CAMPING IN WARM WEATHER....FINALLY!!!!!!

Finally it happened...after months of freezing weather and serious doubts on my part about spring/summer existing in Jackson a warm weekend finally came. It was in the 70-80's all weekend and not a cloud in the sky.....absolutely amazing!!! Of course we decided to pack up our summer gear and try it out for a night of car camping out past slide lake. We could not have picked a better night as we were wearing short sleeves and flip flops until the sun went down and even then just a light jacket was fine. It was a nice taste of what is to come this summer and I can't wait for more!

Some sights driving to our campsite which was a little over 12 miles down a dirt road.

Alli, Jenny, and I hanging out around the campfire

Allen and I

Jenny and I in the tent getting ready to go to sleep.

View from our campfire....we couldn't have picked a better car camping site.

RIDING, RIDING, RIDING

The past two weekends my friend Katie and I have gone on bike rides up in the National Parks. We figured now is the time to go before all the tourists get to town and because there is still so much snow in the mountains that hiking and mountain biking are still not options yet. The first weekend we went up to Grand Teton National Park and then last weekend we went to Yellowstone National Park.

Me at the turnoff to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park.

View leaving Yellowstone National Park.

At the Continental Divide...we ended up crossing the divide 4 times on our ride to Old Faithful in Yellowstone. Elevation: a little over 8,300 feet

I guess they weren't kidding when they post signs that say beware of bison. This was taken about 20 feet from Old Faithful Inn which by the way is the coolest hotel/inn I have ever seen and I highly recommend going.

Ridiculously high snowbanks we passed as we were driving back home to Jackson......This was taken Sunday, May 11th...just in case you are wondering we have no more snow in town where I live and it has been in the 60's (supposed to be 75-80 this weekend). Yellowstone is 70 miles north of Jackson. If Jackson still had snowbanks like this in May I would have moved back home already.

Nauseating Rent Prices.....

When I first moved out here I about choked at how much money I was going to have to pay for rent ($1700 for a three bedroom). Everybody I met out here kept telling me how cheap that was and that I was so lucky and shouldn't complain. Still I had a hard time coughing up that much money every month in a town as small as Jackson. Now if I was living in Atlanta or a big city $1700 for a 3 bedroom doesn't sound that unreasonable but for a town of 8,000 people it seemed outragous. However, lately I have been reading the classifieds in the local paper and am in even more shock at the rent prices I see listed there. I have yet to see a listing that was less then $1000 a bedroom. Not only is the average rental price in Jackson $1000 a bedroom but available units go extremely fast and it is very hard to find housing here. Many of my friends who currently pay less then $1000 per bedroom have commented that their landlords have recently told them that their rent will be going up to $1000 per room when their lease is up. So I guess currently we are paying approx $1300 less a month then what we should be.......I'm crossing my fingers my landlord is not paying attention to the rental prices in jackson because if he is we are screwed when it comes time to renew our lease.

I HATE SNOW!

Yep guys, you heard me right. I officially HATE snow now. Many of you thought I'd only last a couple weeks in the snow and then go running back to the warm weather but I didn't. I made it, actually I LOVED it, all winter long...let me repeat that, "I loved it all WINTER long"...however, it is no longer winter. By every definition it is Spring and therefore it should not be snowing. I don't mind the snow on the ground that it slowly melting but I do mind the new snow that keeps falling from the sky! I just came back from spending 10 days in 70-80 degree weather and on my first morning back in Jackson I wake up to the ground covered in snow!!

Someone once told me that Jackson has 4 seasons.... winter, more winter, road construction season, and then winter again....I'm starting to believe them. I've given in that Spring in Jackson Hole is really just a figment of my imagination and that in order to experience spring you either have to a) leave town or b) imagine it. However I am still clinging to the thought that Summer does exist here in Jackson.