Happy New Year!

Beach Mouse Bypass Trail (boardwalk), Middle Lake, Gulf State Park, AL

Well, we've been here a month and truly settled in.  We're still doing OK and doing the same things as last time. We're still walking and Donna still rides her bicycle with the Folks-on-Spokes three days a week.  So far, nothing new (that we know of) has broken on the trailer.  The truck has gotten a new recall for the engine block heater.  And it has rained.  Weather people earlier this year had mentioned a warm, wet winter for this part of the country.  So far, they've nailed it!

I know that's not much, but that wraps up our 2018 adventure for this year.  We pretty much plan on visiting the same general places in 2019 and traveling about the same general timeline.  At least that's the plan!

Here's to a great new year for you all! Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Until next year, David

Mid-month update

We've settled in down here at Gulf Shores.  Been out to eat a few times.  Tried the park's new Woodside Restaurant just off Highway 135 as you enter the park from the west.  Having gotten use to longer hikes over the summer, we're trying to keep the time & length of our walks similar to our summer hikes.  Kinda hard to duplicate the elevation change, though!  Donna still rides with the Folks-on-Spokes, Gulf Shores two to three days a week weather permitting.

Been a wet season, so far.  We've had heavy rain, but not the severe weather we've had in previous years.  Hopefully, we'll get lucky and miss most of the coldest stuff, too.

For those who keep track of such things, we did get the ASCO Red Hat II valve replaced with a manual shut-off valve.  The old valve was wired so that closing the stove top shut the gas off to the stove (to keep the stove from lighting should the cover be closed).  It had worn out and shorted itself out so that it was always on and allowing gas to flow no matter whether the stove top was open or not. We now have to close it manually if we want gas flow off when the stove top is down. 

And in a nod to the 21st Century, we had the software in the truck updated as well as a GPS update.  The original software would reboot from time-to-time.  Nothing dangerous, mind you.  But it did it enough to make Bill Gates proud.  Posts on Ford forums had indicated that people did see an improvement with the update, so we went ahead and had it done.  For the GPS: One must now go get it from a Ford dealership, so we had them just update it themselves while the truck was there.

That gets you up to date.  Thanks for stopping by and checking up on us!  We don't post as often when we're down here as we get into a routine and not a lot changes from week-to-week.  We'll get an update out in a couple of weeks, though.  Later, David

Gulf Oak Ridge Trail, Gulf State Park

Gulf State Park

Middle Lake & Boardwalk, Gulf State Park, AL

We've made our way back to Gulf State Park, AL for the winter arriving Sunday.  We're in our normal site, settled in and filled with groceries.  We've seen a few friends since arriving, got an early dinner in at Mikee's, visited the new Interpretative Center at the park's pavilion, visited & ate lunch at the new lodge, and walked the new changes (updates?) to the old State Route 2 bicycle path.  There's a new, larger crock-pot in the trailer now.  We've gotten the water heater fixed only to develop an overheating ASCO Red Hat II solenoid that controls propane flow to the stove to prevent the stove from staying or turning on while the stove top is closed.  It's an old solenoid that's wearing out, it's probably shorting out, and - of course - it obsolete.  Start getting that resolved tomorrow.

The Folks-on-Spokes folks are beginning to arrive, so we're looking forward to seeing them.  We're also looking forward to visiting with our standing Friday lunch group, too.  Since we get into a routine when we're down here, I'll starting updating the blog about twice a month.

That's it for now.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Pics are from our walks this week around the park.  Enjoy your Christmas shopping!  David

Displays at the new Interpretative Center

New swings at the pavilion

Lobby at the new Lodge

Lobby at the new Lodge

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We're near Birmingham, AL celebration Thanksgiving with family.  Hope everyone one has a great holiday and weekend.  Safe travels to all who move around this week.  We plan to be in Gulf Shores, AL on Sunday.  Thanks for dropping by!  David

Cave City, KY

Our new "We're Traveling" photo

We're free!  We've broken away from the Elkhart area and moved - as you'd guess -  south back into more snow - wintry mix - rainy weather.  Some would say it's like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.  It's really pretty much the way things work for us in the RV lifestyle.

