One Day to Go

As expected, the weekend will be very busy with reservations and walk-ins. There is a soccer tournament in town and we are completely booked this weekend. It is appropriate that we go out with a busy day as that is the way we started back in early June with the classic car rally. The same rally will greet us again next year should we return as planned.

We started saying our goodbye's yesterday as Jim South - the individual we work nights with 2 times a week - was working his last evening before his days off start today. The rest of our farewells will be today. Jim Triplett, our Administrative Manager, will be in and out all day today and he is giving us a letter of recommendation to take with us in case we need a reference in AZ. It would be nice to get another seasonal job at a local hotel/lodge near Surprise for the winter. Whatever happens, we will be armed with good references which is always a positive step.

Our plan tomorrow is to meet Donna for a farewell dinner at a restaurant in town. We will miss her more than anybody this winter and she is still trying to finalize her plans for the winter season. Our dinner plans will be finalized at work today as our final shift will be with her.

We will take the camera to work today and try to capture some final, happy moments on our last day of the season...

Short Trip to Idaho

We had originally planned to spend the day yesterday at home getting some things organized for next week. After seeing how nice the day was turning out, we decided to take one last trip into Victor, ID, to cash in some scratch lottery tickets that we have been holding. The trip meant one last drive over the Teton Pass which is, according to Josie, the second worst pass in the country. I think there are several others tied for first.

The drive was very good and we saw more of the Fall colors, although not as much as the day before. We drove around Victor for a short time and came across these young does in a field:

We then drove up the road about 5 more miles to Driggs and spent a short time there before heading home. As we reached the top of the Teton Pass coming home, we pulled over to get one last shot of the Jackson Hole Valley from the top of the pass:

Back home, we settled in for the evening and I again watched Austin's high school football game on the TV feed from Naperville, IL. Austin scored 3 touchdowns and ran for 217 yards as his team went 6-0 by defeating South Elgin, 35-20. His tremendous season continues. Next week is the big showdown with Michael's alma mater, Neuqua Valley High School, who is also still undefeated.

With only today and tomorrow left, we are nearing the end of this chapter in our adventures on the road...

Another Look at the Tetons

We may not get another chance to go through the Tetons again before we leave so yesterday was probably the last trip. There were more fall colors to see and we wanted to see more wildlife, if possible. We also left later in the day thinking we might see more wildlife and also get some pictures with the afternoon shadows. The one major difference yesterday was seeing the buffalo return to the park. It made us happy to see them once again. Starting with this shot on the Gros Ventre road:

Then, there was this herd near the Mormon Road where the barns are located:

and, finally, as we were driving north on the main road through the park, this herd crossed the street in front of us:

Along with all the buffalo, we spotted this coyote that was walking toward one of the herds:

and these antelope that were grazing and resting along the roadside:

Our goal of capturing some of the beautiful Fall colors was dampened somewhat by the sun, which was low in the sky and impacted some of our shots. We did get some good ones, and a sample of those is below:

The next time we show photos of these beautiful mountains (hopefully) they will be full of snow.

There was still a bit of a haze, but we were pleased that we had such an eventful final trip through the area.

Today is a day of running some errands and starting to reorganize our fifth wheel for the exit from here. We may get a short drive in sometime during the day, but for the most part, our time in the Parks has about ended for this season...

Play Time Again

It was a different kind of night last night for our final weeknight at work. There were again only a few check-ins scheduled from reservations (7) and the night started out slow with only 5 walk-ins in the first 4 hours. Our work partner, Jim, was so bored that he left work early at 7 o'clock. Shortly after he left, the floodgates opened. With just Josie and I working at this point, we checked in another 15 walk-ins, plus the remainder of our reservations. The final night of our schedule went well though as we didn't have anything happen that we couldn't handle ourselves. After 4 months and 1 week, we are down to just 2 days of work before heading out to Utah.

