Ain’t no Mountain High Enough
Friday – 7/4
Got up around 9 and headed down for the famous Homewood Suites breakfast. They had a waffle machine that the kids can use to make their own waffles. These will be a hit for sure.
We then headed walked the 3 blocks down to downtown Jackson to look around a bit. The town has really expanded since we were here in 1992. There are many more t-shirt shops and art galleries.
Wendy and I could have easily spent hours just browsing around, but the natives are restless, so it’s off for the day’s adventures.
We drove over to the alpine slide. It looks really cool. It is $12/ride or 5 rides for $50. We decide to buy three 5 ride tickets. The kids will ride 4 times each, and I will get to ride 3 times. Just as we head over to buy our tickets, they close as they are predicting rain. If the track gets wet, the brakes do not work. We decide to head off for something else and come back later.
We drove over to Teton Village to check out the gondola ride instead. The regular tram is closed as they are building a new tram to the top of the mountain, but there is a new gondola that opened a couple years ago that is now open.
Wendy and I rode the tram down 13 years ago after hiking around the back of the mountain and up to the top. This trail is currently closed as they have construction equipment at the top. Not that we would have been able to do this hike with the kids.
The views from the gondola ride up were spectacular. Once at the top there was a restaurant and gift shop. The kids wanted to hike down. It is a 5.2 mile walk if you stay on the trail, but they want to hike straight down the runs. I went into the gift shop to ask about hiking off trail. The advice was to stay on trail as you can get on a steep run or end up off trail. It is a very difficult hike, so I pick up a couple more waters and meet the kids on the hill. They have already started straight down, and when I catch up to them and tell them that we need to stay on trail, they change their minds. We decided to hike back up and take the gondola back down.
When we got back down, the kids did a bungee jump on a trampoline and then we headed back to Jackson to check out the alpine slide again. But before the slide, Wendy felt that the kids needed a quick (45 minute) stop at the dollar store so that they could stock up on a bunch of stuff we do not need.
When we got back to the slide, there was a tour bus just unloading, so it will be out for tonight.
We stopped at the Jack Dennis Outfitters downtown so that Jackson and I could pick out the gear we will need for our fly fishing outing on Sunday. They helped us pick out flies and leaders and I bought my fishing license.
We walked around downtown looking for a spot for dinner, but nothing seemed to fit everyone’s taste, so we swung by a grocery store and picked up some food for the kids and a couple pizzas for us.
We headed back to the hotel and unloaded the food while the kids ran down to the pool for a quick dip. We found out that we did not have an oven, so I placed an order for pizza from a place up the street. They delivered, we ate and then the kids and I headed to a park across the street to view the fireworks.
The show started at 10 and was really nice. They shot them off on Snow King Mountain. About the same size as our show in Wilmette, but as Jackson noticed, they really spread them out. The show lasted 45 minutes and then we headed back for bed.
Got up around 9 and headed down for the famous Homewood Suites breakfast. They had a waffle machine that the kids can use to make their own waffles. These will be a hit for sure.
We then headed walked the 3 blocks down to downtown Jackson to look around a bit. The town has really expanded since we were here in 1992. There are many more t-shirt shops and art galleries.
Wendy and I could have easily spent hours just browsing around, but the natives are restless, so it’s off for the day’s adventures.
We drove over to the alpine slide. It looks really cool. It is $12/ride or 5 rides for $50. We decide to buy three 5 ride tickets. The kids will ride 4 times each, and I will get to ride 3 times. Just as we head over to buy our tickets, they close as they are predicting rain. If the track gets wet, the brakes do not work. We decide to head off for something else and come back later.
We drove over to Teton Village to check out the gondola ride instead. The regular tram is closed as they are building a new tram to the top of the mountain, but there is a new gondola that opened a couple years ago that is now open.
Wendy and I rode the tram down 13 years ago after hiking around the back of the mountain and up to the top. This trail is currently closed as they have construction equipment at the top. Not that we would have been able to do this hike with the kids.
The views from the gondola ride up were spectacular. Once at the top there was a restaurant and gift shop. The kids wanted to hike down. It is a 5.2 mile walk if you stay on the trail, but they want to hike straight down the runs. I went into the gift shop to ask about hiking off trail. The advice was to stay on trail as you can get on a steep run or end up off trail. It is a very difficult hike, so I pick up a couple more waters and meet the kids on the hill. They have already started straight down, and when I catch up to them and tell them that we need to stay on trail, they change their minds. We decided to hike back up and take the gondola back down.
When we got back down, the kids did a bungee jump on a trampoline and then we headed back to Jackson to check out the alpine slide again. But before the slide, Wendy felt that the kids needed a quick (45 minute) stop at the dollar store so that they could stock up on a bunch of stuff we do not need.
When we got back to the slide, there was a tour bus just unloading, so it will be out for tonight.
We stopped at the Jack Dennis Outfitters downtown so that Jackson and I could pick out the gear we will need for our fly fishing outing on Sunday. They helped us pick out flies and leaders and I bought my fishing license.
We walked around downtown looking for a spot for dinner, but nothing seemed to fit everyone’s taste, so we swung by a grocery store and picked up some food for the kids and a couple pizzas for us.
We headed back to the hotel and unloaded the food while the kids ran down to the pool for a quick dip. We found out that we did not have an oven, so I placed an order for pizza from a place up the street. They delivered, we ate and then the kids and I headed to a park across the street to view the fireworks.
The show started at 10 and was really nice. They shot them off on Snow King Mountain. About the same size as our show in Wilmette, but as Jackson noticed, they really spread them out. The show lasted 45 minutes and then we headed back for bed.