We made it to Cave City, KY.  We came

This is how Elkhart treated us.

here because when we first planned our move south, this was the first area we could reach where we could get freshwater and temps would be above freezing.  Turns out temps are at freezing or just below freezing, and we can only get water during the day.  Amazing how fast that weather forecast changed in just a few days!

Anyway, we're out of Elkhart.  Donna is working like a busy bee cleaning the inside of the trailer.  We've more or less de-winterized and using water out of the freshwater tank as the campground shuts off freshwater at 5 PM each day.  So far we've got an intermittent left turn signal light on the door side of the trailer (only showing up when temps dropped below freezing), a hot water heater that only runs on propane (happened before - we'll get it fixed so it runs on electricity later), and we haven't tried the new washer/dryer combo.  Oh, and a new MCD shade that doesn't want to work properly.   Search on YouTube may help us get that solved.

I kinda keep track of how long we go after service with everything working.  Been a couple of years since we left service with everything working.  That's part of the reason we had an extended service this time as we're just trying to get things to work they way they were suppose to.  Looks like we get a big zero for this session, too.

We got the new suspension.  The new hitch and new suspension now have us competing for the world's tallest RV at 13 ft, 5 inches.  (That's obviously not true, but when you're use to 13 feet, 1 inch, it feels that way.)  The upside is that we can now travel off road in the deserts of Arizona without fear of the trailer hitch pin taking out one of the bed rails.  This new growth also required new steps so we could reach the door without having to pull out a step stool every time you wanted to enter or exit the trailer.  The new steps made the door now harder to open and close (these steps stow inside the door of the trailer).  Nothing like improvements, right!  But so far all that stuff works.  Just gotta get use to it.

So that's it for us.  As I close the weather radar says light snow.  If so, that's the hardest snow I've ever experienced.  It's raining and raining fairly hard.  Hopefully, it won't freeze!  It's too bad some of this weather can't slide west to help out with the fires.  Anyway, thanks for dropping by!  Until next week, David

Donna gets her cat

We're beginning to see the end of our 2018 fall service session.  It's been a long one as we got the trailer painted, and Donna got her cat as you can see here.  As I write this, the trailer is at Indiana Interstate Enterprises where some of the accessories removed for painting are being reinstalled, 4 new AGM batteries installed, holding tank valves are

replaced, and some troubleshooting to try to find a wayward ground fault is being done.  The trailer still remains winterized as the local weather is catching up to us.  Elkhart experiences it's first accumulation of snow this weekend.  Once, again, we've stayed north for too long! 

Our last appointment - we hope - is this coming Monday at MORryde where we

hope to have a new suspension installed. 

If you look closely at the third picture from the top, you can tell we don't have enough clearance between the bed rails and the "chin" of the trailer.  We've got about four inches of clearance at the tailgate.  Ideally, we should have five to seven inches between the bed rails and the "chin" of the trailer.  We had a new, taller hitch installed Monday evening at Dan's Hitch to get us that additional clearance.  Of course the trailer now travels too high in the front and we need that corrected so the trailer travels as level as possible for proper weight distribution over the trailer's axles.

Consequently, part of the plan with MORryde, besides the new suspension, is to add additional risers to help level the trailer when it's hitched to the truck, install new trailer steps that stow inside the door of the trailer, and put a storage box in the location where the old steps are stowed for travel.  As always that's the plan and may change depending on what really fits. 

Our plans to de-winterize the trailer here and ensure everything works before we leave have been destroyed with the weather predicted for this weekend and next week.  At one point, the Weather Channel was indicting the highs would not go above freezing until late next week.  That's changed a little, but we've realized that we need to just take our chances and head south as quickly as we can.  Hopefully, we'll be at Cave City, KY this time next week de-winterizing the trailer and fuzzing with appliances that don't want to work.  That's the new plan, anyway...until it changes!

