2 Massages, 1 Facial & The Grand Tetons

July 19-24, 2019

Teton Valley Resort & Spa, Victor, Idaho

Day 35-40

Did some office work, so I got on the road a little late…12nn. Trip should have taken 1.5 but took more like 2 hours. Unhitched and quickly cooled off the rig so I could leave Sparky alone while I get to my 3pm massage! Yes, that’s right, my RV camp has a spa. Turns out I am a physical mess so we extend the massage to 1.5 hours so she can work all the kinks out. All this driving takes its toll on the body. I feel awesome after.

I quickly walk and feed Sparky then we're off to see my nieces in Wilson, WY (next town over from Jackson Hole, WY). The drive is over the “pass” and takes about 30 minutes. They're staying at their dad’s house which has a magnificent view of the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. Corrine (older) is in the process of buying a farm in Driggs, Idaho, near where I'm staying. Keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out – she is wanting to raise pigs, plant an orchard, grow flowers and more. Her sister, Claire, would be a part of it, as well as their (awesome) boyfriends, who are here too.

We also have another connection…Corrine has a vintage 31’ Airstream which she and Mike used to live in (now in storage awaiting some renovations) AND Charlie, Claire’s boyfriend, just purchased a vintage 31’ Airstream too!!! Now there are 3 in our family. Too bad that Sparky and Pippa, one of Corrine’s two dogs, didn't get along; they had to be separated. Will try and reintroduce them another day, at the park where they'll be on an even playing field.

Corrine and Mike cooked an amazing dinner. I couldn't have done better myself. We had such a great time but it got too dark for me to drive home. The drive is about 20 miles, over the 12 mile “pass” that has a 10% grade...no lights and a lot of guard rails. It is not uncommon for deer or moose to be crossing the grade at night, so I stay over and leave around 8 am the next day. (The next morning, literally less than 1 mile from their house, I see a dear with antlers AND a young moose on the same road!)

Most RV camps require you stay in your RV every night. They don’t want people to be dropping off their camper and staying elsewhere. Not that they could prove you didn’t, but good not to get a sticker on your trailer the next day kicking you out. Glad, I didn't get a note.

Day 2 – Chore day - laundry, office etc. Kids came by and picked me up around 1pm for our tubing trip down the lazy river. I gave them a tour of my rig and compared notes - can’t wait to see theirs!!! We drove two cars to Sugar City (near Idaho Falls) to a slow section of the Teton River. It was hot and sunny, and the water was clear and mostly shallow. This was the debut of Sparky in his life vest!!! This thing is great! It has a handle that you can pick him up like a suitcase. He went in about 3 times. I think he got a little overwhelmed in the deep water. What a trooper. I think we'll get a lot of use out of this.

Though we had some tuna fish salad as a snack, we were all a little hungry on the way back. Luckily, Claire spotted gas station BBQ on the way in, so we decided to give it a try. In these parts, gas station cafes are very popular and considered some of the best fast casual eating around. This place advertised that it smokes once a day and when they sell out, they're out. We got a little bit of everything - my favorite was the ribs and coleslaw. Well worth the stop. It feels great to be spending time with my nieces and their boyfriends. It was especially nice to see what great relationships they have with each other.

Just before getting back to camp, Corrine showed me the land she is trying to buy. I am so excited for her and feel so lucky to see and envision what she wants to do with it. Driggs is one town away from Victor, where I am staying . It is still small, but bigger than Victor. The cost of living on this side of the Tetons is less, but not by much. They say a 2-bedroom apartment goes for $3500!!! There is little inventory and Airbnb doesn’t help the situation.

Day 3 – It's another hot and sunny day. We head off to Jackson Hole (over the pass) stopping first into an off-leash dog park, suggested by Corrine. The Emily Stevens park is alongside the wide Snake River which runs cold and fast, so I find some of the smaller ponds for him to cool off in. Claire works in Jackson Hole at Healthy Being Café. I have lunch there – it’s vegan so I have a huge Caesar kale salad…yummy. Talked to woman with a Sparky “twin” from California for a while. It's been so easy to talk to people. Maybe it's because I am so relaxed and have so much time on my hands, or maybe it's because it's easier to start a conversation with someone when you are a party of one because your desperate, lol. Finally, Claire gets off work and joined me for a while before getting off her shift.

I poked around downtown including a visit to a high-end thrift store Claire also works in part time. A few months ago, when Claire visited me in SF, I loaded her up with a lot of my nicer vintage items for her to wear or sell. They were still in great condition, but no longer age appropriate for me anymore. Well, she has a few pieces on consignment here! Mixed in with some newer trendy mountain wear, are some of my best finds. Though I paid $8-35, these were priced $150 and up. I didn’t introduce myself, that felt a little awkward, but she said I could have. She really has an eye for fashion. I hope to come across some other finds for her to sell on my travels.

It's still really hot and now mid-afternoon. I take a few more pics downtown then decide to rally and drive thru Grand Teton National Park, to the Yellowstone boarder. I bought a year National Parks pass. The first section from Jackson Hole to Moran is 43 miles of flat, very gentle windy roads, alongside buffalo pastures. Speed limit is 55 mph. The 2nd leg is more forest, some of the road is hugging Jackson Lake. The views are beautiful. This drive is another 43 miles to the boarder of Yellowstone. I turn around at the boarder and will do Yellowstone another day. Most of the drive back is 45-55 mph. There isn't much traffic, but there are a few cars that pull over illegally to take pictures, making it dangerous to pass. Annoying.

