Teton twister

Today was both a relaxing and eventful day all wrapped up into one.

After a leisurely morning in Jackson, we decided that our road bikes had collected too many dead bugs, a sure sign of too many days atop the wagon. Using twigs, we peeled the dead bees out of our gears and headed up Teton Pass. The road from Jackson to the top of the pass climbs 2000 feet in 4 miles which was a lot harder to ride then it looked! We road up with my brother and his girlfriend who then took the single track down while we opted for the road.

After 3 days here of hanging out with the natives, I was ready to venture into Teton National Park and be a tourist for a few moments. We drove through the park, stopping at String Lake where I had hoped to take a short dip (of the skinny variety). Unfortunately, even at 5pm, the park was riddled with tourists which took all the fun out of my swim. Tomorrow, though, we'll be back.

As we were heading back to Jackson, we passed about 20 cars parked alongside the road. Wildlife! I jumped out of the car to ask the guy with the largest telephoto lens what the hell he was looking at. In a strong foreign accent, and with broken English, he responded that his tour book said that you can see bears from this exact spot on the road.

"Wow," I commented, "So where are they?"
"I don't see one. But the book say that they climb up zee tree," he eagerly responded.
"Are you watching one right now?" I asked.
"No. The-or-eti-cally they are here. The books says it. That's why all the people are here," he explained.
"Have you seen a bear tonight?" I responded.
"No. I'm being patient. I think they are too."

Oh dear, now these were the real tourists. As we drove away, we spotted both antelope and elk, but I guess these weren't of interest to the bear-stalkers.

But the real gawking came when passing the Jackson airport: AIRFORCE 2. Yes, with the war in Iraq and the increasing violence between Israel and Lebanon, our very own Dick Cheney is home in Jackson. I mean, it is the best fishing of the season, after all.