Season Ends Today

Well, we made it to the end of the season. Today will be our final day at the Visitor Center for the 2017 summer season. We said our farewells yesterday to the folks that are not working today, including our manager. It will be a long and mostly boring day today if it is anything like yesterday. We only had a handful of customers between about 5 PM and the closing time at 7 PM. It has been a more difficult year than last, but we made many new friends and enjoyed the area, as usual. We will wait to see what changes are going to be made before totally committing to return again next year.

We must get everything together and packed away beginning tonight for our departure on Monday. The weather will not cooperate based on the current forecast, but we will have to somehow get it done anyway. Once we get south of the Jackson area, it should clear and we hope to have good weather for the rest of the trip.

I have to make a trip to the post office this morning to try and find out what happened to a medication delivery I should have received yesterday. I made a mistake in ordering my medication so close to our departure but I didn't see any potential problems with the delivery that was promised yesterday. It turns out that no mail is delivered to our business address and only UPS and FedEx packages are delivered. The real mistake I made was not finding out, up front, how the delivery was going be made. I assumed it would be UPS or FedEx. Bad assumption. I'm sure it will work out ok.

It looks like some of our neighbors are all hitched up and ready to leave today. We wish we were one of them as those folks will beat the bad weather. Maybe next year - if we return -  we will only work until September 15 which was the original end of season scheduled for us before we changed it to September 30...

Season Ending Farewells

It is that time of the season when our coworkers begin leaving for their winter locations. Yesterday was the beginning of the farewells and our manager, Angelica, brought in a big cake to celebrate the end of the season. The volunteers will be leaving first and we will miss most of them as we have grown closer to them during the season. The same people keep coming back year after year and they have become a close family to us during our time in Jackson this year. There are some changes rumored during the off season and we hope that none of them will create a negative environment at the Visitor Center. Right now, we plan to return next season unless there are negative changes that result in our going in a different direction. Two work days remain for us and we will head out to AZ on Monday.

The forecast for the weekend is not good. Rain and snow is in the forecast for the entire weekend and the temperatures will dip into the 20's each night. Our only concern is that we get packed and out of the area before any of the forecasted snow creates problems on the road. It's a shame we couldn't leave earlier as the last couple days - and again today - would be clear for travel, even though it is still cold (28) this morning.

Most of the visitor attractions are closing down now for the season and we expect the crowds to be smaller on each of the last two days for us. We close each of the last two nights and today will be our final working day with our manager. There will be some emotional goodbyes over the next two days...

Farewell Party

First of all, it is 25 outside again this morning. Enough of this already!

We had a short day at the Visitor Center yesterday as we closed at 5 PM so that all the employees could attend the farewell party being held at the Elks Club in Jackson. We started at 8:45 AM, so we still got in our full working day.

The party was very nice and all the folks - paid employees and volunteers - were invited. These shots were taken at the party before sitting down for dinner. The first shot is of our manager, Angelica, who came with her 18 month old son::

These shots were taken of our group:

Following dinner, recognition was given to the volunteers and staff by our Elk Refuge Director who said some very nice words about Josie and I and our contribution to the Elk Refuge during a trying and sometimes stressful summer season. It was a nice way to end the season.

With only three work days left, we are watching the weather forecasts and holding our breath for some decent weather this weekend. Right now, it still looks like some rain and snow for Sunday with possible clearing on Monday - the day we are scheduled to leave. We thought about trying to leave  on Sunday to get away from this area as quickly as possible, but with the forecast not looking so good for Sunday, we will stick with the original plan...

25 and Falling

It is 25 degrees outside as I write this entry this morning. Aside from the very cold temperatures, the forecast for the weekend - our last - is for rain and snow. It doesn't appear that we will get out of town without experiencing more cold and wet weather. We even considered leaving on Sunday following our final work day, but it isn't going to be any better than Monday which is our scheduled departure day. Ho hum.

While taking a photo of the sunrise yesterday AM I captured this shot of a moose walking across the Elk Refuge:

This is the shot of the sunrise with the mountains covered with snow in the distance:

We start at 8:45 AM this morning as the Visitor Center will close early at 5 PM today. There is a farewell dinner scheduled for all the employees and volunteers for tonight at the Elks Club in Jackson. We are thinking that, if we return again next season, we will leave on September 15 which was our original quitting date this year before we changed it to September 30.

