Sept. 9, 2010

We made it into Jackson Hole at 4:30 this afternoon.  It was a good drive, though we went through a little rain, and now it's raining steadily.  This was a full driving day: north for about 80 miles through CO, and then into WY for the rest of the trip.

Note Meredith's slick-backed look; the wind was about 45 mph!

Though the welcome sign says "Forever West," it's a little deceptive.  Wyoming is an industrial giant these days.  After we entered the state we started noticing what we eventually figured out are oil wells.  I would say there are about 2500 sq. miles of oil field production going on in the sw corner.  We'd left cattle country in CO, and entered into oil country.  It was amazing!  And the winds were fierce.  Along I 80 we stopped at a rest stop and braced ourselves against the wind in order to eat lunch and walk to the car.  While there, I got a picture of the sage that grows all over; it's very important for the survival of elk, pronghorn antelope, deer, and other animals in the winter.

All along I 80, Meredith and I were commenting that it sort of felt very industrial, even though there are few buildings and few people.  But we saw so many signs of active industrialization: mines, oil fields, rail lines and trains, trucks, airports, electrical lines and generating stations, snow fences galore to keep the highway  and rail lines open during the winter.  No wonder there are no taxes in WY.

Once headed north again from I 80, the industrial feel left.  We traveled north through the Wind River Valley.  On our right, we saw SNOW in the Gros Ventre Range.  We were amazed.  Lewis and Clark had snow on Sept. 16th, but Sept. 9th ... we beat them by 7 days!  If you look far into the distance in the picture below, you may see the snow.

Continuing on, we ended up in Jackson where we went to the famous antler square.  After browsing in a few stores, we went to the highly recommended Silver Dollar Saloon where we sat at the bar, had a local beer (Snake River Valley Heferwiesen) and trout and artichoke dip.  The dip was rich and delicious and served as dinner.  We even watched some of the kick-off of the New Orleans football season ... boy do those folks know how to make a party of anything!