Hail

It's a good thing we have been working the last four days. The weather is full of surprises as we had hail and high winds yesterday and couldn't really do anything outside. I did go and pick up the bikes from the shop and Josie did a 2.75 mile walk on her birthday. The mornings are getting cooler, as we had a low of 42 yesterday. It is expected to go down into the high 30's overnight by the weekend.

All companies and businesses should give employees their birthday as an off day. We didn't do anything special on Josie's "special" birthday, so we will celebrate on Thursday. We will have dinner at the premier steak house in town on Thursday night. If the weather holds, we will also do the hike up the mountain behind us to Josie's Ridge.

It was another sell out at the lodge yesterday and we are in the busiest part of the summer. It will also be sold out tonight. As we reach the end of July, we are looking at just over 8 more weeks of working here before leaving for IL. There are still several activities that we need to schedule - including horse back riding and another rafting trip among other things - before packing it up from another great summer...

Pleasant Surprise

Yesterday was pick-up day for all entries made at the Teton County Fair which ended on Sunday night. Josie and I went to the exhibit hall at around 9:30 and was told to just go and pick up the piece and bring it to the desk for check-out. When we went to the location to get the piece, we were shocked when we discovered that there were two more ribbons - a blue, first piece ribbon, and a larger ribbon for Division Champ - that were being hidden by the Best of Show ribbon. Furthermore, when we checked it out at the desk I was paid prize money for the ribbons - $4 for the blue ribbon, $10 for the Division Champ, and $25 for the Best of Show prize. I'll take the $39 anytime and the satisfaction knowing that all three prizes were won. I hope to get to enter another one next year.

Below is a shot of the entry taken after we brought it home with all three ribbons:

We took the picture into work hoping to find a spot to hang it in the lobby for awhile for our coworkers and guests to see. Of course, all of our coworkers were surprised that I did something like this - as are most people to discover that a male is capable of producing such a nice piece of needlework. We found out that all of the hanging pictures in the lobby of the lodge are screwed to the walls to prevent theft. We never considered that possibility. Given the fact that there was a theft risk and really no good open spot to hang the piece, I brought it back home following work last night.

Today is Josie's birthday and she is officially on Medicare and supplemental health insurance. That is a huge relief for her and she is feeling better the older she gets. We are both taking better care of our bodies now and are thankful that we can enjoy an active lifestyle as we tack on the years. We will celebrate her birthday with a dinner at the Gun Barrel - the best steak and game restaurant in Jackson hole - on Thursday night when we have our first day off for the week.

Our bikes are ready for pick up so we will go to the bike shop and pick those up this morning. The weather is wet and cool and is expected to improve starting tomorrow. It's our turn for some nice, warm sunny days...

Battery and Boot Barn

We purchased a pedometer last year when we started hiking as a regular activity. The battery finally went dead and had to replace it before we could use it again - actually, Josie has been wearing it when she walks and hikes. It's one of those small, flat disc batteries that are about the size of a nickel. There is a Radio Shack across the street from us, so we went there in the morning to buy one. Of course, being Sunday, the store was closed. Next door to Radio Shack is a Pharmacy - Stones Drugs - that had the battery and we talked to the manager on duty (Carol) for quite awhile before heading out to go to the Boot Barn, which is in the same strip mall and a favorite place for us to browse.

One thing that I don't believe was mentioned previously was the fact we dropped off a pair of Josie's Minnetonka sandals at the Boot Barn shortly after we arrived in May. She purchased them last year at this store and we took them back because there was unusual wear on the soul. At that time, the store clerk indicated that the company would probably replace the shoes with either new ones or a credit towards another pair. That was 2 months ago, and we are miffed that nothing has been done and that we haven't even heard about the status. They promised to have someone get back to us by Tuesday with an update. The net of our visit to the store was that I purchased a shirt and we then left to go home.

It has been a bad week for weather and we once again had cool temperatures and rain. The low was 42 this morning and we have had measurable rain on each of the last three days. The weather must have something to do with the extraordinary number of "cranky" guests at the lodge. Last night was almost a joke with all the complaints from people, like: why can't I have a room on the first floor - I can't climb stairs, why can' I have a room on the first floor - I don't want people over top of me, why can't I have a room on the courtyard to be near the pool, why can't I have room on the outside where I can park in front of my door, etc. It seemed like nothing we did could satisfy them. Then, we had the usual "I need more towels", or "I need more shampoo", or " why isn't there a coffee maker in my room", etc. You wouldn't believe some of the complaints we get. I guess it's all in a days work.

Today is the end of the County Fair and we will go to the exhibit hall and pick up my cross stitch and my prize. I believe I get  the $25 prize money at the same time. We'll find out. Then, it's another afternoon and night at the front desk. Maybe it will be a night filled with happy and contented guests...