Josie made an appointment to have her hair done this morning and I have some final preparations to make for our trip south. With the beautiful Fall colors all around us, we want to get one more trip in to the Tetons to get some photos. The smoke seems to have cleared out - finally - after about 6 weeks of hazy/smokey days. We will go through the Park once more either today or tomorrow. The rest of our time off will be spent reorganizing our fifth wheel for travel. When we get this close to ending a workamping assignment, we look forward to the next step.

The arrangements for our stay in AZ are all but finalized. We will arrive at Happy Trails in AZ on October 21, and right now, we have the space reserved through March of next year. There are lots of things that we need to get done while there and - we need to nail down some work, at least part time. It will be nice to have a temporary break from work for a while...

Foggy Morning and Rain

Yesterday reminded us of a typical, Seattle morning in winter. It was a bit foggy and it tried hard to rain but all we would get would be a few sprinkles. It remained overcast with a threat of rain all morning but we ended up not getting any measurable rain, which we desperately need.

Our next-to-last late afternoon shift started out like it would be a very boring night with only 7 reservations scheduled for check-in, not including the 50 or so guests from two scheduled tour buses. The buses get checked-in as one, so they don't count among the individual reservations. The evening/night didn't end up as boring as we thought, as we checked in 27 walk-ins. These walk-ins can be very aggravating folks as most of them have been traveling all day from somewhere and are usually very tired and anxious to get settled in a room. The majority are pleasant folks but we had a few that created problems for us with various complaints: can't turn on the heat in the room, need a fan to create some air flow, the room is dark and depressing - please move us to a different room, the room smells like cigarette smoke - please cancel our room as we are leaving. All in a days work.

The countdown has started as today is our final day on the evening shift. There will be our 2 days off on Thursday and Friday and then our final 2 days on the early shift and it's all over for this season. As we near the end, we are getting anxious to go to southern Utah and visit the Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks one week from now...

The Fire and Wildlife

The effects of our very dry summer and the impact of the local Horsethief Fire that is now under control is being felt within the city limits. The indication in the local news is that bears are becoming a nuisance in certain areas and there was even a moose seen in town:

The bears have been spotted not too far from us as the town has called in additional bear conflict managers to help to relocate the bears back into the national forest. They are getting numerous calls every day now.

The fire is now under control and as we went to the store yesterday to buy some groceries, we spotted these signs on the fence of one of the local residents:

It was also our final Monday at work and that means it was the last day that we would work the early shift during the week. Our other 2 days this week are on the second shift - today and tomorrow - before our days off on Thursday and Friday. We then finish up with 2 days - Saturday and Sunday - with Donna on the early shift. Our Administrative Manager, Jim Triplett, invited us to come back early next year to enjoy some free time - in our free space here at the RV park - before starting work. He indicated that any time after the RV park opens on May 1 would be OK for us to come in. We will probably take advantage of that offer so we can see Yellowstone  and the Tetons before the snow melt gets too far along.

It's almost time to begin preparations for our departure. We will leave one week from tomorrow and we have to start reorganizing everything, including repacking our basement, from this 4 month stay. It looks like our time off this week will be the perfect time to start those tasks although we would like to spend some of that time taking one last trip in this area before we leave for the winter...

More Fall Colors

Our next to last Sunday at work was busy, although not quite as busy as the previous few days we worked. The weekends are always more fun working with Donna and the days go faster at work when she is there. We agreed to go to dinner somewhere, together, before we leave the area next week.

Following work, we were surprised to see the ever increasing fall colors that are at the end of our RV park and on the bottom of the big hill behind us. We had to capture this view as time is running out:

The deciduous aspens are all on the lower portion of the hill while the rest are evergreens. Our Jeep and fifth wheel are on the left but the crowded park is evident. They are still filling most spaces as we near the end of the season. The smoke is still present but it appears to be a bit better now. We are expecting some rain today and tomorrow but, so far, it all has fallen in Idaho. We desperately need some rain.

