Jackson Hole - Day 6

Today's activity was snowmobiling in Grand Teton National Park and it has been Rod and Peter's favorite part of the trip so far!  We were picked up from our hotel at 7:45 am.  The weather was a balmy 0 when they picked us up and according to our guide it was great that we had a "warm" day for the trip.

Our guide's name was Zane.  So right off this morning I couldn't help but think of Tori and Matt's best friend, Zane, who passed away a few weeks ago.  This guy was young and full of life and it certainly made my heart a little sad to think of Zane being taken too soon.  To say that I thought of him several times today would be an understatement.  (This is all of the sappy stuff I am writing in the post)

The drive to the park took about an hour and was stunningly beautiful.  We pulled over to take pictures of Grand Teton and also a bison that was rooting around looking for food.  Once we got there, we did a pre-check of our machines to check for damage, signed away all liability to the company, and got ready to go.  It was crazy.. for $25 we did buy optional collision coverage to cover the snowmobile but it still had a $1,000 deductible!  These machines were pretty cool.  By far the greatest feature was heated grips.  The worked so good, I couldn't even leave mine on high the entire time!

Our guide was a native Jacksonian.  His family has been here for five generations.  He knew his way around this park.  We went about 50 miles and had a top speed of 45 mph.  We had rented 3 snowmobiles.  Tina rode with Peter for the majority of the time (although she did drive for a little bit so she could see what it was like).  All of the trip had amazing views.

We started off on the groomed well traveled off road trails.  Since there seemed to be a lot of people out, we detoured to some less traveled trails.  These were single lane snowmobile trails that were challenging.  They included lots of turn, twists, bumps and hills - both down and up.  At one point we reached a field of about 3 feet of snow that he pulled over and let us just play and have fun on the snowmobiles.  After the field, as we were headed back, he took us on fresh power that did not have any tracks.  He even had to have a talk with us before taking off about counter balance and to "always lean up hill."  After the last stop, we took off across the valley heading back and we were let loose to make our own way.  This trip up and back down the mountain was totally untraveled and the guide was literally making his own trail.   It was crazy fast (about 45 mph), bumpy, and lots of fun.  We totally got our money's worth and it wasn't just a "canned" tour!

Jackson Hole - Day 5

Today was a much needed rest day!  Most of us got to sleep late - I am the exception that can't sleep.   I got up a little before 6 and sat in the hotel lobby reading my book and talking to people until everyone else got up between 8:30 and 9:00.  The outside temperature was -2 at 9:30.  Since it was so cold, we went ahead and just stayed in the room for a little bit.  Around lunch we went back to our favorite lunch place - The Liberty Burger.  This little place is great!  This is the 3rd time Peter and Tina have eaten there and the 2nd for Rod and I.

Next was lots of walking around town shopping.  We went in many shops that have really unique items with high price tags... we are leaving all of those things behind for any of you reading this with more disposable income than us :)  Tina and Peter have been wanting to go ice skating and today was the day for that.  The town square has a ice rink that has been being worked on and built while we have been here.  It is a small rink, but still plenty of room to slide along the wall.

After skating and shopping we headed back to chill, swim, and rest.  Dinner was at The Gun Barrel. This has been the best meal of the night.  Rod and Peter decided to order the venison bratwurst for an appetizer.  Then for dinner Rod got the elk chops and Peter got the mixed game grill.  The plan was for them to both share the elk chops, elk steak medallions, buffalo prime rib, and buffalo ribs.  Lets just say by the time that they shared.. neither touched much of their sides!  Both left with a full belly.  Tina and I stuck with beef!  Although Tina was adventurous and tried the elk and buffalo.

After waiting for the bus, we finally got back to the hotel around 9:45. Our hotel has warm cookies every night at 8:00 pm.  Tina and Peter have gone down every night to get them... well since we were going to be gone the man at the front desk saved us 7 cookies!  Made Tina's night to not miss the warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookies!  He even walked off before he gave her the cookies to get a cold glass of milk from her from the kitchen that was already closed :)

Okay, as I am sitting her typing this post... and I just heard "That is the boyfriend tax".... and that came from Peter when he told Tina that he drank some of her milk!

Now it is morning... I have decided that I hate my new ipad.  I am having picture problems and when I have moved the pictures from Tina's phone, Peter's phone, and the camera - I now have duplicate filenames.  I guess it is just the learning curve of me having an apple product.... but boy the frustration!  Anyways, here are the pictures I wanted to share last night.

Jackson Hole - Day 4

Dog Sledding... is today's activity!  Past experience had taught me that dog sledding was very popular during this time of the year.  So back in July, I called and tried to book our trip.  5 months prior to our trip they were already almost booked up and I had a choice of only 2 days that there were open spots!  We got booked and are excited.  This is the exact trip that Tori and Rod took 10 years ago.  It is a company owned by Frank Teasley who has actually completed the Alaskan Iditarod. He uses this company as a retirement for dogs that other sled teams retire.  When his dogs are no longer able to pull, he has a "retirement" pen that the dogs live out the rest of their lives.

The guides are all given approximately 22 dogs to care for.  They are responsible for 100% of their care, digging them out of their homes when there has been too much snow, fluffing their hay, putting new hay in the houses, fresh water and fresh food.  The dogs are fed 100% raw diet. The guides even can take dogs home at night.  Our guide talked about some of the dogs he was working with and would take them how to help build a bond with them.  Frank said that all he expected from his guides was for them to care for the dogs and to know what the dog is going to do before they did it!

