Slide Lake and beyond + Chica

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Off to Slide Lake

A few of us decided to drive up to Slide Lake and do some kayaking. The road to it starts about 2 miles past Kelly, WY. The road gets rather rough the last couple of miles although it is paved. Slide Lake is past the Gros Ventre Slide where there was a huge mountain slide. It is very beautiful back there. All the pics taken today seem rather dark but it was because we were getting the smoke from the Idaho fire.

When we got their the weather was very cold and the wind was blowing hard. We all decided it would not be a good day to go out on the lake. Here is a pic of John trying to stay warm and Linda discussing our plans.

This pic is of a beautiful farm located right on the lake.

Down the gravel road to further campgrounds

Everyone headed back to the campgrounds, but I wanted to drive on to see the next campground about 5 miles down a gravel road. John wanted to go as well so we headed on down that road. It was washboard road most of the way and very bumpy. We made it to the campground, which was very small. It would be great for tent camping and fishermen as it was right on the river.

Driving back we passed this beautiful rock formation. This is the actual color of the rock although the sky was different because we were getting the smoke form the fire in Idaho for the first time.

There were several large farms located in these canyons with lots of horses and cattle. We also passed a ranch that did trail rides through the area.

The river was really nice back there.

Chica in the spotlight

Many of you have asked for more Chica pics and how she is adapting to Wyoming. Chica is doing very well. She likes to sit up in the window and watch all the doggies pass by during their walks through the campground. She is not accustomed to that many dogs all the time. She and I have been working on her barking each time a dog passes near our rig. She is getting very good at not barking and of course she is rewarded with cookies for being such a good girl.

Here she is playing with her favorite toy ducky. She loves her ducky and loves to make it squeak.

We had a “Happy Hour” and invited Shannon who works as a camp host at the Jenny Lake campground. Chica was a bit wiggly so it turned out a bit blurry.

Life is Good!

Picking up mail

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Short hike to the post office

The other day Linda had to pick up her mail at the post office. The nearest one is in Kelly, WY, less the 2 miles from our campsites. So off we went on a trail that led down to the river and through the woods(HA! Just kidding!)

The trail did lead us next to the river for a short distance.

This was the beautiful scenery of the mountains to our left.

Then we made it to the small town of Kelly, WY where they had a post office a small sandwich store and a small school with schoolyard and many private residences.

Inside the store they had this sign. I bet you won’t find this sign in many stores. By the way we did not run into any bison nearby.

This is probably the smallest post office I have ever seen.

This is a nice view of the Teton Mountains as we were walking back along the road.

Drove into Jackson

Later that day I drove in to Jackson with John to fill my external tank with propane. It looks like traffic has died down a bit as vacations are starting to wind down since kids have to be back in school shortly. It is still rather busy, but just not as bad.

While there I also picked up some bear spray. On the return trip we saw this big guy crossing the road. They don’t seem to have any fear of cars or people. I guess if I were that big I wouldn’t care either.

The weather is very nice here and we haven’t had any rain for a few days now. The campgrounds have been almost full on a few days, but seem to be thinning out a bit now.

Pawdicure on the way to Gros Ventre, WY

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Jim Melvin

Chica’s Pawdicure

After leaving Riverside campground we headed to Idaho Falls, ID for a couple of things. I had to stop in Walmart to pick up a prescription and supplies and Chica needed a pawdicure. She last had her nails trimmed in Mesa, AZ shortly after we found each other.

They were getting too long so we headed to a Petsmart where you didn’t need an appointment. I also mentioned in my last post that she was going to get her teeth cleaned. That was wrong. She was only going to get a breath freshener. Here she is waiting to get her nails down.

Am I next Dad?

It took quite a while and two people to complete the job. I don’t think she was too happy at the time.

I thought this was a pawdicure not a two-on-one wrestling match

On to Gros Ventre

After the pawdicure and the stop at Walmart we made the drive to Gros Ventre campgrounds. It is northeast of Jackson, WY. I figured I may be able to fill up with propane there. No way Jose! Jackson was slammed with lots of traffic, both cars and campers. I decided to head on out to the campground as I had enough propane to last me a few days.

John and Linda had talked to the camp hosts and they were reserving a spot right next to them. The cost of camping here is $21 per night, but only $10.50 with the geezer card. This is a bit more then I have been paying, but they have the beautiful mountains and lots to do as well. It is really a great bargain.

The next day John and I drove into town to fill up my 5 gal. tank with propane. On the way we saw this herd of bison crossing the road. They had been down to the river and were no heading up to graze. Needless to say it stopped traffic.

Kayaking on the Snake River

The following day seven of us decided to go kayaking. It was a long drive to where we started and we had several cars. It was really great fun even though I started off facing the wrong way in my kayak. DUH!!

This is where we put into the water.

John and Linda with all the inflatable kayaks blown up and ready to go.

This is John and Linda on the water.

It was a great time and it gave me a chance to practice my kayaking skills. ???

Farmer’s Market in Jackson

The next day was spent checking out the fabulous farmer’s market in Jackson. John and Linda drove me around Jackson and we walked around the downtown area. The farmer’s market was held in a park downtown.

The entrance to the park was made entirely of antlers. How cool!

Let’s Party!!

On Friday everyone got together for a party with lots of great food and conversation. We invited the camp hosts in our campground as well as Shannon, who is another camp host at Jenny Lake. She and I worked together at Amazon last winter and saw each other at Apache Junction last spring while she was camped there. It was really good to see her again and we had a lot of catching up to do.

After dinner, we all sat around the campfire and Ally roasted marshmallows and made us all Samores. It was a great time. I also saw Tony who I had also worked with at Amazon.