Jackson Hole 2008

We spent the last week in July in Jackson, Wyoming for the annual Lauder family vacation. In terms of our own personal agenda, this was the laziest vacation in our history. We always plan to do some camping or set out to hike some grandiose trail for a few days on our own. Even the last couple of years when Ava was still tiny we managed to hike far up into the Tetons and explore some Yellowstone backcountry. This year? I think Jon and I are cumulatively just worn out. The thought of being up half the night with Ava because she won’t sleep anywhere but her own bed and then having to deal with her grumpiness all day was enough to keep us firmly grounded at the condo with the rest of the family. I fear our survival instinct is growing stronger than our need for adventure….ugh, we’re becoming old fuddy-duddies.

Happily, Ava slept much better than anticipated (which doesn’t really say much considering I expected absolute insomnia hell) and I didn’t even have to share my bed with the little wiggler. Every night she kicked around in her Pack-n-Play with the whole extra inch it gave around her height. But at least she slept and only woke up crying once or twice the whole week. Huzzah!

The most blissful moments of the trip for me were spent on my 32 mile road bike trek. I was only going to go out for about an hour and headed out behind town and north to Teton Village. But when I arrived there in no time at all and saw the entrance to Teton NP right there, I decided to keep going, probably against my better judgment since I had no ID, no wallet, no tools, and no food. I had nothing with me but a couple of water bottles. The woman at the entrance station graciously let me enter for free and about 10 seconds after that (cover your ears, Jeffrey) I began wondering how my super-duper speedy lightweight road bike would perform on a rocky, holey dirt road. Looking back, I realize just how lucky I was to escape a flat tire or a dropped chain and having to walk the 15 miles back to town. So the ride was sketchy and slow there for a bit, but boy, was it gorgeous! There’s something about the Teton Valley landscape that just absolutely feels like home to me. Every rock and flower feels familiar. I sped into Moose, then headed south along the main park highway and just managed to avoid being flattened by some gargantuan motorhome.

That Saturday night all the Teerlinks attended the Jackson Rodeo. Ava just couldn’t get over the sight of the carnival rides on the other side of the arena and pitched a fit so I was able to watch all of 10 minutes of the rodeo before taking her out to the petting zoo and home to bed. But I think overall everyone else enjoyed it.

As tradition holds, everyone in the family gathers for an afternoon at String Lake. We eat lunch, paddle in the canoes, catch frogs, and jump off rocks. I bought Ava a little blowup floatie shaped like a spaceship and was rewarded with a big, beautiful perma-grin on her shining face. But mostly she just loves to throw rocks in the water and wade around in her Tevas so I’ve learned that toys are just baggage when there’s splashing to be done. We took our turn in the Keowee and Ava even let Jon paddle for a bit.

One afternoon we took a stroll on our own to Phelps lake and Ava showed her true hiking colors. She was absolutely a trooper and hiked most of the way there on her own. Her little legs got tired on the way back so she rode on Jon's shoulders and made up for it by declaring that he must jump! off every rock in the trail.

Other trip highlights included the traditional hike to Hidden "Waterfalldown" and the boat ride back across Jenny Lake and a visit to Rockefeller center. Pretty low key, lazy vacation.

All in all, a MUCH better vacation than last year's Jackson trip simply because we all felt happier. We finally learned to lower our standards. Maybe we'll get braver and actually try camping again someday.