There was some bad news yesterday from Pioneer RV Resort where we will be staying again this winter. They gave up our space - #90 - to a full time customer and reassigned us to space #185 for this season. That means I have to change our address again - everywhere - so that we will get all our mail at the new location. We knew about that possibility before we left in May, but didn't want to spend money for the space when we would not be using it during the summer months.

We did get a head start yesterday in packing away some outside stuff - like the grill and chairs. We are limping to the finish line this season...

Final Drive of Season to Idaho Falls

We decided in mid morning - at about 9:30 AM - to take our final drive to Idaho Falls for the season. There was still some snow in the area and our car and the hills looked like this:

The forecast was for clearing skies, so we took the chance.

As we approached the Teton Pass outside of the town of Wilson, we began to have some second thoughts as the snow on the pass, although very pretty, was a bit scary as the clouds had not disappeared. These shots show the beauty of the pass on our drive to Idaho Falls from Wyoming into Idaho:

The sun eventually came out and the drive was stress free.

I got a haircut at SmartStyle in Walmart and we also stopped at Sam's Club and picked up some much needed vitamins and other items that we will need over the next month or so. The drive home was also pretty coming back over the pass and we got some nice shots of that drive:

That last shot shows Jackson Hole at the bottom of the pass. The Teton Pass is very treacherous - even without weather considerations - as it is a winding pass with a 10% grade. It is, however, the shortest route from Jackson to Idaho Falls. It is our final trip there until next season.

We ended the day at home with a shot of the sunset and the hills across from us at the Elk Refuge:

Active Day

Yesterday was one with lots of different activity. It was our final Sunday of working at the Visitor Center this season and also was the final day that we open. Following work, we thought we should make a final loop to Moose to check our mailbox, travel down the Moose/Wilson Road looking for bears, stop at the grocery store in Jackson and then get our car washed to remove all the mud and dirt from all the bad weather.

There was no mail in the PO Box which probably means the mail forwarding has kicked-in and everything went to AZ (we hope). The drive down Moose/Wilson Road produced some contact with bears. There were a total of 5 bears in the area, all eating berries from the bushes along the road. Because it was so dense with bushes, we couldn't get clear shots of them. We did however get a couple of peaks:

We probably would have gotten better shots of these bears if we stayed around, but there were many, many people that pulled off the side of the road and we didn't want to stay around waiting.

Since we have decided to go to Idaho Falls today, we scrapped the grocery store stop and went to the car wash. We finally had a break in the weather during the day yesterday and we took these shots of the resulting snowfall on the mountains:

We also took some more photos of the Fall colors that were seen on our drive:

Overnight, we had a dusting of snow in our area. Actually, it is snowing now and we may just scrap our trip to Idaho Falls as we watch the snow covering our freshly washed car:

We'll see how it goes during the next couple of hours.

There are only 4 working days left for us we will try to get some things packed while are off the next couple of days...

Final Sunday at Work

Today will be our final Sunday at work and also the final time we will open the Visitor Center this season. The remaining four days will be Wednesday through Saturday and we will close on each of those days. It has been a tough season this year and we are happy to see it winding down.

It is 28 degrees outside this morning. There is no precipitation, so that news is welcome. There were two records set this week in Jackson. Both of them were for the lowest high temperatures for that date. Those records were set Tuesday with a high of 43 and Thursday with high of 45. Those days were in the middle of the rain and snow period. Our mountains almost look like they did when we arrived here in May. With one week remaining, we are hoping that a warm front comes through so that we can get on with packing up and leave without any worries. It is for sure that we don't want a repeat of the trip here from AZ in May when we drove through two days of snow...

No Relief Yet

There just doesn't seem to be any break in this cold weather pattern we are experiencing. It was 32 again yesterday AM and the rain/snow mix continued for the early part of the day. This is what our poor car looked like yesterday:

The skies cleared a bit in the afternoon and, even though the precipitation has stopped, it remains very cold. The weather has been so bad in this area that Yellowstone was completely closed for a good part of the day. Our park remained open, but we believe that the steady, large crowds in the store, are a result of folks just wanting to get in out of the cold. Our business hasn't suffered at all through this bad weather. It makes you wonder if - or why - people don't check the forecasts before coming to the area. Of course, many reservations were made in advance and probably involved no-refund issues.

The countdown continues as we have only 5 working days left after today. It is a race to see if the weather improves before we have to leave...

Stuck in Bad Pattern

It looks like - from the extended forecast - that our area is stuck in a winter pattern with no end in sight. The lows will be in the 20's each night for the next week. There is some relief from the rain and snow, but not until early next week. We will most likely be preparing for our departure in very cold weather late next week. There is a chance we might make it into the high 50's for daytime highs beginning at the time we are scheduled to leave.

