One Horse Open Sleigh

i am sad to report that there are no reindeer in jackson.  but nontheless, i went on my sleigh ride yesterday outside of jackson, wyoming.  it was at the national elk reserve.  the sleigh holds 18 people (though i think that you would be really squished with  18 people) but our group was only my family of 8 and a couple from denver.  it was pulled by a pair of horses called lady and the tramp.  as it has been every day except the day before yesterday, it was snowing and a toasty 2 or 3 degrees.  the ride was about an hour and with a wind chill of 10-15 degrees, well, let’s just say 18 people might have been nice for the body warmth.  i was actually surprised that they provided a few blankets but, with all of the snow and wind, there was no point.  it was cold and there was nothing you could do about it but deal.

when my brother and i went in to buy the tickets one of the drivers said that the cows were getting a little close to the path that the sleigh takes.  i said (out loud), there are cows?  everyone behind the counter looked at me like i had three heads.  then they quickly realized that i was not from around here (and apparently stupid) and said (very condescendingly), the females are called cows and the males are called bulls.  oh right, everyone knows that!  not those kind of cows, but cows.  well, the path that the sleight takes does not go near the cows, it only goes near the elk because they are the ones with the big antlers and apparently everyone wants to see those, plus the baby ones are with the mamas and they don’t like company because they are still skitish. 

i learned something on our little sleigh ride.  elk (and who knows perhaps other deer like animals too) shed their antlers every fall.  apparently they just fall off.  i don’t understand it but they said it happens.  and then they start growing back at the rate of an inch a day! and by the middle of winter they are huge again so that by spring when hunting season starts they are prime for the taking and then in the fall, they shed them again.  who would have thought?  then it’s a tradition for people to go out and collect the shed antlers (yuk), but apparently it’s a big thing around here for people to go out and collect them and at the elk reserve they collect thousands of pounds of them and sell them.  the boy scounts go out and collect them as a fundraiser and they raise thousands of dollars for themselves and the rest of the money goes to the reserve.  what a strange tradition.  but i stand corrected about the whole animals dying for the antler decoration thing – but i hold my position on the weird and creepiness of it.

anyway, the elk have just started migrating to the reserve for the winter.  but in late january or early february there will be thousands of them.  the sleigh pulls up about 20 feet away from them and they have been doing this for so long that the elk are not the least bit frightened of the sleigh.  it was actually kind of cool.  then we drove around to the other side of jackson to look at a flock of big horned sheep that have also migrated to the reserve.  they are a lot more skitish, but still pretty cool.  all in all, another very interesting adventure.

Antlers, Antlers and More Antlers

today i went on an excursion to jackson hole, wyoming.  it’s on the other side of the teton pass from victor.  the elevation of the teton pass is 8,431 feet and victor is 6,207.  it’s a real hike up there, a 10% grade!  it was an amazingly beautiful drive, especially since we have had snow every day except day (and another storm expected to come in tonight).  the mountains are lined with pine trees, that are covered with snow.  it’s like something you would see on a postcard.  jackson is only about 35 miles from victor, but it’s a heck of a climb over the mountain to get there and then you drop back down to 6,234.  it was a crisp 12 degrees today with a windchill of -9 as we strolled the streets of jackson, dressed in as many layers as we could keep our elbows and knees bending in.

arch of antlers

jackson is a cute, though odd, small town.  it really looks like one of those little towns you would run into up in the mountains, like a ski resort town.  yes, i know you’re saying, that’s because it is one.  well, combine that ski resort feel with the hunter/outdoorsman feel and that’s jackson.  i’ve never seen so many antlers in my entire life.  the whole city is practically built of antlers.  just about every business has or sells chandeliers made of antlers.  you can just buy antlers to take come and make something out of.  there are candleholders made of antlers.  anything you can imagine, they have made it with antlers.  and then there’s the park in the center of the city with four giant arches on the corners made entirely of antlers.  do you realize how manyof some kind of animal had to die to keep this industry alive?  it’s just wrong, not to mention creepy.  there are thousands of them!  and then, don’t even get me started on the stuffed this and that.  on facebook in have a jackelope (seriously creepy), a racoon wearing a broncos helmet, some other creepy thing that is supposed to be big foot and another picture of an array of creature up for sale that you can dispay in your very own home.  i wouldn’t have believed it, had i not seen it with my own eyes.  it’s like snow bunny meets taxedermist. 

but all that said, i had a great time with my mom, brother and cousins.  my cousin “a” always makes me laugh and i have a great time with him.  i’m super excited to spend christmas with him.  tomorrow we already have plans.  my brother got us tickets for a sleigh ride.  i’m hopeful for reindeer, but we’ll see.  at the very least it should be a good time, as my other cousins will come along, so the whole fam with be there.

