Grand Tetons and Huge Steaks

We ranchers woke to a sunny but cold morning. The horses were up before us and graciously agreed to pose for a picture before we left in search of a cowboy breakfast.



Luckily Victor, Idaho, came up with the goods and Ma and Pa were served portions enough to feed a small family. But the small family had to fend for themselves because Ma and Pa scoffed the lot.



Back in the car to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Locals pronounce this ‘Wie-ming’ btw, in case you happen by and want to blend in. Jackson Hole is a smart ski resort in the winter and an upscale hipster joint in the summer, but not so hipster that it doesn’t have an authentic stage coach to ride around in. And yes, of course Ma and Pa jumped in. It was great. Oh, and there was an archway made of elk antlers.




Then off to drive through the Grand Teton national park. This is a vast range of very high (13000 feet, or 4000m), very pointy, jaggy mountains. Extremely spectacular and impossible to capture in teeny iPhone pictures, but here are a few attempts:






And finally to Lander and an old fashioned motel for the night. It had been a while since the mighty breakfast, so clearly a mighty dinner was needed. Off to the diner! When you are peckish in these parts, a hefty portion of a big cow is called for. Again the small family went a-begging because Pa managed his whole prime rib dinner. He won’t sleep!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Good morning America

Image
A return route is just the same, only backwards, right? Noooo. Admittedly there are some similarities on the way back to Durango (long straight roads, strange rock formations, yada yada yada). But here’s the thing. If you’re ever given the chance to visit one more national park in the USA, take it. Chances are you’ll see something new and ridiculously wonderful. And so it was that Ma and Pa took a right turn off the road and into Mesa Verde national park. Mesa Verde, Green Table. The name given to a huge flat-topped rock formation that for thousands of years until 750AD was home to puebloan peoples who built their homes under the rocky overhangs. You think Ma and Pa are making this up? How did they do it? No idea. Why did they leave? No idea, either. But it seems their descendants moved to pueblos in New Mexico and lived in exactly the same way for centuries so much sense has been made of the archaeological finds at Mesa Verde. See? Always take that detour. And so back...
Read more

Happy 4th!

Image
This was quite a day, as Ma and Pa celebrated 4th of July with their US chums. First of all came a delicious and traditional home-cooked breakfast of red, white and blue pancakes with bacon and watermelon and strawberries. And maple syrup. Yummm-my. Then it was off to the Greeley Stampede. It’s famous, but not an actual stampede of things, more a several day event of cowboy/girl sports. Like rodeo, or lassoing animals, or - like today - bull fighting! Happily not Spanish style where the poor bull ends up dead. But still, one bloke in a small arena with a very angry bull and he has to run about and not get caught, for one minute. If he does get caught and whacked, other cowboys jump in to distract the bull. Quite mad! And finally it was off to a neighbourhood party where Ma and Pa met more very welcoming people and enjoyed traditional fare of pulled pork, salads, spicy beans. And garden games! Ma and Pa have learned a new one called Cornhole which definitely will be add...
Read more

The Bells, The Bells

Image
Nearly at the end of Ma and Pa’s big week away. Today’s plan was to drive north to Glenwood Springs, taking the scenic route past the Maroon Bells. Oh, sorry, not familiar with the Maroon Bells? They are only the poster mountains for Colorado, towering at over 14000 feet and starring in almost every tourism advert for the state. First the old offline satnav had to be coached into action, moody little **. Turns out it has to be set up online or it won’t play. What part of offline does it not understand? (all of it, all of it). Blog readers may remember the roads through the French farms of 2018? Colorado’s equivalent today was a turn off a perfectly good road and on to a worryingly long sequence of roads called G Road, H Road, I Road, J Road, K Road, 2000 Road, 2050 Road, 2075 Road...... and finally a stretch of road that wasn’t a road at all, just gravel on dirt. But, miraculously it did join the Maroon Bells road! Hurrah, went Ma and Pa. Huge Phew, they also said. But where wer...
Read more