Why get the trailer painted?  Our trailer's exterior was gel coat with painted graphics and decals for the large D & Mobile Suites emblems.  The gel coat was beginning to deteriorate and we could no longer make it look good and clean after washing.  The decals had faded.   DRV gave us (via Indiana Interstate Enterprises)  the proper paint color codes to match the 2011 Mobile Suites colors.  I wanted the trailer to look as original as possible  (being it's a 2011 model), but knew that was unlikely.  What you now see is a trailer painted by Mike's Custom Painting (Bremen, IN) with the 2011 Mobile Suites model colors.  The graphics are different, but give us the general appearance of a 2011 model trailer.  The emblems are now painted on (all in gold) and using the current DRV fonts.  The white is Mike's Custom Painting's basic white (Donna's choice) vice the white DRV recommended.  Luckily for us, no delamination was found.  That made the painting process go a little quicker and at a little lower cost.  For comparison, I've posted a few of the pictures of the trailer when it was new at the bottom of this post.  Take a look and see what ya think.  We think they did great job trying to make it look original!

OK, it's been a longer than usual post.  I'll let you go.  Thanks for dropping by and checking on us!  We're doing fine, and Donna can't wait to be back in her house.  She was excited just to tow the thing from Dan's Hitch in Elkhart over to Indiana Interstate Enterprises in Lagrange Monday evening in the dark.

Until next week, David

Louisville, KY

Cherokee Park

We're in Louisville, KY to meet up with a couple of friends - Gary & Debbie and Bill & Debra.  Didn't hurt that Louisville's just over halfway between Homewood, AL and Elkhart, IN, either!

We got here Monday.  Walked some of Cherokee Park Tuesday morning and got in a visit with Gary & Debbie and their new home near here that afternoon.  Rain came in around noon as the weather people predicted, but we got a walk in around the Oxmoor area before the rains set in.  If all goes well, we'll visit with Bill & Debra tomorrow.

So we're headed to Elkhart.  Plan to leave Louisville Saturday.  Painters have sent us a text message telling us the trailer will be done Friday.  Plans are to pick it up next Monday,  have a new hitch installed in the truck on Tuesday (to give us more clearance over the truck's bed rails), then move the trailer back to Lagrange, IN to finish the fall service. We then move the trailer to MORryde the following Monday to have a new suspension installed.  Head to Alabama after that.  That's the plan, anyway.  We'll see how it goes.

So we're fine.  We've enjoyed seeing everyone.  But it's raining and that means it's time - for the moment - to be back in Indiana!  Thanks for dropping by!  Until next week, David

Birmingham, AL

Walking trail near Samford University

Sorry we're a little late with this week's post. We're back in B'ham for my Dad's birthday this week.  He got his birthday wish - a quiet day.  Dad & Anna seem to be doing well.  Cousins come to visit this weekend, so we're all excited about that.

In other news, leaves are beginning to change in this part of the country.  Seems a little late, but we have to remember that we're early.  We're normally not here until Thanksgiving week.  Leaves usually gone by then.  Donna got a new "smart" phone this week.  She's spending the vast majority of her time learning to use it.

Well, that's it for this week.  We plan to move to Louisville, KY Monday for a few days.  We're suppose to be back in the Elkhart area November 5th to pick up the trailer and start the second round of trailer maintenance.  As always, that's the plan...until it changes!

Thanks for dropping by.  Until next week, David

High Point, NC

Just a quick update.  We left Fredericksburg, VA this morning and drove down to High Point, NC to visit with friends for the evening.  We're on our way Atlanta to visit Doug & Louise for the weekend.  It appears we could not have gotten better weather for traveling.  High Point is always a good break between Atlanta & Fredericksburg (VA). 

We enjoyed our stay at Fredericksburg - just as we always do.  Good to see everyone.  Ate too much - easy to do when we're living in hotels.  Doc visits went well.  They all have stamped their approval for us to go for another year.

