Winter 2009 --- Since our Last Blog

It has been a VERY busy Fall and Winter since we arrived home from Alaska on October 10th, 2008. There are a zillion things to get done around the houses and we just don't seem to be able to get caught up! :))

We've taken several short jaunts. We went to Charleston, SC for Christmas week; Inverness, FL for New Years; south and southwest Florida in January to visit Judy's aunts and now we've just returned from a trip out west that included parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. On this trip we went with Pat & Sally, friends from DeLand.

We flew into Jackson Hole, WY. We did not take the RV, it is way too cold for a motorhome! We went snowmobiling in Yellowstone for several days; tried our hand at snowshoeing in The Grand Tetons and enjoyed some phenomenal scenery and wildlife. We had both been to this area before but never in winter. It is so different and REALLY incredibly beautiful.

After a couple days in Jackson, where we drove all over the mountains and valley, we headed out to Turpin Meadow Ranch where the snow mobile adventure began. The folks at the ranch were GREAT and Judy and I realized it was the same place we stayed in 1999! After spending one night and getting all our gear - which from the photos you'll see was a LOT (heavy bib overalls and coat, mask, helmet gloves and boots) - we went to Flagg Ranch to get our snowmachines. The next four days were spent traveling all over the entire Yellowstone National Park. There are only a couple hundred snowmachines allowed in the Park so we went for long periods of time without seeing anyone else but our own group. Judy and I were on one snowmachine, Sally & Patty on their own, and then our guide with his snowmachine and a sled with our little luggage duffels and a cooler. We traveled the entire length and width of the park. No vehicles are permitted on the roadways in the winter so they became our snowmoble routes. Day one was a little over 100 miles from the South Entrance (Flagg Ranch) to the North Entrance (Gardiner). En route we stopped at Lewis Falls, West Thumb, Mud Volcano, Yellowstone Lake & Fishing Bridge, Hayden Valley, Upper & Lower Yellowstone Falls and several other stops along the way for scenery and wildlife viewing. Day two was spent viewing the animals in Lamar Valley, and spending time in Gardiner and at Mammoth Hot Springs. Day three was Roaring Mountain, Norris Geyser Basin,, Steamboat Geyser, Artist Paint Pot, Gibbon Falls and Madison and then on into West Yellowstone where we visited the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. Day four we went to Fountain Paint Pots, Lower, Middle & Upper Geyser Basin, Old Faithful, Moose Falls and then back out the South Entrance to Flagg Ranch. It was an INCREDIBLE four days with sights that can not possibly be described. Wildlife is everywhere and the landscape is so very pristine that all you see are their hoofprints. There are hundreds of bison and elk as well as coyote, wolf, eagles, swans, geese and more.

After returning to Turpin Ranch, we spent the night and then went back into Jackson. We spent the last several days doing a lot of sightseeing, going to the Museum of Wildlife Art, Teton Village Ski Resort, Teton Pass, Swan Valley in Idaho and also Snake River Canyon.

It was an absolutely phenomenal adventure and we didn't freeze to death as we feared we might! The temperature during the day got as low as minus 9 below zero and there was only one day that we actually got above freezing - and that was only for a couple hours. However, with the proper clothing and equipment it really was okay.

If you want to see some of the GREAT experiences we had, here's a link to a Shutterfly page that has lots of pictures from the trip. Enjoy ...

http://patjudy1.shutterfly.com/130?size=All&startIndex=0

We're back home now and starting to plan this Summer's trip. It is tentatively scheduled to include Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama and all the states in between and in transit. SO, if we're going to be in "your neck of the woods" drop us a line and maybe we can get together.

Until later, take care and stay safe,

P&J