The Rain Didn't Spoil Our Day
We were headed out of Grand Teton today, going to Casper, Wyoming, by way of Jackson Hole. But before we left we had one mission: to see a moose. The Rangers at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center were very helpful and suggested we stop at the Blacktail Ponds Overlook on our way down to Menor's Ferry, one of our destinations on the way to Jackson.
Pulling into the parking lot I was bummed to see so many construction workers rehabbing the area. With their loud saws how on earth were we going to see a moose?? There was a group of people there with binoculars, and I was using the zoom on our camera to try to spot a moose. I heard their group chattering so I zoned in on where they were pointing. There with her snoot in a stream was a moose! Very exciting :) Benny's binoculars weren't able to go that far, but Grandpa Vonder Meulen let the boys borrow his and they were high-powered enough to see her. Yay! We were able to move on from Grand Teton now that we saw the illusive moose.
It was drizzly that Tuesday as we drove to Menor's Ferry. Eleven days had passed and this was the first rainy day--amazing! Especially for when the Vonder Meulens and Hesses get together. Each and every campout we've had there's been at least one rainy day, and many were torrential downpours!
Menor's Ferry was the homestead of Bill Menor who saw a problem and fixed it. There was no easy passage from the Grand Teton area to Jackson. He found an area of the Snake River that he thought would be passable and built a ferry to take people across and back in 1894. There are three buildings on the property, the Menor home, which includes the general store; Maud Noble's cabin, and the Chapel of the Transfiguration.
The chapel was a one room cabin that claims that it could fit at least 100 people, but that seemed a stretch. The most striking part of the chapel is that behind the altar is a cross that stands in front of a big glass window looking out on to the Teton Range. Absolutely breathtaking. I can't imagine a better backdrop for your service.
Maud Nobel is the woman who bought the property from Bill Menor at the time that cars were coming more into use. She charged a dollar to cross the river if you had Wyoming plates, and two dollars if you were from out of state. The important note about her is that it was at her cabin in 1927 that meetings were held to establish Grand Teton as a National Park.
The Menor home was my favorite part. The store was filled with old-timey items, including penny candy which actually costs twenty-cents. Michelle treated the kids to a sweet and they were thrilled. The back rooms showed the kitchen and living/sleeping area and it was filled with items of that time period.
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| Mark, posing with his job from the 1800s (water filtration) |
Next we were on to Jackson, driving along side of an Elk preserve and a stream that had the area's prized Trumpeter Swans. It was still raining and a chilly 63 degrees. If there's some place not welcoming for RVs it is Jackson Hole. Vonder Meulens went one way and we went the other and met up at the park with the elk antler archways. Everyone was hungry at that point so we went searching for lunch. We passed a Mexican restaurant with a 45 minute wait and a place that serves BBQ but both were on the main strip and a little overcrowded among the high end stores.
Louie was dead-set on going to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, and it definitely piqued Michelle's interest. I read online about a couple of places worth checking out and this was one of them, with its saddles for bar stools. Walking in I got the feeling immediately that our crew of seven kids wouldn't be welcome. Oh well. The search goes on. And so glad it did because we ended up at the perfect spot for #elevenontheroad.
Earlier when we were searching for a parking spot we drove past Snake River Brewing Company and noticed it's cool building, beautiful gardens, and plenty of outdoor stuff for the kids to do. The windows for each area looked out onto a different part of the city, and we could imagine how cool it would be during the skiing months to see the snowy hills.
We checked in with the hostess and were treated to a private room complete with a TV showing baseball! The kids immediately ordered than ran downstairs to play putt-putt.
The food was so good, and so were the flight of beers that Kevin and I split this time. The kids gobbled up their meals and Charlie, who ordered an adult-sized serving, pushed back his plate that was clean except for one single bite of bread, saying, "I didn't like the bread."
Bellies full and souvenirs bought, it was time to get on the road again, headed for Casper, Wyoming, our spot to sleep for the night. We planned to go to the Walmart there, since that worked so well on or way out in Des Moines.
The drive out of Jackson was a sad one. The beetles that Terry spoke about were prevalent the entire trip. We drove through Shoshone National Forest and it looked that it was days away from having its title revoked. Out of every five trees four of them were dead, looking like skeletons standing on the hillside. You knew that it was only a matter of time before the fifth was going to look the same.
There were other more interesting things to see when you set aside the dying forest. The soil here had a red tone to it and that along with the rock formations reminded me of the Badlands. The Wind River ran along side us or crossed our path almost the entire time we drove, which made me change my thought that it was named for a blowing breeze and maybe instead for the path that the river takes. There's also evidence of a lot of Indian culture in this area. Reservations, shops, and the names of cities and sights along the way were all Native American.
We soon received news that was not going to make anyone happy. The Casper Walmart does not allow overnight parking. They do not enforce that policy, but the Casper Police will ticket you. Ugh. It was getting late and that was almost our only option. We should have saw it coming. We started to see signs that said "Poison Creek" and the "Sand Creek Massacre." Luckily we had reception and looked names of nearby truck stops. The closest was Ghost Town Truck Stop (which, again, should have been a sign) and between the construction going on making the ground uneven for our RVs and the general shady-ness of the place, we moved on.
We headed to the Hat 6 Truck Stop and this is where we stayed the night. It had a Sinclair gas station (the most popular place to fill up out here), as well as a convenient store, a Schlotzski's, and a Moe's Cantina. We took advantage of the extensive choices of shopping the next morning. The kids were pumped to have hot chocolate and fresh donuts for breakfast. I stocked up on a few grocery items to tide us over until we found an actual store. Other than the Hat 6, I don't recommend coming to Casper. But don't sleep there. You never sleep there.
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| Kit we saw at Colter Bay campground before leaving |
Let's end on a happy note. Here are some more pictures from the day :) Jackson has some cool statues throughout town and the kids loved posing with them.
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| Louie & George |
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| Benny & Ben |
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| Charlie & Albert |
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| Meredith with Mark, Tom, and Becky |
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| 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalog |
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| Our Happy Campers :) |
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