This is a shot that Josie took at lunch time yesterday of the pond that is just outside our facility:

Believe it or not, there are very high hills hidden by the fog you see in the photo. That shot was taken at about 3 PM in the afternoon while the rain was coming down. The timing is terrible for this kind of weather and is a first in the six years we have been coming to this area. You might say that we were due.

Our third day of this work week is today and there are six working days left after today. The crowds are still coming every day which amazes us. It seems like folks either don't see the weather forecasts, or don't care. There isn't much of the area that can be enjoyed in this weather and Yellowstone is even worse with some road closures inside the park as a result of the snow. As said before, we will take it one day at a time...

Rain and Snow

There is a 70% chance of precipitation today. The temperature is 34 outside this morning. The precipitation will probably be mostly snow with that combination. We are crossing our fingers that this cold spell will end before we have to get packing and leave by the 2nd of October. The one thing that this cold spell has accomplished is that we are certain we don't want to spend a winter here living in our RV. Even though it is manufactured to withstand sub zero temperatures, it will be 10 years old this year and we can feel the seals and windows losing their insulation qualities.

We remembered that while we worked at the Virginian Lodge, we had suites available for rent for the winter months at a reasonable rate. We also know that several other lodges and hotels in Jackson offer the same program. We will investigate that option as a plan B for spending a winter here in the near future. It is not on the front burner at this time, but is an option that we could consider.

We now have 8 working days left in the season. It will be one day at a time and we will be watching the weather closely...

Yet Another Hurricane

This hurricane season has certainly been one to remember. We are now watching number 3 cross Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane. This time, San Juan is taking a direct hit whereas hurricane number 2 - Irma - just grazed the island. There is still some family that Josie has on the island, but they are cousins that she has not had any contact with for years and years. We pray that all is well and the storm does not result in catastrophic damage.

We took a drive to Moose yesterday to pick up our mail from that post office. The drive was through the area we see lots of moose and an occasional bear. Sure enough, we spotted this moose in a pond:

The drive also took us past some areas where we could see the effects of the current weather that has been the story this week and will be for the next week or so. These shots show the snow level which is getting very close to us in Jackson:

The forecast is for temperatures to get down to 21-22 by tomorrow AM, with highs in the low 40's. We will disconnect our water tonight and use the water from our storage tank during the next several nights.

With only 9 working days to go, we are ready to see the season end...

Second Drive Through Canyon

There were a couple things that we wanted to accomplish yesterday. One was another drive through the Snake River Canyon from Hoback Junction to Alpine so that we could update the status of the Fall colors. We took several shots of some nice colors:

Overall, it has been a disappointing season for the colors. Somehow - and we believe it is tied to the quick freeze that we have been experiencing - the Aspens have not turned into their bright yellow color. Either we are still too early for the peak, or they are going to just lose their leaves without the gradual color change.

The other thing we wanted to accomplish was to refill one of our propane tanks which went dry during the night on Saturday - Sunday AM. It was a challenge. The place we usually fill our tanks had a problem with their tank operating properly. We drove around town to three other locations with no luck in finding one that either had the ability to fill tanks (most places just exchange empty tanks for full ones) or that had a certified person to dispense the propane. We ended up going to the KOA Campground about 15 miles south of town to get our tank filled.

We had rain all night long with no snow at our elevation. The temperature is 39 outside and we expect the low-low temperatures - 20-25 - to arrive by Wednesday. It is way, way too early to have this kind of weather...

Suddenly It Seems Like Winter

Last night we dropped to 29 degrees after the 27 we had on Saturday AM. The highs are only reaching the low 60's, so we are having clear signs of an early winter. The extended forecast has lows at around 22 for this Thursday and Friday. This is the earliest we have seen such weather in all the years we have been coming to this area. I guess as long as we don't get a foot of snow, we can't complain.

We had a very nice dinner last night at The Lift with our friends Ed and Eileen:

They spent the summer in Alaska and raved about the city of Banff that they discovered on the trip back to the lower states. In fact, they liked it so much that they are planning an extended stay there next season. They were very fortunate to have no damage to their Florida home near Orlando. Their daughter has been watching the home and reported only power outages. We spent about 2.5 hours just talking about the year and our experiences. They leave for Florida on Saturday.

Our original plan for today was to drive to Idaho Falls for the last time this season, but we will probably hold off on that trip until next week. We still want to see the Fall colors again this week to see the difference from last week, so we will most likely take that drive sometime today or tomorrow. With the change to winter weather, the colors should be at their peek...

