Wyoming Part I, January 24, 2022

Jackson Hole Airport to Jackson

After two days, four states, and three flights, we finally made it to Wyoming. As we came into the national park, our pilot made a huge turn which brought us right up alongside the peaks for a dramatic first view of the Tetons. We landed on the single runway and made our way inside to the baggage terminal where I split off from the boys to go pick up the keys to our car for the week. In true Brinn fashion, he’d already made a friend with plans to meet up for skiing later in the week. The new friend piled into the car with us and we made the drive into Jackson.

First we dropped off new friend at his lodgings, then it was on to check in at base camp of Antler Inn where we had reserved the Cedar Family Suite. Grandpapa took the downstairs, while Brinn, Ian, and I spread out across the second level. The first floor of our suite included a full bathroom and kitchen along with a queen bed. The next level had a huge loft area with two queen beds, another table with chairs, and a second full bathroom. This space proved critical in helping us get along with each other for the week as we had room to space out without being stacked on top of one another.

We drug in our bags, unpacked a few items, and began looking for our options to eat. A quick flip through the book of local options on the bedside table showed a great looking bbq place just a few blocks away. As we hadn’t familiarized ourselves with the streets yet, we jumped back in the car and drove a few minutes just to find that our destination was no longer there! Some local folks shared the bad news that the restaurant had closed, but they suggested we check out Big Hole BBQ. Upon arrival, we asked our server for recommendations and took his suggestion to try the burnt ends. My apologies for failing to grab a photo to share, but we scarfed the entire basket of ends down in a matter of minutes. Absolute meat perfection. It’s going to be hard going back to plain old pulled pork after experiencing the juicy, dripping nuggets of fork-tender beef. Grandpapa seemed pretty happy with his rib plate, while Brinn and I both had brisket sandwiches. While we did enjoy our brisket, I regretted that I hadn’t skipped ordering an entre and just gone with a second basket of burnt ends.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we questioned our server about our options for local grocery shopping. He gave us our options, and we loaded back up into our rental car to take Grandpapa and Ian back to Antler Inn. They were both tired after a day of traveling and wanted to settle into our room, so we left them to relax while Brinn and I headed over to check out Albertsons. The absolute best part of our shopping trip was seeing the display set up between the deli and produce sections! We took our time browsing while filling our cart with the essentials to have breakfast and lunch ingredients on hand in our room.

When we traveled to Alaska, we received valuable information from our fishing tour company. The owner suggested that while vacationing, it’s worth it to spend a little more for a rental with a kitchen in order to save money and time from eating out every meal. We carried this advice over to our trip planning for Wyoming. As our suite was only two blocks away from downtown, and just a fifteen minute walk from Snow King Resort, having a kitchen proved to be incredibly convenient. Each morning we woke early (but not ridiculously early) to fry a skillet of bacon or sausage, bake a pan of biscuits (we cheated and used canned), scramble a plate of eggs, and slice up some fruit. We kept cold drinks in the door of the refrigerator, and a plate of fresh veggies on the kitchen table. For lunches, we had all the items necessary to assemble ham sandwiches with a big bag of Lays chips, while Ian preferred to microwave a cup of a mac and cheese when he was hungry.

We ended up traveling 4,095 miles to make it to a location only 1,702 miles from home, but we were certainly happy to reach that destination. With full bellies, a stocked kitchen, and warm beds, we all slept well our first night in Jackson as we thought we were preparing for a slow-paced easy day of exploring on Tuesday. We were awfully lucky the beds were warm and we slept like logs since morning comes early where snow plows are loud.