Jackson Day 7: A perfect send-off

Our last morning in Jackson

was gorgeous.

Mom and Dad got up a bit early

and headed out for one last walk/hike

through the neighborhood.

And look who they ran into:

Mama Moose!

And her calf!

In one of the yards

But wait!

They decided the grass looked greener

across the street...

so they bopped across right in front of them!

Mama proceeded to stare them down

as Mom and Dad slowly crossed the street behind them.

They said it was terrifying and super cool.

Sadly, that was the most exciting thing of the morning.

We packed up our bags

and headed to the airport...

where we were delayed for 3 or 4 hours.

Oh, well.

We aren't missing anything at home.

And once we got home,

we couldn't help but immediately put on our souvenir shirts

so that we felt a little closer to Jackson Hole.

Thanks, Mema and Pappo.

You can keep on spending our inheritance any day!

Jackson Day 6: 4x4 adventure

After a leisurely breakfast

and a run-in with the neighborhood moose,

we grabbed our gear

and hit the trails at the local elk refuge.

Our first trail was through Curtis Canyon

It was pretty fun.

There was a lot of driving

and Dad likes to drive FAST

We were a bit disappointed

that the smoke from the wildfires rolled back in

but the Tetons were still beautiful

Don't we look like trouble on wheels?

Because we are.

I mean, how can you not try to stir up some trouble

on a day like this?

We climbed to the top of the ridge

and stopped for some lunch at one of the campsites

Nothing like an ATV bed picnic!

We ate at one of the campsites.

There were all sorts of signs and warnings about

how you could only camp for 5 days out of 30 at any particular site

and that you had to rotate sites frequently because,

well, bears.

We were careful not to leave any scraps behind!

We also had to laugh--

out of all these endless trails and acres,

another group pulled up right next to us

and had lunch too.

Guess we looked friendly.

From our hilltop,

we had a great view of Gunsight Mountain.

See it?

There just to the right of midline?

Know why it's called Gunsight Mountain?

Because Captain Damn America,

King of Wyoming

says so.

A little inside joke.

It's actually called Sleeping Indian,

but we like Pappo's name better.

After lunch,

our new friends took a smokey Tetons picture for us

and a much-less-smokey

picture of Gunsight aka Sleeping Indian Mountain

Time to pack up

and head out

for our next trail

Wow, pictures don't do it justice.

Wyoming is so beautiful.

The second half of the trip

was along the Flat Creek

which had some lovely spots to hop out

and take some pictures

One for the Christmas card!

But better than stopping for a picture

is PLOWING through the creek

as hard and fast as we could

The video is awesome, but not bloggable.

The tidal wave come over the window guard,

over the ROOF even,

and soaked us all.

We all got a face-full of water

and probably a mouth full of giardiasis

(as Zach taught us is everywhere out here).

We don't care.

It was awesome.

We nailed it both ways.

We capped off this day

with another hot tub happy hour

and another awesome dinner

at one of Mema and Pappo's Jackson favorites,

The Blue Lion.

Sigh.

How can this be the last day?

We definitely lived every day to its fullest!

We need a vacation to recover from our vacation.

Jackson Day 5: The best places need a repeat

When you get up at dawn

to glide with the wind,

you have a whole day ahead of you 

that you'd better pack with some fun.

So after more of Jackson's best food

(Nora's Fish Creek pancakes this time),

we split up for a bit--

Mema and Pappo needed to "touch some stuff"

(aka shop)

and Mom and Dad hadn't had their fill of hiking.

So back to Grand Teton National Park we went.

Full disclosure--

there was a lot of grumbling about this.

I (Jack) wanted to mountain bike

and the rest of my brothers just didn't want to hike

(in hindsight, we were probably really tired.

It was a BUSY week!)

But Mom and Dad pushed

and we all persevered.

We planned to do Phelps Lake--

there's a great 4 mile loop

with a stop at a jump rock where you can

actually get in a swim.

But apparently, a hundred other people had the same plan

and we couldn't find a parking spot.

Boo.

So we drove around and eventually found...

A BEAR!

It was right outside our car.

There were Rangers everywhere

keeping people moving and keeping the bear safe

but whoa. 

Check another animal off our list!

We finally landed at Granite Canyon.

Everywhere is so beautiful out here.

Off we go!

It wasn't the most exciting hike,

but we eventually livened up

and played a good game of 

Would You Rather

and talked about

what we wanted to be when we grow up.

We were a mix of actors and businessmen.

We eventually came to Granite Creek

which was a nice place to stop for a snack

and a few pictures

Of course, a family selfie

Again,

gorgeous.

We had plans to meet Mema and Pappo

for Tee Time

so before long, we headed back

We didn't hike nearly as much as we would have liked

(or at least as much as Mom and Dad would have liked),

but that just leaves us plans for next trip

A day like this,

filled with flying and hiking,

calls for drinks back at the Deck

No smoke this time!

But Mom and Dad just couldn't sit still.

They set off up Rendezvous Mountain

on the Casper Loop Trail

for a little sightseeing.

Whoa.

This is worth the climb.

I came along too.

I was mesmerized.

Good thing about a 3rd wheel--

a photographer for Mom and Dad

The view from the front of the mountain was awesome

as was the view from the back!

We had dinner reservations

so we had to come down off the ridge

and maybe have one more drink

We headed in to town a bit early

to do a bit of shopping

and for Mom and Dad to make a quick stop

at the infamous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

There are silver dollars and brands on the bar

and saddles for barstools

and plenty of cold beer.

We found plenty of shops to explore.

Glad our bear today was smaller than this one.

The Local was our dinner stop tonight--

and turned out to be our favorite of the week!

And look what was across the street from our restaurant?

A trip to Jackson isn't complete

without a picture under the antler arch!

(And don't worry--no elk were harmed in the making of this

(or any of the other 10+) arches in Jackson.

Turns out, elk drop their antlers every season!

You just have to pick up a few thousand

to make this lovely photo-op!)