Great Visits With Friends

The visits we had with some friends in Idaho Falls yesterday was a fitting way to spend our final visit to that town this season.

We started with a visit in Iona (just outside Idaho Falls) with my friend Scott and his wife Miranda at their house that they are renovating. What a job they are doing to an old farmhouse that sits on about 1 acre of ground. I kick myself for not taking any photos but we were so engrossed in the tour they gave us of their property that it never entered my mind to take any. Scott will be leaving for another stint at Microsoft in Redmond, WA today. He is about a year and a half away from retirement when he will not have to leave home again to work in other areas. Miranda does a superb job of keeping things together while he is gone. They are a wonderful couple and great friends.

We left Scott's house shortly after noon to meet our other friends and former coworkers - Georgann and Sherrie at the Kneaders Bakery and Café in Ammon which is about 5 miles from where we visited Scott and Miranda:

Georgann and Sherrie arrived shorty after us and we had a nice lunch and conversation that lasted until almost 2:30:

It was so nice visiting with them and, of course, we will keep in touch after we leave.

Our next stop on this final trip to the area was at Sam's Club where we picked up some items that we couldn't get in the Jackson stores. Our final trip to Idaho Falls was punctuated with a stop at our favorite ice cream shop in Swan Valley on the way back to Jackson.

It was a day we will remember for a long time.

Today we begin final preparations for our departure on Monday. I have to get the oil changed in the truck and we have to make sure all the tires are ready to go on both the truck and the RV. A final stop at our post office box is on the schedule as is some consolidation of office stuff that is scattered throughout the RV. The final days begin...

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: