Only in Jackson Hole could you have (literally) no one viewing Ai Weiwei sculptures and a long line at the organic grocery store. It's a weird town, but very beautiful. There's no denying the Teton's and the Snake River's splendor. For those of you who suggest I'm making too much fuss about the grocery store stops (Julie) I photographed the entrance to "Jackson Whole Grocery" which reads..."Everyday essentials from coconut water to cornflakes". Where else in the world is coconut water considered an 'everyday essential'? In Sheffield, that's about as exotic of a food item as I could imagine. Not here in Jackson. It's essential. OK...I'm done.


We have had a great two days...a good bit on the road in Utah today, but yesterday we stumbled on one of the trip highlights thus far. I knew that Utah was good for some natural beauty. I had spent some time around Logan when I lived in WY 16 years ago. But I did not remember the lakes. We drove the Grit to Bear Lake and spent the afternoon on the beach. That's not a misprint. This 109 sq.mi. lake is on top of a massive limestone deposit, which results in the most magnificent blue water you could imagine. It is referred to as the Caribbean of the US. The kids were really enthused by the find, and to top it off, this particular area is known for how it's fresh raspberries (which any blue blooded American would know) fit into a milkshake. It was awesome. My iPhone is acting up (hope AAPL delivers some strong earnings on Tue. because I'm returning this one next quarter) so I don't have the best pictures to post but it was outstanding.

What was NOT outstanding was my hour long journey into the bowels of our busted septic pump. I've been accused of not being very handy (which is true). But the dynamic response of the duct tape has really boosted my confidence. There is new duct tape on the couch, the dining table, and I'm thinking of enhancing the exterior seams to boost our water protection. So, without the proper tools (or training) I disassembled the pump (it was really only about 6 screws) to see what was clogging up the rotor. Imagine taking apart your weed eater to put new line in the head and finding that it's wrapped around the motor. Wait, before you do that...drag the weed eater through the sewer and let it sit under your car for about 2 weeks. Now you're getting close to the level of difficulty. Anyway...I got it all cleaned out and put back together (I'm scared to turn it on). It looks good though.

Today we drove ambitiously through some rain (stopping in Salt Lake for Costco apples). I forget how vast this land is...the west. The speed limit is 80mph out of necessity. We need that momentum to carry us off the ramp to the gas station...geez. The mantra for refueling is that you don't stop when you need to...you stop when you can. There are some stretches now that we're off into these southern canyons where you can count on 1 hand the gas stations you'll see for about 4 hours.

We did stop (suddenly) to photograph another moose. This one was thankfully not running around our campsite, but was instead just off the highway when we got into Utah. He was large. As Edward kept saying, "he had a huge rack".

Here are a few pictures from the last moments of Jackson Hole. I can't get the phone to cooperate on all of them, but you get the idea.

A little late...but a memory worth sharing from the Cody Rodeo. This one probably ruined any of the kids' aspiration for bull riding. Let's just say the Cody Rodeo is a little bit lax on their process for loading the chute.

The Daily RV Treat: "Hooked on a Dream"