guarantee a woman’s right to vote and hold office. Another fitting nickname is The Cowboy State. Outdoor adventure is abundant. I took a hike in the Tetons to Jenny Lake (where I definitely needed sunscreen and a water bottle) one day and the next went river rafting.
From Driggs, ID, it is an approximately 2.5 hours driveto Yellowstone, via the South Entrance where you can spend the the day exploring the main loop. We watched Old Faithful erupt, saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and were surrounded at times by buffalo. If we were to do the loop again, I would use the West Entrance because it would have been a little less driving, or we would have stayed in the park for a night.
About 16 years later I was able to return to Yellowstone with my children. But this time we came through the North entrance from Montana. We stayed overnight at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, which was a perfect choice in the middle of winter. We did an early morning excursion to find animals and saw a couple of river otters, coyote, and a ton of buffalo. I did bring a lens attachment for my cell phone so I could capture any animals from far away. And of course we saw the Mammoth Hot Spring Terraces and a dormant hot spring!
From there we continued back into Montana for skiing at Big Sky.