We drove around town to look at some places that were for sale - and well over priced - but we like to be aware of what is available in the different neighborhoods. If we won the lottery tomorrow, I'm sure Josie would want to jump on one of the nice places that is available. It not only would be a great place to have a residence, but our family could also enjoy the area that we have fallen in love with.

Our final Monday at work is today and we are really nearing the end of our commitment for this summer with only 7 working days remaining...

Reflections

The calendar shows that the last day for us will be one week from today. For over 4 months we have enjoyed this area in Jackson, WY, and like it so much we plan to return again next year. Except for working at Amazon on two occasions, there has not been another location that we have wanted to return to because we always wanted to move on, see new places, work in new environments and gain new experiences. The 4 months have just whizzed by, and is the primary reason for wanting to return. We always seem to get "hitch itch" after a couple months on most other jobs. It's hard to explain, but we also had considered returning to Cody which was very similar, except this job had some major differences. The area is much prettier than Cody, the job is more satisfying, the RV space is much nicer, the people are more likeable and there is more to do on our off days.

We are looking seriously at one day, in the not too distant future, of spending more time in this area - possibly, even locating a place where we can put down some long term roots. That may, or may not, include some winter months. Josie has said she might want to spend at least one winter here to see, but that certainly would not involve staying in our fifth wheel. We have looked at several options just to get an idea of costs. We've looked at rentals in Jackson, lots in Idaho and Montana, homes with property in areas south of Jackson and in Idaho and Montana - all of which would provide easy access to the two parks - Tetons and Yellowstone. We have decided that the areas are so beautiful around the parks that the parks just provide a bonus.

Our time in AZ this winter will be used to sort out some of these options and to consolidate our storage units as a primary goal. Hopefully, we can find some work - part time even - so we can save some more cash to help with planning our future. We love traveling but realize that, as we get older, the time will come to settle somewhere. A lot can happen in the next couple years, but we are starting to think about long term plans...

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

One of the most famous and popular landmarks in Jackson Hole is the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. We have been putting this visit off, for no particular reason other than to spend some time walking around town and stop there for a burger and a beer. Yesterday was that day. We spent several hours walking around to see the many galleries and shops and ended up at the Cowboy Bar at around 5 PM - just in time for dinner:

We sat at the bar and ordered our beer but the authentic saddle stools were not too comfortable for Josie, so we moved to the tables that were in the middle of the floor. The bar is seen below:

The burger we ordered was excellent and the total bill was only about $25 that included a bottle each of the Million Dollar Beer that is brewed locally in Victor, ID for the Bar.

We think that our shopping is about done for our stay here this year. There were some nice things we would have purchased if we had a "house" to put them in, but that is one advantage to living the lifestyle we live - there is no wasting money on items that might sit in a corner or a closet somewhere and never be used.

The football report this week is good news once again. Austin ran for 155 yards on 18 carries and 1TD. His TD run was 20 yards and his team won 19-0 to go 5-0 on the year. This was a game where the defense played a key role. While researching the game, I found the Freeman High School Football National Rankings.  Austin's team is ranked 3rd in the state, and 197 nationally. That is something to be very proud of when you think of the number of high schools in the state and in the country. The rankings are posted each Tuesday, so we will follow the standings each week...

West Yellowstone

We almost made our target time (9AM) for departure yesterday, but it was 9:30 by the time we got everything packed up and filled the Jeep with gas. It was a fun day, even though the smoke and haze were still present.

There was more smoke on the Idaho side of the Tetons than in Jackson. There were a couple large fires still burning in Salmon and Sidney that were creating more trouble for viewing. We drove through some nice areas of fall colors, but most of the areas were too hazy to get good shots. This is one that shows both the haze and the colors (somewhat) in an especially pretty area:

Our destination was West Yellowstone and we arrived there shortly after noon. We wanted to stop at the Grizzly RV Park located there to pick up information and to check it out:

It is a very nice park and is only about 1/4 mile from the west entrance to Yellowstone. We stopped in the office, picked up some literature and then drove through the park. It is definitely a place we would consider spending a summer workamping. The fact that it is right outside the entrance to Yellowstone has great appeal, the town is nice and the park is beautiful.

