We left Salt Lake City early on Saturday and made it to Jackson (via Teton Pass) in a relatively short amount of time (due to the high speed limits in rural UT and ID). After passing through Jackson, we headed toward Grand Teton National Park where we did the driving tour through the park. Especially impressive were the views of the Tetons from Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake. We also saw a moose, which was surprisingly huge, relaxing by the side of the road near the Jackson Lake Junction. After the moose encounter, we headed for Yellowstone National Park.
Given that the sunlight was rapidly disappearing, we decided that our only business this day would be to watch Old Faithful erupt. We learned that the geyser wouldn't erupt until about 6:01 p.m., about an hour from our arrival. So, we ate for the first time all day in one of the nearby lodges, then rushed back outside and watched the eruption, which was quite impressive.
On our way back to Jackson from Yellowstone, we stopped somewhere along the way to get out of the car and let our city eyes adjust to the absolute darkness of the wilderness so that we could view what the night sky should look like. An incredible number of stars and the Milky Way were visible. To my surprise, we were surrounded by animal sounds of different varieties coming from many different directions. Then, suddenly, an animal sound came from very nearby (I would guess less than 75 yards away), and that sent all of us scrambling back into the car and off toward Jackson to conclude an awesome day.
We spent the night at the Snow King Resort in Jackson, which was a very nice place for the relatively low price.