With covid in full swing, we were starting to climb the walls and wanted an easy get-away. Jackson was about an eight hour drive from our house so I prepped for our road trip. I got some ipad holders like these so the kids could watch movies, brought them sticker books, coloring books, regular books, and road trip Bingo to help pass the time. I also loaded up a cooler with snacks like: trail mix, cut up apples, cheese cubes, cotton candy flavored grapes, goldfish, and cut up veggies just so we would have options besides gas station food. We left as soon as the girls woke up so we were in Jackson by dinner time.

We stayed at Spring Creek Ranch which was perfect. It’s not directly in town, so if you are wanting a hotel where you can easily access the downtown strip of restaurants and shops, this isn’t your place. But we loved it! It was about eight minutes from downtown and is up a long, winding road at the top of the mountain so you get a hell of a view. They have horse back riding, a couple of restaurants, and a pool which the kids loved. We didn’t partake in the horseback riding or the restaurant since we tended to get food in town, but we loved the views and the fact that we were off the beaten trail a bit. And the kids swam every day we were there!

The first day was a wash since we drove through most of it, but on the second day we went into town to shop and hang out. I was impressed that most people were wearing masks. It was a REAL pain in the ass having the kids take off masks for a quick pic once people weren’t near them, then having them slap them back on. But it was worth it to not have their sweet faces covered in every photo. We took a horse-drawn carriage ride, got ice cream, found a new ornament for our tree (all of our ornaments are from trips we take) and got Winnie back in time for a nap. Then Lila and Vince swam in the hotel pool while Winnie snoozed and I worked out in our room.

The second day, we took a private Wildlife Safari through Jackson Hole Eco Tours. It was expensive but so much fun! You can choose between sunrise or sunset tours and since the sunset tour went well past the bedtimes of both our girls, we settled for the sunrise one. The tour is through Grand Teton National Park and lasts four hours. Our guide picked us up at 6 am at our hotel. Vince wanted to find bears so that was a good chunk of our tour – chasing the elusive bears. Alas, we never found bears but we did see a mama moose and her baby, a TON of buffalo, and a sand hill crane and her baby. Our guide was really knowledgeable and friendly. He even brought coffee, hot chocolate, and locally made muffins, oatmeal, and granola bars for snacks. He also brought kid binoculars for the girls which I thought was a cute touch. They enjoyed when we got to stop and peer out of the roof of our Jeep at the giant heard of buffalo. The guides stay in constant contact with other guides via walkie-talkie, so when we spotted moose, our guide was able to let other ones nearby know where she was. Our guide also said that the local photographers work well with the guides and keep each other informed whenever they see bears. There is a local one that is famous. They refer to her as 399. She just had four cubs this past spring and is past her prime in terms of child-bearing, so it was a surprise to the locals and guides alike when they saw her emerge with four cubs. She’s not afraid of people and even brings her cubs right near the main road by the park, but we never caught sight of her. Once our tour wrapped up we headed back to the hotel and let Winnie nap, Lila swim, and then got dinner at an Italian restaurant in town, Glorietta Trattoria. Their pasta is all made in-house and fucking delicious!! I ordered just the basic spaghetti and marinara since I am a purist, but all of their pasta is divine.

The next day, was the Fourth of July and we drove a couple hours into Yellowstone to see if we could find Vince his bear. While we struck out on locating the animal of his dreams, we did see Old Faithful and hung around to make sure the kids could see it erupt. Then we walked around a bit to the different geysers and headed back to our hotel. To get into the park for a regular, non-commercial vehicle is $35 and the pass is valid for 7 days. After Yellowstone, we grabbed dinner and since we are old and lame, we were asleep well before the professional firework display even began.

For our last visit to town, we stopped and got ice cream, shopped some more, and then let the girls run out all of their energy at the park where the antler arch is in downtown Jackson. If you’re in CO and looking for an easy road-trip, I definitely recommend checking out Jackson! The drive isn’t bad (took us 8 hours there, and 10 hours back when we hit construction in Erie, CO) but for kids our age, it was very doable! Just pack enough entertainment for the kids, and make sure you have music downloaded to your itunes for the stretches of road through WY where there is no service.