We were picked up from the hotel at 8;15 and got to the kennels at about 9:00.  After signing waivers and getting on boots, we met our guide - David- and headed out.  Tina and Peter started out with Peter on the runners with the guide and Tina in the basket.  Rod and I were on our own sled with him on the back and me in the basket.

Heading to Granite Hot Springs was eventful.  The weather was cold - about 20. The forecast had been blowing wind of 40 mph and 18" of snow.  LUCKILY... the weatherman was WRONG.  It was not nearly that windy and the snowfall was no where near 18".  I started out being fairly warm and was pleasantly surprised at how well I did with my Raynaud's.  The sight seeing was beautiful!

About 1/2 way there, we were getting passed by some snowmobilers.  These are inexperienced people that have probably never been on a snowmobile before (which will be us on Friday..)  They passed Rod and I just fine, but when they got to Tina and Peter's sled, they tried to pass on the side where the snow was about 3 feet high.  The next thing Rod and I are watching them slowly start to roll right down on Tina and Peter's dogs.  The snowmobile missed the sled but grazed one of the dogs.  The guide said this had never happened and he was furious!  Luckily the dog was not injured.  Peter and David helped to lift the snowmobile back up and everyone was OK.  Tina said that the guide told them after it happened that if the dog would have been hurt, he would have punched the guy!

Once we arrived at the hot spring, it was NOT what I was expecting.  At this point I had gotten very cold and my hands and feet were in real pain.  I thought there was going to be a heated changing area where I could warm up... WRONG.  There was a changing room but there was no heat.  I had to sit in there for a long time trying to get my hands and feet to have blood flow again.  Rod, Tina, and Peter all changed and got into the hot spring but since my hands were so cold, I didn't get good pictures except for Rod because he stayed in there the longest.

After the hot spring, lunch was served and they had a small fire that became my life-savior.  I was able to finally get warm and blood flow back to all my fingers and toes. Lunch was some chili that Rod and Peter especially liked.  Warm drinks were provided that helped warm us up from the inside out.

The ride home was quicker because the dogs were headed home and knew dinner was going to be served.  However, the temperature dropped to about 10, the wind picked up some, and it was much colder.  We swapped sleds, so now Rod and I were with the guide.  Peter drove his and Tina's sled and I rode on the back with our guide.  Everyone got pretty cold, but especially the two in the baskets (Rod and Tina) because they were the wind breakers.  Our guide was nice enough to give me his gloves because they were warmer than mine and I did ok until the last hour.

All and all it was an amazing experience.  As a dog lover, I saw nothing that worried me about the care of these dogs.  They were happy, ready to go, wagging their tails, jumping to take off, etc.

Jackson Hole - day 3

 Today was our first day skiing at Teton Village. The morning was a crazy madhouse! But we managed to get on the slopes by about 10. Tina picked right up where she left off. Peter learned by trial and error 😀.  Rod took a few minutes to get his ski legs.  I took the bunny route and headed to ski school. The girls are the only ones that never fell today!

The weather did not cooperate for us today. It snowed all day and by the afternoon there was a winter storm advisory. We all got tired and cold on the slopes by mid afternoon. We don't have many good pics....but here is what we have:

Jackson Hole - day 2

Since today was originally a travel day we didn't have any activities planned. We had a good morning walking around shopping and enjoying the downtown.  Lunch was at a place called Liberty Burger and was really good.  After lunch we headed back to warm up. While we were chilling, Rod walked to the elk refuge. Dinner was at a place called the Bird.  Definitely an unusual place! Overall we had a great day just doing anything we wanted at a leisurely pace.

Christmas dinner in Jackson Hole

We finally made it to the hotel around 4. Waiting on the flight crew and the plane to be de-iced in Salt Lake city was a 3 hour delay sitting on the plane...luckily we had the movies to watch and the time went by quickly.

Finding a place for dinner was a challenge when we arrived. There were lots of people looking for a place to eat and very few places open. We did find a place after walking about 5 blocks. The meal was probably over priced but very tasty.  Peter enjoyed his meal the most!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

This year is very unusual. With the exception of Christmas 2009, I have hosted Christmas morning breakfast since 1995. This year is going to be different.....Rod and I promised Tina we would take her on any trip she wanted over the Christmas holidays. She remembered fondly a trip we took 10 years ago to Jackson Hole and that is where she wanted to go back to.  So we started planning. The plan was to fly out late on Christmas Day after my traditional breakfast. Three months ago Delta cancelled our flight and we had to change to the day after Christmas. That worked for me because we still had Christmas at home and plenty of time in Jackson hole.

Fast forward to three weeks ago - Delta called me again and said they would giv me a $500 voucher per person if we would move our flight to Christmas morning.. nope not happening I told them I couldn't.  

FOUR days ago....another call from Delta..now they are offering $1,000 voucher per person......hummmmmm.....this gave me pause. I realized at this point someone might be booted off the overbooked flight on Monday.....so I called to make sure Peter's parents were ok with it (yes...we are taking the boyfriend)  They said go for it! So the scramble began of moving our departure to Christmas morning for a 7:00 flight!

So Tori's first Christmas as a married woman she has picked up the torch that I threw to her. Mom, Dad, Mike, Christy, Granny, Aunt Sandra, Greg, Logan Tori, Matt, Wanda, and Israel - we missed having my favorite meal of the year with you!!!

I'm typing this as we are waiting in line behind 18 other planes waiting to de-ice in Salt Lake City. hoping we see Jackson hole in the next two hours.  Stay tuned for many blog posts over the next week as I keep the family and friends entertained with our adventures.  Until there here's our pics:

Waiting in Salt Lake City 

And some pics of the ones we left behind...