Final Road Home

Flat Stanley made it back to California, mostly intact, one slight paper cut on the arm and that is about it. We left Jackson on Monday morning. Flat Stanley got to meet the most famous dinosaur in Rock Springs, Wyoming. How about that! When we are on a road trip we always stop at this gas station and visit the dinosaur. Rock Springs is a big oil and gas town. This dinosaur is the logo for the Sinclair company.

We made it through Wyoming, Idaho and Utah on the rural back roads of the true west! We made it to the Salt Lake City airport around 6:00 PM. Just in time to get our tickets and go through the security gate.




Everybody has to go through the screening gate, even Flat Stanley!

We always seem to see some funny things at the airport. On this trip we watched a woman who had trained her corgi puppy to go the bathroom on a special sheet, good dog!





Flat Stanley had some peanuts and a sprite in the air on a comfortable and big 757. After 2 hours we landed in LAX. Everybody was wearing long sleeved shirts, sweaters, uggs and scarves in the airport.. we were laughing to ourselves. If they only knew what cold really was!



Finally, Flat Stanley was reunited with Liam. What a long and sometimes strange trip it was! Bye Flat Stanley, we had fun with you and I hope you had fun with us!!

Teton Village, Jackson Hole

Flat Stanley took a trip to Teton Village with Tom Bartlett. Tom is a ski patroller with the Jackson Hole ski patrol. If you want to learn more about Jackson Hole ski area, you should visit their website: www.jacksonhole.com Jackson Hole Ski Area opened in the 1960's and is definitely off the beaten path. It is also an amazing ski area. People travel from all over the world to ski here. No visit to Jackson is complete without a trip to Teton Village. Even if you don't ski, you can ride the tram and have an amazing view of the valley below (far below). Their website will show you current mountain conditions, photos of the new tram, as well as live webcams and much, much more.

This is a view from the top of Rendezvous Bowl. You have to ride the tram to get here. A new tram opened last year. It cost over 30 million dollars to build. It holds over 100 people and is very fast! Everybody loves it.



This is a view of Corbett's Couloir. It is a very steep and famous ski run. Liam and Grant are looking at it out the tram window. All you have to do is put "Corbett's Couloir" in google and you will see videos, movie clips and crazy descriptions of this steep and deep run! There is actually a movie made about this run called Someday, Somebody Will Ski That

Well, Flat Stanley's visit is winding down. Tomorrow he is going home, back to Los Angeles. What is most exciting and surprising is how he is going to get there. He will be escorted back by Grant, Annabel and Audrey.. more on that later!!

Mrs. Steven's 3rd grade class and high school butte

This is a picture of Colter Elementary School. It is behind the brand new track and football field. Flat Stanley paid a visit to Mrs. Steven's 3rd grade class today.

The kids in Mrs. Steven's 3rd grade class at Colter Elementary School get FLAT in celebration of Flat Stanley's visit. We read the original Flat Stanley book and enjoyed his adventures! Most of the students in the class had not read the story, so that made it even more enjoyable.



After our storytime, the dogs and I needed a walk. We took Flat Stanley up High School Butte. A great quick walk with a nice view of the school. It was terribly windy and a bit dangerous for the skinny guy, but I kept him anchored down!

We made it to the top! Flat Stanley had to stay tucked in a crack in the rock. The Teton mountain range is in the background, covered in snow waiting for winter to really kick in.


Didn't I tell you it was windy? Here is a closer look at the rock that Flat Stanley hid in.

The Great Pumpkin

Guess what Flat Stanley was for Halloween? A pumpkin! After trick or treating around the Town Square and then cottonwood park everybody was exhausted!

In this photo we have: Grant (scary guy), Hannah (Nancy Drew), Millie (Elphaba, the green girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West), Anna(I have no idea!!), Annabel (Pippi Longstocking), Flat Stanley (pumpkin), Lily (Hannah Montana) and Halli (Geisha Girl), what a crew!! What a day!!

What were you for Halloween?

Snow, Teton Pass, Wyoming Highway Patrol

We are trying to come up with some funny headlines for today's post. "Flat Stanley has a run-in with the law" -- Annabel says that isn't so funny! Rody said, how about: "Flat Stanley meets Trooper Carter" -- I said "That is boring!" So, I'll stick with Snow, Teton Pass and the Wyoming Highway Patrol!

