Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Jackson is a great place. We didn't have much choice in the RV park department, there is ONE! It is close in and right next to a rafting company, Teton Expeditions. We quickly decided to float the Snake River but opted for the quiet ride and left the white water to the more adventurous. We were taken about seven miles north of town where we boarded two rafts, six people to a raft. Fortunately we had a group larger than 10 because we would have all been packed into one raft!

The Snake was close to high water from the late spring runoff and the current was close to 7 mph. It took us about two hours to float 13 miles! We were told that Harrison Ford owned a large portion of land along the river where we were. We were also told that he volunteers and flies his own helicopter for search and rescue operations when he is in residence in Jackson.

The float trip was great, we saw lots of animals and birds. We happened upon a cow moose with a little fuzz ball calf that disappeared almost fast as they appeared (blow up that picture). Eagles were plentiful and we saw one pair in a tree watching their fledgling who was sitting on a sand bar chirping something like, "I can't get up!" According to our guide, eaglets aren't allowed back in the nest after their first flight but the parents do watch them for some period before leaving them to their own devices. We were also told that the young are larger than their parents due to a large amount of body fat in the young birds and that their feathers are longer and larger than the adult birds, training wings so to speak.

The river made a sound similar to frying bacon as we raced along. We were hearing the sand, pebbles and small rocks bouncing along the bottom. It was a great trip and we will do it again!

We left Jackson this morning after a late start. After announcing that we had no problems with the motor home so far, last night the water heater refused to work on gas or electricity. A call to the factory this morning didn't help much so we awakened the local RV repair guy to come look at our water heater. Meanwhile I unplugged and replugged some wires and tested the fuse but couldn't find anything to identify as the problem. Then the repair guy showed up and said we should turn the heater on in the gas mode. The sucker lit right up! Go figure. We then headed out for an oil change and got on the road about 11:00 am.

We drove hard today and tonight we are in a KOA in Craig, Colorado. Craig bills itself as the elk hunting capital of the US. Tomorrow we head for Grand Junction and maybe we will stay there a couple of days. We plan to be in Creede, Colorado a week from today where we will go 4 wheeling in the heart of the Rockies.