Brrrr! It's Here

OK, it is 27 outside this morning. It is also so foggy we can't see much more than about 100 yards away. We open at work this morning and we're glad it is our Friday. While driving home from work last night, we got a glimpse of the mountains with their first snowfall of the Fall season:

The forecast is for sub freezing temperatures overnight, for each of the next 6 days. I'm sure we will see some snow at our level before it warms up again. Maybe, this is an omen for us to not consider staying a winter in this area. One thing is for sure, and that is we don't particularly care for this weather now, and it is nothing compared to what the winter brings.

Tonight, following work at 4:15 PM, we will go the Lift for dinner and meet our friends, Ed and Eileen. After hearing that their home near Orlando, FL, was not damaged by Hurricane Irma, they decided to stop here and visit on their way home from Alaska. Then, we get to enjoy our 2 days off for the next to last time this season. We will have 9 working days left after today...

No Snow Yet

So far, all of the snow has stayed either north of us or in the mountains. That is fine with us. All of this poor weather is bringing in the people at the visitor center. It was super busy yesterday, all day long, and we finished the day with a near record sales total for this date. Because it is so cool and so overcast and wet, people are not going into the Park, but are staying warm and shopping in our store or getting suggestions from our volunteers on what to do in town.

Josie and I have each commented on the huge change in characteristics of the crowds in September versus the rest of the summer. We are definitely getting the older people - retirees - and they are a lot more demanding and "cranky" than the younger crowds we have had up to now. There are, of course, very few kids now, and the older folks are much tighter with their spending and complain a lot more.

We now have under two weeks to go. The plan is to keep the door open for next year, but we will be watching the changes in the organization and keeping tabs on other activities that may impact our decision to return...

Negative Changes at Work

There have been a series of policy changes and events at work that have us concerned. Recently, we received our annual end of season "reward" as thanks for all of our hard work. Last season, everybody received a $50 gift card. This year, everybody received a $25 gift certificate. Of course, that means it can only be used in visitor center locations within the Grand Teton Association. There is also more attention being paid to overtime - or the fact that it is forbidden. The Director position of the Association is going to be vacated at the end of this calendar year which has us even more concerned. The current, Acting Director, is a good friend of ours and we are concerned about her departure and who might follow. It appears that there may be problems within the organization that will make us reconsider a return next year. We sure hope not.

The weather is, at least temporarily, showing more signs of the season change. There is lots of rain here but snow in the mountains and in Montana. It would not be unusual for us to get a dusting of snow at this time of the year. We are getting to the point now where we are anxious to see the season end. Soon, we will be saying goodbyes to our friends here and moving on to Arizona...

Season Changing

Probably, the biggest story from yesterday was the fact that the season is changing from summer to Fall - officially. We are expecting temperatures in the low 30's and possible snow in the higher elevations over the next several days. We hate to see that so early as we still have a little ways to go before our season ends. There was a series of small storms that passed through last night as we were leaving work. These shots were taken of the sky as we drove home:

We will take what comes and still plan to take another drive through some colorful areas on our next days off.

It's getting tougher to cover the shifts at work with our smaller staff. Today, there will only be three of us working - our manager and the two of us. The problem is that, so far, the crowds haven't gotten any smaller so it means we work harder during our scheduled times. We expect the crowds to begin shrinking as the weather cools and as we get deeper into September. It would be nice if the shrinking begins today...

Dinner Out

Most of our final day off yesterday was spent doing chores around the RV. Josie did laundry while I vacuumed the RV and did some minor repairs.

We met two of our friends for dinner at the White Buffalo in Jackson - a first time visit for us. They had a special - Burger and Bud for $10 - that is offered during happy hour and which all of us ordered. It was a great bargain and a great meal. Georgeanne and Sue are coworkers at the GTA (Grand Teton Association). Georgeanne was our manager last season and this year she was assigned to work at the store at the airport here in Jackson. Sue works with us now as a late addition to our staff and has previous experience working at GTA visitor centers.

One of our friends and coworker from last season - Nancy - left to go back to her home in Jacksonville, FL, after hearing that her home was flooded during Hurricane Irma. This season, she was assigned to work at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center in the park. She is the one who is married to a FedEx pilot who travels much of the time overseas.

It's back to work today and we have 14 more working days before the end of our season. There are rumors that some snow might be on the way. I hope those rumors are just that - rumors. We are beginning to organize everything for our departure, starting with mail forwarding issues. Pretty soon we will be packing the RV...

