Our Jackson Condo

We are really enjoying our condo in Jackson. It is located on top of the 7,000 foot butte next to the town of Jackson and it overlooks the majestic Teton mountain range. Tonight we made a homemade marinara sauce (actually John prepared it) and Julia made homemade chocolate chip cookies. yum! It was a great dinner.

Here are some pictures of our condo and our Rummikub game. Laura won.

Horse Riding at 7,000 feet above Jackson

Laura, Julia and I took a trail ride at the Spring Creek Ranch. We were very impressed with our wranglers. Laura rode dusty who like to snack on green weeds and brush throughout the ride, Julia rode "Appy" which is short for Appaloosa and I rode "Major" who was supposed to be pretty spirited but worked out just fine.

We rode for two hours over the mountain above Jackson and then down into the valley in and out of Aspen tree forests. the ride started out pretty cold with rain and temperatures around 50 degrees but after the first 20 minutes the sun came out and it seemed to be about 65.

Bluebird in the Morning

We saw a bluebird this morning so "it's going to be a great day"! Or...er...is that if you see a red cardinal? Anyway, it has been a good day.

Family Hike

Our family loves to hike in the mountains. Today, we went to our favorite trailhead called "Taggart Lake". It has a bit of everything: white water rivers, steep terrain, forest walk, rocky crags, hillside viewing and lake vista.

During our hike, we meet some people from Holland. Together we came upon a marmot and her baby. Very cute. They thought it was a skunk we didn't think so - no stripe down the back. We are currently looking up pictures to see if it was in fact a marmot.

Wildlife safari in Teton National Park

We love being back in Grand Teton National Park. In 2007, we lived in Jackson Hole for 4 months during part of our year-long sabbatical. It was a wonderful experience of family bonding, adventure trips, wildlife safaris and spiritual growth as worshipped at River Crossing church. Now we try to get back to Jackson two times a year.

During our first day in the park we drove around in the afternoon and came upon a "Moose Jam". It was a bull moose who was still growing a new pair of antlers. They were still a bit velvety. Then we drove to our favorite restaurant, Calico, and afterward went back into the park for an evening drive. John was just saying how he had never seen a bear in Grand Teton National Park" when Julia spotted a Grizzly Bear. Yes, a Grizzly Bear. See Bear photo.

Then about another 1/2 mile down Moose-Wilson Road in the Park we came upon a huge owl. He was just propped on a tree sitting for a good 10 minutes. We all agreed that we have never seen an owl in the wild at that close range. See owl photo.

Swimming at the pool

The weather in Jackson is beautiful. We have LOTS of sunshine. Today after our 4 mile hike we went promptly for a swim in the pool or....er.....John and Julia went swimming, Lisa read her book by the pool and Laura took a nap.

Check out those Tetons in the background!

Jackson Hole 2010 Trip

We started off on our day of travel at 4:30 AM with a drive from South Bend to Chicago O'Hare airport. Once we arrived at the airport we discovered that the airlines we "catching up" on flights and stranded passengers after the wicked storm that passed through the area the night before. As a result, our flight to Austin, Texas was delayed by two hours.

We hopscotched our way across the country to reach our final destination of Jackson, Wyoming. Starting off in South Bend, drive to Chicago, O'Hare, flying to Austin, Texas, flying to Denver, then flying to Idaho Falls where we loaded into our rental car to finally drive 1.5 hours to Jackson. Whew! We order our Mountain High Pizza Pie on the road for a speedy pick up.

It is so much fun to be back in Jackson Hole again!

Here is a picture of the girls on the 4:30 am drive to Chicago.