Bikes in for Tuneup

I took our bikes into the Teton Mountain Bikes shop yesterday for our promised tuneup. There was only one minor complaint that we had - a clicking sound when we sometimes changed gears. The person we purchased the bikes from - David - was not in, but the gentleman that was covering the store expected the bikes and said they would adjust the cable to eliminate that sound and also check the rest of the bike and service the areas that might need adjusting. It is a nice service that was included in our purchase and normally runs from $50 to $100, depending on the age of the bike.

Josie did some laundry and we watched it rain for the rest of the morning before heading to work at 3 PM. The weather pattern is a cool and wet one for the next several days, so not much will be done outdoors. We have some projects to complete indoors, so we will not be bored.

There was a very unpleasant development with one of the individuals we worked with at the lodge. Nicole, a thirty-something single mother and daughter of our front desk manager, was arrested and placed in jail to await a hearing for embezzling over $20,000 from her former employer. It was a total shock to us as we enjoyed working with her. We knew she was struggling financially to support her child, but never expected to see this development. We hope it works out for her.

The fog has rolled in this morning and it is 46 degree as I write this entry. We don't remember it being this cool at this time of the year last year and the forecast is for highs in the mid 70's for the next seven days. We'll take whatever happens with the weather and be thankful we are here...

Idaho Falls Trip

We got a fairly late start for Idaho Falls yesterday. We were caught up in watching some taped TV shows and didn't get started until after 10 AM. When we get such a late start for that trip, it is an all day excursion.

Part of our trip yesterday was a stop at Walmart to get haircuts before arriving at Sam's Club. This time, we got horrible haircuts and we will have re-evaluate getting haircuts there in future. I was butchered and Josie got an unbalanced cut with one side being longer than the other. It makes you wonder where these "stylists" receive their training. We both have a problem finding the right combination and just wish we had Kristine close by to give us good haircuts on a regular basis.

The drive to Idaho Falls is a nice one with a stretch along the Snake River, through Swan Valley, and it was a different blend of scenery from the Jackson area. We still love the Western Wyoming landscape the best, but it is nice to have the reminder once in awhile that there are also nice - and less expensive - areas to see. Anyway, we stocked our freezer again with meats and fish so we are good to go for another month or so.

As a result of our late start yesterday, we didn't get our bikes over to the shop for the tune-up, so we will get that done this morning. Josie also wants to get the laundry done this morning so it looks like our morning is scheduled for us. It's back to work again today at 3 PM for our last week in July...

Winner at the Fair

The haze in the morning yesterday resulted in a change of plans for us. Instead of taking the hike to "Josie's Ridge", we opted to go to the Fair in the morning to see how my entry fared. We left the fifth wheel at around 9:30 and walked the approximately 1/2 mile to the Fair at the Fairgrounds:

We both were anxious to see how my cross stitch entry finished in the judging. We went straight to the Exhibition Hall:

and found my entry, hanging alone in a space, with the Best of Show ribbon:

There are 8 Divisions in the Open Class Needlework Department. Each Division has multiple classes, such as afghan, doily, knitted items, like gloves, hats, etc. There are ribbons awarded for first and second place, and also for each Division Champion. There is only one ribbon awarded for the Best in Show which is the highest award. It also carries a $25 prize, but the real prize is the satisfaction. This is the second "Best of Show" ribbon I've received with my cross stitch entries in State and County Fairs. Not too bad.

We started walking around the rest of the Fair and came upon this area where a puppeteer was performing. The puppet was so funny we had to stand there and watch:

He was terrific and the puppet was a perfect likeness of President Obama.

We then went to the arena where the animals were located and saw all the awards to the 4H members. First there were the pigs:

then the rabbits:

and the Chickens:

and, of course, the cattle:

Yesterday was the first day for the competitions and the rides were not open yet. Today, and for the rest of the weekend, the Fair will be in full open status and the crowds will increase.

We went to the store and then to the shop where we purchased our bikes to schedule the tune-up that is included with our purchase. We will drop off the bikes today, following a drive to Idaho Falls where we need to stock up on some items from Sam's Club. It was a very satisfying day yesterday, and we just hope that the haze is only a short term obstacle to our outdoor exercising routine...

Chores Done, Ready to Play

We made sure that all our chores were done yesterday before going to work. The main chore, and what has become a weekly event, was to mow the grass at our site:

We have taken good care of the grass at our site and, as a result, have one of the nicest and greenest areas in the park. Of course, we water it daily which goes a long way. Josie likes to do the mowing while I do the trimming each week. So far it has worked out fine for us.

The final day at work was typical - sold out and very busy. This week seemed to have gone by faster than most as we were working nearly non-stop for most of our shifts during the week. On the one hand it is nice to be so busy that the time flies, but we are also looking for some slow periods where we can visit more with our coworkers. That will come, most likely, in September.

