Sweet Home Alabama, Where the Skies are Blue!!!

After a great weekend spent with Grandchildren, Teddy and I left midafternoon Sunday headed for Northern Alabama.

The Victory Tour has come full circle and is about to end for Diane. She is on her way back to DC after more than 12,000 miles exploring the west. We decided to meet her for a last trip before the snow begins to fly!

Northern Alabama worked well on many levels as a site to meet again. Our friend Deb lives in Gulf Shores, so an easy day trip for her. As well, Teresa from Tallahassee was able to combine the Veteran's Day Holiday and is here too. And of course, Luanne and Tucker are in the middle of all this keeping us busy!

We are at DeSoto State Park located just outside Ft. Payne in northern Alabama. It is a beautiful spot, heavily treed and rocky, with streams running all through the park. I arrived a day late and they had me hit the ground running!

Our first day lived up to the song, the skies were blue, puffy white clouds and beautiful.

Our morning began with a spectacular bike ride through the forest on a single track trail. It was rocky, rooty and lots of fun! We rode just under three miles and had a blast!!

After a quick lunch, Diane, Luanne, Deb and I headed for the golf course. It wasn't a bad little course but it needed to be mowed, we spent a lot of time looking for our balls, even when they were in the center of the fairway!! End result...Deb and Diane owe Patricia and Luanne a beer by two strokes! They are looking for a rematch.

Deb didn't tell any of us it was her birthday but in spite of it all we managed to pull a great birthday party together for her and had a reason for all of us to eat cake.

Today, Wednesday, dawned overcast and rainy. We all piled into Diane's car and went sightseeing. DeSoto Falls and a huge canyon are in the park so we dodged raindrops and did some sightseeing. We ended in Mentone, AL, a tiny little town with a wonderful, quirky restaurant The Wildflower Cafe. We poked around a bit in an antique store and headed back to camp. Everyone is tucked up inside their units as the rain comes down. This may be a movie night if the rain doesn't stop, and we're expecting to awake to temps in the 20's.

We're Home!

4400 miles 

39 days

8 states

3 national parks

16 campgrounds

1,500 hits on the blog from 11 countries

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39 days of sunshine

2 times used wipers within 80 miles of home

favorite campground....Mormon Bend, Stanley, Idaho

favorite drive...Going to the Sun, Glacier National Park

favorite hike...tie, Two Medicine Valley, Glacier and Taggart Lake, Grand Teton

best animal sighting...tie, grizzly and buffalo and the bull and cow moose outside my window, Grand Teton

THE VICTORY TOUR....Wednesday, going home

I am writing from a KOA aka a big open field in Rawlin, WY. Our most amazing adventure is winding down and this will be my last post before arriving home.

Our last wonderful day in The Grand Teton National Park started off with Luanne rushing from Diane’s door to my door, alerting us to the bull moose and cow just outside of my window! It was a most amazing sight, the bull was working hard rubbing the velvet off of his rack. The cow was placidly munching on berries and bushes and the two of them gave us quite a show!

If any of you have a chance to visit Grand Teton don’t miss the visitor center at the Jenny Lake entrance. It is a stunning building, massive glass windows make the mountains a part of the exhibit. And the exhibits, the best I have seen at any National Park! The bronzes, and there are many, are truly outstanding and bring the past alive as you walk through. The exhibits cover everything from the animals, plants, rivers and mountains to the people who lived there and the activities in the park.

Our last meal together before Diane headed for Oregon and we headed home was cooked on the fire and we sat outside talking until the cold sent us to our beds.

This morning we parted ways, Luanne and I heading south and then our long trek east.

When we arrived in Jackson Hole we climbed a 10% grade over the mountain. When we left we were nestled between the mist covered mountains following the Hoback River Canyon Road. It was a beautiful drive until the road spit us out onto the windy great plains.

The hurricane has sent tremendous winds and it is making driving very difficult.

We stopped early today hoping that it might blow itself out a bit overnight. Three more days and we’ll be home!

We have had stellar weather; amazing and varied scenery; great traveling companions; exciting adventures and good health during our whole trip. The trip celebrated Diane’s retirement, Luanne’s 60th birthday and my soon to be 65th. None of us could come up with a better way to commemorate these milestones in our lives!!!

THE VICTORY TOUR....Monday, Jackson Hole

This morning found us at the smoky Gros Ventre Lake just outside the Park boundaries. It was a beautiful drive, but the fire which has been burning steadily for a week was coming closer and made everything very smoky and hazy. I’ve posted a picture which looks more like The Great Smoky Mountains than The Great Teton Park!

This afternoon we ventured into Jackson Hole and sidled to the bar and mounted a saddle for a couple of drinks. Yes, you read that right, the bar stools are real leather saddles. Diane and Luanne were walking bowlegged when we came out!

A little shopping, a little laughing, a little eating and now we are happily at home. It looks like it might rain and we are hoping so as it will clear out some of the smoke before our final hike tomorrow.

THE VICTORY TOUR...Sunday, Taggart Lake Hike

A spectacular day in the Tetons! I am too tired to write tonight because Diane and I followed Luanne! You would think by now we would know better!!!

OK, I guess I can’t really blame her, we made another group decision. We started out the morning headed for the amazing Jenny Lake and surrounding mountains. First we noticed the mountains were not as clear and crisp as yesterday. There is a big fire raging in the area, not causing us any problems but obscuring our views a bit.

Then when we got to the Jenny Lake boat area we couldn’t find a parking place, shades of Logan Pass at Glacier. As a second choice we headed to Taggart Lake which turned out to be an amazing hike.

It was a four mile hike, much of it going uphill following a beautiful mountain stream. We arrived at Taggart Lake and it was crystal clear with the mountains reflected in the water! Lunch and a long hike back home, so now I am tired and can say no more!!

ps...The ranger confirmed that it was the grizzly bear eating the buffalo that we saw. Luanne didn’t believe me so I had to go to the Ranger for confirmation!