Last Day in Jackson

It is wet today, but that’s great for the plants trying to get their last swallows in before summer — and we will be doing some more driving around and shopping to finish up the visit.  For those looking for things to do in and around Jackson, WY, here are our top picks:

• At least one evening at the Bar-J Chuckwagon with Scott, Bryan, Donnie, Danny, and Tim.  They know how to put on a great show and totally wrap the audience into the experience — plus they serve a great steak dinner.
  www.barjchuckwagon.com
• Try not to miss the annual Memorial Weekend events: great parade with lots of horses for the kids (where we’ve seen it snow) and Mountain Man activities.
• Bring your bikes (or rent some).  Whether you are a seasoned biker or like us, there are wonderful places to bike “out in nature.”
• Take drives out to hunt for wildlife – we like to head to Kelly where we often find buffalo and elk.
• Drive at least once from Teton Village north along the edge of the Tetons into the park.  Keep an eye out for moose in the wet areas or along the river.
• Visit the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center about 12 miles north of Jackson.
• Stop in at Bubba’s for breakfast or later in the day for some pulled pork!
• Walk the downtown area. Yes, the shops are touristy — but this is the place to gaze at absolutely fantastic art and sculptures and to find some awesome western decor for your home or clothing.
• At least one early morning, drive south to Alpine, Wyoming – along the Snake River – and drop in to the Coffee Cabin for your lattes (or whatever) — a visit — and a meal that you’ll not forget.
• Visit and walk around Jenny Lake… even take the boat ride and hike up the trails up to the falls.
• Try geocaching in the area.
• Make one trip into Yellowstone Park.

Lions & Tigers & Bears – Oh My!

Well, this morning we got up early to drive to Yellowstone Park hoping that the weather would be lovely – it wasn’t – but we took off anyway.   Rather a gloomy day — and not an animal in site (other than the other two legged ones in their cars).  We got to see Old Faithful burst forth twice, and had fun walking around in the cool weather before we started back towards Jackson — rather disappointed.

As the backseat was getting a nice nap in the warm car – we were awakened by bumps in the road and seeing a bunch of cars stacked up along the side of the road — a sure indication that some animal was unfortunate enough to be spotted.  Sure enough! To my total delight — there were two black bears — momma and last year’s cub — grazing on a grassy hillside.  Grabbing the cameras, we joined the rest of the parked cars and snapped a lot of pics – since the bears were far more interested in eating than in fending off the spectators.

You can see how brown Momma is — and how black the cub is.  That was the best thing ever!!  I have real bear photos in my camera … I can now go home a happy tourist.

We stopped at Signal Mountain for dinner – still talking about the bears … and then decided to do a little geocaching on our way home — confident that our adventure was coming to an end.

Our first search was for the Teton Cache… we headed east on a familiar road – and then took off on a dirt road — bouncing along – watching the clouds dumping on top of the Tetons.  So we’re getting close — the GPS unit says we’re 441 feet away from our goal… as we’re all looking up the hill searching for a path…. all of a sudden we realized that we were not alone…

OH my — our very own private MOOSE literally just a few feet away from the side of the car!!!  We must have looked crazy to that sweet patient animal as we’re throwing down our GPS equipment and grabbing cameras – being anything but quiet!  Anyway, OUR MOOSE waited patiently so that he could pose for some great photos.

By now, as you all know I’ve now totally declared June 3, 2010 — one of the best tourist days ever!!  We’ve got bear pics — and moose pics (OUR OWN MOOSE – no other tourist for miles and miles).  Filled with excitement, we parked the car in search of the cache only 441 feet away — did I mention that was up hill 441 feet?  Sure enough, there are 3 grownups climbing a hill dodging the aspen and sage brush and fallen trees with our GPS units in hand (along with my camera).  Up up up up up left right up up up …. finally we’re to the top of the hill and sure enough “The Te Ton Cache” was there for us to find.  A few pics and it’s time to head back to the car.

Car?  The one that’s down at the bottom of the hill that we just climbed?  Oh, oh … that was not good planning.  Ken suggested that Sandy and I walk the long long long ridge down the hill and that he’d go down the way we came up and move the car so that we’d have an easier decent.  Maybe easier — but not shorter by any stretch of the imagination – as you can sort of guess from this pic taken maybe 1/3rd of the way down the hill.

Well, with few bumps and bruises we made it down to the car …. totally exhausted from the afternoons excitement and hikes.  On the way home we spotted some antelope … and oh yes, some buffalo.

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grabbed a few more caches … and collapsed into our room.  What a day!! and what a night’s sleep remembering our day of bears, moose, antelope, buffalo … and great company!

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Without a doubt, this is our favorite place to visit and play.  Our very comfy rooms are nestled along the side of the Grand Tetons — and this week there’s still a lot of snow on the mountain tops around the Jackson Hole valley — thus at night we get a cool breeze gently blowing in through the porch doors.    Today we did some sightseeing (deer, osprey, antelope, buffalo, and elk), shopping, more shopping, dinner with Grant and Kristen, and then enjoyed an evening of games.

Delightful Collectibles

Right after getting home from the lovely Palouse Country, we finally took the plunge to get serious about selling the wonderful items that we’ve been collecting.  So we spent the days we had at home — getting ready for the opening our mall store in Robin & Wren, in Portland, Oregon.  Here’s a picture of part of our items ready for the opening on June 7th.

We also have a website:  www.delightfulcollectibles.com

We’re specializing in a variety of interesting collectibles:  pretty stuff like glassware, silver serving pieces and silverware, special plates and porcelain items; and also along the way, we’ve gathered some wonderful beer steins; and collectibles cars, trucks and airplanes.  We’ve definitely got something for just about anyone.  We’re now turning into real shop-a-holics — with needing to find great items for the store.

Pullman & Moscow

Last weekend we visited the Palouse Country – ( Pullman, WA / Moscow ID ) – and attended the Division V contest.  Had the privilege of meeting some men that I’d been doing some website work for — and again, Sandy and I managed to fit in some heavy antique/collectible shopping in the area.

Here’s a picture of the Palouse Harmony Chorus.  They’ve been together for 3 years (at this point) and hosted the very successful contest.  They look a little worn out … and rightly so — they were!

Also, here’s a picture of the lovely countryside … rolling rolling green hills — that gentle waved in the wind.

Canmore & Banff

We stayed in Canmore for a week (following the trip from Edmonton).  We did a lot of sightseeing … and geocaching.  (Sandy’s a natural at geocaching.)  We did visit the Ammonite Factory in Canmore, and had a chance to talk with the owner, Richard Morgan, who just happened to be in the shop that morning.  Ammonite is a very colorful rare gem — and it’s as thin as a piece of paper.

We also visited Banff and Lake Louise (still frozen in late May).  Here’s two pictures taken near Banff.

Edmonton & Jasper

We’ve been on a whirlwind set of trips.  Three weekends ago, we were up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, enjoying the Division III men’s barbershop convention/contest.  The Show of Champions was almost a total sell-out.  The three of us (Sandy came along) had a great time — and we even got some shopping in.

After the weekend was over, we drove over to Jasper — across wide open spaces.  As we neared Jasper, we spotted a fantastic elk with his velvet antlers.

After enjoying lunch and shopping in Jasper (lunch at the Jasper Brewing Co) we did a little geocaching in Jasper and as we headed south through the icefields.

Hello world!

Well, this is the start of an interesting journey. 

We love to travel and explore the wonderful world around us… and we love to explore the new worlds of technology that connect people.  I hope you enjoy this history of our travels from the past and into the future.