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...
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
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:
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...
Friday, September 14, 2012
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...
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...
Thursday, September 13, 2012
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...
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...
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
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...
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...
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
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...
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...
Monday, September 10, 2012
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...
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...
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