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| The proverbial pic with the antler arches in downtown Jackson, WY. |
We got into Jackson, WY mid afternoon on Monday, July 3rd. As mentioned previously, we were all kind of tuckered out after two nights of poor sleep in the campsite from hell. As a result, we decided to cut GTNP a bit short, and go catch up on a nap in our cowboy hotel. Again, due to getting our reservations kind of late, we were not always able to get top notch lodging for a reasonable price. In Jackson Hole, we ended up with a hotel reservation at the Virginian Lodge just South of town a bit. It wasn't a bad spot, as the beds were comfortable, the water ran hot, and they had ice machines! It looked exactly like what you'd expect with a name like that!
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| Danica tasting the wort at Snake River Brewing Company with Brewer Keith! |
So we got all rested up at our cowboy hotel, and then headed into downtown Jackson to kick around for the evening. We got there just in time for the nightly "shootout!" A local dinner theater company puts on a small show at an intersection on the corner of the town square 6 nights a week. It is a few guys and a few girls that someone gets into a fight, and then there is a lot of shooting and eventually one of the ladies wins! Loud, but fun!
After the shootout, we found one of the local micro brewery restaurants for an appetizer and a few beers. We then decided to go visit another local brewery, Snake River Brewing Company not far away also. This place was the bomb! While waiting for our table, we got a few beers and sat outside in the grass playing games along with everyone else out there. When they called us for our table, Bish and the girls started watching one of the brewers (Keith) inside as he was emptying the wort tank. He started talking to them, and then invited them into the area where he was working to help. They got to help pull the spent barley out of the wort, and he explained the process of brewing beer to them! He talked about measuring the specific gravity of the wort, as well as let them taste the wort with the malty flavor. It was a really neat experience for them!
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| At the July 4th parade in downtown Jackson. |
On Tuesday morning, July 4th, we got up and went back into town to kick around for a bit and get some breakfast. We lucked out, as they were getting ready for a July 4th parade later that morning! After breakfast we stuck around and watched most of the parade. The parade had all of the fixings - throwing candy, fire trucks, floats, horses, and throwing corn on the cob from a local farmers market float!
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| Bish, Slackettes, and cousin Mary Lane in front of her son's house. |
We then started driving towards Salt Lake City and Bish's cousin Mary Lane who has lived in the area for years. For some reason, our GPS took us south through more of Wyoming, instead of west over the mountains and down the interstate. After we figured this out, we decided to continue in this direction, as the roads were pretty open and not busy. Until we encountered another state trooper...dammit!!! :-)
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| I'm getting tired of taking these pics to document the trip! |
We met Bish's cousin at her son's house, just above the "U of U" in the hills. Her son's family was out of town for the week with his wife's family back in Michigan. So they let us move into their basement and spare bedrooms! It was a neat house, with great views of the Salt Lake valley! They made dinner that night, and we walked down the street to a park where we saw at least 50 fireworks shows going off throughout the valley!
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| Our view of the 50+ fireworks shows over the Salt Lake City area. |
One of Darby's best friends from her school had just moved up to the SLC area after school was out. So we were able to pick up Abigail from her dad's office in downtown, and she joined us as an honorary Slackette for the day! Abigail is a great kid! Her and Darby are similar in a lot of respects - like to read, kind of geeky, and like to joke around/be funny. Abigail had what I think we the best line of the trip - We were in the van and driving back down the hill, and she was talking about wanting to go to BYU, but would then have to go on to get a graduate degree somewhere else, as she wanted to do CSI type work. I asked her, "Do you like science?" and she responded with "A bit obsessed!" I think it is awesome that a 13 year old kid knows who they are and owns it in that manner!
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| Slackettes on the Mezzanine level of the Joseph Smith Hotel |
We had some extra time after we got stormed out at the Utah Olympic Park prior to having to drop Abigail off at her dad's office in downtown SLC near the Mormon Temple. So we parked in the area and decided to walk around a bit to see all of the LDS buildings/sites. Abigail pointed out a neat building she had been to once for a wedding reception, so we decided to go in for a look. It used to be a hotel, but is now the Joseph Smith Hotel/Building in honor of the founder of Mormonism. As we walked into the lobby, and were "ooohing and ahhhing" at the decor, architecture, marble statue of Joseph, etc., an older gentleman who was a greeter came over and offered to show us around the building. So we proceeded to follow him around to see some of the rooms, architecture, and learn more about the LDS presidents and faith. He told us that a majority of the offices for looking up family tree information that the LDS church offers as a free service were occupied most of the upstairs of the building now. Fortunately Bish's cousin Mary Lane had warned us "not to sign anything" as we were driving into downtown! :-)
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| Danica, Abigail, and Darby. |
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| Danica and Abigail on one of the rope course islands in Utah Olympic Park. |
The next morning we got up and met Mary Lane and some of her grand kids up in Park City at the Utah Olympic Park. The kids got all day passes and did the downhill tubing, the ropes course, and attempted to do the zip line, but got shut down by a small thunder storm rolling through the area. The girls were disappointed as they had made it up to being 2nd in line when it was shut down due to weather! Bish and I had been to the Olympic Park a few years back when we had came to Park City for a weekend away. It was a bit better for us as it was not the middle of the summer rush. Plus it was cooler then too! The alpine slide was shut down for the summer due to the heat radiating off of the metal. :-(
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| Mary Lane's grand kids/pseudo grand kids & the Slackettes in front of the acrobatic ski jumping pool/ramps. Notice the ski jumper over Darby's left shoulder! |
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| The view down one of the ski jumps in Utah Olympic Park. |
We lucked out, and they gave us a rain check, to come back and attempt to use our all day passes within 7 days. So we ended up going back up the hill the next morning before we drove Vegas. The girls were really hoping to get to do the zip line, and with the rain check, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to give it another try while still in the area.
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| The Slackettes headed down the zip line! |
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| Danica, I think, coming down the tubing hill. |
Did I mention earlier that we knew when we left on June 1, that we'd need new tires once we got back home to AZ. I had my brother in law Stan rotate the tires when we were in IN, as the front ones (more tread) were starting to wear a lot on the insides as this is what mini vans seem to do. So to prevent the back 2 tires from wearing too much on the inside, we rotated them. Well, the tires with the least amount of tread were now on the front end. I thought we would be able to make it back home before having to replace the tires, but I guess I was off by a bit! As we were driving back up to Park City to go back to the Utah Olympic Park, the "low tire pressure" light came on in the van. I commented to Bish that we'd need to find a place to add some air to the tires, when suddenly I started hearing a funny noise! So I put on my right turn signal and started heading over to the far right side of the road. Sure enough, the front right tire had gone flat! Woohoo! :-)
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| My weenie spare tire on the way to the tire shop. |
I got out and dug out the tire changing stuff, and Bish began to lower the weenie spare from inside (it's under the middle of the car!). We were on a slight downhill incline, so as I began to jack up the car, I noticed it rolled a bit downhill and began to torque the jack. So I stopped, set the parking brake, and restarted the jack. That time it worked! I flipped the flat with the weenie spare, and threw the flat in the back of the van. The weenie spare was a bit low, but it was good enough to allow me to drop the Slackettes back up at the Olympic Park, and go find a local tire shop! I sat and waited, while they got a few rides on the zip line, and then we headed South towards Lost Wages.