As we drove through the entrance road into the park, we spotted this lone Bison in a field:

After stopping for a picnic lunch along the river, we made a decision to take the west side of the lower loop road from Madison, past Old Faithful, to West Thumb and out the southern entrance:

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

 

The smoke and haze were making it difficult to see long distances and the wildlife was probably bedded down as a result of all the smoke. Also, there were few areas for color as most of what we saw were evergreens in this part of the park.

We did, however, make a couple stops along the way. The first was on the Firehole road that we went on 2 years ago when we came here on one of our trips from Cody. There was the Firehole Falls:

and then the Kepler Cascades which we had not previously visited:

The smoke and haze was still in the Tetons as we entered that park at around 4 PM. It's a real shame about all the smoke as the colors in the Tetons were just absolutely beautiful. Here are some of the photos we took on that drive through the park:

You can imagine how beautiful these pictures would be on a totally clear day.

Finally, we saw the Bison in the park for the first time since hunting season started in mid August. The herd was together in a field in the northern part of the park where they could roam in safety:

Our final trip to Yellowstone was, as usual, a great experience and lots of fun. We will miss these parks until we return again next year.

One more week of work starts tomorrow. Actually, it is 7 days of work as we still get one more break next Thursday and Friday before winding up on Saturday and Sunday. There is lots to do between now and then so our trips will be mostly very short until we leave on the 3rd of October...

Checking Out the Haze

We had a chance - before starting work at 3 PM yesterday - to take a short drive to the edge of the Teton National Park to check out the haze for ourselves. The word from folks coming into the lodge was that you could barely see the mountains through the smoke and haze. It has been pretty bad for the last week or so and the reports were accurate. Below, in the first shot, the mountains should be sharp and majestic sitting in the background of the welcome sign:

These are photos taken from the road as we traveled north through the park:

Contrast these with a photo we took during one of our earlier trips to the park:

We are fortunate to have taken so many photos of these mountains when they were covered in snow and there were no fires to cloud the images.

Our next to the last week ended yesterday and we are looking forward to our last trip to Yellowstone for this year. Our plan is to leave by 9 AM this morning and take the Idaho route north to the west entrance of the park. We hope the air is clear on this route and we will be able to get some nice pictures of the fall colors along with some nice scenery...

Lots of Smoke

The smoke in the air was very bad again yesterday. We even had a few folks come into the lodge to cancel the last day of their stay in the area as a result of not being able to see the mountains in the park. We had one couple cancel because the smoke was causing her asthma to flare up and they had to get out. It is such a shame that so many people will not get the opportunity to see these majestic mountains and enjoy the beauty of this area. There are a couple new fires that have started south of Jackson and in eastern Idaho, and there are still problems with a fire just north of us and our own local Horsethief fire is still burning although it is now 46% contained. It doesn't matter which way the wind blows, there is smoke being brought into this area.

Last night we got slammed pretty good with walk-ins. When we started work at 3 PM we thought it would be a fairly easy night with only 50 check-ins scheduled. As the night wore on, the traffic increased to where we ended up with almost 40 walk-ins. That is really good for business as the goal is always to sell all of the rooms, but it creates more work at check-in as we need to process all of the information that is normally processed when a reservation is made. Sometimes, we get so busy entering personal information that the line grows too fast for us to handle quickly. Nobody has complained so far.

Hunting season has also started in this area - for elk and mule deer - and the few hunters that came in complained that the smoke has forced the game to settle in wherever they bed down and are tough to locate in this hazy area. We have a special rate for hunters which is a nice gesture. The one time I stayed in a hotel while hunting - in Flagstaff, AZ - we paid the same rate as everybody else.

