North American Wild West: Part V Idaho & Wyoming

We crossed the border from Montana into Idaho marking my 43rd state to have the good fortune to visit. It was a good topic of conversation among our group, “How many states have you visited?” Mama G is the only one to have been to all 50 states.

It was rainy and cold as we drove to Idaho Falls, which is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, and the state’s largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area, with a population of 61,000. Hugging the Snake River, the Greenbelt is a system of trails with parks and a waterfall. The riverside Art Museum of Eastern Idaho showcases eclectic works. Downtown’s Museum of Idaho has local-history exhibits, including items linked to the Lewis and Clark expedition and a re-created 1800s town.

Again, we parked the coach, booked hotel rooms and rented a minivan to explore nearby Grand Tetons National Park and the iconic Jackson Hole. About 90 miles from Idaho Falls, Grand Teton National Park is located in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres (480 sq mi) the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole.

Jackson is a town in Wyoming’s Jackson Hole valley, home to three ski areas: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Snow King Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee Resort. The Town Square features arches made of shed antlers from the nearby National Elk Refuge. The National Museum of Wildlife Art has works by Andy Warhol and Georgia O’Keeffe. 

It seems fitting that Jackson Hole is where pioneers sought new adventures just as we’ve been doing on our epic journey through the North American Wild West. I’ve wanted to visit Jackson Hole since I first heard about it when I was a little boy and my dad would come back with countless stories of his hunting trips “out west” with my Uncle George and Grandpa Pete in the Winnebago. One Christmas we fantasized about planning a family trip there together which unfortunately never panned out.

Just outside of town, the National Elk Refuge was created in 1912 to protect habitat and provide sanctuary for one of the largest elk herds on the planet. A total of 24,700 acres, the refuge is home to an average of 7,500 elk each winter. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

We enjoyed dinner at the iconic Jackson Hole restaurant, Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse. In December 2015, Chef Paulie O’Connor took over management of the place. In keeping with the longstanding traditions and Western vibe of the restaurant, located beneath the legendary Million Dollar Cowboy Bar (featuring horse saddles for barstools), Paulie modernized the menu, incorporating some of his signature, handcrafted specialties like pastas, cheeses, breads, house-cured meats and sausages.

The new Jackson Hole Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse menu focuses on a carefully curated selection of meats including dry-aged and Wagyu beef sourced from the best local and regional farms. I devoured the most perfectly cooked and scrumptious filet of the entire trip.

The long and winding drive home in the dark was punctuated with scary deer sightings on the side of the road. The gorgeous Wyoming night sky was illuminated by the stars and moon, which reflected magically on the Snake River. There was lightning in the distance and we even saw a shooting star.

Our cousins, Cheryl Iseri, and her son, Michael, drove four hours from Boise and we enjoyed lunch with them at the outstanding Teton House Restaurant in the town of Blackfoot, Idaho, which they found for us.

The restaurant we dined in is the second location. The original resides in one of Idaho’s historical landmarks, the Menan Bank, built in the early 1900’s in the town of Menan. The American steakhouse and NW cuisine direction featured at both locations is all part of the plan to make Teton House a destination eatery for people from around the region, as well as the stopping place for travelers to Tetons, Yellowstone and other landmarks and close by destinations.

Everyone loved the Brussels sprout petals, which were flash fried and tossed with truffle oil and sea salt. Mike had the Teton Chicken and Cheryl had the special, which also featured the Teton chicken but was served in a pineapple bowl, which made for a beautiful presentation, with bacon and spicy Thai sauce. Halibut, shrimp and cod are also offered. They make the most delicious hand-cut French fries and quite possibly the best burger I’ve ever tasted—served on a ciabatta roll.

Speaking of spuds, we visited the Idaho Potato Museum after lunch. You’ll be intrigued as you stroll through the historic building in downtown Blackfoot which was built in 1912.

Once a bustling flurry of activity, the stone depot represents significant ties between the railroad and the potato industry. The Potato Museum provides information on potato history, the growing and harvesting process, nutrition, trivia and educational potato facts.

We enjoyed visiting with family and taking in more of the breathtaking scenery of the Wild West. The next, and final, destination on our epic journey will be Salt Lake City where we will see some more relatives and visit Bryce Canyon.