We returned on Aug 23 from Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Even though I had not seen it posted, there was a 30-45 minute delay due to road construction between the Yellowstone South Gate and Grand Teton entrance. The East Gate is closed between 8:00PM and 8:00AM with some delays during the day, so plan accordingly if you are making this trip. This is a major road repair program which looked to me as if it would last several months.

Thanks, evelyntrav. I think the estimate I got from Signal Mtn included a 30 minute construction but we may be lucky as we are leaving on a Saturday morning and the NPS website says the construction between YNP & Grand Teton is Monday-Friday. But you can bet I'll check that out there.

We drove this part of the road on a weekend. Even though there was no active construction happening at the time, the road is only one shared lane so there was still a delay.

Signal Mt Lodge was fine and food was pretty good compared to what we experienced within Yellowstone.

I don't want to alarm you, but we had field mice in our cabin. Since the evenings are getting cooler, these little ones are seeking warmer places. There were two animal-friendly traps in the cabin and I had to call reception twice in the middle of the night to empty them as the scratching noise was disturbing. The second night, we left our cooler in the car and we did not have a problem. We also closed our suitcases as we didn't want to take any home with us. I hope this doesn't upset you as it is not meant to be discomforting. Just want you to be warned beforehand so you can take some precautions. Knowing this, we still were able to sleep just fine.

Thanks for the info about both the road and the mice. We're in a lakefront retreat on the top floor so maybe we won't be as prone to the mice, but I've had them in my living space before. We'll be sure to be careful with the food and the luggage. Where did you eat in Yellowstone--we're staying at the Lake Hotel and have reservations for dinner there--hoping for decent but not gourmet food.

Ruth
We had dinner at the Lake Hotel and really enjoyed it. We also enjoyed our dinner at Old Faithful Inn. As you say, not gourmet but good.

We had 2 dinners at the Old Faithful Lodge and one in the Mammoth Dining Room. These are very large dining rooms and rather impersonal. The food was uninspired and tasted "institutional" to us. The eggs were reconstituted powdered eggs and the bacon was burnt. We did complete the restaurant evaluation cards at each meal. The dining menu and quality at Signal Mtn was far better. That being said, you don't have much choice and I would eat within the parks again as the convenience makes up for it. We didn't go to the parks for gourmet food so the impact on our great pleasure was minimal.

However, I do suggest you have a cooler so that you can have some healthy picnics during the afternoon. We purchased items on the way to the parks, yet some of the park centers do have a small selection of foods in the food stores. We had an insulated, collapsible cooler packed with cherry tomatoes, carrots, cheese, fruit. There is free ice in all the hotels.

We are bringing a cooler to take water, lunch and other snacks with us. Also have a kitchen at Signal Mtn so that we can cook--of course, I don't know what will be available to buy to cook. But at a minimum we should be able to get eggs for breakfast. That's quite disappointing about the powdered eggs in YNP. Thanks, CD, for the report on the Lake Hotel dining room.