One Incredible Day!

Days like this don't come around that often!  And so often, you just can't plan them.  This day began with a little bit of a plan. We originally were not going to stay in Jackson Hole so long but when I looked at the calendar I realized that my sister and her husband were going to celebrate 54 years of marriage on the 26th so of course we had to stay to help them celebrate.  And of course, we celebrated even more than they did!

We started the day early with a Lion's Club breakfast at the Jackson County Fair.  Kirby and I have not eaten "white things" in over a year but darn, we fell off the wagon and had pancakes!  We ate our breakfast outdoors in the cool morning air waiting for the Horse Show to begin.  Two of their granddaughters were to be in the ring competing.  Rachel, who is 17, and Megan who is 12 both competed in Horsemanship.  I was so excited to watch them.  This city girl has never been involved with horses and I don't know much about them.

This is Rachel who took a 2nd in her class.

 

 

 

This is Megan and she took Best In Class.

Congratulations to you both!  You made me so proud and gave me a wonderful, wonderful day!

Now doesn't that sound like just the best day?  It was, but it wasn't over.  My nephew Flip and his wife, Kelley (the girls parents of course) invited us on a float trip on the the Snake River.  I opted for the "Green" water trip verses the "White" water.  I have had that White Water excitement and just wanted to enjoy the day, the river and my family.  My sister and her husband decided to pass and so we would see them again later in the day.

 First thing that happened was a "Shoe Overboard" exercise.  We dropped Megan on the shore and she managed to retrieve it, we got her back in the boat and set off again.

 It was a perfect afternoon.  Not too hot, not too cold and no wind.  Flip was the perfect handler/captain/skipper - whatever the person with the oars is called.  He certainly knew his business and there were no frightening moments!

Once they told us that we could beach the boat and walk up the hill to a store for cold drinks we just had to do it because, as Kirby said, we had never done that before!  The walk was short, the store had all kinds of choices and we all got something cold and I ATE ICE CREAM!  Oh, my but it was good!

The river ride took 2 or 3 hours - I don't remember because time was standing still.  It was just the BEST!

We went home and got out the game of Apples to Apples and sat on the back porch and played a game or two and next thing we knew it was time for dinner.  Just down the road was a place called The Bird.  It was packed since it was a Saturday night during Fair Week but we had a great time anyway celebrating Joan and Red's 54th!! Management gave us each a Popsicle to celebrate with.  I liked that much better than cake!

Million Dollar and Silver Dollar Bars

We set out yesterday with my sister and her husband to play tourist in Jackson.  Last year Kirby and I celebrated our anniversary at the Cowboy Bar so we went back there and also to the Silver Dollar Bar at the Wort Hotel.  (Click HERE to see last year's posting).  This year we didn't sit on the saddles - it is just too hard for this old body of mine!

 The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is a work of art.  It is pretty dark inside so it is hard to get a picture of all the wood that has been there for so many years.  It was fun sitting with my family who has lived here for almost fifty years and hear about all the changes through the years.  Things like "there used to be a dance floor where that bar is".  And also that the cute tables are new-ish.

We walked around town and went to some of the shops and then visited the Silver Dollar Bar.  Recently we were in Buffalo, Wy and visited the Occidental Hotel.  This was similar.  Beautiful!!

The Silver Dollar Bar

The lobby of the Wort Hotel

Both have silver dollars imbedded in the bars.

Snake River Brewing

Surprise!!  We found another brewery!  Actually, we found this brew last year when we visited Jackson and have looked all over the country for it and had to wait until we returned to Wyoming to find it.  Pako's IPA is our favorite and I have to quit drinking it or I am going to get a beer belly.  Do you think one every few days is too much??  It really is so good!  So yesterday we took my Bud Lite brother-in-law and my none beer drinking sister to the brewery where they have a great restaurant and had a brew and lunch.  My nephew joined us  and at least he likes good brews!

