Me and You and a Dog Named Boo: Part 1-Grand Teton National Park, September 2016

Well, our trip to the Grand Tetons began with a little drama, as many of our trips do. Jim checked all the tires on Maxine and found most of them very low-again! And, of course, it was Labor Day and we couldn't get into our tire place. So, since we were leaving on Tuesday, we got up early, finished packing up Maxine and went to Discount Tire, where we had bought all new tires recently. It turned out that the extenders were causing leaks in the tires. They (of course, according to Cunningham's law) did not sell extenders but suggested that we just take off the hub caps which would enable us to fill the tires, if they were low. So, that's what we did and had no more problems with Maxine. We replaced the extenders when we got home.

So, off we went, taking off late (around noon) and headed north to I-80 to Rawlins and turned onto Route 287 towards Lander, where we planned to spend the night. The Pojo Agie in Lander is a phenomenal place we visited the last time we were in the area and wanted to visit again. Well, the young man below, Highway Patrolman, J. Jurca, foiled that plan. He stopped us soon after we left Rawlins and said that we "looked like an accident ready to happen." It was very windy and we were towing our CRV and it apparently looked as bad as it felt. We were thoroughly grateful that he stopped us; told us that we'd never make it to Lander, nor to Green Mountain (closer). He suggested a spot about 10 miles ahead and followed us there to make sure we survived.

Our Good Samaritan-is he adorable, or what!?!

So, this was the place. Once a thriving community of 100 (now a population

of seven)-Lamont, Wyoming. This is the once infamous, Annalope Cafe.

It had been closed and shuttered for years and was now a real eyesore,

but a saving grace for us.

Quite something, isn't it?!

To add even more drama to our first day on the road, this

picture was taken by Matt, who is the owner of the

property. He had quite a story to tell-he was abandoned

by his mother on the doorstep of the little house next door

and was raised by his Grandparents. Apparently, his

Grandpa was quite well known around these parts for

his knowledge about the oil fields. Matt is 23 years old;

was chewing and spitting tobacco, let us know that he

was a Hillary hater and a fighter who loved his guns,

was downing beers and very leery of us. It took about

2 minutes for the silver-tongued devil (Jimbo) to convince

him of our plight and good will-THANK GOD!

I would have loved to have stopped here in
its hay day.

We left early with Jim in the driver's seat (I drove 3 1/2 hrs
yesterday-I am no slouch).
We passed some beautiful scenery.

This was our first view of the Tetons-doesn't it look like
a painting? This was at Togwotee Pass. It suddenly wasn't
summer any more.

We can't wait to get there.

This was our view as we crossed over the Jackson Lake dam.

We had decided to stay in the National Park as we had some friends, Tom and Kathleen Thorpe, who were going to meet us later and they had elected to stay in a lodge, instead of braving the elements, like us die hard campers (an excellent decision on their part, as their camper had no heater.) We decided to try Signal Mountain Campground that was near Jackson Lake Lodge, where they ended up staying.

Because we were late getting in, we had a hard time finding a place. They

had a handicapped site that we could have for the night but it was too small

for Maxi Maxine. The other was very boring-no view. The one left was the

only one that had a full hookup and it was EXPENSIVE! $59 a night for

electric, water and sewer. Usually a senior pass gives you half off for camping

but not here-we only got a $12 discount. We took it-a real splurge for us as

we usually like paying only $5-10/night. We had this view and a very private

location. We rationalized it somehow, after all, our friends were spending over

$300 a night.

We set up our chairs, poured a few cocktails and enjoyed
the view!

This view (we are on Jackson Lake) was only a few
hundred yards from our campsite.

Not too shabby! We came down to the picnic tables
often. It is wonderful to be here when it is not
crowded, if a little chillier than we would prefer.

Pretty cool sunsets over the Tetons
That's Mt. Moran in the distance.

We slept very well that first night, having been a little nervous about the car, Maxine and finding camp spots. We decided, that since there was a wildfire north of us, we would drive up to check it out after a late breakfast. We met some firefighters who showed us a map of the fire. It's called the Berry Fire. In recent years, the forest service and national parks have come to recognize the importance of the natural role of fire in rejuvenating the forest. They have been controlling it but letting it burn, unless it threatens livestock or structures. They showed us a map (below) where the progression of the fire in a day is in orange and the areas where it is yellow has already burned.

This is the staging area for firefighters

Below are several pictures of parts of the fire that we could see from the road.

We stopped at Leek's Marina on the way back and hardly noticed the fires, although they were only a few miles away.

Leek's Marina

Then we decided to check out Jackson Lake Lodge to see if they had a dog-friendly patio-and to our amazement, they did!

Complete with fireplace

And, one heck of a view!

Someone was very anxious to catch up with his mail and
the news! Wifi was weak, but available.

The next day, since Jim was taking care of "family business" and Boo was not allowed at the Lawrance Rockefeller Preserve, I went by myself. (Jim went later with Tom and Kathleen.)

Love this view driving south.

So close to Mt. Moran-amazing how these mountains just
pop up from the valley floor, no foothills!

Sagebrush and mountains-what could thrill me more?
Oh, not much-but the ocean is right up there.

Amazing!

Jenny Lake

The Laurance (spellcheck keeps changing one of the a's to an e) S. Rockefeller Preserve is one of the most beautiful and inspiring places I have ever been. It is in the Park, only about 15 minutes from our campground. Mr. Rockefeller believed in a balance managing natural areas between preservation and public use. The Preserve is a model of environmental stewardship and has been awarded the Platinum LEED Certification, the highest level in environmental design. He bequeathed the Preserve to the Park when he died in 2004.