We stopped at the "Top of the Pass" on the way to Idaho Falls. We had a big snow storm the day before so there was quite a bit of snow on the top. Officer Carter was in the parking lot at the top making sure people were safely driving in the snow. He knew all about the Flat Stanley project and was happy to take a break and have his photo taken!

Teton Pass is actually Highway 22. This road runs between Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Victor, Idaho. The "Top of the Pass" (meaning the road itself, the mountains around the road are even higher!) is at 8431 feet. When winter comes, the pass can be an interesting place to drive! It is very steep up to the top and very steep down to the bottom. The Wyoming Highway Department actually discharges bombs in the mountains to "control" the snow. That means they take bombs, blast them on the slopes next to the road. If the snow is unstable then it will avalanche down the slope and across the road. The snow plows will come clean it up and people can drive safely through. This is much better than having the avalanche happen when the cars are on the road.


Look at those snow banks, pretty big for October! You should see them in February!!




This is a famous sign that all visitors see coming into Jackson Hole from the Idaho side.



Flat Stanley had to get a good view of the cowboy! Rody didn't have his snow boots on.... RUN!!



I found a good article in the Pinedale newspaper that shows what Teton Pass looks like after an avalanche. pinedaleonline.com

Fixing an iMAC

This is what my iMAC looked like before the tech guy came to fix it. Actually, I took this image off the Apple website. I like the picture of the space ship (is it the Starship Enterprise?)!!



Flat Stanley got the opportunity to work on an iMAC!! Crazy huh! How many of you have ever seen the inside of a computer? Well, the iMAC is a unique computer. See all that "stuff" below the monitor? That is just about everything that makes a computer run. We just bought this computer last month and ALREADY something was wrong with it. If I lived in a big city, I could drive it down to the nearest Apple store. Well, I don't live in a big city, so a person certified to work on Apple computers had to drive to Jackson Hole. This man was gracious enough to let Flat Stanley help out!



I thought I'd throw in a picture of an "old" computer from the the late 1950's. Pretty funny looking eh? Oh and did you know that the first "real" computer was invented in the late 1800's? Did you know that the "father" of the computer is Charles Babbage? He invented a calculating machine in 1823. Ada Lovelace was the first computer programmer. How about that!?

Bradley Taggart Lake

When October rolls around, you try to fit in those last hikes of the season. You never know when the next big snow storm hits, and the snow doesn't melt! With that in mind, we decided to head to Taggart lake and Bradley lake. It is a really fun place to go in Grand Teton National Park.

The hike to Taggart lake is 1.6 miles. We stopped, had a quick snack and headed on to Bradley Lake which is another 1.6 miles. We stopped here for another quick snack before we headed back to the car. From Bradley lake back to the car is 2.4 miles. How far have we walked in total?


View Larger Map

We were all ready for a good nights sleep that evening. We saw chipmunks and ground squirrels but no big animals. We saw some animal signs though.. elk poop and moose tracks in the snow!

Once again, Flat Stanley gets a ride, when will he ever walk on his own?

We thought this one was kind of funny, since the horses are eating right behind us!

Flat Stanley got stuck in a rock. I'd say he is in a bit of a pickle!

Flat Stanley got real close to some moose tracks!

View the whole album online at:
Bradley Taggart Lakes

Visiting the Visitor Center

On the way into town (or out of town whichever direction you happen to be driving) there is a great place to stop that will teach you about the wildlife of Jackson Hole. It is more than just a visitor center. You get your firewood, fishing and hunting licenses as well as a a close up view of some animals you may see in Jackson or the surrounding area. We dropped by after our hike up Snow King. Can you see that L.A. Flat Stanley met Michigan Flat Stanley again!? Crazy. Can you pick out the Coyote, Elk, Trumpeter Swan and Bear?




This coyote is hopping on a small mouse and these guys are sure in the way! L.A. Flat Stanley and Michigan Flat Stanley wanted a close up view of the mouse, what they got was a close up view of the coyote!





Isn't this trumpeter swan beautiful? They are really HUGE birds. Here is some information from the Wyoming Wetlands Society website about trumpeter swans:

The elegant, snowy white Trumpeter Swan is the subject of intense study and concern. Largest of all North American waterfowl, the birds weigh between 20 and 30 pounds, with a wingspan of up to eight feet. Remaining near open water to feed on aquatic plants, trumpeters consume as much as 20 pounds of wet vegetation each day.



