Friends & family in Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP

The American parks adventure has continued this month with us discovering the fuming fumaroles of Yellowstone and the oversized nature of the small but impressive Grand Teton National Park.

We met up with old friend Manon, Michael and their family whose franglais is a good balance for ours, with Mum speaking French and kids mostly speaking English. The kids were excited to be able to share nights in the tent, discover new games and especially to share Olivia’s special 3rd birthday with cake, balloons and taffeta!

Yellowstone lived up to its reputation as a top wildlife spotting destination with herds of bison everywhere, a bear eating a bison carcass, bald eagles, and even a grizzly cub running out onto the trail 3 metres behind Zoé which certainly got our adrenaline going – although our overconfident 7-yr-old was unphased…!

We hiked, Olivia adopted a new favourite Daddy to give piggy backs (thanks Michael!), we camped out in tents (well at least the N’dolos and kids did!), we cooked marshmallows, spun stories and reinvented the world around the campfire each night and it was great! Merci lots, and see you à bientôt Famille N’dolo!

Then it was on to Grand Teton National Park, where the jagged triangular peaks of the mountains make it quite easy to see how the park got its name from early French fur trappers travelling through. And, this time we shared the discovery with Nanny and Poppa who joined us with their big ‘Papa Bear Mobile’ – an all-American RV with TV, microwave, and more space than in ours - but it’s only for two! The timing was perfect though as our fridge stopped working on gas so as we wait for the parts to be delivered from France, we’re enjoying having their large fridge and freezer as back-up. If Florent and the kids had lost any weight in the first few weeks of simple meals and not much snacking, it’s all coming back on now with Nanny’s cooking, Poppa’s treats and Pippa’s aperitifs.

Grand Teton is relatively small and contained, compared to the immensity of Yellowstone, but the magnificent oversized mountains mirrored in the lakes were stunning. We saw a real-live cowboy shoot-out in the town square of Jackson Hole where the kids weren’t entirely sure if it was play or real…, and then a REAL LIVE Cowboy rodeo, where apart from a few other tourists like us, the public were all in their wranglers, studded belts and Stetsons. We saw poor wee calves being lassoo’ed and cowboys and cowgirls no older than max riding bucking bulls, and Max has been inspired for his future profession!

Our road will now take us to Salt Lake City to visit the Mormon mecca and celebrate another birthday, a decade birthday for Poppa where there should definitely be cake and balloons, but maybe less taffeta…

We hope the rentrée has gone well for everyone and we’re thinking of you! We have Internet connection and we still have our French phones, so send us some of your news!