Giddy Up Go….

Today we went on a two hour trail ride with the folks from A-OK Corral, just outside of Jackson. Linda has been dying to go horseback riding for the longest time and I’ve been the one dragging my feet. I relented this time since it’s so beautiful around here and thought it would be a fun time. It was all of the above.
Gabby (Gabriel) was our trail guide and it was nice cause we were the only riders on this trip. It’s been overcast and drizzly most of the day so maybe that scared some folks away. Wussie people…
We were gone for two hours, up through the woods onto the top of the mountain, out through the meadows and then back again. Gabby is a photojournalism student at Utah State University, about four hours away from here. She lives in Star Valley, over in the Thayne area, where we just came from doing a park. We had a great time with Gabby, talking about all sorts of things
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We learned alot from Gabby about animals and plants. She showed us a tree where a black bear had clawed it. As we rode past some aspen trees, she told us about the powdery substance that is on the tree trunk of the trees. It has medicinal features, sort of like aspirin, and she says that when the elk are getting ready to have their babies they chew on the bark to help with the birthing pain. Interesting, huh? She also showed us berries that are on lots of the bushes in the woods. She said in another week the berries will be ripe and are good to eat.
Gabby showed us the area where the Rocky movie was filmed where he trained in the snow, to get ready for his big comeback. It was in the meadow up on top of the mountain. This is also where John Wayne’s first speaking role, in a movie, was filmed…The Big Trail. They also have a famous trail riding horse, that used to be in the movies, but the details of that escape me right at this moment (the ice pack on my butt has frozen my brain so I don’t recall it anymore). Anyway, we had a wonderful time riding this evening with Gabby as our guide.
By the time we got back to the corral, my knees and thighs were talking to me (more like yelling at me). They had started to whisper nasty little comments as we departed for the ride but I sucked it up and tried to relax all of the muscles that I could. Not sure I’ll be able to walk tomorrow but it’s nothing that some ibuprofen and ice packs won’t cure. I’ll let you know how that all works out.

Enjoying Wyoming

We’re still in Jackson…were supposed to move this past Thursday but the manager here is a great guy and found a way to let us stay (on our same site no less). We were supposed to move to Moran, which would mean we’d spend every day driving an hour to and from Jackson to call on advertisers, since there isn’t any town in Moran. We drove back to Thayne and Afton on Tuesday to follow-up on some folks who hadn’t made up their minds yet and had a very productive day. Very busy in Jackson….peak of the season plus the Teton County Fair is in town. The fairgrounds are only about two blocks away so very handy to get to (the rodeo is there every Wednesday and Saturday night). Linda and I went to the fair last night and walked around. We had just eaten supper so our willpower was strong to stay tough and not eat any funnel cakes. Linda and I have now started the next phase of our diet. I had another 2# to go but have been stuck at this point for a couple weeks so we figured that 2# isn’t that far off the mark. We’ve both lost 25# and feel great ! We started the Dukan Diet on May 9th…50# lost between the two of us in 11 weeks. We’re happy (and skinnier) !

We were just talking about how nice it is to be here during the heat of the summer. Days are in the high 70’s to low 80’s and nights are in the 40’s or 50’s. It doesn’t get much better than that. We’re getting a few sprinkles this afternoon; nothing really to speak of. No humidity to speak of. We’re happy that this is where we are when we hear about so many “hot” spots throughout the country. We will probably stay the entire time at this park and not move to the other park. We’re driving up next Friday to meet with the owner to get any changes they need to their map.

Business was busy this week but we also were very busy, working out details on buying another bike. We had really wanted to get a Can-Am Spyder but couldn’t find any used ones for less than $24,000+ and that doesn’t make sense when we want to also get a new rig this fall. So, we found a used Yamaha Royal Star Venture 1300 trike on e-bay and bought it. A woman, from Texas, had it previously and traded it on another bike. We’re excited. We loved our Yamaha V-Star 650 and this one should be really zippy seeing that it’s a 1300…twice the power but all the comfy things for nice long rides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We debated whether to just pick it up in Tulsa, Ok on our way back to the east coast but it would really be out of the way for us, since we’re headed to Nebraska after Colorado. The dealer gave us an allowance towards shipping and we were able to find a shipper (for the allotted amount) that will go get it in Tulsa and bring it to us at our next job in Durango, Colorado. We can’t load it on our lift (although the trike kit can be pulled off of it with just a few minutes work) so one of us will ride it to our next assignment till we get our toy hauler this fall. Then it will have a garage of its own. The shipper is picking it up on Wednesday or Thursday and we’ll have it on the 14th. Can’t wait to ride again !

Tomorrow we’re headed on an evening horseback ride for two hours. Might not be able to walk on Monday but will be a fun time. Get to see some of the countryside and mountain tops from atop a horse. We’ll take pics and have more about that tomorrow…stay tuned.

Amazing People

In this job we are blessed to meet some extraordinary people on the road. I met one such person the other day. I met a woman who has had a very tough time of it over the last year. It started last September when she pulled a muscle in her back, up near her ribs. It was giving her some discomfort but then seemed to affect her lower back so she went to a doctor to have it checked out. He gave her some meds and said if the discomfort persisted to Monday (this was Friday), to come back in. Over the weekend, the problem changed and her legs got tingly and progressively got worse. By Sunday she could barely get out of bed so she called her mom to take her to the ER. By the time they arrived at the hospital, she had no feeling in her legs and couldn’t walk.

