Snakes aren’t all bad.
One Snake that is really fun is the Snake River that slithers along the valley of Jackson/Jackson Hole/Grand Tetons. They refer to it as a wild river, but it really isn’t. There are so few wild rivers left but that is changing. Dams are coming down throughout the West and I think it a good thing.
At once, the Snake was beguiling and boring. The water was running high today because of earlier than expecting warming that is melting the show. But it was also running high today because they (the water people that are in charge) are releasing the water from a dam. With that sad fact, some of the magic disappeared. But so did the magic disappear when we observed the right bank of the river. It looked man-made. The left bank was not as “composed”. Our guide explained that the river was drenched a bit. More magic disappeared. However, just when the magic was wanning, a fabulous view would present itself and we’d all ooh and aah and a great time was had by all.
My favorite person on the excursion was the old guy with suspenders. I’ve been trying to get Rayman (no assatole) to consider suspenders. Really, I should save my breath. It’s not gonna happen. But the old guy was very cool and funny and looked good in his suspenders. My grandfather wore them after he went from 300 pounds down to 170. His ass disappeared too. So he resorted to suspenders. Really, people, we need suspenders to come back into vogue. I think they are cool.
But I digress.
The float took 4 hours with a lunch break on the side of the Snake. Lunch was just so-so but sitting by the Snake as it slithered by. Priceless.
Where was Beau, you inquire? We boarded him at doggie day care. This place had us fill out a form on-line that was more complicated than a pre-nup. Yes, we checked. We knew dogs occasionally got bit, or scratched, or whatever. Yes, we did not hold them responsible. Yes, we held them harmless if anything happened. The list went on and on. Beau, oblivious to all the legalese shook as we dropped him off for the float. And he was so excited to see us when we picked him up that he jumped higher than I have ever seen him jump. He is a kick, our doggie. Such a sweet, sweet, boy. Old pic from earlier in the trip but same good boy!!
We found a market here for food. It is called Jackson Whole Market. And it’s decked out just like a Whole Foods. Bet they want to be bought out. Anyway, I purchased some Idaho trout and that’s what we had for dinner tonight. Barbecued. OMG. It was so good. We also continued our habit of buying pre-washed greens from CA at this market. If the Western mountain states didn’t get their lettuces et al from CA, where would that leave them? Just saying.
Now, it must be noted that Hillary apparently clinched the Democratic nomination for Pres. last night. We did not know because we have no TV or wifi. We discovered this when we were able to pick up a signal near the Tetons. I truly doubted I would ever see the day a woman would be the standard bearer. As a feminist, I am ecstatic. It’s been a long time coming. I voted for her. But I voted for Barack in the other elections. So, it was my first time of actually voting for a WOMAN. Hip hip.
It is historic regardless of your views. I’ve decided I’m going to re-read her book, My History, I think it was entitled. Just to refresh my memory.
Speaking of refreshing my memory, the guide on the float today was a young woman!! As we were riding back in the big old bus, I had a chance to talk with her one-on-one. I explained that when I worked in Yellowstone, the only jobs open to me were waitress and maid. I chose waitress since I worked at the Paso Robles Inn when I was in high school as a waitress in the coffee shop. Experience was on my side. She explained that even now, the guys look down on her a bit even though she does exactly the same job and has for 4 years as she works her way through school. However, she did take my point. We have made progress though not as much as we would desire.
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