jackson hole vacation :::: part 4

okay last part [five years after the fact]! friday we reluctantly left the ranch and went to the airport to pick up a car. then we drove out to the grand teton ski resort area to check into the hotel terra. we decided to stay out there versus in jackson because the rates were so much better. once we arrived we found out that they'd upgraded us (perks of booking in the off season!).

the room was amazing, but we didn't really spend too much time in it! we dropped off our stuff and headed to a trail that one of the ranch hands recommended.

we had teton thai for dinner and it was great! the next morning we got up and headed to the snake river to go rafting. the rapids were a lot more technical than anything i've ever been on before, so fun! unfortunately the trip only lasted about 45 minutes.

after rafting we went to downtown jackson for lunch and to look around. we had lunch at cafe genevieve (delicious!) and then shopped around a little. we went to the million dollar cowboy bar and sat in the saddles to have a drink.

i can't remember if i mentioned it, but FYI most of those are elk antlers and the elk shed them every year. i didn't know this when we arrived and i was a little disturbed!

after we left downtown, we drove around to try to find animals and we had pretty good luck!

you can't see in the picture, but there was a calf with that moose. we got to see it nurse! we didn't see a single bull moose while we were there, just the ladies.

we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at the blue lion. great atmosphere and food. we both had elk steaks and really enjoyed sitting out on the porch and listening to the guitar player. great way to end the trip.

the next morning we got up a little earlier than we needed to so that we could drive through the national forest at dawn on the way to the airport. we saw another moose and some deer. we were really sad to leave, this was my favorite vacation we've taken.

jackson hole vacation :::: part 3

tuesday morning i got up early for yoga, what a great way to start the day! afterwards i came back to get brad and enjoy the tea that was delivered to our cabin. tuesday was the only morning that yoga was offered so on the other days we got into a great routine of waking up when the tea was delivered, stoking up the fire and having quiet time and reading our Bibles before breakfast. loved it.

the three main things we did were hiking, horseback riding, and fly fishing. i guess it's probably easiest to just post the pics and go from there!

while we were riding shelby taught me a lot about the wildflowers that were all over the place. aaaand i don't remember the name of this one :)

where we stopped to eat lunch on our first ride

my horse for the rides, devish

ready to go fishing!

brook trout!

we fished near those willows on the left and you can see our cabin a little further up

getting ready for our second ride to disappearing lake

grizzly scratches

disappearing lake (it is filled by snow melt, then evaporates by about july)

riding back to the ranch (our new friend faye up front)

we rode into the gross ventre wilderness --- no wheels or machines allowed!

the creek (i saw the moose here when i was running, by myself, with no camera... so everyone acts like they don't believe me)

south ridge

i guess that's pretty much it as far as the ranch went. i completely recommend the ranch if you're into that kind of thing. i hope we'll be able to go back, we both really enjoyed it! 

jackson hole vacation :::: part 2

i typed up this whole post before blogger decided to freeze and make it magically disappear. that's not frustrating at all. 

anyways, we arrived in jackson on monday afternoon and alex, one of the ranch hands, was waiting for us a the airport. we got our bag, filled up our water bottles at the cool hydration station, then loaded up to go to the grand teton fly fishing shop. the ranch manager, trey, was there to help us pick flies for the week and we also got our fishing licenses. 

then we loaded back up with alex and three other ranch guests and headed up to the property. the ranch is only about 10 miles outside of jackson but the road is pretty rough so it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to get up there. it went by pretty quickly because we were all looking for wildlife [we saw some chizzlers, antelope, mountain goats, and a moose!] and chatting. it also gave alex a lot of time to tell us all about the ranch. 

once we arrived he dropped us off at our cabin. we stayed in cal cabin and it was perfect for us! it was the furthest from the main lodge, but closest to the good fishing and had a great back porch that overlooked flat creek. 

cal cabin

living room 

bathroom

bedroom looking into the living room

back porch looking down on the creek

after we got settled in we went to yoga. we decided to practice outside, but that might not have been the greatest decision. we picked prime mosquito time so it was a little hard to find your OM when you're being eaten alive. it honestly scared me a little because i was nervous we were going to be bug food the whole time we were on the ranch. luckily that was the only time the insects really bothered us [well brad had welts all over him and itched for the rest of the week, but that was the only time they bit us]. 

we went up for our first dinner [every night at 7 we had appetizers on the porch then moved inside for dinner at 730] after yoga. the food was amazing the whole week. it was local, fresh, unique, and delicious! we never ate the same thing twice and you definitely didn't have to worry about going hungry [FYI-- they ask dietary preferences ahead of time and they can accommodate anything, they just need advance warning]. 

the lodge

the right side of the lake

more lake (to left looking out from lodge), horse stables, and there's a bald eagle nest in there too! 

lake

the sleeping indian... and yes, that is snow!

the sauna sits right on the creek

after dinner we walked around and checked out the property. we also had some local brews [the fridge in the lodge was stuffed with soft drinks and beer].

a great first day in jackson hole!

jackson hole vacation ::: part 1

on sunday brad and i packed our bags and our friend lauren dropped us off at the airport to head to jackson hole, wyoming. asheville's airport is pretty small so we made it through security pretty quickly and had a fair amount of time to kill before our flight. the beauty of living in beer city is that they have all the good local beers on draft at the airport bar [however, it's easy to forget you're at the airport and they will charge you an arm and a a leg].

 

anyways, we had a beer to cheers to a great vacation then boarded our plane. then the captain came in and told us we had to deplane, that they'd found a problem with the plane during their walk around inspection. they had to contact maintenance to see if it was fixable [and if it was fixable it would take at least 2 hours]. 

we quickly got into line at the counter because we knew either way we'd miss our connecting flight from chicago to jackson. long story short they said the earliest we could get to jackson would be the next day (monday) at 230p. a little disappointing but still okay. thankfully we got in contact with our hotel for sunday night (wyoming inn) and they were nice enough to refund our money for the night. that's pretty much unheard of in my experience, so a big THANK YOU to them. we'll definitely stay there if we're ever back in jackson. 

they actually ended up fixing our plane so we were able to get into chicago around 9ish. we had to go to customer service to get a voucher for a hotel and all that jazz. the line was CRAZY long. a really nice guy helped us, gave us a hotel voucher, meal vouchers, and told us where to catch the shuttle. unfortunately they couldn't get us our checked bag [i definitely know better than to put important stuff in there, but i failed miserably]. i hunted down some contact lens solution then we caught the shuttle to the intercontinental hotel. 

we were both pleasantly surprised with the hotel. it was very nice, clean, and modern and the staff was great. when we gave the clerk our voucher he asked if we needed any toiletries or anything, and even gave us free wifi for the night. 

we had a late dinner [and multiple margaritas] and the hotel restaurant, fresco 21. once again, we were pleasantly surprised and i'm pretty sure those were some of the best french fries we ever had [they were only serving their late night menu so everything came with fries].

monday morning we had breakfast at fresco 21 then caught he shuttle back to o'hare.

i really wish i'd had my running stuff because i would have loved to jump on the el and ran down by the shore. oh well, lesson learned. 

our flight to jackson was uneventful but check out the view as we were coming in:

and that's where i'll end for now!