Off Day

We deposited Betty and Andrew at the Jackson airport as they were beginning the boarding process.  Yeah, we were cutting it close, but then you could play touch football in the terminal and the TSA folks looked like they just got done loading the baggage in the plane, collected tickets, and did the hourly cleaning of the bathrooms before strip searching began.  Did I say it was a small airport?  They got through security, although Andrew got the pat down.  As first class was settling in to their part of the cabin and preparing for whatever spa treatment came with a flight out of Jackson Hole, our touring duo boarded.

As they were taxiing to the runway, we headed to town for a shot of diesel and a few grocery items.  I posted the blog from the grocery store parking lot while a tour bus pulled up and unloaded.  I’ve never seen that listed in the itinerary for a tour of the west…Day 4…Head to Yellowstone via The Tetons, but first we’ll be stopping at Albertson’s in Jackson instead of the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar or one of the 5,000 art galleries, so you can get your own damn food today.  Stay away from that bus tour company. 

The truck turned north and we headed for a fishing destination unknown.  Just outside of town, not too far from the animatronic moose family that seems to appear each evening for your viewing pleasure, we turned onto a road at Gros Ventre (grow vont - for the 1800’s illiterate mountain man) Junction we had not traveled yet.  A few miles up the road we pulled off next to the Gros Ventre River and I suited up for a few hours of cat and mouse.  After catching a nice little rainbow (about 12”), cat and mouse turned into a Tom and Jerry cartoon and I was skunked for the remaining time, not including a couple of nice bites that I did not hook.  The wind was picking up and getting hard to cast, so home we went.

The dogs were much appreciative of the fact we did not leave them as long as a hiking day and they had more time sniffing deer urine and fantasizing about the squirrels and chipmunks they’d like to meet.

We cleaned up the doghouse.  Miki walked the dogs as I figured out how to put the guest blowup (notice I did not use the word blowout by accident!) bed away, since it had never been used…it was not a certainty it would happen.  I vacuumed, but spent more time trying to get the little attachment on the end to work properly than actually vacuuming, as Miki cleaned up the kitchen.  One of the propane tanks needed refilling, so I loaded it in the truck and headed for the nearest propane dealer, of which there is NONE.  Thank goodness the check in office sells propane, while a campground host, Bob from Arizona in this case, fills the tank.  Twenty-seven dollars later I was back and knew more about Bob than any stranger should know about Bob.  My ears felt taken advantage of.

Bacon.  The theme for dinner.  I cooked it and Miki prepared a salad for hers to be sprinkled on and a BLT for me to layer mine on.  It was during this activity that the idea came to me.  I was spooning the grease out into a can (yeah, I was surprised it was in the pan too!) when it hit me.  We’ve only seen deer around the campground so far, so why don’t we just drizzle some of this grease in a few strategic locations to see what we might attract.  We keep seeing these “Be Bear Aware” signs and there are no bears to be aware of, so let’s spice it up.  Let’s give the campers here what they came for.  Stay tuned!

We both have “food babies” (full bellies) and Miki has already crashed on the couch.  While Tooga is chasing rabbits in his dreams right now (his little legs are twitching) Miki’s eyes are closed, mouth agape, with nasally inhales and throaty exhales to serenade me as I sign off from today’s off day.  Sounds vaguely like Miki’s dad, Walt, at about 9:00 on any given evening.  A kind of pre-sleep routine that works very well.

I am guessing that these words are not as pleasant to look at, as some of the photos we try to include.  You get an off day too, but from this visual vicarious portion of our communiqués.  Okay…the camera that we usually use has most likely captured its last image.  When turning it on, the lens extends and retracts a number of times (usually just once when it was in working condition) and then a final last breath sound comes from the little speaker on its side (not so much a lie as creative expression) and the lens closes up for good.

Hope all is well with you and you are healthy, happy, and safe.

My Zen from the Road:  I teased earlier about Bob from Arizona, but as he was helping me by refilling our propane tank, it was just him and me.  In the middle of nowhere (sort of) being in the moment, as he told me about some of his travels, how the nozzle on the propane hose is actually 3-in-1 (which I won’t go into), and shared info on the three deer families that hangout here in the campground.  I so enjoyed listening to him and hope he is the one to refill our other tank when it becomes empty.  It reminded me of conversations I would have with individual students I had.  They would just be going on about something so insignificant to me, but meant the world to them at the time.  You could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voice and I was the lucky one that got to hear it.  I hope you get to listen to something that means nothing to you, but you make that person think it’s the most interesting story you have ever heard.