About One Week Early

Our drive through the Hoback Canyon yesterday to see the Fall colors was about a week early. There were some nice colors, but the aspens have not reached their bright yellow color yet. There were lots of oranges and some red, but in one week this drive should be spectacular. We did get some pretty good shots of the early color changes. Below are some of these:

The Snake River was also about as low as we have ever seen it:

While driving through the canyon, Josie mentioned that she would like to drive to Rexburg again to see the countryside that was covered in the heavy haze last week. Along that drive, we spotted several osprey nests on power poles. One of them had a chick - waiting for mama - that was visible as you can see in this shot below:

It turned out to be a full day in some very nice weather, driving through some very nice countryside.

While watching the news updates yesterday AM on the Hurricane damage, it was confirmed that the Big Pine Key probably sustained the most damage of all the Keys. It was virtually destroyed and will take years to recover. We have such great memories of our time there. We also heard that the total damages from the hurricane will total around $92 billion. Unbelievable.

Many of the areas - on the west coast, at least - did not receive the anticipated damage thanks to a shift in the storm track as it moved north from southwest Florida. Our friends that were going to head home to Ft Meyers heard that their home was not seriously damaged, so they will stay for the rest of the season. Also, we heard from our friends - Ed and Eileen - and instead of heading directly to their home in the Orlando area will stop by and visit us here sometime this week. So, there was some good news.

Our final day of "our" weekend is today and we will spend it doing our chores around the RV. Oh, we do have a dinner date with some friends and coworkers that we will meet at 5 PM tonight at a place we have not eaten before - the White Buffalo...

Waiting on Damage Reports

It appears that some areas were devastated worse than expected - the Keys - and some were not damaged as badly as expected - Tampa. There is still widespread damage and power is out in a good portion of the state. The storm surge was not as expected in some areas along the coast which is very good news. We are watching the news and waiting on damage reports on Naples, Ft Meyers and the rest of southern Florida. We do know that it is still not possible to get to some areas, particularly on the Keys, to assess damage. We fear that Big Pine Key was totally destroyed as the eyewall passed directly over that area. Reports this morning say that travel to that portion of the Keys is impossible at this time. They are inspecting the bridge for damage and clearing debris while they check along the way. We saw pictures of boats in the road and, of course, homes totally destroyed and lots of trees down, and that is only at the beginning of the Keys near Key Largo. We are still praying that the homes and welfare of our family and friends are still intact.

Our weekend begins today and we have some fog, but otherwise clear skies:

It sure is nice to see the mountains again!

We plan to take a drive through the canyon south of town which is always a pretty drive with the Fall colors beginning to show. Hopefully, we'll have some nice photos tomorrow. Today is the 16th anniversary of 9/11, and this date now has additional meaning for many, many people...

Crunch Time in Florida

We have several friends at work that have homes in Florida. One of the couples - Pat and Charlie - are so distraught that they are leaving on Tuesday to go back to their townhouse in Ft Meyers, FL. That is where the worse storm surge and highest winds are projected to occur and their home is close enough to the water to be concerned. We also have other friends with homes in Ft Meyers, Tampa, Orlando and Miami. Of course, our son in law - Mark - has a brother and family in Ft Meyers. I believe that is also the area where Pam and Wally and their family live. I'm sure that there will be some kind of impact from this monster storm and we just hope that it is not very serious. We will be watching the news, for sure, when we are not at work.

We open this morning at 7:45 AM but there was a problem getting to work yesterday for our final day to close this week. There was a charity race/run in town that had our road at the Elk Refuge as part if their route. We left for work when the runners/walkers were on our section of the road and they were not happy people to see us trying to get to work:

All of these people were cursing us and carrying on while calling us all kinds of names. They certainly didn't realize that it was our only way to get to work. Oh, well.

The smoke has just about cleared out of the area and we once again have the views back of the mountains. We hope it stays this way the rest of our season...

Friends Passing By

We received notice yesterday that a planned visit with our friends Ed and Eileen will not take place as planned this next week. They are heading back to their home in Florida to be near their home in the Orlando area as quickly as possible. Ed is the one who helped me install our new hot water heater in our RV when we arrived here in May. They went to Alaska for the summer and had planned to stop here on the way home next week. We also have friends that live in the Miami area and have friends and family that live in the Ft Meyers area, among others. It is a very trying time for all of those folks that have ties to Florida. Suddenly, our efforts at the visitor center here are not so important.

