Day 35 (Wednesday 7/25/12)- Yellowstone, WY

We woke up early this morning and drove from one free campsite to another, this one actually within the Grand Tetons National Park. The free campground is made up of 14 "primitive" sites (I use quotations as the only thing primitive about them was a lack of a water spout, otherwise it was the cleanest smelling National Park toilet yet) that are fiercely competitive, but we had the good fortune to find a great spot.

We spent the morning and some of the afternoon relaxing, eventually setting up our tent and then deciding to head out into Yellowstone. I should mention that the Grand Tetons National Park boarders Yellowstone National Park and the campground is pretty close to the border between both. We first drove to the Grant Village Visitor's Center and saw a ranger talk regarding the park's wildlife like bull moose and elk, pronghorns, big horned sheep etc. We drove a little further along and then decided to do something spontaneous.

Justin Townes Earle, the son of legend Steve Earle was playing a free concert in Jackson that night. Around 3:30p we got a wild hair and drove the 77 miles to Jackson to see the concert and also do a much needed stocking up of supplies. The opening band played for an obnoxiously long 2 hours before Justin finally came to the stage, but it was well worth the wait. Justin is an incredibly talented musician, with a funny and unique stage presence and was a great joy to watch perform. (Though it was odd to watch basically a small club acoustic show outdoors before a large and drunk and vocal Jackson crowd).  We regrettably had to leave before the concert finished and still didn't make it back to the campground until 11:30p.

Justin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf9lvU8_JUo


If you have any interest in folk country check out
Steve Earle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rlskql46Tg

and Justin's namesake- Townes Van Zandt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JGc2CvM0EQ

Justin Townes Earle

View at dusk