We woke up Sunday morning to a flat tire on our CRV! (What is it with us and tires!?!!). Good Sam came to the campground and said that they couldn't fix the tire but they put the spare on and told us to bring in the tire the next day when they would have the equipment to fix it. This was a great excuse for a day to hang out reading, walking, cooking, taking showers, etc. There was a huge wind storm that moved in and stirred up the fire, so we walked down to the lodge to check out the progression of the fire.
The smoke continued throughout the day, but fortunately, the rains came during the night and tamped it down again.
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| Our picnic area |
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We had to keep Boo uphill from the water, as
he thought it was the ocean and wanted to run
up and down and bite the waves. |
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Some visitors to the shoreline. The fires
made for a beautiful sunset. |
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| Cooking in Maxine |
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| Taking it easy |
The next day, we drove south to Jackson to get the tire fixed.
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The last of the rain storm made for some beautiful shots of the mountains
this morning. |
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We left the tire here to be fixed. It turned out to be a leaky
valve-easily repaired. We went to explore Jackson. |
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All four corners of the downtown park have entrances like
this-gazillions of antlers. |
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Trying to get Boo to pose for the camera is
never easy! |
That afternoon we stopped by the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center and the REI exhibit where we got a postcard printed and a free key chain stamped with our initials. The Center is another beautiful building with towering ceilings which offer a beautiful view of the mountains and has a great bookstore.
We tried to find the National Elk Refuge by using Waze and Siri but ended up in the northern section and had a wonderfully unexpected driving/hiking adventure along the Gros Ventre Road.
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| We came across this herd of bison. |
We kept driving further up the road past the town of Kelly, which was devastated by the Gros Ventre Slide. In 1925, after a rough winter and heavy prolonged rainfall, a wall of mud, rock and debris moved down the mountainside in a matter of minutes. 6 people and many livestock died and the landscape was changed forever.
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| That's the slide in the distance. |
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| Gorgeous views up here |
We took a wonderful hike in the woods around the slide area.
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| Slide Lake was formed when the river was dammed by the slide. |
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| The Red Hills |
On the way back, we caught two Moose walking along the river, eating shrubs and entertaining us and a few others.
We noticed a fascinating building across the road from the Elk Refuge. Its unique style drew us in and we spent an afternoon enjoying the National Museum of Wildlife Art. The building was designed by a Denver firm and is modeled after a Scottish castle. It fits into the landscape beautifully with its rugged rocks, lovely plantings and a sculpture trail that even Boo could enjoy.
Some of our favorites
And inside, so many wonderful examples of wildlife art, it was difficult to sort out our favorites.
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| A Bierstadt |
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| A Georgia O'Keefe |
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| Tried drawing this one-not easy. I'm a raven lunatic! |
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The light in this one was amazingly real. Note the other herd of elk on
upper left. |
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| Jim's favorite-love how this guy is coming out of the fog. |
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| This one was called The Art of Rubbernecking |
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| American Gothic |
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We feel a special connection to sand cranes after viewing them in their
mating and breeding grounds in Kearney, Nebraska, the Bosque del
Apache in New Mexico and in southern Colorado. |
Stay tuned, again!
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