We are looking forward to our one day trip on Thursday to West Yellowstone. It would be great if the smoke and haze would disappear up north so we can get some nice photos of the fall colors. However, it is always a beautiful trip through eastern Idaho and Yellowstone no matter what...

Full Circle Weather Wise

It looks like it will be very quiet and somewhat slow at work from now until the final weekend. It only serves to make the days longer as the busier we get, the faster the day goes. On the other hand, it gives us more time to complete the reports and other necessary duties behind the desk.

One thing I noticed this morning is that the weather has almost gone full circle since we arrived. While looking at the figures for the last week in May vs the last couple days, the high temperatures have been in the low to mid 70's the last week and in May we had highs in the upper 60's. The lows have been about the same - in the low 30's. There has been only 4 months of "real" summer here which is not very long. The growing season is short - which is why this is not a huge agricultural area. But the extreme heat is rarely present here during those months which makes for pleasant days and great sleeping at night. Some locals complain about the short summer, and others welcome it because the crowds disappear during the winter months. The ski crowds and winter sports crowds are much smaller.

We are going to take one last trip to Yellowstone this year on our days off. We will travel from Jackson through eastern Idaho to the west entrance of Yellowstone once again since we want to check out the RV park that is in West Yellowstone. It is called the Grizzly RV Park and we have heard a lot about how nice it is. We missed it when we took our last - and only - trip through the west entrance. That also was an area where we saw lots of wildlife and saw very different and beautiful terrain. We might even get some shots of the fall colors while on the trip. No matter what the weather is like, this is still one of the prettiest parts of the country...

Two Weeks to Go

Yesterday was another super busy day but it will be the last busy day until the final weekend. There were over 100 checkouts from the weekend of several special events and there probably will not be any more than about 40 checkouts each day from here to the end. The final weekend will be filled with special events once again so we expect to spend our final day on September 30 as busy as yesterday. We will be going out like lions and not lambs. We have exactly 10 working days to go.

The plans are all made for the month of October and we have many priorities for the time we will spend in AZ. Starting with consolidating our storage situation. We will move all the items from CA to AZ and consolidate everything into one small storage unit. That means we will have some major decisions to make on items we have been holding onto for many years. It will not be easy. Then, we have to renew our driver's licenses which will expire at the end of this year. Along with that, we will apply for and receive our absentee voting ballots from Florida so we can vote in November. We sent all the required paperwork to FL in order to register and qualify for our ballots. We also hope to renew our relationships with our doctors whom we haven't seen in years. I am due for another Colonoscopy which will be scheduled fairly quickly. There are many other tasks we need to complete while there so it will be an interesting stretch for us. It will also be nice to visit with family and have some free time for a change. We will also be looking to work somewhere close by, and we have the "feelers" out for those possibilities.

We are seeing some gradual cooling in the temperatures and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we beat the snow out of here. The fire has been brought under control and the threat to Jackson is all but removed. We have heard of other small fires breaking out but it seems that they will be extinguished before making any headlines.

It's off to work we go as this is our next to last Monday to work...

Short and Sweet

It was a fairly normal day at the lodge and nothing noteworthy happened. It was our first of 2 days with Donna and we had our usual good time of pleasant conversation during the day.

After work at 3 PM we finished up on a couple items that carried over from Friday - Josie did her hair and I did more computer reservation confirmations. Reservations were made for our first night after leaving Jackson - at the Utah Lake State Park - near Provo, UT. We chose the site A013 as shown in the photo on the website. It is a pull-through site that has nothing behind it and will work fine for 1 night. It's nice to be able to see photos of the sites that are available. For $20, you can't beat it.

Other than that, we watched TV and thought we were copying the Bourne movies until we discovered they were on TNT where there are advertisements. Oh well, I guess we will have to buy the series the next time we see them in the stores in order to watch them without ads.

This is a short and sweet entry as there was nothing else to report on from the day...

