The Tetons- So Grand

A couple weeks ago, my girlfriend and I decided we wanted to just get the heck outta Dodge.  It was hot and we wanted some relief.  We thought about going south to Bryce Canyon- the Utah Symphony was doing a free concert out on the rim.  Sounded great, but, going south meant it would be hotter.  We decided to go north.  North sounded good. Sounded cooler.  And away we went.  We hadn't been back to Jackson or the Tetons for many years and Brenda had a hankering to walk around Jenny Lake.  The last time we'd been up there with the kids (about 16 years), we didn't get very far as the natives were just too dang restless.

We took off late afternoon Friday and wanted to make is as far as Afton, WY.  Yes, Afton... you don't want to miss it.  As we traveled, we looked online for a place to eat.  We needed to hurry, too, before everything closed down for the evening.  We read some reviews for a seafood restaurant that people just raved about.  Seafood, in Afton, WY?  Riiiigggghhhhht.  Well, we thought we'd give it a shot anyway.  We got to my favorite town, Montpelier, ID (NOT!.... a story for another time), where I needed to make a turn.  That evil town is just out to get me!  The turn was not well marked and a little while later, I noticed a sign that told me there was X number of miles to Pocatello, ID.... what the?  That put us 20 minutes later!  We turned around and found the turn and continued up to Afton, but we didn't think we'd make it in time before the restaurant closed.  The navigator said we wouldn't, so we just pushed the horses a little harder.  And speaking of horses, as we were going through a little canyon, we saw a horse down in a gully, saddled and bridled, but riderless.  We drove on down the road a couple miles but the conscience in the seat next to me thought we should go back and check.  What would we do if we found a body?  I guess if the rider was dead, we could just continue on and make it to dinner in time, but if s/he was still alive, then dang! we'd have to stop and try to save a life and that would just upset me if we missed dinner.  :)  We went back, stopped and yelled, but no one emerged from the woods.  Hope whoever was missing a horse was OK.  Well, back on the road.

Anyway, we just made it in time to the restaurant in Afton.  The place was packed!  And the food was awesome.  We had salmon and halibut baskets (deep-fried fish, fries, slaw), and the chowda was excellent.  Apparently, the owner had lived in Astoria, OR and did commercial fishing or something and they still have connections and have the seafood flown in fresh.  Yeah, Afton, WY.  After dinner, we went to this drive-in really close by... The Red Baron I think, and had probably the best fresh raspberry shake we've ever had.

The motel we stayed in was owned by the brother of Rulon Gardner, of wrestling fame... not so much The Biggest Loser fame.  There were pictures of Rulon all over the place.  Well, not in the room, but in the gas station in which we registered.  It was quite funny.  The motel reminded me of storage units, side by side.  They were very nice inside though, and cheep, just like me.

Anyway, some pix of a little fresh-water geyser up a canyon in Afton. We went up there after we woke up from our motel storage unit.  It was a beautiful hike.  A bit chilly, even in August.

The one below kind of reminded me of that shot in LOTR where the Fellowship is rafting down the river and those giant status are holding out there arms... OK, just use your imagination.

Above is a shot at the top of the geyser, below is about 3/4 up.

Some pix of the Grand Tetons

The falls above Jenny Lake

It was such a beautiful walk/hike around Jenny Lake to the falls. There is a lake-side trail and a more mountain-side trail.  We took the lake-side on the way to the falls, the other on the way back.  Turns out that if we would have reversed those, we would have seen a moose and a bear.  Ah, on second thought, perhaps we did choose wisely.

Here is Brenda's little friend that almost took her finger off, mistaking it for a nut.

Here is our "selfie" just a bit up from the falls at Inspiration Point overlooking Jenny Lake.  With events in our lives that will be explained in another post, I think we were inspired to take this quick trip. 

Some flora and fauna... now, where did I put Merryweather?

The majestic peaks of the Tetons

After we hiked back to the car, we went into Jackson to get a bite before we headed back home.  We went to a wonderful Mexican restaurant and could only eat half of it and brought the rest home.  We could eat it for Sunday Dinner leftovers!  We had a beautiful drive home... into the sunset.  It was a quick weekend away- Friday night to Saturday night.... but so well worth it.