Finally, back into Jackson Hole by 7:30 pm, I meet Corrine at the Emily Stevens park with her two dogs. What a difference the environment makes! They all get along😊. I head back home and catchup on calls.

Day 4 – It’s Monday morning, and I decide to do Yellowstone. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the West entrance. No real backup which was wonderful. I am listening to the BYU radio station and Sound of Music comes on! Totally fitting because my current view is mountains in the distance. Traffic was light for about 15 miles, until a buffalo was stranded by the side of the road. A park ranger was guiding cars slowly around it. This area was along the river in a hilly area, so I was surprised to see one here. I was probably 20 feet away from it. It's expression was priceless - “yes, I know I am holding up traffic…but this is my home”, lol. Traffic got a lot better, then slowed down to a crawl near Fountain Paint Pot. I stopped here.

Though still hot, the skies were cloudy, and it was a little cooler than the day before. I left Sparky in the truck (with cracked windows, of course) and left to walk the 20-minute loop. OMG, pictures don’t tell the whole story I have never seen something so extraordinary. Pictures do not do this area justice. It is amazing to see these active mud ponds of brilliantly colored thick liquid bubble up before you. It's a natural toxic mess. Signs are everywhere not to leave the path or touch the liquid. I'm sure there have been those who did and hopefully have been treated like the bubble gum girl from Charlie and the Chocolate factory and swooshed out of the park!

We drive past the other geysers on the way to Old Faithful. I had been told the parking lot was large, but I wasn’t expecting how large it really was! Boy can it accommodate a lot of busses, RVs and cars - maybe a 1,000 or more. There's a great visitor's center, hotels, restaurants and (real) restrooms. Lots of gift shops too. Interestingly, it seems like all the state and natural park stickers I buy, are made in China. Doesn't seem right. Anyway, all the visitor areas are very well laid out and natural looking. Someone I was talking to said they have a team of people (maintenance/artisans) work on making unnatural things look like they belong. Like Disneyland, nothing out of place.

It starts to rain, hard. I stay in the truck. Can’t really tell what direction Old Faithful is from the parking lot. Moments later I see a whole bunch of people come my way. Well, I just figured out where Old Faithful is but sadly just missed it, lol! I walk to the area and I talked to some people who saw it and said it went up about 20 feet. Not sticking around for the next show in 90 minutes. Need to move along.

Note – turns out earlier this day, a family was way too close to some buffalo at Old Faithful (your supposed to be 100’, they were 10’. The girl was charged and flipped! She’s ok. The park does a very good job of telling people and giving written information in several languages about how far to distance yourself to animals. It's too bad some people don't respect that.

The rest of my drive thru Yellowstone was mostly forest. I did see the Lewis Falls and some spectacular cliffs along the Lewis River that looked like the Grand Canyon (though this was not the Grand Canyon area of Yellowstone). There is so much to see in this park, and hopefully I will return someday and camp here too.

Finally, I am out of Yellowstone, back in the Grand Tetons on the way back to Jackson Hole. It’s 4:30pm now, and I am tired. I finally give into my “massaging seats” while I drive. Yes, I have messaging seats in the truck. It felt weird at first, but they're growing on me, especially after a long day of driving. About 15 miles before I get back to Jackson Hole, I see a lot of cars stopped at the side of the road. Then I see the large herd of bison grazing. Really beautiful but strangely odd seeing people leave their cars to take pictures. Interestingly, I have not seen one person pulled over for speeding in either park. Hope they don’t have radar; I don’t want a ticket.

Stopped at the Emily Steven’s dog park again. Met Corrine and Mike for dinner in Wilson before heading back over the Pass for camp. One of the traffic alert signs says watch out for baby moose. Yikes.

Almost home and I want ice cream (non-dairy). I have to drive to Driggs (8 miles away from camp) to get some. It is now dark, there are no street lights but some cars. It's unnerving to drive on such a dark road. I get my ice cream but kick myself for driving tired and at night in an unfamiliar area (though I have now taken this road several times). Was the ice cream worth it? Not really, I was too mad at myself to enjoy it.

Day 5 – I have a facial at 9:30am at my RV spa!!!! Selfcare is important! I am taking a day from driving today too. Claire comes over around 1pm to visit – she was working at a co-op farm nearby (that's three part-time jobs!). I have another massage at 4:30pm for an hour.

Took Sparky for a long walk to downtown Victor and had dinner at a small Asian restaurant on the way back. AmeriAsia seems to not really fit into the landscape here, but I am really glad I stopped in. I ordered the pork belly with rice. It took a while, but boy was it worth it. They must have given me ¾ lb of crispy pork belly cubes, beautifully presented in a bamboo steamer with a bowl of white rice. The presentation was so nice, but what really stood out was the absolutely delicious dipping sauce which they made GF for me. It was basically just tamari soy, jalapenos, green onion and fish sauce. I devoured it. Sorry I didn't take a picture; I didn’t want to look like a tourist! I couldn’t even eat all of it, so they packed it up for me. It wasn’t until I got home that I discovered they gave me MORE dipping sauce! I called them to thank them and put a post on Facebook about it too. The only thing this place needs to do is improve their street signage – it’s almost hidden by bushes. Really yummy. (The pork belly lasted me 3 meals, but the dipping sauce only another hour.)

Next time…Montana!!!!