Chores Day

There was nothing planned for the day yesterday except to wrap up some chores, make some reservations for our travel after leaving here, and try to catch Austin's football game on TV again.

We were having our morning coffee in front of the TV when Josie spotted this robin outside the window:

I thought they were birds of spring and summer and didn't expect to see one when the weather turned cold. It was again below freezing for the low yesterday morning.

We did get our chores done. Josie did the laundry while I made some reservations for us. We will stay 3 nights in Mesquite, NV after leaving the Virgin, UT area and the Zion and Bryce National Parks. We will arrive in Mesquite on October 7, and leave on October 10 when we arrive in Laughlin for a week. We have reservations to see The Lettermen at the Riverside on our anniversary on October 11. We are sooo looking forward to that down time in October.

The real challenge was to get good reception of Austin's game which started at 6:30 PM our time. I was able to watch the entire game with the feed cutting in and out. It was another stellar performance by Austin as his team beat a stubborn Lake Park team, 49-28. Austin ran for 214 yards on 24 carries, including a 75 yard TD on the 3rd play of the game. He had 4 TD's and has 14 TD's in the 4 games he's played. Wow! His 4 touchdowns came on runs of 75, 16, 4 and 15 yards. We can hardly wait for next week's game...

Driving Fall Creek Road

Our plan was to drive a back road that we had heard about - Fall Creek Rd - which connects the town of Wilson, WY to Hoback, WY. It was a paved road most of the way until we got to within about 5 or 6 miles of the end of the road where it turned to gravel. The drive was a nice, scenic drive, that would have been spectacular if it weren't for the haze created by the fire:

The road ended just south of Hoback and onto the road that connected Hoback with Alpine. This is a beautiful drive anytime of the year. As we were south of the effects of the fire, we saw pretty fall colors from the scrub maples. We took lots of pictures and a sample are below:

When we arrived in Alpine, we stopped for lunch at the Yankee Doodle Cafe where we ate the last time we came to this area. In total, we took about 40 pictures of the fall colors and they still haven't peaked yet. We plan to take one last trip of the year to Yellowstone next week so we should see some beautiful fall colors on that trip.

It looks like today will be a day to catch up on a few chores so, unless we get some extra time along the way, we will stay home and hang out today...

No Rooms Available

Yesterday, and every day until Sunday night, has left us with no rooms available to sell to walk-in traffic. We are booked 100% for each day. It was sad for us to watch the number of folks - mostly older and many foreigners who could barely speak the language - being turned away as a result of no rooms being available anywhere in town. There are several events that have caused this problem - a Masons convention, high school rodeo competition and an Art Fair. People that have not made reservations assumed that, because the kids are all back to school, rooms would be easy to find. It's a hard lesson to learn that no matter where or when you travel, you need to know you have a guaranteed place to sleep each night. Sigh!

The fire has been spreading steadily, but the firefighters have successfully kept it away from town. There were a couple of good shots of the fire that appeared in the local paper which are reproduced below. The first one is a shot taken from a helicopter yesterday:

Our location in that photo is just off the picture below the center portion of the photo. Below is a shot of the backyard of the homeowner where the fire started - you can see where the burn area begins at the back of his property:

The fire spread so fast that they couldn't stop the spread. It burned right up the hill and into the canyon.

This final shot is of a helicopter fighting the fire. They worked feverishly yesterday to protect the communications equipment on the top of the mountain:

It's hard to believe that the little bit of water that the helicopter is carrying can have any impact on the fire. Hopefully, we'll get some good news soon on the containment which still sits at 10%.

Our plans to go to Cody this weekend have been cancelled as we thought that, since we are returning again next year, we can schedule the trip during a better part of the summer season - in June or July. We are now planning to take a drive on a road south of town that we have heard about and have not seen, and also, maybe take a trip into town to the Art Fair. Until tomorrow...

