Macy's and Mountain Dew

(Lisa) We were determined to get up early today so that we could get to Jenny Lake (an extremely popular tourist area for hiking) before the crowds hit. So, we rolled outta bed about 6:45ish, ate a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausage & toast and traveled the 30 minutes to Jenny Lake arriving there about 8:20 a.m. We were right, there were some folks there but not a lot. We got a prime parking spot and took a ferry across the turquoise clear lake to the other side. We hiked-straight up-to Inspiration Point where we could look over the entire lake area. It was inspiring. Then we came down to Hidden Falls which was somewhat hidden but truly magnificent.(see pic) I could have stayed there for hours. It was really beautiful.

Instead of taking the ferry back to the other side, we decided to hike it around the lake. It was a great trail-similar to yesterdays-but more crowded as the hours passed. Oh, on the way up to Hidden Falls, we passed a lady who looked totally out of place….she had her large purse on her arm with her phone in her hand and she was wearing flip flop sandals. She probably thought a Macy’s was at the top of the trail, I don’t know. I didn’t see one and believe me, if there was a Macy’s I would have noticed!

Anyways, we made it back to our car about 12:15 in time for a picnic on the back of the truck of ham sandwiches. As we were coming down the trail I was thinking of when I was a kid and our family would go to Colorado every summer to our cabin for like 3 weeks (which was forever back then). My grandmothers would give us money to spend and when we would go into town (like once a week) I would buy a 6 pack of Mountain Dew. My logic was that I was in the mountains, therefore I must drink Mountain Dew. Sooo, as we were almost to our car I told Paul I really wanted a Mountain Dew-and I NEVER drink these. Lo and behold, there was a store in this Jenny Lake tourist area and we bought a Mountain Dew to drink. I tell ya, it tasted amazing. Was it the mountains? Was it the actual bubbly sweet soda? Was it that I was tired after a 4.4 mile hike? Was it all just my imagination? I don’t know, but it tasted like heaven. Just thought you’d want to know that.

After a picnic, we drove a different route to see if WE COULD FIND A MOOSE!!! The short answer-no, we are beginning to think that moose do not live here at all. sigh. We got back to the camper about 3:15. I fixed some iced tea and we rested. We were plum tuckered out! Ate some grilled ham for dinner and decided to just chill.

Quick story mainly for Barbara: Yesterday morning I was laying in bed and heard “scamper, scamper, scamper” across the top of our camper. We are parked under some pine trees. I knew immediately that a chipmunk was on our roof running across, it was the same sound we would hear at the Colorado cabin. On our roof, we have a vent thing that has some screening on it – kinda like a skylight that goes up but the screen keeps things from falling in it. So I hear “scamper, scamper, scamper” some more and then “Hi there.” Mr. Ground Squirrel stopped and looked in the skylight right at me like “Hey, anyone in there? What are ya’ll doing?” It cracked me up!

(Paul) It was a day of waterfalls, streams, crazy awesome hiking and a few animals. Saw a herd of pronghorn and a small herd of buffalo. The highlight was a yellow-bellied marmot. A cute fella that resembled Dale from the infamous Disney duo (Chip and Dale). Didn’t see a moose.

I’m convinced that wolves have eaten all the slow and dumb moose. The only survivors are those that are super intelligent and elusive. I asked a Park Ranger if she knew where any moose were. I’d even settle for a tame moose (like a family pet in someone’s backyard) that I could take a picture of. I made her laugh but left that conversation empty handed.

Two week vacations are awesome. I highly recommend them. I think I’ve forgotten all my passwords. This is a completely good thing. 