Welcome to Jackson Hole

I arrived here Sunday after departing the National Parks with the expectation to stay one night and move on to Park City. Well, I keep extending and the folks in Utah wonder when if ever I might arrive. On day three I have finally taken the obligatory photo at Jackson Hole town square. The arch of antlers is most impressive, especially the four of them, one on each corner. Theoretically these antlers were recovered after the annual shedding that occurs naturally, but with all the gun racks in this town...Yesterday I had two fine rides in the Bridger-Teton National Forrest. First, I headed out at 9am in 35 degree weather. Stupid me, I returned for extra layers of clothing quickly. Nonetheless, I returned an hour later with frozen feet - ouch!
My second outing in the afternoon was to Cache Creek. I took the Putt-Putt trail in and came back on the Hagen. This was the finest mountain biking trail I have seen in a while. Narrow, clear, and just steep enough to make you proud to have hung in there to make the top. The views are most spectacular.Now it wasn't all storybook cycling. I came to this very steep section, considered walking down, then said to myself "Go for it, dude!" So I did. And over the first major tree root, my chain ring dug in to stop me cold. Or I should say it stopped the bike. I went over the handlebars! And look at the gnarly stump directly below; I was headed right for it. Fortunately, I was able to execute a full body roll to my left and avoid major injury. My apple suffered a smashing blow in my Camelbak, I ate the evidence.Today I played 18 holes at the Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful course and great views. A little faux pas composing this self portrait. I was paired up with Steve and Victoria, nice folks from Dallas, Texas.
I shot 50, 52. I expected to improve on the back nine since we were forced to play the front twice. That is the back was the front for a second time. Aerating the greens, you see. I did have two pars and a birdie, yippee! I'll drink the shot tonight.

It is a beautiful afternoon and Rip and I are heading out for a trail walk. He loves it here too!
Tomorrow, Park City... unless we decide to stay in Jackson Hole another day!

Yellowstone - Teton Driving Tour

I must admit, my visit to Yellowstone was mostly a driving tour. Three hundred and fifty miles and a thousand sights! I have captured a great deal of it for you to enjoy.

The rig in the Tetons. This is a rapid along the Yellowstone river that is perfect for watching the cutthroat trout work their way upriver to the lake. Word has it they jump every 15 seconds in June. Unfortunately, no fish visible in September.

Eastern view from the Jackson Hole campsite. And the Western view.
First of several great views of the Teton fall color. And some cool guy with a funny look on his face.
Awesome fall color! Lower Falls of the Yellowstone.

And that guy...
More falls...
And a tributary.

So I turned my attention to the road.

Where obstacles of all sorts are likely to appear.

And this bison decided to challenge me.

So I said, yea, come on... Ya wanna ride?
He just dissed me and kept on moving.

Later, I saw this cute otter and his family.
He inspired the entire staff of National Geographic to set up. If you ever thought that it would be a great job to photograph wildlife in our National Parks, you are not alone.That guy again, overlooking Yellowstone Lake. And I crossed the divide several times. I didn't anticipate this... The Yellowstone drains to the Northeast, the Lewis River to the Southwest.
This 6x6 buck had the town sheriff on edge. The Lewis River cuts out of Yellowstone to the South and feeds the Snake.Three of my best friends.

A hot spring. Clear and blue indicating it is HOT! Over 160 degrees F.
The yellow color is a bacteria that grows at a temp of about 140 degrees.
Having fun at Old Faithful geyser. I arrived just ten minutes prior to its show! What timing?
I drove 55 miles from the entrance of Yellowstone Park to my campsite at Fishing Bridge. Along the way, there were snow plow markers on the edge of the road. Sensible, I agree, to find the edge after a snow. But so close to the traffic lane??? I blame it on the NPS. What, you ask? The first impact to Mr. Tango since we began this adventure about 6K miles ago.

One marker light...

And the cam lock for rear storage - gone.
And today I found my awning was stuck on the rear bracket. A little tweaked from the impact. No worries, everything is working now - except the light. I need to buy a new one. Let's chalk this up to experience on the road.

And another vehicle malfunction. The disc changer has 6 disks inside. Upon changing from #1 to 2, it belched, and clunked. Pushing all buttons and banging on the darn thing have made no difference. I am without CD. Fortunately, the Chevy dealer says it is under warranty.Back to the beauty of Yellowstone...
Cool bacteria
Oh, remember Ripley? He is still along for the ride. But the National Parks are not his favorite. He has to stay in the car mostly and everybody is interested in those other animals. What do they know?!
This sign gives you an idea of how big Yellowstone is. I completed both the North and South loop roads (except or one small segment) and saw all the the main attractions.

The drive South to the Tetons leaves the unique landscape of Yellowstone behind and brings on the dramatic rugged peaks amid peak fall color.

You are just going to have to enjoy this one sideways. It has to be one of the most spectacular views in the West.
A great visit to two great parks.

Next up, adventures at Jackson Hole!

Grand Teton

Oh, what a spectacular view! The fall colors add that extra little bit of pizzaz.

Old Faithful

Thar she blows!

Day 2 In & Around Vegas

Rise and shine, it's 5:30!
That is how the day started. Larry needed a ride into work and I was happy to oblige. I haven't seen sunrise for a while, so it had additional benefits.
I hung out at the office for a while and jawed with Larry, Dave and John. We had coffee, talked about travelling and some of the projects they are doing. The ornamental metal construction business gets them into some neat projects. After a coupe ours of this they had to do some work, so I beat it.
Ripley and I got kicked off the beach at Lake Meade. Turns out we weren't in the dog approved area. The water is really warm here. Much warmer than at Parker.
Hoover Dam was my next stop. I opted for the power plant tour. The dam is over 750 feet high and has 550 feet of head at the turbines. Well, that would be at spillway level, and the lake is well below the spillway, about 120 feet below. The docent said the drought broke last year and water is accumulating at Powell, but has not reached Meade yet. The lake was lower in 1952 by about 25 feet.
Here are a few pictures.
The lake side of the dam and some really handsome guy.And the down river view. They are building a bridge for US Highway 93 to relieve traffic on the dam. This is a rainbow style bridge. It is interesting to see how they build it.The spillway - no threat of water leaking out anytime soon!And the ginormous pipe where the spillway water goes...This is a picture of the top edge of the dam all the way down to the river output below. Follow the seam in the concrete down. Please appreciate this shot since I had to lean over the edge to get it. Trust me, this is a cool photo.
And later in the afternoon, Larry finished work, we had a couple beers, cooked up a great meal and had some old style Palmdale chat. Larry is a good friend!

Oh, I almost forgot. Here are the power generating turbines. Eight of the 17 total. Just in case you thought I may not have actually taken the tour.

Next stop - Fishing Bridge at Yellowstone National Park. Finally!

Cruisn' the Strip

It has been a while since visiting Vegas. So i needed to cruise the strip with the Tango in tow. Later, I met up with Larry and met his partner Dave. Vegas construction is in full swing, but Dave says it is slowing. Larry and I headed to Lake Meade.

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The River House

Finally, after three years I have made it to the river house. This is a far cry from the early river days down at Fisher's camping on a sand bar. The A/C works great!The shaded deck has a great view of the the river, especially at sunset.We spent the day out on the river. My amiable hosts, Carol and Bill showed me all the sights on Parker Strip. We found this nice beach to hang out in the shade for lunch.Ripley voluntarily swam from boat to beach and back. He broke Michael Phelps' record in the dog paddle. And the water was great. I ripped it up and had a good time skiing.

This is livin', L-I-V-I-N, as quoted by MM in 'Dazed and Confused'... Alright, alright, alright.