What’s the Next Experience?

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Moulton Barn with Tetons in the backgroundEach Vacation is a New Experience.

Wyoming was quite the experience. From start to finish it had something new and different. It’s hard to beat the beautiful Teton Mountains, Yellowstone geysers and falls and all of the wild animals. But all good things must end and now I’m back home again.

 

 

Old Faithful Erupts

Next up on the vacation agenda

As you may have gathered from some of my posts I’m having a tough time with my back right now. It makes everything from hiking to swimming a challenge. I’m not one to sit on the beach when I go on vacation. I get bored on cruise ships but this mobility issue has defiantly put a cramp in my vacation style. Still I book my vacations way in advance so I have another one on the books.

Lets go to Maui Wowie againOn The Road To Hana

I do love Hawaii. The climate is as close to perfect as you can get. I have a Maui vacation just waiting for me in February.  The peak month for shark encounters off Maui is October and since my next excursion is February I’m probably ok with sharks. Besides, I’m not sure I’ll be cleared to swim or snorkel yet. It’s all pending doctor’s orders. Did you know that scuba divers are almost never shark attack victims? “They” think it might be the bubbles from the air tanks or possibly that they are often vertical in the water. In any case I probably won’t be scuba diving.

The Maui Experience

I’ve been to Maui several times now. I’ve taken a helicopter tour, traveled the Road to Hana, gone snorkeling and whale watching. I even took a ride on a submarine. So what’s left for someone who can’t get out there with a surfboard. Maybe I could try body surfing or using a “boogie board”. I still want to see Iao State park and the Iao Needle. That’s been closed due to mudslides every time I’ve been there but I think it’s open now. Since it is the height of whale watch season I’ll probably do that again. I can never get enough of those amazing animals.

Breaching baby Humpback

Denver is a Rocky Mountain High

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Denver, the Mile High Airport

We finally arrived at Denver International Airport. As we made touch down I began to feel a bit antsy. I didn’t know if I’d be able to make my connection since we got such a late start out of Jackson Hole. Once we got the ok to activate our cell phones an alert came through that my connecting flight to Boston was, in fact, delayed by 3o minutes. I was so relieved. But the  relief was short lived.

Denver airport

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Watch Out for the Fuel Truck!

We were on our way to the gate when we were brought to a halt. There we were on the tarmac just waiting. After about 5 minutes the pilot decided to share  the problem with us. One of the fuel trucks had broken down right in the middle of the runway !  We had to wait until they got a tow truck that could move such a large vehicle. The minutes ticked past and so did the boarding time for my connection.

Mad Dash To the Gate

Finally we got the go-ahead to move to the gate. The plane  couldn’t unload fast enough for me. I felt like I was on the longest jetway in the world! Once in the terminal I didn’t waste time looking for signs. I asked for directions. It was much farther between gates than I expected but as I hustled up to the attendant I saw a flight delay to Boston posted. Breathing hard I gasped out to the attendant “Is That My Flight!”

Terminals

Time to Relax

Turns out it was. The attendant and the other folks in line thought it was hilarious that I was so happy for a flight delay. It seems the connecting flight couldn’t land in Denver because of the same fog that caused us to be delayed in Jackson Hole. They were re-routed to Colorado Springs. They just got the ok to come on to Denver. We had to wait for them to arrive. I could relax and catch my breath.

Epilogue

The flight from Colorado Springs eventually arrived and we all got boarded. The flight to Boston was uneventful. I finally arrived home. A bit later than planned but safe and sound. Traveling is fun but coming home is pretty nice too.

Rocky's happy to see me

The Road (or flight) Home

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On the road again

The road home from Jackson turned out to be an interesting challenge. I woke up around 3 am only to find that it had snowed.  Yup 6 inches of slippery, sloppy white stuff. My concierge told me I had a front wheel drive car so I’d have no problem getting to the airport. Then he went out to bring the car around and got stuck!

Plow Schedule

Loading my bags into the car my valet cheerfully explained that the roads aren’t plowed until after 9 am. He didn’t even know if they would bother to plow today or just let it melt. I could expect to have snow covered roads and highway all the way to the airport. Oh Joy!

The Snowy Drive

The first part of the drive was pretty dicey. It’s very dark out there in Wyoming! The snow was still coming down and when you met another car or truck, splat! Jackson was a different story. With less snow and more traffic most of the road was just wet. It continued that way until the airport. I’m sure the locals hated me because I kept my speed right around 35-40 mph. Once in the airport I found the car rental return only to face a windy, cold trek to the terminal.