Fire Update

The fire threatening Jackson Hole has been spreading throughout the day yesterday. The fire crews have been successful, so far, in keeping it away from the edge of town and other surrounding properties. The update in the Jackson Hole News this morning had a story about the location of the fire's source. It seems that a family on the border of the National Forest was responsible and they were burning trash, from what we were told from people working the fire, during a burn ban in the area. They are most likely going to face some harsh fines, and possibly worse consequences, for their actions. The investigation will continue and we should have an official version of the cause very soon.

The week is speeding by, and with only one day remaining this week, we still haven't finalized plans for our days off. One thing is for sure - the temperatures are droping and Fall has arrived. The low this morning was 30 degrees and the low is expected to go slightly lower tomorrow morning. Josie brought our plants inside last night after work and probably saved them - for now. We had planned to go to Cody to visit - and we may still do that - but we haven't made any reservations for a hotel yet. We will have to plan those days this morning before going back to work at 3 PM.

After work today we will have only 12 working days left. They will go fast, we're sure, and we will soon be preparing for the next chapter. That is something we are looking forward to as we plan to spend a few days in southern Utah when we leave here...

Fire Still Raging

The Little Horsethief wildfire near us just south of Jackson is still raging out of control and is only 10% contained as of this morning. We tried to get a close look at the fire from a different angle after work yesterday. The fire has been moving north and east and we could see where the fire is almost to the ridge on the hill just behind us:

If the fire crests the hill, it will burn down into town on the southeastern edge. The biggest problem facing the firefighters is now the wind which was blowing steadily in the afternoon with gusts that we recorded here at 35 MPH. The Jackson Hole local news has reported that it will probably be at least until Wednesday before they will be able to remove the evacuation threat.

As we couldn't get a close look at the fire as a result of traffic being blocked into the area, we drove a little bit farther north to see that the effects of the strong winds have cleared the air on the mountains. It's nice to finally get another clear view of the Tetons:

We will enjoy our little bit of extra time today before we go back to work at 3 PM. Pretty soon we will be counting the days that are left and the month of September seems to be flying by...

Fire Closing In

Work was as busy as it could possibly get yesterday. We had 144 checkouts and that alone was enough to keep us busy all morning, but we had other tasks to complete that complicated the checkouts. There was a hot water tank that failed and about 20 rooms that were connected to that tank had no hot water. That meant we had to deal with complaints from folks that had to take cold showers in the morning and we credited each of those rooms with $30 on their bill to compensate for the inconvenience. Each weekend from now until the end of September will most likely be as busy as this past weekend. There are big events scheduled each of those weekends and we will be booked to capacity each of those dates.

We also had a report of 2 fatalities from the bike race from Salt Lake City to Jackson over the weekend. One rider hit a pot-hole in the road and was tossed over a guard rail into the Snake River where he hit his head, fell unconscious, and drowned. The second rider that passed away had a heart attack. It was a very sad tale from an exciting event.

Now to the fire. It flared up big time yesterday morning as the wind picked up and fanned the flames. By the time we got off work at 3 PM, the fire was still spreading and gaining ground on Jackson. The fire is about 5 miles south of town and the fire crews are working feverishly to prevent it from spreading to the edge of town. Already, there has been one subdivision evacuated. We took a drive following work and were able to grab some photos of the fire and the crews that are working to contain it. Starting with the view at 3:30 PM from our fifth wheel:

and then while driving south past the edge of town:

The subdivision that was evacuated yesterday morning can be seen, along with the bare hillside that burned very close to these homes:

We found a location where the firemen were setting up a base of operations and we watched the helicopters go into action:

We had a pretty good view of the burn and the canyon where the fire was spreading, including a tree that caught fire in a relatively open area as we watched:

Finally, we got this shot as we were driving home for the evening and were about 2 blocks from home:

There isn't suppose to be any danger of this fire reaching town, but we have heard of situations that got out of control, unexpectedly, and changed the complexion of the outcome. We still don't know how the fire started and probably will find out when the fire is finally under control. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it is contained very soon...