Jackson Hole - Fun with Family

One of the best parts about our trip to Jackson was the opportunity to visit with mom and dad and to see the environment they have been living in since May. Mom and dad worked four of the days we were in town, but we got a chance to see them nearly every day during our trip. On our second day in JH we all got together for dinner one night at the Snake River Brewery. Scott and I went to Snake River when we were in JH 12 years ago and we enjoyed it, and it is one of mom and dad's favorite places to hang out in town. Snake River obviously brews their own beer (9 different kinds during this time of year, according the sampling tray Scott ordered our first night there) and serves very good bar-type food as well. This was a great place for both the adults and kiddos alike to enjoy a nice, casual evening.

Mom and dad had the day off from work on Sunday and they offered to spend the afternoon with the children so that Scott and I could engage in a less kid-friendly activity. We chose to go on a long hike in Grand Teton Park (more on that in a minute). The following photos were taken by my mom that day. One stop they made was to mom and dad's P.O. Box at the Moose post office. I love the moose butt on the wall - where else but out west? I wish our post offices in Dallas had that much character.

Mom and dad took Amelia and John on a carriage ride in town. The kids had been asking to go on a ride since we saw the horse-drawn carriage on our first day in JH, so this was a great activity that they really enjoyed. Below, waiting for the carriage. John is wearing his much beloved Star Wars-esque Grant Teton souvenir t-shirt that mom and dad let him select from the Jenny Lake store gift shop.

Here it comes!

View of the interior of the cabin. As dad noted on his blog, check out the leather on the ceiling of the carriage.

While Amelia and John were having a great time with their grandparents, Scott and I went on a six-mile hike in Grand Teton Park to the summit of Signal Mountain. The hike traversed through different types of terrain, mostly grassy hill areas, with ponds, creeks, and many wildflowers mixed in. The last mile or so had the most gain in elevation as we went up the mountain, but it was a gradual increase and not too tough on the body. The views from the summit were spectacular and a wonderful ending to the hike up. The mountains behind us are the Grand Tetons. What a gorgeous day too!

At the end of the day, mom and dad invited us back to the RV campsite for a coook-out. Dad grilled hot dogs (from the Jenny Lake store!) and hamburgers on the outdoor pit grill , and we all enjoyed a nice picnic outdoors.

After dinner we enjoyed smores, and I think this was Amelia and John's first time to roast the marshmallows outdoors in a real campfire environment. Scott and dad supervised the process, I was the photographer, and mom was busy preparing the graham crackers and chocolate pieces for the warm marshmallows. Amelia and John loved this, and they wanted to roast more marshmallows than they cared to eat as they thought it was just plain fun to do so.