A wayside exhibit at a rest stop pointed out a historic landmark: the Kit Carson Carousel. We decided to go see it, but expected it to be run down and rotted. We were wrong! It was beautifully restored and is considered the "crown jewel of carousels". The animals are all hand carved and contain original oil paint. The best part is you can still purchase tickets to ride for a quarter.
We tried to go to Outback, Sweet Tomatoes, then Ruby Tuesday but since it was the Fourth of July nothing was open. We figured some of our darker brethren may be skipping the festivities and would surely be hungry. We had already eaten burritos for lunch, so we decided to search for an Indian restaurant. Eventually we found this gem. It was absolutely packed at 10:30 pm, which wasn't surprising considering the quality of the food.
After leaving Yellowstone, we headed back to our camp in Grand Teton. We both decided we like the scenery and the lack of tourists better in Grand Teton. We also saw more wildlife there, including a black bear. Although the bear looks small in the picture, it was only about 20 feet away. There are just some things you can't capture on a phone.
We camped two days in Grand Teton National Park and drove into Yellowstone for a day. Yellowstone had amazing geothermal features. We went to Old Faithful Geyser which erupts on average once an hour and spent some time at the Old Faithful Inn where Chris's mom worked when she was 19. We also saw great waterfalls, canyons, and the beautiful Yellowstone Lake.
Moab is a very red, rocky, and dusty place. We spent the day at Arches National Park where this rock has been formed into spectacular arches. You can see a lot from the road that travels through the park but some of the cooler arches require a short hike to see them. Our favorites are Pine Tree Arch, Landscape Arch, and Balanced Rock.
We camped in Telluride for two nights. We enjoyed the free gondola, downhill biking, and hikes to waterfalls.
