GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK - AUG. 11-14

In Grand Teton  we went on a couple of hikes and went fishing. I caught a Teton trout on my Teton Trout fishing pole. We caught a bunch more on the first day and then I made Dad let me use the fly rod. I caught seven and got obsessed with fly fishing. In Jackson Hole on the second day in Grand Teton, we went downhill mountain biking. It is where you ride up a ski lift and then get to ride down on your bike. It was extremely fun, especially these three trails: Bronco, Bandit and Buckaroo. - Jackson

Even though you can't see it because it's so small, Jackson caught a fish.

The first day in the Tetons we went on a hike to two lakes (Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake). We only caught one fish the whole time and Jackson was the one to catch it. It was a Brook Trout. Then we hiked back down. The next day we went downhill mountain biking at Jackson Hole Ski Resort. It was so much FUN! My favorite runs were Bronco, Bandit, Buckaroo and Lucky Charm. After we did about 10-15 runs we left. Then we hiked up the trail we did the day before and fished. The next day we went to Yellowstone. - Hannah

The really nice thing we have discovered about the national parks is that they are at least partially prepared for people like our family who can't make plans months in advance.  They have a number of first come, first serve campgrounds.  While we didn't end up staying in a national park campground in RMNP, we did in the Tetons.  We spent two nights at the Gros Ventre Campground.  While it wasn't super private, (our next door neighbors got upset when John left the rear lights on the van for too long) it was a perfect base of operations for some mountain biking and fishing. It seems that we have finally arrived in bear country.  Now wherever we go people are carrying bear spray and the campgrounds all have bear boxes and rules about where you can keep food and personal items that have a scent. John is excited about the prospect of seeing a bear.  When we were fishing the first evening, there was a moose about 25 yards down the stream chomping down on some willows leaves. It was probably a little too close, but the boys were catching fish and there was no way they were stopping! One thing we have noticed about the parks is how crazy people get when they see a moose or bison or bear along the side of the road.  They pull over suddenly or hang out of car windows or jump out of the car and start running after the wildlife with a camera. I REALLY loved hitting the downhill trails at Jackson Hole with the kids. Even though I'm the kind of person who'd much rather earn my downs by climbing up, it was a great equalizer for the kids.  We could do it together perfectly. So we did, all day long! Then we went fishing for the evening and I finally caught my first fish of the trip on the fly rod.  It was tiny, but I'm hoping the spell had been broken. - Hillary