Our days off this week will be taken with a hike today on the mountain behind us where we hope to discover "Josie's Ridge". That's right. It is a trail that runs along the ridge behind us and all along the southern part of Jackson. We will then come home, shower, and go to the Fair that is only a couple blocks from us. Tomorrow, our plan is to go to Idaho Falls for a stock-up trip to Sams Club. It's been awhile since we last made that trip, and the time has come.

The haze is building from the fires in Idaho and Wyoming, so we aren't sure how good the photos will be that we take over the next couple days, but we will still try to document our activities the best we can...

County Fair is Open

The Teton County Fair is open now until July 28. We went to the exhibition hall at the Fair right at 11 AM yesterday to submit my entry:

 It's a good thing we arrived early as the crowds were beginning to arrive and the lines were forming at the entry tables where the items were being received. I picked up my registration slip to be attached to my entry and went to the table where the needlework entries were being accepted. The whole day at the exhibit hall was devoted to receiving all the entries for the open class categories and they will be judged today. The exhibits will be open, beginning tomorrow, from 9 AM to 8 PM until the Fair ends on Sunday. This fair awards money to winning entries which is a first at any of the fairs we have gone to in the past. It would be nice if mine was in that category.

The main events for yesterday were the horse competitions and the 4H activities. The area surrounding the rodeo arena was filling up with the trailers:

and the contestants for the various competitions:

We will probably wait until Friday to visit the Fair and see all the different crafts and activities inside the exhibit hall. At that time, we will also be searching for our favorite food item at any Fair - onion burgers. It will be in full swing for the weekend and should be fun.

It appears that the haze from neighboring wildfires is arriving a little early this year. We can see some of the haze from a fire in Idaho that began earlier this week and one that we heard had started in Yellowstone. It's a shame that the beauty of these grand mountains is affected by these fires but it happens almost every year from what we are told. That's why all of the picture taking of the Tetons is better if accomplished before the end of July. We just hope it doesn't get as bad as last year and we can still do our biking and hiking without any physical concerns.

Our Friday is today and we can enjoy two more days off beginning tomorrow. There are some activities in the planning stage, so hang on for the details...

Peak Season

There was very little activity at home yesterday as Josie worked on her afghan that she is crocheting while I watched the tape of the final round of the British Open Golf Tournament that was won by Phil Mickelson. I didn't get a chance to watch the live finish to the tournament on Sunday because we went somewhere before work. If anybody else had won, I probably wouldn't have cared to watch the replay. What a class person and stark contrast to Tiger Woods.

The crowds are here at the lodge for the rest the summer. We sold out completely again yesterday, and we had three tour buses. The last of the buses didn't arrive until 10:30 last night, and that is probably the latest that any tour has arrived at the lodge. One of the tour groups - a church group - arrived on a bus from Indiana that drove straight through - a 30 hour trip. The only stop was at a small lake in the Teton National Park where ashes of a congregation member were spread. The entire group leaves on the bus this morning to drive the 30 hours back to Indiana. Now that's a trip!

It is becoming next to impossible to schedule guests for more than a couple consecutive nights at the lodge. The reservations for the foreseeable future have left very little room for multiple night stays. We will be sold out again tonight and also for the rest of this week.

The main activity for this morning before we get ready for work is to drop off my entry at the County Fair. It must be taken between the hours of 11 AM and 6 PM, which only leaves the window between 11 and about 2 PM before we have to get ready for work. It will be interesting to see how this particular cross stitch does in the judging. It is fun to participate in these competitions. I will probably know how it did in the judging by the weekend. Josie wanted to enter a photo of the barn at Mormon Row that she had taken in May shortly after we arrived, but we couldn't get the finishing touches done with the framing in time. That will be for the next Fair.

It is definitely the peak season in Jackson, and we are about half-way through our commitment here at the lodge while enjoying every minute of our time...

Walk and Chicken Fry

The main event for yesterday was the Chicken Fry to benefit the Volunteer Firefighters being held in the town of Wilson at 12 Noon. We took a walk into town before that, at 9:30, to get our daily dose of exercise.

The walk into town is getting easier and easier for us as we get into better shape. The objective for us yesterday was to find a couple hats that we could wear while hiking that would keep our ears and neck from being exposed to the sun. We arrived a little before the stores opened so we stopped at the Coffee Roasters to grab a latte while waiting for them to open at 10 AM:

We thought the latte's were better there than the ones we had at the other coffee shop on the 4th of July before the parade. The town stage coach was in action yesterday morning as we were walking to the different outfitters:

We were successful in locating a couple hats so we are now ready for our next hike. These are our new hiking hats as taken in a shot in the truck later in the day:

They should certainly keep the sun off our ears and neck.

