July 13, 2009 - Jackson/Jackson Hole, WY

I'm sitting in the lobby of the Virginian Lodge in Jackson, WY, where they have Wi/Fi. It's not the greatest hotel--a little worn-out around the edges, but it'll do. Every now and then a girl has to have indoor plumbing. This place fits the bill. We could've looked around for something better, but I'd heard how quickly places filled up and decided to go for it.

We spent last night at a beautiful spot on the Hoback River. The temperature went down well below 40, I think, because our car thermometer read 38 this morning at about 6:30 a.m. We were very warm, though, which is unbelievable, considering that we had only one thermal cotton blanket. I was wearing long thin fleece pants and a long-sleeved shirt. David was wearing boxers and a short-sleeved shirt. We've really been happy with TD. She's so warm and cozy.

Starbucks doesn't seem to exist around here. Our navigation device told us it did, but lied. I asked somebody what happened and they said the Starbucks closed down. What we have found, though, is that a number of supermarkets have a coffee shop of some kind and offer Wi/Fi. We really depend on the internet for so many things--campsite reservations, I-Pod downloads, e-mail, etc.

This morning after breakfast we drove to the Grand Teton National Park and spent the day driving around and walking around. I took tons of pictures and hope some of them can even come close to showing the beauty of the places we saw. We looked at a campground in Colter Bay Campgrounds. They don't allow reservations, but said that as long as we're there by around 10:30 or 11:00 tomorrow morning, we should be able to get a campsite. We went inside the Jackson Lake Lodge--just to look around--it's a gorgeous place--just renovated a year or so ago, so all the rooms and bathrooms are very modern and nice, according to the front desk clerk. The entire back of the lodge is glass and the view of the Tetons is the most spectacular one you can imagine. The mountains are just huge! One thing I learned is that the Tetons have no foothills. The mountains just soar straight up from the ground. Before going there, we went to the Visitors Center which is a new building and offers a lot of information about the glaciers and the creation of the Tetons. It has many pictures of the flowers, plants and animals that are found in the area. It was a great place to go. After having lunch in the Signal Mountain Lodge, we drove on to Jenny Lake.

As soon as we got out of the car at Jenny Lake, a woman called out to us asking where in FL we were from. She was also from Sarasota/Bradenton and worked as a teacher for 30 something years. We didn't know any of the same people, but it was one of those "small world" moments.

I don't know what's in store for tonight. I do know we're going to make good use of our hot shower in a few minutes and then we'll see what happens.