Land of Potatoes

i went on my first excursion from victor yesterday and discovered, first of all, that victor, idaho is as small as i believed it would be.  i’m happy to report that there is a gas station, post office, convenience store (not a grocery store), one fast food place (subway), and one blinking light at the center of “town.”  if you blink, you’ll miss the whole thing. 

it has been snowing since i got here, not a lot of snow, but i think there is probably at least 6 inches on the ground, it’s hard to tell since i’ve never been here before.  i imagine there is probably more, my cousins have been snow blowing every morning and the plows have been busy. anyway, after my grand tour of victor, we headed out for idaho falls, which as it turns out, with the road conditions and such, is more like a 90 minute drive.  between victor and idaho falls there is…..a gas station.  yep that’s about it, that and wide open spaces.  according to my cousin, those wide open spaces are probably filled with potato fields in the spring – and this goes on for miles and miles and miles.  and since everything is covered in snow, it’s actually kind of pretty right now.  but the drive feels like forever. 

my cousin and brother took my mom and i to idaho falls.  they have to go there to buy groceries as well as for the walmart trip.  seriously, this is a long, stinking way to buy groceries!  i learned today that there is a small grocery store in a closer town but a box of cereal is $5 there – i guess if those were my options i might drive 90 minutes too.  ok, so obviously i just wouldn’t live here, but that’s a whole different point.  anyway, they seem to dread going to the “big city” so i was expecting, well boston, los angeles, i don’t know.  whatever it was, i was just a little surprised that it seemed like such a small town when we arrived.  it seems the population is about 55,000 and i guess i was expecting a quarter million or something, you know a fairly good size city!  but in their defense, they had a lovely walmart, and even a pier 1, nice mall with a macy’s, barnes and noble, oh, oh and a starbucks!  see, i don’t need much to make me happy, just a starbucks. 

so i visited my first super walmart to go grocery shopping and tried to think of anything and everything i could possible want for the next 7 days because this is it – my only chance to get to a store.  once we head back over the pine creek pass, i’m out of luck until i find myself back in the comfort of my own, vegetarian friendly state (but don’t even get me started on that issue). 

later this week, we will probably head back to jackson hole, wyoming (where i flew in) to see what interesting things they have there.  apparently there is a park filled with antlers (i can’t figure out why, but nonetheless, we will go see it).

The Hills are Alive

the next month should be filled with interesting adventures.  in three days i board a plane to head to the metropolis of victor, idaho – population 1,559.  in case you have not had the pleasure of visiting victor or other places in (remote) idaho, victor is in the north east corner of idaho, just over the border of wyoming.  now in all fairness to those of idaho (did i mention i am going there for christmas because some of my family lives there?), my brother has been posting pics on facebook and they are absolutely beautiful.  where my cousins and brother live is at the base of the grand tetons and the pics look magnificent.  this pic is one he took in october and it is breath-taking.  he’s become quite the photographer since moving.  now his facebook idaho album is also filled with things like bears, foxes, elk, buffalo (really!) and other interesting creatures that are basically right in their backyard.  that just seems wrong to me!  i don’t want a buffalo in my backyard, not even for a second.  squirrels are pretty much my limit.  when the raccoons wander into the yard, as they occasionally do in my somewhat suburban boston neighborhood, i don’t like it at all!

but then there are the other challenges to be encountered in a city of 1,559.  the closest starbucks is 30 miles away.  i currently live 3 blocks from starbucks.  oh sure, you say i’m spoiled.  but i’m a city girl and i have never claimed to be anything else, have i?  even if you want to go to walmart (which i am not a frequent guest of), it is 60 miles away.    i have not dared to ask if there is a whole foods (that’s a health food store in the north east).  that’s way too much to ask for in a meat-eating central-us state like this.  i think vegetarian friendly is out of the question.

here is where the real rub comes in.  my brother just moved into a never lived-in condo.  it is fully furnished, down to the flat-ware, three bedrooms, obviously in a new complex.  he says it is absolutely beautiful.  $1,000 a month.  can you believe that?  even with the current economic problems, that apparently a big housing inflation in idaho.  seriously, i live a 40+ year old house that, while beautiful, needs some significant work.  it is two bedrooms and i pay way more than $1,000 a month.  oh, sure i live 3 blocks from starbucks so perhaps that is the trade-off.  but i’m excited to see his place.  i don’t even know if they do things like this in the boston area – i’m thinking a comparable place to his in boston would be $5,000 a month – yikes.

well, three days.  i have yet to pack.  i don’t know want to bring.  but i’m excited about the adventure.  my mom is meeting me in denver and we will fly together to idaho to see my family.  there should be some tales to tell.  keep tuned.