​On the way out of the campground we stopped at the Visitor Center, which was a remarkably rich experience. First, the ranger explained the "massacre", which was really a running two-day battle, in which 10 settlers were killed. There is reason to believe the attack was planned by a couple of white men, who enlisted some rogue Shoshone warriors to help him rob a weathly man who, during a poker game at Fort Hall, had been bragging about the wad of cash he was carrying in his wagon.

The visitor center had a replica of a covered wagon stocked with sacks of flour, sugar and coffee. Displays included copies of emmigrants journals, a typical list of supplies stocked for a party of four on the trail, mastadon bones and taxidermy. Near the park is a monument called "Register Rock", where emmigrants carved their names during their transit. There was a $7 admission to see the rock. Having seen pictures of the graffiti, coupled with the fact that we were pulling the trailer, we decided to skip the park.

We did stop at Shoshone Falls - the "Niagra of the West". It was well worth it. The 900-foot wide falls in the Snake River canyon drop more than 200 feet through the basalt. We got some great pictures

Shortly after leaving the falls, we had some brief rain showers. We had a lot of gusty cross winds as we appraoched Boise.  Our destination was a private driveway up the Boise river canyon from Lucky Peak Dam, which we booked through Boondockers Welcomed as there were no campsites available in Boise. The owners, who own a Class A motorhome they had recently taken to Alaska. We were about 17 miles from downtown Boise, but were pleased to find any spot at all in the area.

Boise has a lively downtown with lots of outdoor cafes. We had a delicious sushi dinner near a central pedestrian courtyard. Then we made our way to a historic brick-walled tavern where a foursome played swing tunes from the 40s and 50s. The "FrimFramFour" band members were dressed in white jackets with black bow ties. The bar was packed and many couples were dancing West Coast Swing. Angie and I represented our East Coast Swing (jitterbug) moves to one song.

​We woke to cloudy skies again making it a good day to leave Jackson. We climbed over the steep Teton pass and crossed into Idaho. The weather improved on the other side of the mountain and we began noticing green potato fields. The camp host at Jackson Lake blamed Idaho irrigation for the low water levels in the lake.

As we crossed Idaho, it got drier. We were soon into sagebrush and juniper trees. We passed the Shoshone reservation at Fort Hall and soon arrived at the campgroud at Massacre Rocks State Park, near the intersection of the Oregon and California trails. Once again, Angie had reserved one of the best sites in the campground. We parked on a hill overlooking a bend in the Snake River. There were two islands in the river and a sheer, high canyon wall on the far shore.

We walked down the hill to a shore access in a back eddy where the dogs had a great swim. We set up our camp chairs around the fire ring, where the view was best. Hank laughed at Angie when her chair tipped over sideways on the uneven ground. After dinner we built a big fire and waited for the stars to come out.

We saw the dippers and Draco and Cepheus. As Hank leaned back in his chair looking for Casseopea, his chair fell over backwards and he hit his head on the picnic table bench. Karma. No serious harm done.

​We woke up to a bit of rain, which made it a good morning to go to a yoga class. We hadn't done yoga since crossing the Mississippi River. Our stiff and cramped muscles were crying for some good stretching and exertion. We found a Vinyasa class in Jackson. It was expensive, but restorative. Afterwards were relaxed and energized, basking in the afterglow as we had coffee and a breakfast burrito at an outdoor table and the skies had cleared a bit while we were in class.

Although the dogs weren't allowed in any park we saw in Jackson, we were able to find a field adjacent to a hotel parking lot where we could play fetch with the dogs. We ran their butts ragged and they were delighted. A tired border collie is a happy border collie.

We were contemplating a bike ride along the multi-use trail from Jackson to Lake Jenny, but clouds moved in again. So we hunkered down in the trailer to catch up on the blog, while waiting for clear skies before driving to an overlook above the Snake River where Ansel Adams had photograhed the Tetons.  We only got partial clearing, so we headed back into town to give the dogs more exercise and to grab an early dinner at the Silver Dollar Saloon. We had to rush through the end of our meal as we noticed a thunderstorm moving in fast. There was some some very dramatic lighting over the sagebrush on the drive home causing our poor dogs to hunkered down in fright.

​The dogs tried to wake up Hank at 4 a.m., but he held out, snug under the covers until the 5 AM alarm sounded. By 5:30 we were in the car on our way back to Jenny Lake to catch the sunrise.

We were not disappointed. The proximity to the mountains reduced the effect of the smoky haze from the California wildfires. The morning sun was like a soft spotlight on the peaks. Please enjoy some of Angie's amazing photos below. We saw five elk - three cows and a couple of calves - crossing the road in front of us on our way to the lake.

Hank had to pay $5 for a shower, but the space and ample hot water were luxurious. We enjoyed a leisurely morning before taking a short drive to our next campsite. The smoke was a bit worse on this day, making it a bit easier for us to tear ourselves away from Coulter Village. 

Our home for the next two nights was a campground in a forest oasis on the bank of the Gros Ventre River surrounded by a sea of sagebrush. We were pleased to see we could continue to enjoy views of the Tetons, though they are a bit more distant. However, our campground lacked hook-ups or any of the other remarkable amenities of Coulter Village.

Our dogs have enjoyed as many as three workouts a day at some stops along our journey. But due to restrictions on pets in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, that was reduced to one (two if you count long walks). So, as you can imagine, they were restless to burn off some energy. Angie found a lake in a national forest a few miles up a gravel road from our campsite. National Forest rules are much less restrictive regarding dogs. The dogs had a blast swimming in the cool water on this 87-degree day. Charlie, who seems more otter than dog, swam her butt off. We saw a couple of large elk bucks along the road on the way home.

We found a dog friendly restaurant at the bottom of the slopes at Snow King in the town of Jackson, Wyoming. We had a delicious dinner of roasted brussels sprouts and steak salad. We enjoyed walking through town, just narrowly missing a gun fight re-enactment near the town square. We were surprised to see that most of the parks in town don't allow dogs. What a stark contrast to Buffalo, WY, and Deadwood, SD, where you could take dogs into the restaurant with you.