This time next week we expect to be in Birmingham visiting with my Dad & step mother as well as the rest of the family.  May get to see a cousin or two, too!

No news on the trailer, so we're taking that as if all is going well with it.  It's got about three more weeks of work before we need to be back to move to its next location for work.  We miss it terribly!  It's home.  If all goes well, we should be able to at least move back in by November 9th.  There'll still be another few days of work to do on it, but it least we can stay in it at night.  That's the plan, anyway.

So that's it for this week.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Until next week, David

Fredericksburg, VA

Surprisingly, the trailer got to Mike's Custom Painting (Bremen, IN) on Monday as planned -  something that became too hard to do last year as we had to deal with the hydraulics issue & then the cracked frame.

Since we got the trailer in on time, we were able to leave & arrive as planned on Tuesday for Fredericksburg.  Doc appointments started immediately the next day (Wednesday).  As always with most visits here, Donna's got her rental car, so she's out visiting as much as possible.  I hang out at the hotel or walk the local mail.  So far it's our typical Fredericksburg, VA visit.  Plans are to stay for a couple of weeks before continuing our visits further south.

As always, that's the plan - subject to change.  We'll see how it goes.  Thanks for dropping by!  Until next week, David

Weekly Update

We're in the middle of our trailer's service period.  We hope to get it back this afternoon, complete our temporary move out of it, and move it to paint Monday morning.  Should be there 4-5 weeks.  That's the plan, anyway.  Head to Virginia on Tuesday if all goes well.

Otherwise, we're hanging out in the Howe, IN - Sturgis, MI area (aka Michiana).  Been walking more of the Pumpkinvine Trail and parts of the bicycle trail that takes you from Goshen to Elkhart.  Done a lot of driving going back & forth, too.  Did get a factory tour of Newmar motor homes in last week.  Got one stop in at Ben's Pretzels.  Spent too much time at the Blue Gate Restaurant desert bar, too.

That's been our week.  Not a lot of excitement - which is good, for once.  Thanks for dropping by!  Later, David

...and the service rodeo begins

It's an RV.  That, by definition, means you need your own technician!

So our semiannual trailer service began today.  So far, so good.  I think preventive maintenance is so foreign to RV techs - RVs in general - that when you arrive and that's what you want, you've actually caught them off guard.  It's not that they don't believe in preventative maintenance.  It's just they don't see people doing that, I guess.  And, believe it or not, Lippert Service Center was not busy today.  Usually, it's crowded, busy as heck, maintenance vehicles going in & out, people scurrying everywhere. Not today.  One gentleman in for an emergency repair on a Class C motor home and us. Three service bays and only us two there to occupy them.  Very unusual!

Yes, I'm a glass-half-full kinda guy.  And while most stuff on our trailer actually works, so much doesn't work that you tend to forget what works.  And for once, it looks like we might just get in to Indiana Interstate Enterprises on Monday without an emergency repair that keeps us from getting other needed repairs completed.  Have you every had a plumber come to your house to make needed plumbing repairs, work on your house all day fixing several things that needed to be repaired, and yet not fix the two items that you requested to be repaired when you made the original plumbing appointment?  Well, I have and that's how our trailer service appointments have been going over the last couple of years.  And it's gettin' pretty darn old!

So we're sitting for the weekend at Shipshewana.  Originally tried to get into Elkhart Fairgrounds so we'd be close to Lippert, but a Montana owners rally had that place booked.  Ben's Pretzels still good.  Road shoulders still covered in horse poop.  US 20 closed between Shipshewana & Lagrange.  Got a chance to eat lunch with Chris.  He stayed late so he could eat with us.  Sorry he got home late, Emily!

Been a little warm, but we've got thunderstorms this evening & tomorrow.  Weather people saying that'll cool things off and get the area back to "normal".  We still think we're doing OK.  Still planning to be in Virginia early October.  Remember - it's just a plan!