The hurricane is expected to hit with full force over the weekend and the areas where we spent a lot of time - namely Big Pine Key and the Orlando, Ft Meyers and Tampa areas - are expected to receive the brunt of the storm. All of our friends in those areas have evacuated, but their homes are still in the path. Many of the people from Miami evacuated to Tampa to escape the major force of the storm and now, with the new tracking of the storm, will be in even more danger.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those in Florida and hope that the loss of lives is minimal. Of course, property can be replaced, but lives cannot...

Focus Now on Hurricane Irma

There is nothing more important right now than to focus on the monster storm heading to Florida. It appears that the projected path of the storm is directly through the entire state. We have been watching the evacuations this morning on TV and there is no way that there is enough gas and/or time for all of those wanting to leave, to leave in time. I cannot remember any time in my life when there has been any threat to land by any storm that matches this threat. Our local concerns for the wildfire haze and bad air only pale in comparison to Florida's outlook. We are praying for all of those who are in the projected path of that horrible storm.

It is difficult to think about work today while all the attention is shifting to Florida. The weekend will not be pleasant for those in Florida, or for those that have family and friends there. The long term impact will be felt for years, just as it will in Texas. These are not the most happy times for many areas in our country. Throw in an 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Mexico this morning on top of that, and you feel grateful you are where you are at this time...

Another Hurricane in the South

While we complain about the bad air in the this region, the folks in the Caribbean are facing a new hurricane (Irma), stronger than Hurricane Harvey that recently resulted in devastation in Texas. Sometimes you just have to put things in perspective and be thankful. This new hurricane is a Category 5 that has already caused destruction on several islands and is expected to hit southern Florida this weekend. We have several co-workers at the visitor center that own homes in Florida. One of those is in Miami which will be close to the center of the storm. She has a sister there that is keeping an eye on developments, but there is nothing she can do except pray that it doesn't result in too much damage to her property - and that her family remains OK through the storm. Suddenly, it isn't so bad here.

These last three weeks at work will be challenge with the small staff that remains. We lost another girl yesterday as she had to leave to do training before starting her teaching job in Idaho. The weekends will be especially tough as there are only three of us scheduled to cover both Saturday and Sunday on the remaining weekends. Hopefully, the business volume won't be overwhelming.

The weather is beginning to show signs of Fall. It has been in the mid 30's on each of the last several mornings, so the color changes will begin to accelerate now. We are probably a week or two away from getting some good photos of these changes...

Bad Air Continues

With the exception off a short trip to the grocery store, we stayed inside yesterday. The haze and awful air is still dominating the area and we see no end for a few days at least. The huge high pressure area that is over his region is creating an otherwise clear sky - if you can see it - except for the wildfire smoke that is going nowhere without rain and wind.

It will be difficult to tell visitors where to go today at work. The mountains are not visible unless you are on top of them. Good photos of the area will be near impossible and just breathing this stuff is not healthy, so that eliminates hiking and biking. This is the time of the year when the kids are mostly back in school and we are getting the retirees as visitors. This situation is especially unhealthy for the older folks. I guess it is like living anywhere else in this world - there are always some considerations for potential bad effects, like - floods, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, etc. We should feel thankful that all we get here is some occasional bad air.

We have just over three weeks remaining. The time will move quickly now as we begin to wind down at work...

Mesa Falls ID Trip in Bad Air

There are wildfires burning all over Montana and northern Idaho. We drove to Mesa Falls in Ashton, ID yesterday in what was, without a doubt, the worst air we have ever experienced in this region. Probably, we should have stayed home. The word is that this bad air situation and heavy haze will be around for the rest of the season. It is such a beautiful place. The photos we took don't reveal just how bad the air was as the shots were pretty much close-in.

We arrived at the Byway to the Falls at around noon and we knew that the air was getting worse as we traveled north:

Our first stop was at the Lower Falls which is pretty far from the roadway:

About two miles down the road, you take a side road down the hillside to get to the Upper Falls.  This is the best view of the Falls which are on the Henry Fork of the Snake River.

This shot shows the walkway that is used to get a close up view of the Falls:

We had visited these Falls in the first year that we came to Jackson - but in much nicer air. It was still nice to see this beautiful area again.

We then went to the city of Rexburg on the way home where there was a very nice Walmart store. Josie needed to get some Dr Scholl's foot pads to try to help with her sore knees, so we will see if they help at all. We hope so.

With all the bad air in this area, we decided to stay home today and not go out until we begin work again tomorrow...