May 22 -- Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Depending on where you were in Butte, you awoke to between 5 and 19 inches of snow. Fortunately, as you can tell from the first picture, which was taken from our motel room, we were closer to the 5 inches. The temperatures stayed around 34 degrees and the roads did not get snow covered. We drove south on I-15 to Idaho Falls and the snow ended at about the Idaho line. It gave us a beautiful Winter scene with snow covered pines.

From Idaho Falls we drove across state highways to Jackson Hole just south of the Tetons. The elevation at one point was over 8000+ feet and we had some snow, rain and sleet. With 10% grades, we went very slowly. When we arrived in Jackson Hole, we truly felt we had reached the West. What a unique town and all the buildings look like a huge movie set. At each corner of the city park are archways made of antlers collected by the boy scouts. We headed for the the Cowboy Bar with its "million dollar bar" to calm our nerves. (The million dollar bar title is self declared, but the bar does have hundreds of silver dollars embedded in it. Don't know if their value reaches a million or not.) The bar stools were saddles, so sitting at the bar was a challenge for us two city slickers but when it comes to having a drink we met the challenge. Jack had a beer, but Joann again had to try some local color so she had a "Buckle Shiner." Another drink for the Grand Dames to try. It consists of Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, Triple Sec, sour mash and a splash of 7-Up. Not something for the faint of heart. We walked on board sidewalks around Jackson Hole enjoying the fabulous shops and marveling at the heights of the ski runs. Even though Butte had snow on Tuesday, Jackson Hole did not and the slopes were bare. It looks like skiers would come down the slopes right into the streets. We drove by the Grand Tetons, which were partially covered in clouds, but you can tell a little from the picture how majestic they are. We hope to have better shots today--weather cooperating. Wednesday will be more of the Grand Tetons and then Yellowstone Park with its Old Faithful.

Rawlins to Salt Lake

The weather really cooperated by setting a record Sunday in Salt Lake City of 89 degrees with blue skies. We drove from Rawlins to Salt Lake City stopping in Rock Springs, WY, where Jack's nephew Chan Lowe attended elementary school. He was in a GT program and was bused about 70 miles one way each day. His class was written up in People magazine. We also stopped in Park City, UT, where some of the 2002 Winter Olympics skiing events were held. The town is nestled in a canyon with lots of upscale shops and restaurants. The drive along I-80 gave us spectacular views of the snow covered mountains glistening in the bright sun. Our first stop in Salt Lake was Temple Square, which includes the Mormon Temple, the Tabernacle, the first Mormon Temple and other administrative and tourist buildings. The highlight were the many beautiful spring flowers. There was an organ recital that I will write about later. The building with the spirals is the Temple and the building at the right corner with the rounded roof is the Tabernacle. The "gate" you see in the picture in front of the Capitol is called the "Eagle's Gate." The Capitol is being renovated, so it was hard getting a good picture. Since it was still early, we went south to Provo and toured the Brigham Young University campus. The grounds were beautiful, but the mountains surrounding the campus really highlighted the campus' beauty. After this added side trip, we were ready to call it a day and headed for a hotel. Unfortunately, there was no internet access, so we couldn't make a post yesterday. Thus, we'll do two today.

Made it to Wyoming!

It was the perfect travel day, so we made great time. While Jack filled the car, Joann befriended a Wyoming cowboy in Lusk, WY. He looks a little like The Duke, don't you think. The most amazing part of the scenery were the herds of crimson antelope grazing along the road with the cattle. We tried to take a photo of them, however, when they heard the car stopping they took off running. Fast little devils. Then we stopped at the Oregon Trail Ruts state park in Guernsey, WY. It's hard to imagine how many wagon trains would have to traverse this trail to create the ruts as deep as they are in solid stone. The gravel road getting to them was rough enough for us. We then stopped in Cheyenne and saw the downtown area where they have their annual Frontier Days festivals and the State Capitol. It has a gold dome, but not as big as Iowa's gold dome. We ended our day in Rowlins, WY. Even though the temps are in the 70's, we saw lots of snow along I-80. We were able to complete the audio book "The Memory Keeper's Daughter." There could be a sequel, since there are a lot of lose ends.