On The Road to Jackson Hole, WY

There was weather coming the day we planned to leave Lander, Wy for Jackson so we were up early and off to the dump station.  While Kirby did his thing, Jake and I looked around and found this nice view of Lander and the walk/bikeway they have. 

After dumping our tanks we headed out pretty much north and then west, up over the pass and then dropped down into Grand Teton National Park.  The drive was, like so many of them, very varied.  I think our drives (or roadtrips) are just about the best part of our travels.  My camera is busy clicking out the windshield so the photos are not the best but it sure is fun.  On this trip someone needed to tie my hands down because I just kept clicking away as each turn brought more beauty.  Are we lucky to live in such a beautiful country or what?!!

 It may be barren but it is still gorgeous!

This was the best part of the trip for Jake.  We stopped on the pass to let some folks pass us and took the opportunity to look around and stretch our legs.  This deer carcass was not that old but it was clean except for the feet and lower legs.  Jake found it extremely interesting!

 And then we spotted the Grand Teton and it just kept getting better and better as we got closer.

Lander, WY and Don and Vicki

Many of our winter Yuma friends live in Wyoming so we made a stop in Lander so that we could visit with some of them.  Don and Vicki have room near there home for an RV so we stayed right there next to them.  We barely got there when they first fed us lunch and took us out to view Lander and some of the surrounding area.  We also enjoyed the company of Mary and Jerry and Robynn and Daryl.  Mary and Jerry hosted a great breakfast the next morning and then it was more touring around the area.  I am tired but it was such a great time seeing everyone!

After finding the town of Kirby it was really fun to find this creek named after Kirby's family!

These are our gracious hosts, Vicki and Don.  They have lived in Lander most of their adult lives and know the area like the back of their hands so we had great tour guides.

This is the Popo Agie River as it enters the mountain.  The water flows into a cave in the side of the mountain, wanders around inside the mountain and about two hours later it re-emerges down the hill a bit.

 Red Canyon Wildlife Management Area

 We drove through the old mining town of Atlantic City and saw the old gold mine as well.  There is a lot more out in those hills than one would think!

Kirby and Thermopolis, Wyoming

How many people get a town named after them?  And one that distills Bourbon at that?  We were visiting with friends Sharon and Jerry who live in Thermopolis, WY and they took us to Kirby.  Kirby really wanted to go to Kirby.

 Talk about a photo op!  We couldn't resist his one!

There is a famous bar/restaurant in Kirby as well as Wyoming Whiskey.  We had a great lunch at Butch's Place.  If you are ever near Kirby, you have to go to Butch's for a brew and a burger.  What a fun place.  Character, charm, good food and good service.  And now we have made some good memories there.

This is Sharon and Jerry along with Kirby.  Sharon and Kirby grew up together in Taft, CA a few years back and reconnected on Facebook.  (I love FB for just that type of thing!)  Since we were in their part of Wyoming, of of course we had to get together and share some good times.  They took us all around their charming community, the small town of Kirby, Wyoming Distillery and Hot Springs State Park.

Is this gorgeous or what?  And we wouldn't even have known about it if Sharon and Jerry hadn't taken us there.

And of course, following with tradition, we visited Wyoming Whiskey, had a great tour and did a bit of tasting.  It was so interesting to find a distillery in Kirby, Wyoming of all places.  The owners are actually cattle ranchers who had more property than they knew what to do with so decided to hire an experienced distiller from Kentucky and make their own whiskey.  Now they use the leftover mash (corn, barley and wheat) to feed their cattle.  Makes sense to me!

Wyoming Travel

We traveled from Buffalo, Wy to Thermopolis, Wy today and the scenery was so diverse.  At the top of Powder River Pass we reached an altitude of over 9,600 feet.  It was steep going up and really steep going back down.  We saw snow covered peaks, rugged rocks and desolate flats covered with oil wells.  The drive was short but I think with the altitude changes and all the curves it was pretty tiring for Kirby.  Sure was beautiful though.  Now come along with us!

This was our route.