Long story short, an infection had invaded her spine and ate away at her spinal cord. She had several surgeries, but was still unable to walk. Infection also filled up every cavity in her body and required draining. In the midst of all of this, her husband left her. Her children now had a mother who couldn’t walk and no dad. The doctor who took her case and did the surgeries told her recently that he didn’t feel she would ever walk again….her case was so severe.

This story did not come out of the woman when I first met her. She noticed my ring with the tree on it and asked me about it. She said that she felt a tree, with its branches stretched outward, regenerating itself, resembled her. I agree….she is pretty amazing for what she has gone through. She is walking now…walks with the help of a crutch. She doesn’t have total nerve sensation in her legs but it seems to be returning. She had to learn how to walk all over again. She has made incredible strides in the last year and I told her when I see her next year, I have no doubt that she will be running laps around her place. She does represent the tree…a mighty oak that bends and sways but keeps reaching for the sky. Pushing upward….growing, regenerating and making miracles.

How blessed I am to meet and talk to so many amazing people. They enrich my life with their stories of courage, life experiences and their wisdom. 

Critters Galore !

We got up a little after six this morning and went to Yellowstone today. Drove a whole lot of miles and saw a whole bunch of pine trees. It was very cool this morning and stayed in the 70’s most of the day…..very comfortable temps. We are thinking about everyone that is suffering through the high temps in the rest of the country. Wow, we certainly picked a good time to be in Wyoming !

During our time in the park we saw: A momma grizzly with her two cubs, a moose, a few elk, and some bison that were grazing along the road on the way home. People sure go crazy when they see any animals along the side of the road. They stop their vehicles, sometimes still hanging out in the road and jump out to go see what is stirring around in the bushes. They all start pointing and getting their cameras out. We got to one area, on our way back home and there was such congestion that we couldn’t get through. Linda and I were tempted to stop somewhere and jump out of the truck, pointing and carrying on and see how many other people we could get to stop. Might have been quite funny….get a whole bunch stopped, gawking at nothing and then jump back in the truck and leave. Hehe….

We really enjoyed seeing all of the hot springs, geysers and mud pots. I never realized there were so many different shapes, colors, configurations, etc. as what we saw today. The surface around each of these areas looked so fragile, like you’d fall right through if you stepped out on it but still there was bison poop all over the place. They must tread pretty lightly but it appears that whenever they do come around, it scares the poop out of them cause there was a whole lot of it out there. 

No trip to Yellowstone would be complete without a visit to Old Faithful…..We arrived an hour before the next “anticipated” eruption so we walked around to see the other geysers in the vicinity. The highest concentration of geysers, in the world is found right there. That’s where some of the pictures, of the geysers above, came from.

She put on quite a show. Started with a little puff and then kind of exploded into a tall plume. It was chilly today so there was so much steam that you couldn’t actually see any water spout….was still something we can cross off our bucket list. Very neat to see…..Been there…done that !

We love the opportunity to explore the area. Wonderful things to do and see, everywhere we go. We’ve got a seven day pass to Yellowstone so I’m sure we’ll go back again before it expires. So much to see in Yellowstone…

Bar J Wranglers

Thursday night went to see the Bar J Wranglers and their Chuckwagon show. Two of the guys in the group are brothers and sons of the man who started the group. They’ve been putting on these shows for 34 years and they are amazing. The father had a dream of creating a western show where folks could experience what it was like in the old west, complete with chuckwagon food.
The gates open at 5:30, seats are assigned according to your arrival time. You are assigned a table so then we put our jackets on our seats and went to check out the rest of the ranch. They give wagon rides, have a walking path, gift shop, song shed and lots of open areas to hang out in. There was a
cowboy cook outside making Dutch Oven biscuits. They had bottles of honey there that you could pour all over the biscuits. He did a great job of keeping up with the crowds.
We went down the walking path, where they had some cute scenes recreated of local lore. Some interesting history in these parts and the early pioneers had to endure much hardship.
They have an awesome system for serving everyone their meal. The building holds close to 700 people. They put these shows on seven days a week, from Memorial Day weekend until the last Saturday in September. Over the course of the summer 75,000 – 80,000 people come through this facility. Wow ! They can put everyone through the food line in 20 minutes !   I had BBQ sliced beef, which was so tender you could cut it with a fork. Baked potato, beans, chunky applesauce, biscuit and spice cake for dessert. Coffee, lemonade or water came with it. Tin plates and tin cups were a cute touch to make you feel like you were out on a cattle drive, having supper along with 700 other cowboys.
Dinner finishes up around 8:00 and that’s when the show starts. Take a listen…




They are so good….great side splitting humor, sprinkled in with wonderful harmonies and old time songs. They played no-stop for almost two hours. We bought a CD for my mom and all of the guys signed the CD for her. Anxious to see if she likes it.  What a great night of entertainment….would definitely recommend this to anyone coming to Jackson, Wyoming. Be sure to check out the Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon Show !