The last shot of the morning was of the hanging baskets that are all over town and spruce up the streets:

We returned home in time to get ready for the Chicken Fry and we arrived right on time at 12 noon. If we thought we would be early, we were wrong. The line already had hundreds of people waiting and we were lucky to even find a parking space. The line was well managed though:

and we enjoyed listening to the entertainment - a local entertainer playing the guitar and singing:

Most of the folks that came to this benefit knew that they had to bring chairs or blankets to sit on while eating their chicken dinner. We didn't know that, but will remember for next year if we return.
The location in Wilson was one where we had excellent views of the mountains:

and the field full of wildflowers, dominated by these flowers that looked like snapdragons:

Our lunch was very good and we left shortly after 1:00 to get ready for work. We stopped on the side of the road to get these shots of the horses that usually hang out at this location at one of the many ranches in the area:

We packed a lot into one morning before going to work at 3 PM. It was another sellout at the lodge and the time went fast, as usual, when we are very busy.

Our third day of the work week is today and, from what we could tell in the room availability reports, we will be selling out every day for the rest of this month. It is the peak of the summer season right now, so it will be business as usual...

Watching Golf, Etc

This weekend is a big one in Britain with the watch for the birth of the new royal family member and the British Open Golf Tournament in Scotland. The golf tournament is the third of the four annual major golf tournaments in professional golf, and is the only one held outside the U.S. That means I get to watch the whole thing and go to work in the afternoon by the time play ends for the day.

Josie is not interested in the golf, so she took a walk - over 5 miles - around town and discovered a new trail just south of our campground that winds around to the top of the hill. We will take that trail someday soon just to see where it takes us. There is a ridge at the top of the hill - Josie's Ridge, if you can believe it - that is a popular hiking trail. She returned  and wanted me to go to the Habitat for Humanity thrift store that is not too far from us so she could buy a picture frame that she has been searching for. It is made from old, aged, wood that is very rustic looking and will serve as the frame for our photo that we took earlier this year of the old barn on Mormon Row near the Teton National Park. That store gets some very nice merchandise that doesn't last very long so we had to go right away before it was sold.

It was back to work for the new week after having a small lunch and we had another sell out at the lodge. It was another night of handling problems that seem to be more plentiful this year. There are more folks complaining about their rooms this year than last, and also more folks that seem to be irritable following their travel day through these beautiful parks. People, in general, just seemed to be happier last year. Maybe the improving economy is resulting in a release of frustrations they have had for several years. Who Knows.

We are going to a chicken BBQ cookout in Wilson today before going to work. It is to benefit the Wilson Volunteer Fire Department and we were given tickets by our manager at the lodge, so we will gladly use them. The sun is shining again with mid 80's for the forecasted high, so it should be a great day ahead...

Taggart and Bradley Lakes

Our original plan yesterday was to ride our bikes around the loop just north of Jenny Lake. We realized after studying the bike trails map that the portion of the trail we wanted to ride was not completed yet, and wouldn't be until 2014. So, we opted to take a hike to a location where we hadn't previously gone - Taggart and Bradley Lakes.

I also wanted to drop off my entry to the Teton County Fair, but discovered that the date for dropping off my classification of entry wasn't until Tuesday, the 23rd. That enabled us to get an earlier start on our hike. The drive was beautiful on this clear and warm day:

and we arrived at the trailhead and were on our way at 10:15 AM:

The hike was one of the best we have taken so far in the Tetons. The countryside was beautiful and we walked through many different variations of terrain. There were creeks and bridges with water falls:

wide open trails through beautiful hills:

Some parts of the trail took us through wooded areas:

and we finally arrived at Taggart Lake at the base of the Tetons:

It was, of course, beautiful as are all the lakes in the Tetons. We stopped and rested and had some of our "light" lunch that we brought. We took some shots of ourselves while on the break:

and also this one of a brave and hungry chipmunk who was ready to pounce on any crumb we would give him::

Following our "break", we continued on the trail until we reached Bradley Lake which was about another mile away from Taggart Lake:

This portion of the trail continued on to an area that was high up into the Tetons - Amphitheater Lake - that was very strenuous and rose 3000 feet over about a 3 mile hike. We passed on that portion of the trail.

We saw many, many wildflowers on our hike, and this is only a small sample from the photos we took all along the way:

and there were several different varieties of berries that we saw, one of which is below:

 

 We concluded that this entire area would be a haven for bears in the fall.

 

We hiked a total of almost 7.5 miles and ended the hike back at the trailhead at around 2:15 PM. This is a shot of the final field of wildflowers as we reached the end of our hike:

 

 

It was a very physical day for us and the temperature was about 87 when we finally reached the end. We stopped at DQ on the way home and had a Blizzard treat to complete our outing for the day.

 

It's back to work today but we had a great time on our days off and we will be planning other great hikes and bike rides before we leave in early October...