After 30 years from her last
visit to Grand Teton National Park, my sister Betty makes it back. The day started with her remembering
things that never happened and hikes we never took (well maybe I exaggerate a
bit). Did I mention she is older
than I am and some of you think I am old!
We did drive around a bit to see if anything looked familiar. She did identify the mountain the park
is named for and Jenny Lake, the trailhead of childhood hikes with the family.
Me and Betty on the deck at Jackson Lake Lodge after a quick refresher on the names of the mountains. |
We started our refresher
journey by driving to Jackson Lake Lodge.
Here we saw that not just tourists come to the Tetons for vacation, but
for “conferences” too. There was
some kind of Conference on Livers taking place at this time. What? Isn’t that something that might take place at Mayo or K.U.
Med. Center? It’s good to be a
liverologist. After Betty acquired
some post cards, we headed back to the truck to continue the drive down memory
lane.
Miki teaches Betty her grandmother's special shoe tying trick. She also received other offers from others to tie their shoes too... could have been a money maker. |
Next, we drove to the top of
Signal Mountain. Coincidence or
not, it does have a rather imposing cell tower at the top. This is one of the higher spots to view
the mountains and the features that lay before it. A few photos were snapped and by this time lunch became a
priority and we headed back to the campsite.
Betty and Andrew atop Signal Mountain. |
With a vegatable themed
lunch under our belts, we hit the trail this time with our feet and left the
truck behind. We guided Betty and
Andrew to Heron Lake and Swan Lake without the accidental 3 mile detour we did
a few days earlier by not reading the trail signs, because unlike some
creatures like the fly that keeps running into the window to try and escape, we
learn from our mistakes.
Lunch at the doghouse. |
On the trail to Heron Lake. |
Rest stop at the lake while we watch for wildlife. |
Pretty day! |
A couple of hours later, we
returned without getting lost, to eat a taco salad based meal. Then hurried back into Jackson where a
photographer that Betty wanted to meet was having a gallery open house. Thomas Mengelson (google him), among
other things has worked with National Geographic and Jane Goodall. One of his more recognized photographs
is one of a big grizzly bear sitting at the top of a short waterfall and shows a
salmon about to land in the bears jaws while jumping out of the water to get
upstream…very cool. Betty has been
to his gallery in La Jolla, Ca and it was just coincidence that he was here for
this open house and so was she. We
both bought something of his and got it signed, which makes us pretty cool too
now. We took our signed $25 poster
and decided to leave the framed $13,000 and change original on the wall.
Betty getting her card signed by the man. |
Miki getting our poster signed by the man and telling him, you better spell his name right cause he has a short fuse! |
For the second night in a
row, we drove slowly back to Colter Bay to avoid any incidents with wild
animals. Last night we came across
a small herd of elk poised next to the road to either cross or simply scare the
ba-jesus out of drivers as part of a new park “scared straight” program, to cut
down on animal vs. vehicle accidents.
We could not see them until we were almost next to them and they were
literally on the shoulder of the road.
Did that stop me from driving faster than I should have tonight…
The evening ended by playing
Rummikub and discussing a possible itinerary for tomorrow. One thing is for sure, it will be Sunday
and we will be having big-o-blueberry-pancakes for breakfast.
My Zen from the Road: While at the gallery in Jackson this
evening, it was apparent that we were rubbing elbows with some people that had
more money than sense. You could
see it in the way they dressed, the stretched faces from multiple visits to the
plastic surgeon, to the angle at which their noses were elevated and manners
forgotten, yet no one appreciated the photography on the walls more than we
did. Just goes to show that you
can change your appearance or pretend to be something you are not, but you are
who you are. That is something
everyone can see.
The sun setting as we head to Jackson. |
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