So that's it for us this week.  Thanks for dropping by and checking in on us.  Until next week, David

Bud's Body Shop, May 2018

 

Amana Colonies 2018

Amana Colonies (summer of 2010)

We've finally gotten back up on the road.  We left Monday as planned with overnight stops at Cabela's in Sidney, NE; Kearney, NE; and Greenwood, NE.  Other than shopping at Cabela's, there's nothing that we'd consider a destination stop.  And even though Cabela's RV park in Sidney doesn't get very high reviews, it was probably the best RV park we stopped at over those three nights.   Doesn't make the others bad, but there's nothing to draw us back to any of these RV parks.

After four days of traveling, we're spending the weekend at Amana RV Park just outside the Amana Colonies historic area (near Amana, IA).  We were here back in 2010.  Hot then; hot now. 

Plans are to move further east Sunday.  If all goes well, we'll be back in Shipshewana and start the trailer service rodeo on the 20th.  Head to Virginia on Oct 2nd if there are no surprises with the trailer (or truck, our health, etc).  That's the plan (and we've had a lot of revisions to plans over the last couple of years).

Anyway, we're fine.  Of particular note, I finally gave in and bought a yearly subscription to an online RV travel planning site.  I've resisted this for years as we don't normally have a good internet connection as we travel the country.  Hard to use an online travel planning site when you don't have consistent internet connection.  But I had to as my offline software was so old and the RV parks listing was so outdated, that I was planning with both a laptop and the smart phone (when internet connection was working), anyway.  I would have moved earlier if they'd done something similar to US Military Campground Directory where they download software on your computer so that you can use it even when you're offline.  I'll still keep the old travel software in use, though.  It's turns out that it's our most reliable historical document of where we've been and how many miles we've put on the trailer.

That's it for this week.  Thank's for dropping in and checking on us.  Until next week, David

Laramie, WY

Natl Big Horn Sheep Museum

Wind River Canyon

Well, we're not at Kearney, NE as planned.  A lot has happened (or maybe not happened depending on your point of view) since last week.  Let's talk about what we've done, anyway.

First visit while in Dubois, WY was the Natl Bighorn Sheep Museum in Dubois.  We had no idea there were so many variations of bighorn sheep through the world.  Top Picture is of the main four variations found in the US.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center - Something Interesting dig site

Next was our trip over to Thermopolis, WY to visit to drive through the Wind River Canyon.  Yep, drove two hours one-way just to drive through 4+/- miles of a canyon.  Worth a visit if you're near the Thermopolis area.

Next visit - while in Thermopolis - was the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.  Pictures here are of the active dig site called SI (Something Interesting).  This

Something Interesting dig site

dig is believed to be an ancient lake bed that dinosaurs walked through to cool off and, as you might expect, some died.  As they are researching the lake bed, they've identified different types of dinosaurs and a possible kill site by predators.

We left Dubois, WY on Labor Day and traveled down to Rawlins, WY for the night.  When we leveled the trailer

Snowy Mtn Range, Medicine Bow Natl Forest

we started getting errors with the Lippert hydraulic system.  Figures.  We're on I-80 now, and I-80 has never been kind to our 5th wheel trailers.  We've lost more pieces off of and broken more things traveling I-80 than any other highway we've traveled in the US.  Well, we could level and get the slides out, and we've already got a service appointment at Lippert later in the month.  We'll be OK.

Lewis Lake, Snowy Mtn Range

Then the surge guard starts vibrating for some unknown reason.  Adjust where it sits and that stops.  Everything seems fine.  Until the following morning.  Slides don't want to come in.  Acts like the batteries are drained.  Check the batteries and they read fully charged.  Put a charger to them, and it says they're fully charged.  Trailer controller says the batteries are fine and, oh wait a minute, it says it's

Yep, that's our lunch view today

putting 14.4 volts on the batteries.  14.4 volts???  Batteries are cooking!  We may have a converter problem.

