It was still light at 9:00pm here in the Tetons last night. The sun had gone behind the mountains prior, but plenty of light in the sky. I did one last dump of our gray water tank after showering and put away the fresh water hose. The overnight low was in the 30s. The overnight low tonight is predicted to be 28º. We don't want an issue with water in the hose freezing. The hose was already stiffer that usual when I put it away.
You will hear people (especially newscasters) call the Summer Solstice "the longest day of the year." To be accurate, the day will still have that same 24 hours in it, but it will be the longest amount of daylight hours of the year. Starting now, the daylight will get shorter each day until December and the Winter Solstice.
Evening crazies, the short night, or more mention of bear activity in the area, Murphy was active all night last night. Including vocals. It was after 2:00am that I picked him up and put him under the covers with me. He isn't a snuggler like all our other cats have been, but I held him there, petting him, and whispering in what I hoped was coming across as soothing... I can't say for certain, since it was the middle of the damn night. I held him in place until he stopped resisting, pet him for a while after that, then let him go. It seemed to calm him down. I think.
I believe an afternoon nap may be in the cards. The weather is supposed to be chilly with rain on and off in the morning and afternoon. A high today of just 46º. "Well, Jim, you were complaining about the heat at home." Yes, I did. And will likely do so again in the future. Somewhere in between would be nice.
The factual...
The idyllic...
Happy Summer Solstice!
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With the chilly start to the morning, we decided to unhook the electric and drive to the nearby Ranch House Restaurant for breakfast. On the way out to unhook, the neighbors next door asked about our van (they are in a pickup pulling a travel trailer)... we visited for a while. Then said our good-byes, put the electric cable inside the van and headed to the restaurant. We got there at 10:40... they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30 and are closed until 11:30. The cost for a bit of visiting. ;-)
Next plan: go to Jackson Lake Lodge, where there are two restaurants. A chilly rain with occasional ice crystals was falling...
We arrived at Jackson Lake Lodge a bit before 11:00 and... both restaurants are closed until 11:30. One is normally open 6:00 am to 10:00pm, but they are having a memorial in a nearby meeting room, so it's closed, too. We decided to wander around the lodge and wait. Nice views from in here, even if the weather is dreary...
There are 3 different gift/apparel/art shops in the lodge, so we had something to do while we waited. There was already a crowd at the door of each restaurant when they opened the doors - apparently, we aren't the only hungry ones who missed breakfast. Chili and a pulled pork sandwich was good comfort food. Then back to one of the gift shops where Joan had seen a shirt she wanted.
Back to the Colter Bay area, where it looked like the weather was improving - the drizzle had stopped and there were occasional bits of blue in the sky. Joan wanted to go into the General Store to pick up a pastry for breakfast tomorrow. When we came out, it was snowing sideways...
That lasted just long enough for us to get to the van, and then it let up. We are calling this a "chill day," but we meant no activities, not the snow and cold. Back to the RV park, we are in a different site, one row back from where we just left. We pulled in and maneuvered to get level; I went out to hook up electricity while Joan got the inside set back up; yes, you have to put everything down, even if you're only driving a couple miles and back...
With the weather improving, I added some air to the tires - the cold weather and altitude was showing on our tire monitors; I'll probably have to take some air out tomorrow as we head south. This also looked like a good time to get a couple photos of us with the van...
We came up with a plan for heading south.
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