The only time this bear would be so dangerous is if she was protecting her babies. You guys better watch out! Does the ranger know you climbed over the display to get a closer look?









Do you think L.A. Flat Stanley and Michigan Flat Stanley are looking at a black bear or a grizzly bear?

Hiking the King

No visit is complete without a trip up Snow King. This is the "town hill". How many places have a ski area right downtown? (maybe a few..) Lots and lots of people hike Snow King. Besides the beautiful views you get a great workout. The first picture was taken from Google Earth. I thought the birds eye view was pretty cool. The other picture was taken last spring while the snow was melting.



You can also see Flat Stanley after a strenuous hike (well not for him, he rode in the backpack, what can I say). The town of Jackson is off in the distance. The mountains in the background are the Tetons. The snow has fallen since the beginning of October.

Yeah, we made it! The chairlift runs in the summer and winter. Today is "off season" so the lifts are closed. Off season around Jackson means that all the tourists have gone home and the town is quiet again. This gave us a good opportunity to take a break before we went back down.

More adventures are in store for Flat Stanley today, but you will have to wait to see what they will be!

Pumpkin Sale on the Town Square

Flat Stanley is hiding in the pumpkins trying to take a nap! Caught you!!

He helped unload over 10,000 pounds of pumpkins. The 32nd annual Rendezvous PTA pumpkin sale took place yesterday on the Town Square (yes that place again!!).


After 1 week of rain, we kept our fingers crossed and had an amazingly sunny day. The place was packed and all the pumpkins sold out!

Flat Stanley was so helpful. He worked with Mrs. Edington (the music teacher) and Mrs. Roehrkasse (the principal) unloading pumpkins off the truck.



The only thing Flat Stanley couldn't do was convince Annabel to share her candy apple. He was VERY SAD!!

Today we are off on a couple of very exciting adventures.. we will keep you posted!!

Bye Bye for now.

Flat Stanley meets another Flat Stanley

What are the chances of having a chance encounter with ANOTHER Flat Stanley? Vincent Hughes, of the Gladstone Elementary School in Gladstone, MI sent his aunt Shari Flat Stanley. Shari and I met for dinner at the Rendezvous Bistro. We each brought Flat Stanley as our dates!





The waiter brought some water, the boys had a look at the menu and ordered some dinner! Flat Stanley from Michigan had a Bistro burger. Flat Stanley from California had pasta noodles with butter.

YUM!



Dinner was so much fun!

P.S. Flat Stanley had an excellent adventure in Thermopolis. Annabel will be writing a bit about the trip and sharing some photos soon.

Thermopolis Wyoming

Well, the photos are in! What a great adventure Annabel and Flat Stanley had. As I mentioned, they accompanied Mari and crew on a long weekend adventure!



How much fun is it when you read a sign that says "Please Touch!"


This is a Mega Mouth. I can't read the fine print so I'm only guessing that this means "BIG MOUTH"!!



This is a pretty small critter. I can't even imagine what this was like so many millions of years ago! I may have this wrong, I need to do more research but I think this dinosaur pictured is a one of a kind find in the WORLD.

The crew hit the last day of a wax museum.. I guess the didn't have very many visitors. I wonder where all these wax statues will go?

Exciting News about the Weekend

Well, Flat Stanley may be on his way to Thermopolis Wyoming. You may ask, where is Thermopolis Wyoming? This is a very good questions! Thermopolis is 210 miles from Jackson. The drive takes 5 hours. It is very beautiful, traveling over a mountain pass (Togwotee), through ranch country, through an Indian Reservation (the Wind River) and onto Thermopolis.

Annabel was invited to go with her friend Marika because we have no school on Monday.

This town is famous for its hot springs and petroglyphs! Yes.. can you imagine being able to see rock art created long before we were born!

We thought Flat Stanley would love accompanying Annabel and Mari on their trip. Did I mention that there is a dinosaur museum too?



Last night, Flat Stanley read a book with us and went to bed early.. Annabel has picked Pippi in the South Seas as her school reading book. Can you believe this book was written in 1948 and kids are still reading it today? I think it is because Pippi is such a funny character.