I know I have been neglecting the blog! I went to Greenville for a long weekend and then had a horrible stomach bug on the way home. If you think being sick is bad, try being sick and having to be on multiple flights. Ugh! Unfortunately, I also passed it along to my family right in time for their beach vacation. Sorry about that! Luckily it was only a 24-hour bug. Before I got sick, the trip was great! My little godson/nephew is adorable and the baptism and party afterward were very nice.

Anyways, I don't have too much to share in this post, but please check back throughout the week! We have some fun activities planned and I'd like to share my(very tentative) plans for the off-season. Come back soon!

Yesterday, we drove to Wilson to hike the Ski Lake trail. The weather had cleared up and it has been mostly sunny and in the 60s- very nice! Instead of doing Snow King or another one in town, we decided to get in the car and go somewhere different since we had some time to spare. It was supposed to be a 4-mile, out and back hike. When we got there, the sign said it was 3. It ended up being 2.5 each way... Not sure who was doing the measurements here.

Ski Lake is right off the Teton Pass and starts at around 7700 feet. Going into the hike, I guess we had somehow forgotten the fact that it had been snowing a lot lately. We were reminded pretty quickly! At first it was mostly muddy, but it turned to snow very quickly. This was not just a dusting a snow. It was at least a foot deep in many places! Luckily, someone else (who must have known the trail very well) had been there before us so we had some footprints to follow. Honestly, snow shoes would have really come in handy here!!









On the way back down, we heard a noise and really think it could have been a bear! It kind of sounded like a cross between an angry cow and a bear... It was a little scary. Sammie didn't seem to mind, obviously. I think my constant yelling at Sammie to come with us would have alerted any wildlife of our presence. That reminds me of the fact that, in Jackson, in order to have your dog off leash, the dog should be under "voice control," meaning they listen to what you say and stay beside you. We have noticed that the only command Sammie truly responds to is "BYE!" She is scared of us me leaving her, so she pretty much only comes when I yell "bye" and start walking away. It's pretty ridiculous and I'm sure people think I'm crazy. We are working on real voice control and commands like "wait" and "stay." She is doing somewhat mediocre (at best) on the "wait."

Happy Memorial Day! I bet the weather is hot and sunny in SC... We are still experiencing what is known as "mud season" here. Honestly, we lucked out with some good weather the first couple of weeks after our arrival, and now our luck has run out! It has been, for the most part, dreary and gray with occasional rain, hail, and snow. This season is really important for Jackson, though, because the summer is generally VERY dry and sunny. For comparison, Charleston receives 51" of precipitation per year, and Jackson receives 15". Obviously, it is a dry climate here. The rain is important to make the forests moist before there is a long period of dryness and higher temperatures. (Fun fact: Snow King was actually created from a wildfire!) In addition to the wetness, the high has been barely getting up to 50... pretty chilly for it being almost June. It is supposed to take a turn for the better starting tomorrow, which I think we are all really looking forward to!


It mostly rains in town, but you can clearly see on surrounding hills when the snow starts! And yes, that is a cloud hovering right on top of Snow King.

Even though it is tempting to stay indoors when the weather is like this, we have tried to get out and about. William has been riding his bike to and from work (which I can't say I would ever do in this weather) and on Saturday we went to the Old West Brew Fest. The Brew Fest was just a local beer festival... Pretty small in comparison to some others we have been to, but it was a lot of fun! We also saw quite a few people from Columbia, so that was fun as well. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it, but I'm not sure they'd be much to look at anyways.

Yesterday, we decided we owed Sammie (and ourselves) some good exercise and headed out to a trail. I didn't think I would ever be out (voluntarily) hiking in 39°, rainy/snowy weather, but I did it, and it really wasn't that bad. We saw a couple of other crazy people on the trail, too. No bear sightings yet, but William likes to make it a point to start yelling "Hey, Bear" when we aren't talking much. This is what you are supposed to do, but it freaks me out and worries me! He also carried his new holster of bear spray. Anyways, fear of bears aside, the trail was very pretty and had tons of wildflowers. We had a good time and avoided busting our butts in the mud, which was fortunate. There were some close calls.