It definitely snowed during the night, and the mountains that rise up directly west of the small town of Buffalo, WY were more than just dusted with the white stuff. It was surprisingly warm, given the storm, and brilliantly sunny in a way that made your eyes ache at the same time it made your spirits lift.
We headed through Bighorn National Forest and the Bighorn Mountains. The highest point we reached was 9,666 feet. Pretty cool. Very cool, in fact. To the tune of the upper 30's. At one point, I couldn't resist any longer and we pulled off the highway near a pristine patch of snow. We ordered the kids out for a few minutes of snow ball throwing and obligatory photo ops. They thought it was pretty neat, though they were surprised at how cold the snow made their hands. Alec was the first to head back for the relative warmth of the van after I pelted each of them with a couple of snow balls. Then it was back to the serious business of driving. We had a 6+hour drive ahead of us.
We passed through forests, river valleys, rolling desert hills, flat pasture lands, and sometimes a combination of the above. We paused to refill our bellies and our snack selection in Worland, Wyoming. For the most part we were constantly ooohing and aaahing at the amazing beauty around us. After a gas-up in Dubois, we headed into Teton National Forest and the mountain passes that would admit us to the Jackson Hole valley.
As an aside, we learned that Jackson Hole is the name of the entire valley, in which Jackson is the largest town.
Neither Gena or I were prepared for the awesome spectacle of the Tetons wrapped in cloaks of snow that draped down their shoulders before disappearing into britches of pine trees. Did I mention the clouds they were wearing as giant hats? Is the metaphor as awful as it sounds? Yes, it is. I don't know how to describe how amazing the Tetons are compared to other mountains I've seen or that we've passed through on this journey. No softness. No gentleness. Sharp, barbed peaks daring you to attempt to climb them.
We arrived in Jacksonn about 6:30pm. We made a grocery run before heading out to the condo where our host, Lily, met us. It had been about ten years since we had last really talked with her (beyond the rare Facebook comment), and it was great to spend an hour or two with her as we set the kids up with popcorn and crackers and cheese for their Sunday night ritual. The kids were still recovering from their colds - as was Gena, for that matter. It was nice to be in comfortable environs again (real beds, not a tent!). It was hard to believe that just a week earlier we were arriving in Lincoln, Nebraska. Much has happened in the past week to help make it fly by. We look forward to seeing what the next week brings us. According to weather.com, it looks like a fair amount of rain - which means snow for the mountains. Woohoo!
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