Called an RV tech 100 miles away in Laramie who says he can be there by 4:30 that afternoon.  OK, fine.  While we wait, let's see if I can get the batteries to take a charge.  Low and behold, we do!  Takes a couple of hours, but we get enough charge in there to get the slides all in, trailer hooked to the truck and leveling legs all up so we can travel.  Call the RV tech back, tell him we're on our way to Laramie to meet him.

Luckily, there's a spot available at the local KOA.  We get there, but the batteries are totally shot.  So we're looking at 4 new batteries and probably a new converter.  And we can't get the trailer off the truck.  Fine.  There's a Best Western across the street we can walk to.

Tech arrives and the trouble shooting starts.  He's having to learn the trailer's wiring on the fly and as he checks stuff, it's all confusing to him.  Eventually, he determines the controller is fine, so he starts trying to identify which battery is dead.  As he's doing that, our trailer reverts to its "I've got a ground fault" and the surge-guard shuts the trailer electrical down - hard.  No amount of "try this, try that" will let the power pass to the converter.  For the 12th time in the last 8 years, I've determined I've had enough of this crappy equipment the RV Industry builds and sells to the public.  I need a few gallons of gasoline.  I'm gonna put this trailer out of everyone's misery!  Maybe I'll get lucky just like that guy with his Lincoln Continental back in late 70s and I'll make the news, spend some time in jail, pay a huge fine, but just maybe the RV Industry will see the error of its ways and improved its products.  Nah, never happen!

Anyway, the RV tech, with his decades of experience looks at one battery and says, "I think this one is the problem."  So he isolates that bank of batteries and, bless his heart, the surge guard thinks everything is great and power can now flow to the converter.  Too bad though, all batteries are dead.  But there's just enough recovery ability left in the remaining two batteries to get the front legs to extend and get the trailer off the truck.  The RV tech tells us where to go to get new batteries and goes to his next challenge.  We go get 4 new batteries and a room at the Best Western.  8 AM Wednesday morning we meet the RV tech at the trailer, install the batteries - it takes two people to lift them and get them on the trailer - and once hooked up, we can level and extend the slides.

We're now back up and can travel, but it's cut into an already aggressive travel schedule for us to get to the F-O-S Gulf Shores Rally in Streetsboro, OH.  We decide to stick around, let the batteries charge, and based on the RV tech's recommendation, check out the Medicine Bow Natl Forest/Snowy Mountain Range.  We're just gonna miss this year's F-O-S rally.

And what a gem the RV tech suggested to us!  We've visited the Medicine bow Natl Forest area Wednesday and today & have decided to stay here until Monday.  The 3 bottom photos give you an idea of what we're seeing.  We go back tomorrow, and we've decided to stay in Laramie through Sunday.

So that's our plan - leave here Monday.  Maybe.  Maybe I-80 will give us a break.  Maybe.  Check back later and see! Thanks for dropping in and checking on us! David

Eastbound 2018

Goodbye Tetons!

Not a lot of new news this week.  Almost 3 months and a week since we've towed the trailer.  It was tough leaving the Grand Teton area, but we're on our way east.  First stop is Dubois, WY.  We're back at the The Longhorn Ranch Lodge & RV Park for the Labor Day weekend.  This is the same place we stopped at back in May awaiting the OK to move to the fish hatchery.  We'll continue east Monday - at least that's the plan! 

Pictures here are of the Longhorn Ranch and surrounding area.  We're still not used to the east side of the Wind River (badlands) vs. the west side mountains (Wind River Range).  Very, very different landscapes.  Wind River is lower, but still clear and fast moving.  Dubois a little busier than last time, but still not crowded.  The Longhorn Ranch's RV Park is significant fuller than when we were here in May.  Lodge doesn't seem all that full.