Delay upon Delay

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Jackson Hole Airport (stock photo)

Once inside I learned my flight was delayed due to the condition of the run way. Ok by me. I’d rather be safe on the ground that plastered against one of the mountains that ring the airport. As I chatted with a fellow traveler I learned she was the same person that had watched the elk herd with me a few days before! Small world.

Elk Migration

Are we ready now?

As we chatted they changed gates for my flight and started to check in. But it was not to be. My connecting flight is in Denver and turns out the airport was closed  due to fog. We had to wait for Denver to reopen. Finally we had the green light and boarding began. One last trip through the de-icer and we were ready to roll. Everyone held a collective breath as the plane slid (quite literally) into position but finally we were airborne, climbing steeply over the majestic Tetons. We were lucky to get out of Jackson Hole!

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Happy Trails

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Happy Trails to you

Roy Rogers always signed off with the song Happy Trails to you, Until we meet again. That’s a western song, right?  It’s my last full day in Jackson. Happy Trails to me. My Wyoming adventure is coming to a close. I stayed by the condo most of the day doing laundry and packing. I like to take things a little easy the day before a long plane trip. My flight had been changed from 10:30 am to 6:30 am so I’d be heading to the airport in the wee hours of the morning.

TepeeOne Last Wildlife Search

As the afternoon rolled around I decided to drive up to Dornan’s. It seemed appropriate to finish where I started. I went to Dornan’s for lunch when I first arrived so I thought I’d do a little souvenir shopping there to wrap up the trip. They were having a big end of the season sale. Of course it was also a chance to take a last look around for wildlife. It was getting cold and there were occasional snow flurries when I headed out.

Mule Deer at Moose Junction

Did you get my best side

One animal that had been rather scarce were the mule deer. I’d only seen 2 my whole trip. There had been more bears than deer. On a whim I turned down Moose -Wilson Road when I arrived at Moose Junction. I’d no sooner made the turn than I spotted a deer right near the road. I drove past and pulled over. I got my camera and started to walk back to where I’d seen the doe. I really didn’t expect her to still be there but she was. She didn’t seem to be that afraid of me, wary maybe but she didn’t go running off. She even seemed interested in the sound of the shutter as I snapped some photos. She has two rambunctious youngsters with her that only showed themselves long enough to check me out then disappeared back into the brush.

Curious Deer

It’s Cold Out There

Mule Deer Doe

I stayed there by the side of the road as long as I could before the cold wind got to me. Leaving the deer behind I checked the bog overlook- no moose and the shrub where the little bear had been but that was empty too. As I drove back to Dornan’s I noticed the deer had gone. At least I had one last wildlife encounter.

 

An Afternoon Surprise

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lunch of yummy berriesAnother afternoon Moose

The afternoon was waning so I left the little bear to his berries. I planned to continue checking for moose. There’s a swampy area right at the Moose Junction end of Moose-Wilson road. The parking area looks out over the bog. This is supposed to be a great spot for moose but so far I haven’t had any luck here. I pulled in to park for a bit but as the sun slid toward the horizon all was quiet. Time to wrap up for the day.

A Bit of Deja-Vu

Moose in the afternoonAt the end of Moose-Wilson Road I turned right past Moose Junction and the Visitor Center. Taking another right I was back on the main road to Jackson. I’d just passed the Jackson Hole Airport when I saw cars lining both sides of the road. Another critter jam. This time everyone was looking west toward the Teton range. The sun was angling right into my eyes. At first I couldn’t see what everyone was looking at because of the sun. Suddenly I got the angle right and I spotted it. It was another moose.

Moose watchingBull Moose

This was the same area where I saw the last moose but that time the moose was on the left side of the road. This time the road was above the marshy ground on the right side of the road. It looked a lot like the same moose. He was just as unconcerned as the other one too. This time instead of wandering along the side of the road he was meandering toward the road from across the large field. It was hard to get an angle where the sun wasn’t hitting the camera lens directly.

Here Comes Bullwinkle

Moose in the setting sun

As the big guy headed toward me I took as many pictures as I could. Since the field only had some streams and marsh I wasn’t going to get that iconic photo of a moose in a pond but I’ll take what I can get. For quite awhile it seemed Bullwinkle would head right at my car but when he was about half way across the field he changed directions. He was still heading for the road but now he was going to meet up with it way behind me. It was time to move on. My photo ops had passed.

 

Moose in the afternoon