Snow After the Solstice

With Andy and Ramona taking a post-hike nap, I thought I'd take this time to blog about the last couple of days. We drove through most of Wyoming yesterday ending up in Jackson Hole. We decided to spend the weekend in our dog friendly hotel (a ski resort building built in the 1970s while mostly updated still has some amusing 70s touches like this weird fiber optic chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the lobby).

If you haven't been to Wyoming, there are two things that stand out: 1) the natural beauty and 2) the impressive lack of people. The whole state has about 500,000 people, and after driving through Gillette, we were shocked to learn that it was the 4th biggest city in Wyoming!! This wasn't our first rodeo, so we made sure to stop for lunch in Casper (the 2nd biggest city in Wyoming). We found this great little coffee shop on yelp in a bizarre little strip mall. The skies were threatening, but we decided to eat outside so that Ramona wouldn't have to wait in the car. Our food definitely exceeded expectations: my tuna melt was light and flavorful and the cold couscous sald that accompanied it was just plain delicious. Andy's ham and bean soup was not your typical cafeteria fare containing three types of beans and high quality ham. Perhaps this was more information than you needed, but I do love food!

Most of our driving was on US highways and we saw some spectacular scenery.

Driving in Wyoming

We drove through Shoshoni National Forest where Ramona encountered her first snow of the summer (but not her last...). We got spectular views of the Tetons especially as we got closer to Jackson.

For dinner, we checked out the Snake River Brewpub (no pets on the patio, so Ramona had to wait in the car). We both got beer and burgers and left incredibly full but pleased.

Andy with his beer sampler

Today, we headed into Teton National Forest for a dog-friendly hike. The plan was to end up at an alpine lake and even let Ramona swim, but snow got in our way...at first, snow periodically appeared on the path, and then the whole path was snow covered, and when we decided to turn around, the snow was thigh deep! It was a beatiful hike with mountain views plus forest, and we were bummed not to finish, but we definitely made the right decision. We were only about halfway to the lake, and the snow was crazy deep! We were not expecting to encounter so much snow in late June.

This was near the beginning of the snow covering the trail

Deeper snow farther along

Three of us on the way down

Views of the Tetons along the hike

On the way down, we stopped and ate the box lunches we brought with us. They came from a bakery called e.leaven that oddly has locations in Jackson Hole and Chicago! The sandwiches were delicious and huge and came with yummy homemade (!) potato chips and a brownie. This place is definitely worth checking out whether you are in the Windy City or near the Tetons.