Blogs from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, United States, North America - page 6

Liz posting: After arriving in the Jackson area- actually url=http://maps.google.com/maps?q=4345+hoback+river+road,+jackson,+wy&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=4345+Hoback+River+Rd,+Jackson,+WY+83001&gl=us&ei=Zu_6SuOAEI_-nAeszqj4DA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA just south of Hoback Junction - we are finally settled in. The hard, windy drive from Colorado to Jackson was not that fun, but arriving to my aunt's house with glasses of wine and beer nearly poured for us was. Saturday was a really long, full day. We started by going to the Jackson Hole Ski Club's annual fundraiser- the Ski Swap. The swap features all gear related to skiing. Mark and I scored! We were each able to buy a pair of ski pants, ski boots, skis, $2 dollar t shirts, and a number of warm jackets for a low, low price. In fac... read more

We made our last drive through Yellowstone towards the south entrance. The temp this morning was 55 F and consequently all the springs and geysers were steaming heavily. I was thankful that I was able to photograph so many of them yesterday when the air was warm and the steam was minimal. This is Sunday and there are not nearly as many people in the park as there were yesterday. The road to the south entrance is one that we had traveled 4 years ago when we crossed the Continental Divide to see the Tetons. On that occasion it was snowing but today the temp was in the 50's and the forests were green. At one overlook further into the forest, there was an interesting story board about the terrible 1988 fires in Yellowstone. Many fires ... read more

So even though the art fair was a bust we got a lot of comments about how folks loved the fact that we are taking off for a year in Ruby G. Added to the comments from friends and family, there are a lot of people living vicariously through us. Pressure? Nah. It is fun and validating to have others see our adventure as a worthy endeavor. We believe in it. How nice to have others feel the same way. What is especially rewarding is having our teacher friends talk about the end of summer coming and the return of kids in the classroom. We remember that world vividly. While there is a pang of regret that I won't be returning this year, the pang doesn't last very long as the road stretches out ahead. We ... read more

We made it to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with nary a problem. Our first stop was in Kansas where we spent the night in the Walmart parking lot. They encourage such practice. Sleeping with the devil you know. How ironic. Next we stopped half way through the state and saw our friends Michael, Gloria and Zac Baurmeister who were headed back to St. Louis from the Boulder art fair. It was good to see them and play gadget tag while we pinpointed our rendezvous. A "gadget" is Michael's name for an iPhone. And what a gadget it is. Ours has proven to be very helpful in terms of finding Walmart parking lots to knowing the weather to getting all sorts of communication. Next we headed for Pocatello, Idaho and Melisse's brother John. As always, he greeted us ... read more

We left Mt. Rushmore yesterday only after a terrific helicopter flight over Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse where we saw buffalo. We also did the Alpine Slide there too. Then we ate at Peggy's Place for breakfast and then drove to Devil's Tower, WY where they filmed Close Encounters of the Third Kind. We rode funky lowrider 3 wheelers at the KOA there and checked into our cabin and then a fascinating local rock climbing instructor, musician/ bed and breakfast inkeeper gave us a terrific tour of his private property at the base of the tower where he takes folks climbing to the top daily. We ate dinner at the KOA. It rained all night and the next day we rode horses around Devil's Tower which was great even though it rained. We saw a mother ... read more