over the river & through the woods...

to idaho falls we go..

last saturday, we decided to give idaho falls another shot.

this time we figured how to get there BEFORE we left jackson.

wow, what a difference when you go in the right direction.  it only took us less than an hour & a half instead of over 2 hours.  the drive is beautiful so you don't realize how long the ride is.

we had to get a birthday present for jamie (who is turning 34 years old on the 16th!!!  happy birthday girlie) 

we had a couple of other things to get while we were there.  shopping is pretty slim in jackson.
we have a kmart, staples, dollar store, albertsons & smiths.  after that, it is alot of tourist shops & high end clothing stores.

not much else to say about the trip.  i will let the pictures tell the rest of the story. 
fair warning - there is alot of pictures.......(and after i went back to review this, i realized there are alot of clouds in these pictures.  i guess i couldn't help it.  the skies were filled with such beautiful clouds that day, i just kept taking pictures of them)

we came around a corner and saw this field of bright yellow flowers

there are miles of fields that are being readied for planting.  at first we thought these were idaho potatoe farms, but were later told that it is barley for the local brewery.  i think it is budweiser.

the sky and clouds

next time you meet an american farmer, tell him thank you.  they work 7 days a week to keep food on our tables.

heading home.  we traveled from rolling farmland into the start of the foothills

we passed shiny new silos

and old rusty equipment that appears to be long forgotten

if you look close at the trees in the background, you can tell that what is now cleared and cultivated land was once heavily forested.

coming around a turn in the highway, you see another sign that you are leaving the flatlands.  this is the where  you come to the river

and valley.  don't know the names of either.

looking behind us to the west

took these pictures for travis.  this place is for sale & what makes it special is the putting green

the house and views aren't too bad either

going thru the canyon that gets you to the teton valley on the west side of the tetons

leaving the canyon, looking at the back of the tetons

almost to the top of the teton pass.  there is still a ton of snow.

almost to the top, this is what you see as you come around a turn. 

jackson hole area

at the top.  this is the sign that makes you nervous.

heading into one of many turns, looking into the valley

this is a horribly steep grade.  we had the truck in 2nd gear and it still wanted to pick up speed.

this was taken at as level an angle as possible.  notice how steep the road is?  we have heard stories of people in tears after getting to the bottom after they drove their motorhomes or trailers over the pass.  we were so relieved that we were given an alternate route into jackson.  we would have driven over this pass in a heavy snowstorm with icy roads.

finally off the pass and into the valley.  this is the snake river.  when i went over this bridge 4 days later, the water was completely across the sand, deep and rushing.  we have had rains all week which have been melting the snow pack and causing the rivers to run higher and faster.

one of the horse pastures on the way into jackson.  the sun was starting to set behind the mountains

the mountains are still in winter mode and the valley meadows turning spring green

that was the end of the journey over to idaho falls and back.  from here it was straight thru town and home to the gros ventre.