JH valley bike ride

For our second day in Jackson Hole, Scott and I decided that we wanted to take our family on a bike ride. We had watched families riding on the numerous bike trails outside of Teton Village last year and had already discused that we thought this would be a fun activity to do with our kids. Given the distance we wanted to cover during our half day bike rental (close to 20 miles) we decided that we should rent tandem bikes, where the kids' bikes were attached to our adult bikes. Photos of the bike set-up will come below.

But first, a few photos of the beautiful bike paths lining the valley outside of Teton Village. Monday was the only day we had cloud cover and showers while we were in JH, which ended up not being a bad thing for our family bike ride. The clouds may have made for some less than spectacular photos, but the sprinkles never detracted from our bike ride.
We biked 9 miles south out of Teton Village towards the small town of Wilson, where we stopped at a nice picnic area for lunch. The lunch spot was located in a marshy area, where we were fortunate to enjoy spectacular views and had a nice picnic area all to ourselves. It was so peaceful to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air and good exercise as a family during our vacation. In both of the photos below you can see the kids' bikes attached to the adult bikes in the tandem style.

We purchased lunch provisions from the Pearl Street Market in Jackson (a cute organic market down the street from our hotel in town), and I quickly became absolutely in love with my sandwich. I had a veggie wrap, which was filled with lettuce, sprouts, tomato, avocado, roasted red peppers, hummus, and dressing. Completely to die for!

Scott and the kids enjoyed their sandwiches too, and we all ate fresh apples and granola bars as well. Good fuel for a long bike ride! Before we left the lunch area I wanted to take some photos. This was the first shot I got of John, with the helmet covering his head (the wrong way, of course). Love my boy.

But then the children cooperated and I shot a few good photos of my beautiful babies with the mountains in the background.

We rode into the town of Wilson and found the elementary school. Here is a shot of the Wilson kids in front of the Wilson Elementary school!

Once we turned around to head back, the clouds and the storms intensified. The wind was blowing something fierce on the way back to Teton Village, which made the journey more difficult for Scott and me. We figured that the tandem piece weighed about 25 pounds, plus the kids' body weight was extra on the back. So even if each kid was pedalling (which they were from time to time, more often than not in John's case, who was my riding partner), Scott and I still had 90 and 70 pounds respectively, on the back of our bikes. It was a little challenging to have the kids on the back, in terms of balancing the weight with the extra load. What an awesome day! I feel blessed that we can enjoy such a splendid day off on vacation in such a beautiful place as Jackson Hole, WY!