Longhorn Ranch's RV Park

We're headed on to the Folks-On-Spokes (Gulf Shores) rally near Streetsboro, OH.  We're going to miss the first couple of days, but hope to arrive on Sept 11th.  Kinda dreading the trip along I-80, though.   I-80 has not been kind to either our Excel or our DRV fifth wheel trailers.  Keeping our fingers crossed that the DRV survives the trip.

Wind River Range as seen from The Longhorn Ranch

Well, that's it for this week.  Thanks for dropping by and checking in on us.  We plan to be at or near Kearney, NE this time next week.  Hopefully get a stop in at the Cabela's in Sidney, NE.  If their campground has room, we'll probably spend a night there. 

Until next week, David

Jackson Hole Community 2018

The sun is setting on our season here at the Jackson National Fish Hatchery.  We've had a great time, some great visits, some surprising visits (all greatly appreciated!), and just generally learning the Jackson Hole area.  We hope to be back soon.

In the meantime, I'd though I'd pass along some of my thoughts about this Jackson Hole "Community".  I picked up this word "community" in a recent financial article I read.  The article discussed the "gentrification" - a word I obviously had an incorrect definition of - throughout the coastal cities of the U.S.  I found that "gentrification" actually meant the influx of wealth displacing poorer residents.  Personally, I though "gentrification" meant the "graying" of an area - older residents moving in and displacing younger residents.  I probably should "google " such words more often!

Anyway, what area do you think has the highest level of "gentrification" in the U.S.?  Personally, I'd picked cities in the silicon valley.  Nope.  Winner was the Jackson Hole Community.  Not surprising, but I was impressed with the use of the word "community" in that article.  While I'm not a resident here, you can clearly pick up from locals that this "gentrification" is an issue.  And it appears it'll be an issue this coming October election.  So with the these two paragraphs as background, I hope you find my comments useful if not humorous and, in a hopefully likely event, useful for a future visit:

- Jackson Hole refers to the valley between the Teton and Gros Ventre mountain ranges.  The only things truly titled Jackson Hole are the airport and the local visitor center.  Otherwise, the town is Jackson (Wyoming).

- Jackson, WY is a tourist trap - and it's good at it.  Friendly little town, nice to walk around.  Two-star hotels go for about $300/night.  A typical $25 lunch goes for about $40.  Watch out for the tourist:  they turn their brains off when they are here.  Californians apparently think it takes two parking spaces to properly park their Prius.  And, no, your $100,000 Porsche - without a handicap tag or sign - does not automatically give you the right to park in an official-vehicle-only parking lot's only handicapped space.  The Fish Hatchery and Elk Refuge really, really frown on such actions!  ("So just where do you want us to park our car?" they asked so angrily.  Donna, "Gee, I don't know.  How about the visitor parking lot where there's plenty of space and not in a handicap space?" or something to that effect...OK, more likely something to that effect.  But you get my meaning.  BTW: I had the fun job of trying to calm the guy's wife down.)  Oh, and guess what?  California plates!

- Continuing my rant on Californians:  No they're not going to build a covered walkway from the visitors parking lot down to the hatchery to keep you out of the sun.  It's Wyoming.

(OK, I've unfairly picked on Californians, but you guys made it sooooooo easy!)

- When you plan your trip to the Jackson Hole "Community" in July, just remember:  everyone else is here, too.  Even people from Alaska.  I don't know what this area has that they don't have in Alaska, but Alaskans do visit here, too.

- Wildfire smoke season is mid-July through at least Labor Day.  If you can get here before then, do so.  The air is so clear that Donna and I are sure those Tetons are fake - someone painted them there!

- I complain relentlessly about Verizon Wireless service just about everywhere we go.  Jackson Hole was the first area that I'd been in that would give us 4G/LTE, 3-5 bar signal service, yet have absolutely no data transfer.

- If you come here and expect to visit the Grand Tetons for one day and Yellowstone for one day, you're gonna spend an awful lot of time in your car.  Pretty drive, though!

