On the way back

We stopped at the national museum of wildlife art on our way into Jackson for an unexpected treat. We were late - about 30 minutes before closing time - and the kind lady let us in for free. It was amazing; certainly deserving of way more than 30 minutes. Lots of world-renown artists from the 19th century and plenty of famous modern ones as well. And it had a spectacular view of the valley. I'll bet it's a sight to behold in the winter when the elk are on the National Elk Refuge just across the way.

We went to our motel and settled in. Then it was time for some sight-seeing and dinner. We had our obligatory pictures taken beneath one of the antler arches in the town square and then wandered around until we found a nice restaurant. We put our name in and gave the waitress our phone # and then Peg and Colleen found a clothes store... Being half-deaf, I missed the call, but realized it pretty quick so I rounded up the girls and we went to a very nice meal outside. We met the owner and promised we'd come back for breakfast.

We did return for breakfast the next day, under glowering skies. Peg wanted to find the consignment and thrift shops, so we located those. I got a book by Tom Brokaw - sort of a follow-up to his The Greatest Generation about the sixties, entitled Boom!. It's an ok read.

We hit the road, a bit nervous because of all the storms. I managed to negotiate the mountain passes south and east of Jackson and we got out from under the rain. We had hoped to make Nebraska, but the rain drove us into a motel at Rawlins. On the way there, we'd seen lots of antelope - many right next to the road. I speculate that, unlike cattle, Pronghorns can easily leap the fences and get to the good grazing on the shoulders of the road. I didn't see any road-killed Pronghorns so I figured they weren't as car-stupid as deer, but then I remembered Junius' Lewis and Clark trip had to be canceled because a Pronghorn committed suicide by running into their van. We also saw a few prairie dog towns.

The next day, we hit the road for home. Stopped in eastern Wyoming at a rest stop along I-80 that was covered with nice flowers, including huge stands of Indian Paintbrush. There was a wildlife refuge right off the rest stop, and though I didn't seen any large mammals, I did see a Golden Eagle flying overhead.

Another rest stop in Nebraska provided some great photos of a nesting pair of Western Kingbirds and their nearly-fledged offspring. Rest stops often have some really interesting natural history stuff if one bothers to look!

One more night on the road - I believe in York, NB - and then on home.