DAY four we wake up groggy eyed. It is really early as we prepare to leave Denver. While leaving the city you can see the vista of the downtown on one side and the snow-capped Rockies on the other side. We left so super early that there were hardly any cars on the road yet.
Once you leave the city borders of Denver and go towards Wyoming the scenary changes at every bend and it is truly breathtaking or as people in this generation likes to refer to it "instagram worthy".
For once we did have a destination. Teton National Park. We debated going to YellowStone National Park but then later decided that YellowStone will have to be a trip by itself. Wyoming is empty. When I say empty. I mean EMPTY. There is nothing anywhere around. Unlike the east coast there are no rest stops after every 30 mins. It is just wilderness. Raw and beautiful.
Finally after driving for hours we came across an almost broken gas station. But there were atleast 50 cars there. It looked like it was the only gas station for miles. As I entered the gas station, I saw on the left that there was a tiny designated room marked "PRAYER HALL / GURUDWARA". Surely enough that gas station in the middle of nowhere WYOMING was owned and operated by a Sikh family. Along with the regular chips and sodas and candies they were also making " Aloo Paratha" in a corner. I was the only other Indian and I went upto them and asked them if I could buy one. They informed me that was for the family and not for sale. Seeing my dejected and hungry glances they just offered me one and said no payment was necessary. I was touched with their gesture. After that I went to use the restroom. I wish their compassion extended to the other guests using their facilities and they step up and clean the restrooms.
After a brunch of " Aloo Paratha" we were on our way again. We were driving at 100 miles an hour. And our windshield ended up being responsible for a million bug deaths. The white spots you see are not meteors, but bug guts.
The Grand Teton National Park is a national park(BIG SURPRISE) and the two major peaks are Teton Range and Jackson Hole. Words are not enough to describe this place in the middle of true cowboy country. It is pure, untouched, virgin. This is where peace lives. Nothing bad can ever happen here. It is where you fall silent and drink in the the grandness that nature has to offer. The few snaps in this blog does not do any justice to this place. We also got to see wild animals including wild buffaloes, deers, foxes and a moose.
We decided to have dinner at Jackson Hole town. It is the tourist spot and gentrified to appease the tourists and cater to them, what they would expect a cowboy town to look like. Although, I did have the best grilled salmon I have had ever in my life here.
When we left Jackson Hole we still had daytime. (Thank God for Summer). Then, however from nowhere a bunch of dark rainy clouds started floating in and covering up everything.
We were soon caught up in a crazy thunderstorm and had to make a stop for the night adding one more extra day to our epic road trip.
Once you leave the city borders of Denver and go towards Wyoming the scenary changes at every bend and it is truly breathtaking or as people in this generation likes to refer to it "instagram worthy".
For once we did have a destination. Teton National Park. We debated going to YellowStone National Park but then later decided that YellowStone will have to be a trip by itself. Wyoming is empty. When I say empty. I mean EMPTY. There is nothing anywhere around. Unlike the east coast there are no rest stops after every 30 mins. It is just wilderness. Raw and beautiful.
Finally after driving for hours we came across an almost broken gas station. But there were atleast 50 cars there. It looked like it was the only gas station for miles. As I entered the gas station, I saw on the left that there was a tiny designated room marked "PRAYER HALL / GURUDWARA". Surely enough that gas station in the middle of nowhere WYOMING was owned and operated by a Sikh family. Along with the regular chips and sodas and candies they were also making " Aloo Paratha" in a corner. I was the only other Indian and I went upto them and asked them if I could buy one. They informed me that was for the family and not for sale. Seeing my dejected and hungry glances they just offered me one and said no payment was necessary. I was touched with their gesture. After that I went to use the restroom. I wish their compassion extended to the other guests using their facilities and they step up and clean the restrooms.
After a brunch of " Aloo Paratha" we were on our way again. We were driving at 100 miles an hour. And our windshield ended up being responsible for a million bug deaths. The white spots you see are not meteors, but bug guts.
The Grand Teton National Park is a national park(BIG SURPRISE) and the two major peaks are Teton Range and Jackson Hole. Words are not enough to describe this place in the middle of true cowboy country. It is pure, untouched, virgin. This is where peace lives. Nothing bad can ever happen here. It is where you fall silent and drink in the the grandness that nature has to offer. The few snaps in this blog does not do any justice to this place. We also got to see wild animals including wild buffaloes, deers, foxes and a moose.
We decided to have dinner at Jackson Hole town. It is the tourist spot and gentrified to appease the tourists and cater to them, what they would expect a cowboy town to look like. Although, I did have the best grilled salmon I have had ever in my life here.
When we left Jackson Hole we still had daytime. (Thank God for Summer). Then, however from nowhere a bunch of dark rainy clouds started floating in and covering up everything.
We were soon caught up in a crazy thunderstorm and had to make a stop for the night adding one more extra day to our epic road trip.
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