Frank's Road Trips: 2013 Western Adventure Day 11

Today we were greeted by a nice sunrise and -6 degree temperature.

We got a late start because we were only heading to Jackson Hole, WY about three hours away. First we had the same breakfast that we have had the last three mornings which has put us in the mood for a real breakfast!


Babs Rubber omelet with salsa and a biscuit

My biscut & sausage gravey

It should have been a pretty mundane day with few surprises.

The roads were very icy and about 2 miles out of town approached an accident.

It was a head on collusion involving a Pontiac Grand Am and a semi truck. The Pontiac was the big loser but the tractor-trailer didn’t fair very well either. Debris was scattered all over the road with the Pontiac totally demolished and the tractor-trailers cab on its side under the trailer. It really is no wonder because the roads are very icy and the trucks in particular speed.

If icy roads weren’t enough, we traveled about five miles in fog and blowing snow!

Finally the roads settled down to ice, packed snow, and sunshine once we were in Idaho. Western Idaho is potato country and flat as far as the eye can see and totally blanketed in snow.

During our drive through Idaho we got great views of the back side of the Teton mountain range, and sparkling ice covered trees courtesy of the bright sunshine.

We stopped for gas in Briggs, Idaho and shortly thereafter came across a snow carving contest. We had never seen one before so we parked and Babs braved the cold to take some photos.

We arrived in Jackson Hole around 11 a.m. and checked into our hotel, the Ranch Inn which is located around a block from Jackson Square. Because we arrived so early, we decided to take a drive out to Teton National Park. Our first stop there was the visitors center where we watched a very good film about the park. At the conclusion of the film, the screen rises, the drapes open and one gets a gorgeous view of the Teton mountain range.

Leaving the visitors center Babs & I paused for a photo opportunity with Bullwinkle.

It was now well past lunch time so we drove a short distance out of the park gates to Moose where Dornan’s Store is located in the shadow of the Tetons.

Dornan’s has one of the largest, and expensive, Wine Spectator Magazine, win selections of any retail store in the United States. They also have great, build it yourself Calzones. I think mine was the best I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, Babs didn’t think of photographing them until they were half, or more, eaten.

Mine

Babs's

After lunch we drove toward Flagg Ranch and Yellowstone National Parks south gate, where the road is closed to private vehicles. The route abounded with beautiful scenery.

Our first stop was Lake Jackson which is created by the damning of the Snake River. It was totally frozen over and people were ice fishing.

The Snake River is on the other side of the damn.

A man was fishing from a very steep snow covered bank. I watched him traverse the way down to the water’s edge and was poised to let the rangers know which way to hunt for his body. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary.

After a long, at least it seemed like it, drive we finally reached the end of the open road and Flagg Ranch Lodge where we turned around and headed back to Jackson.

We didn’t see any animals on the way to Flagg Ranch but on the return trip we did see a coyote. Unfortunately our little Kodak 4X zoom couldn’t capture the photo. However, we did take in some nice scenery.