Summer 2012 Friends!

We’ve had a great time this summer playing with new friends and with old friends (not that kind of old!). 

Sometimes the GPS may do the wrong thing but it’s a good thing.  That’s rare but it does happen.  Our new friends, Dave and Celeste, were headed from Yellowstone straight into Jackson to spend the night at a commercial campground.  I avoid those like the plague.  They are, new to them,  Lazy Daze owners, newly retired, and ready to travel RVers.  They bought their 2000 Lazy Daze in June and hit the road for the west in July.  Their camping experiences coming across the country weren’t the best and they were getting kind of discouraged.  They had just had the same kind of camping experience we had recently had in Yellowstone (a lot of smoke from fires surrounding their campsite) and were thinking of just heading home to Florida.  Their GPS told them to turn left on Antelope Flats Road rather than continue to go straight ahead into Jackson.  Antelope Flats makes a big U of several miles before becoming Gros Ventre Road returning to the highway after passing our campground.  As soon as they turned off the highway they saw a young girl standing by the road.  They asked if this was the way to go and she told them that they should just keep turning right and that it was a beautiful drive back to the highway.  They continued on.  Dave loves a good espresso.  As he was approaching the town of Kelly, a post office and a café and that’s it, he told Celeste he could smell espresso.  There they were in the wide open spaces and he’s smelling espresso.  She thought he was nuts.  They turned the corner after a few more miles and there it was...espresso at the café in Kelly.  They left Kelly and saw the sign for our campground.  Celeste remembered she’d read something about this campground on the Lazy Daze yahoo forum so they turned in.  They slowed down when they saw our rig and I went out and greeted them.  It sounded like they could use a little technical knowledge on their RV and that they needed a little human contact for a bit so I sent them over to John and Linda who were in a group of Lazy Daze folks.  John is the go to guy when you need to learn about a motorhome.  A good day for him is when he is able to help someone solve a problem.  He’s an RVer’s dream.  Linda always welcomes folks and I knew she would encourage them to stop with the group.  They did.  Ron and I had some kayaking plans so we knew we wouldn’t be around for a couple of days.  John spent two days educating them on Lazy Daze maintenance and techie stuff while we kayaked.  By then they were thinking they liked this place and this group of people.  Things were looking up.  They signed up for a few more days.  It must have been good Karma that sent them here.  They ended up staying almost 3 weeks and they fell in love with the Tetons along the way. We knew they would!

We've had a lot of fun showing them around and sharing the good times with them and our Lazy Daze friends.  Linda and John left for home about a week after Celeste and Dave arrived.  Linda wanted to get home to buy her new 2013 Forester – white.  It’s a good thing we have kayaks on our Forester so we can tell them apart.  Gil and Nancy, our Nevada buddies, arrived to stay for a while.  It is high social season in the Tetons...lattes in the morning, picnics at night...the good life!

We’ve been the recipients of many kindnesses from RVing friends over the years.  Until this year we didn’t have a car with us.  It was people like Ahmad and Carol, from Florida, who would take me on hikes and show me places I’d never seen.  I was happy to pay it forward and take Dave and Celeste on park adventures.

We went to the Phelps Lake Visitor Center one morning.  We weren’t going to hike that day.  We were just doing an appetizer tour.  We walked up the trail just a short ways and yes, another bear, and yes, no camera for Jane.

Dave, wisely, had his camera so once again we were able to record the event.   Dave took shots and he loaned me his camera to take a few. 

This was a big black bear that was very intent on eating.  Bears are in a phase of non-stop eating right now.  They’re eating all the time to put on fat for the winter hibernation. 

Dave and Celeste have kayaks back in Florida so they were thrilled when we suggested we all spend a day taking turns paddling String Lake.  That’s the beauty of having a motorhome.  All the conveniences of a home are always with you and so are those dogs...Denver and Charley, Annabelle (Dave and Celeste’s), Elvis (Gil and Nancy’s).

Celeste kept saying how beautiful this place is.  She’s right.

An “ahhh” moment for Celeste at the base of Mount Moran.

Dave headed down lake with Ron.

Was that a “Wow” from Dave?

Now this guy knows how to use a kayak!

We took a break for a little lunch by the lake.

After lunch Nancy, who had never kayaked before, took to the water and paddled like she’d done this all her life.  Gil will have to wait his turn until their return visit here in late September.  He’s had a bit of surgery and is well on his way to recovery with the help of this relaxing, beautiful place.

See how easy it is!

We had a great day and topped it off with dinner at Dornan’s.  We have fun sharing our toys with friends.  What are you waiting for?  Come for a visit!

Ron is enjoying having another fisherman, Dave, along on his fishing forays.  Today they explored the Buffalo Fork just north and east of the park.  One of Dave’s dreams of the trip was to eat a freshly caught trout.  Ron got lucky and the fish did not.  Ron just had to help fulfill Dave’s dream.

That’s only the second trout Ron has kept in 7 years so I guess that is okay.  It was for a good cause. Dave and Celeste had that trout dinner!

Boys will be boys!

Our good friends, Dave and Sandy (aka, the Bickerbergs of kayaking fame) from Minnesota, have arrived.  It’s just like old times with Gil and Nancy and Dave and Sandy and now new friends, Celeste and Dave.

Dave loves toys.  It looks like we do too. This trip he has brought along his new cherry red trike in a trailer behind his Lazy Daze.  We’re trading rides...kayak ride for trike ride!   We Lazy Daze folks like to have fun!

JET (a figure from the past) loves Sandy’s style.  Look at that...does her camera match her shirt?  Is it purple? JET would approve.

Today, we awakened to a dense fog.   We had planned to hike to Taggart Lake.  You can tell by now that it is often the first place I show people.  It’s a relatively easy hike to a beautiful place. 

We decided to charge ahead with hopes of the fog clearing.  It did and it made for some beautiful views as we hiked.

Our Lazy Daze hiking group for today...

We like to capture the moment.

Today, I brought my camera with me. That means we won’t see any bears!  It works better than carrying bear spray.

We’re crossing over the lake on our way to the Beaver Creek trail.

We’ve crested the moraine formed by the glacier and now we’re headed down for a while.

We have a few ups and downs along the way...

 ...but as soon as we get to the top of this rise we’ll see the parking lot below in the distance.  I think I know a few hikers who are ready to sit a spell!