July 14 - In and Around Victor, Driggs, and Tetonia & The Grands

So, sorry to be off-line so long again, but boy is this gorgeous scenery distracting!!  So, there will apparently be the occasional (long?) hiatus when I'm "Out to Play!!!"

 Bill & the kitties relaxing in our campground.

 Tractor & Scratty exploring one of the campground's cabins.

 Bill picking up our general delivery mail in Victor, ID.

 Home, sweet home! 

 One of our first assignments was to prolong our stay!  Since this is one of our all-time favorite places, and since we had the luxury of time, we wanted to stay!!  And since the campground we are currently in didn't have any available spaces for our size rig starting on the 20th, we went with our other plan - a campground in Tetonia, just about 20 miles north.  Big move, eh?!  Whatever it takes to stay here a bit longer!  This is really the life!!!!!  To get to linger in such perfect surroundings - vs. the other folks we see come, stay one night or two, and then take off again!  We do that too, but not when we find heaven!!

 Love the rural farming feel here.  There's tourism and some newer buildings and trappings, but it still feels more like Telluride before it was discovered by Hollywood, etc.

 One of the friendlier local folks.

 Bill, Tractor, and I did an early evening drive into the Grand Teton National Park.

 I saw another photographer type approaching these antelope and decided to try it too.  What I didn't see were the hordes of mosquitoes eagerly awaiting me!!!  And because the first guy scared them off a bit, I had farther to go to get even remotely close to them!  Thus, more munching time for the Hungry Ones.  And after I gave up and headed back to the car, I looked back and saw that the antelope had disappeared and been replaced by a couple buffalo.  While I would've loved to get close-ups of the buffalo rolling in the dirt, etc., I was relieved not to be too close to them!!

 The Tetons.  Best lit by morning light, they are still spectacular at sunset (even if the photo doesn't do them justice!).  But for the attempts at the iconic photo subjects, I will be back before sunrise - tomorrow, in fact, which means leaving camp at about 4am!  Eeeew!!  I hope it'll be worth it!  I've been watching the forecast, waiting for some promise of at least a few clouds.  Now, I'm hoping it won't be too many clouds!  But we'll get what we get...

A bull elk.

OK, the bike path...  I'm sure this gal was having fun, and as some would say, "bless her heart," but I think this bike path is a joke!  I can't imagine how much money it's taking to create it (still in progress), but I'm pretty sure the few bikers who use it (we saw about two while we were there) aren't footing the bill for its creation!  We are!!  I don't think it can be very "green" because the amount of resources used and pollution created in the making of it will certainly outweight the ecological benefits!  And to add insult to injury, all these elk were much more upset by her biking by than by me stopping a more respectful distance away to photograph them!  They actually turned and ran a ways when she went by!  That is not "green" either!

Tractor checking out the elk herd.  There had to be a hundred or so of them!  They went as far as you could see, standing up, laying down, eating, scratching, picking their nose (well, maybe not, but they probably wish they could!).  Mostly females.

Tractor loved getting to go on this special outing.  He got to be the only one of the children to go and sat on the armrest between us almost the whole time.  We were happy he didn't get carsick on this ride (poor guy usually does, even though he LOVES to ride!), and he was so happy, he purred the whole way home.  One happy kitty!