Day 14

We woke to an absolutely gorgeous day in Jackson. Clear skies, full sun, 45 degrees. Perfect for a trail ride! Riding horses was Rosie's one request for this trip and we are all really glad that we got to do it in Jackson. We packed up the car, said goodbye to our sweet little cabin (and, it turned out, Rosie's shower kit) and headed out to the Silver Spring Ranch to do our best cowboy imitations (with mixed results). We immediately made friends with Beau, one of the owners dogs:

We have all really been missing our dog Charlie who stayed behind with our friend Maureen who is taking excellent care of him. But we are starved for dog interaction ad have been meeting pretty much every dog that we have come across on this trip.

Emma and I bought straw cowboy hats for the ride. It was a good thing that we did-that sun got really hot, really fast.

We rode with a family from Paris. No, I am lame and didn't speak French with them, but they forgave me and were very nice anyway.

Rosie was a natural on the horse:

So was Emma who rode Mouse:

Max and Beau waiting for his horse:

I rode Otto who was a beautiful black and white horse with a serious need to be in the front of the group the entire time. He kept veering off the path without my direction and tried to get out in front. He had a good, old fashioned snark going on, that was for sure! Chris rode Major who seemed to understand that he was carrying someone who was below him in rank, especially after Max promoted him (the horse) to General. They sang the Army Fight Song together a few times. It was a totally fun experience that we all loved. Also, we really loved their stop signs:

The stench in the car, however, left a lot to be desired. Sweaty, horse-covered clothes, not so appealing. After changing in the parking lot we went back in to Jackson and had lunch at the Backcountry Deli owned by Kelly Keim Boniface who was a Pi Phi sister of mine at Cornell. Kelly wasn't there, but the food was still was so delicious, thanks Kelly! 

We did a touch more shopping including some groceries for our adventure in Yellowstone and hit the road. The scenery in Jackson and on the road through Teton National Park to Yellowstone are spectacular. No bears or elk to be seen, but the mountains more than made up for the lack of animals!

We got to Yellowstone with lots of daylight left so we rode over to Old Faithful to check it out. The end of August must be the best time of year to go to Yellowstone. I was expecting loads of traffic and long lines everywhere but we were pleasantly surprised by the lack of people. Old Faithful was really cool, but the more interesting part of that area were the other geysers, mud pots and hot springs all around Old Faithful. It was stinky with rotten eggs, but still fascinating. 

At that point we were worn out and still had to set up our campsite. We had dinner at the Old Faithful cafeteria; uninspired and expensive but easy.

 We drove to the Canyon Campground about half way around the main Park road and saw some beautiful landscapes along the way. The hero in our really excellent trilogy (The Ascendency trilogy) was just announcing his try identity when we got to our really pretty wooded site next to the Loud Family from CA. The dad made Chris look silent. Got a good nights sleep anyway and woke up to 42 degrees-really cold for us in August!