MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN THE TETONS

We hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend which, for most of you, was filled with lots of outdoor activities like picnics and visits to the local pool.  Not here in the Tetons!  

After preparing our workplaces earlier in the week, Colter Bay Village opened for guests on Thursday, May 26.  Ann is working in the Cabin office and Paul is working in the RV park (112 full hook-up sites RV sites with electric, water & sewer).  

We enjoyed a day off on Friday.  We spent the morning doing chores, including washing some of the mud and dirt off our RV; that is, until the snow flurries started.  After lunch, we went into town for groceries and spotted our first moose of the summer right along the road.

Here is what our car looked like before we both walked to work on Saturday morning.  There was even more snow on the car on Sunday and Monday, Memorial Day, but just how many pictures of your car can you take?  

It has snowed every day and night of the Memorial Day Weekend with an accumulation of about 3 or 4 inches of new snow each morning.  The lodgepole pine trees have been covered with snow each morning, with our view from the RV looking like a winter wonderland picture from Hallmark.  It has been beautiful to walk to work amidst the snow covered trees with the aroma of Christmas given off from the trees even though we are only 1 day away from June.  The snow usually changes to rain by noon each day and then changes back to snow by about 8 pm each evening.  Here are some pictures taken from the Cabin office, Ann's workplace, on Sunday morning.

With the weather we have been having, we sometimes think winter has begun but in reality, Mother Nature doesn't seem to want to let spring bloom here in the Tetons.  When we left Gainesville in April, with the daytime temperatures in the the 80's and 90's, we thought twice about loading winter coats into the RV.  The weather has proven that the coats were a "must have".

NEW SIGHTS IN GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

We spent the first full day in Colter Bay setting up camp and exploring all that this area has to offer.  In the first photo below, you can see that Jackson Lake is still covered with ice.

Here is a view of the docks at the Colter Bay Marina.  Can you spot the gas pumps on the dock?  The marina opening has been delayed until June 10.

We celebrated with a nice dinner in town at Snake River Brewing Company with our former managers at the Jenny Lake Store (last summer's job), Ron and Karen.

On the way back from town, we spotted over 500 elk in various herds along the highway.  It was dusk so the chances of spotting wildlife are better during their feeding time.  We don't remember seeing more than a few elk in 2010.  In the first picture below, you can see just how much snow is still on the Teton Mountains on May 21.  In the last two pictures, you can see that the fence along the road does not keep the elk in the fields.

Because of the late arrival of spring, no elk calves have been born yet.