- Don't try to eat breakfast at The Virginian on a Sunday morning.  They can fit you in a couple of hours after lunch.  There are bakeries near the town square that are just as full during the week.  All are worth eating at, though, and we highly recommend you try them if at all possible during your visit.

- Do carry bear spray when hiking along any trails in Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.  It amazing just how quickly and close you can come up on a bear without realizing it.  It can be the difference between a good story (with good wildlife photos) or an obituary.

- Don't try to fish without a proper license.  Game wardens have a strange habit of showing up if you start casting and don't have a license! (Probably good advice anywhere else you may want to fish, too.)

- For you folks who wisely choose a tour bur to visit the Grand Tetons: High heels don't work well on the hike up to Hidden Falls.

- Make it your bucket list to visit the Jackson Lake Lodge.  Just go.  Go upstairs to the lounge.  You'll understand when you get there.

- Rockefeller Preserve, Taggart Lake and Jenny Lake's south parking lots fill up quickly.  Get there early.  And don't treat it like a Walmart parking lot and keep circling thinking you'll get a closer space.  You won't.  Be prepared to sit in line and wait for a parking spot at Rockefeller Preserve.  Enjoy the scenery while you wait. 

- Lastly, we recommend that you pull fully off the side of the road while traveling on US 191 when stopping to view wildlife.  Yes, you're in the Grand Tetons Nat'l Park, but you're also on a US Highway.  Speed limit is 55 mph, not the 35- 45 mph speed limit you and I are use to in national parks.  Besides when's the last time you drove the speed limit on a US highway?  Guess what?  Neither is anyone else!  Remember: it could be the difference between great wildlife photos...or an obituary.

We'll probably be in Dubois, Wyoming this time next week.  Thanks for dropping by!  Until next week, David

Weekly Update

Hatchery's resident weseal

String Lake

Company is gone, and the place seems a little empty.  Time at the hatchery getting short, too.  Hopefully, Robin, Jessica, & Stephanie had a good time.  They had a world-wind tour of the area: City of Jackson, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone.  They didn't get to see all the wildlife they wanted to, but they got to see some.  Have to pay attention to Facebook and see what they post.

One of the things we did attend was the Bar J Chuckwagon Dinner.   Dinners at these chuck-wagons tend to be average, but the entertainment at Bar J was excellent & rivaled the chuck-wagon we visited in Durango, CO (2011).  Plan to go back to this chuck-wagon when we're back in town.  Most of the pictures are of the Bar J Chuckwagon area.

That pretty much wraps up this week.  A couple of places we'd still like to visit before heading east.  Only seven more days of talking fish left to this season.  Anyway, thanks for dropping by!  Until next week, David

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Hermitage Point 2018

Mt Moran from Hermitage Point

Heron @ Heron Pond

This is our longest walk of the season.  We normally would be done by the time we got to the halfway point.  We were pretty proud of ourselves getting this one under our belt!

Hermitage point is at Colter Bay int he Grand Tetons and is a walk out to a point overlooking  Jackson Lake.  Fairly busy trail given it's length.  Not a hard walk; just long.  We found that the west side of the peninsula is vastly

Halfway!!

different than the east side.  West side is pine and spruce (fir??) forest.  East side is sage brush similar to the Jackson Hole valley.  Good walk.  We really enjoyed it.  Just took us the whole season to build up to it!


In other news:  it's warm and smoky in the Jackson Hole area.  We're getting the smoke from the western fires.  According to the Idaho Falls local news, it's not as bad as last year.  Unfortunately, it really cuts into the beauty of the Tetons.  People here for the first time are very impressed even though it is hazy.  They didn't see them it May and June with those crystal-clear, low humidity skies that we got to see them in.  Back then they almost seemed fake.  Now it reminds us of the Blue Ridge.

Also in other news:  We've got friends from Fredericksburg are visiting for about a week.  Donna's hoping at least one of them will go kayaking with here this coming week.  And then there's the potential for a bike ride, etc.  We'll see, but glad they're here.

That's it for this week. Thanks for dropping by.  Until next week, David