Decision Made

I received the final call from Ford Customer Care at around 11 AM yesterday. The conversation didn't last much longer than a few minutes as they rejected our request for help to replace the radiator in our truck. I was not happy, to say the least. With only 26,000 miles on the vehicle, they refused to provide any help to offset the cost for replacement. I am evaluating other options of consumer help-lines and action lines, but essentially, the battle is over. I will never purchase another Ford product and will not recommend purchase to anyone who asks my opinion in the future. The cost will be $1700+ and will place a significant dent in our budget. I will still purchase the extended warranty which will be another $2700 for 5 years coverage, bumper-to-bumper. The warranty can be included in any sale of the truck if any term remains, so that will, hopefully, be a wise decision. The dealer in Afton has been given the go ahead to do what is necessary to complete the job. Right now, it looks like we will go to Afton next Friday to pick up the vehicle and bring it home.

The sun eventually came out and we took a trip to a place we have been passing every time we go to the National Park. It is the National Museum of Wildlife Art. It sits on a bluff overlooking the National Elk Refuge, and we have been intrigued by the facility since we arrived in this area. The driveway at the foot of the hill has this display of bronze elk:

It is a modern building and after we paid our admission fee of $10 (each) proceeded to go through the three galleries they had inside. It was very interesting, as we took several shots of various displays, but only this one is worth publishing here and is typical of the rest:

It was a combination of paintings, bronze sculptures and occasional displays of the artists' studios. Outside displays were also present, an example of which is below:

Of course, I'm partial to anything that involves elk. It was not the kind of place we would visit a second time, but we were happy that we satisfied our curiosity.

While leaving the Museum, we decided to take the road on the opposite side of the Elk Refuge and visit the Miller House, which is one of the first homes in Jackson. We had a great view of the Museum from there as you can see near the bottom of the bluff:

The owner, Robert Miller, was the first supervisor of the Teton National Forest, and this was one of the largest homes in Jackson:

It was a beautiful cabin in its day, and even looked great today after some minor restoration. The cabin had a basement, which was - and is - rare in Jackson. His wife became Mayor of Jackson and for three years, with her other female appointments, became the first and only government in the country at that time that was totally run by females.

The day was not one of our best with the truck decision, but it ended on a good note and we look forward to more exploration in the days ahead...