Author: Easin' Along

Under clear skies, we departed Big Sky, Montana, and drove 60 miles to Ennis RV Village, our home for the week. During our stay in Big Sky, smoke from distant wildfires occasionally drifted overhead but never presented much of a problem. Eventually, the smoke found a resting place in Ennis.

This visit to Ennis RV Village was our second in two years. We enjoyed a delightful experience last summer and booked a return trip for 2021. Last summer, a storm in the valley gave me a great afternoon of fun with my camera (Link here). However, this summer, smoke replaced the rainbows of the year before. The pictures below illustrate the difference a year can make. (Slide arrows left or right to compare in larger view)

Although the smoke limited our view of the mountains, it offered an opportunity I hadn’t considered–very colorful sunsets. The setting sunlight, filtered through a layer of smoke, gave off a bright palette of colors more than once during our visit, and I captured some of them to share here.

In Ennis, Helen and I also looked forward to visiting with our friends Ann and Frank, Knoxvillians who have owned a summer home in the area for many years. Frank is a very experienced fly-fisherman, and I let him know that if he planned a fishing trip during our stay, I would love to tag along. Frank did much better than that.

On our way into town, I checked in with Frank to learn that he had just got off the phone with a friend who offered a rare opportunity. Frank’s friend had booked and paid for a guided day of fishing on Henry’s Fork of the Snake River but couldn’t make it. Not wanting the trip to waste away, he gave the trip to Frank, who invited me to join him. It took me only a fraction of a second to accept, and we made arrangements to meet early the following day.

We met around dawn for a drive to Island Park, Idaho, about 90 miles away. During our drive, I thought about how long it had been since I was active this early in the morning, but when we passed a large cattle drive, I realized that there are many early birds in this world–I’m just not one of them anymore. We also passed a large campground filled with firefighters already at work on the nearby wildfires, and I sent up a prayer for their safety and success.

Henry’s Fork is well-known as a haven for trophy trout, and I was so excited, I could hardly stand it. We checked into Henry’s Fork Anglers, a well-stocked gear shop, and met Shawn, our guide for the day. Shawn was a polite and professional twenty-something, with a handsome face reddened by wind and sun due to many hours on the Snake. He directed Frank and me to the snack shop to pick up enormous deli sandwiches for our lunch and waited for us at his car with a drift boat attached.

On the way to the launch site, Shawn told us that he had worked at Henry’s Fork Anglers every summer since he was fifteen and bitten by the fly-fishing bug. He began guiding at age eighteen. We also learned that he grew up in Knoxville and went to high school about 10 miles from my house…an unbelievable coincidence. Knoxvillian or not, this young man knew trout fishing.

Shawn expertly guided the drift boat to the rising trout, chasing insects hatching at the surface as we drifted the Snake River. He carefully explained the technical details of catching fish in these waters. On either side of the river, wading fishermen and women hauled in some nice Rainbow Trout.

It wasn’t long before Frank hooked a large trout and fought it for several minutes before escaping his hook. I also snagged a large fish, only to meet the same result. We repeated the experience many times during the trip and, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t land one in the boat. I admit to a bit of disappointment in losing some nice trout, but the overall experience was wrapped in nothing but joy for this old mountain boy. I am very grateful to Frank and his friend for sharing a delightful day on the water.

Shawn, you’re the best too! Here’s hoping we can do it again! For now, we’re Easin’ Along.

It’s been a few weeks since we shared another stop on our trip to the northwest and the Rockies. There’s a reason for that. After four months on the road, we encountered the inertia of returning to life at home. We had two large boxes of mail to sort (most of it was junk), medical appointments to keep, my mom needed some catch-up time, and my PC was in the throes of a death spiral. Catching up with home life went well–the computer issues did not.

I ordered a Big Mac only to find that converting over thirty years of files and pictures from a PC to a Mac required more effort than I wanted to expend, so I returned it. I ordered a mid-level PC but found that the resolution for picture editing wasn’t as good as the small laptop I use for travel. I returned it as well.

For now, I am using my small laptop connected to my PC monitor by way of a $60 docking station.  I should have used my travel computer to start with, but my old eyes work better when I don’t have to squint at a small screen. It’s not an ideal situation, but it gets me back to my blog, which I missed while spending a lot of time to no avail. It’s good to be back; let’s go to Big Sky, Montana.

Before Big Sky, Helen and I spent three days in West Yellowstone, MT, a small town located beside the western entrance of Yellowstone National Park. We wanted to meet up with Helen’s niece, McLeod, working as a housekeeping manager at Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge. We visited Mammoth last summer on the northern end of Yellowstone and looked forward to another visit. We met for lunch in nearby Gardiner, MT, and had a great time while learning much about the challenges of working in a lodge in the time of COVID. Back in West Yellowstone, we rode our bikes a lot, explored a little, and found a saloon suitable for gaming.  Helen loves gaming.

Last summer, we discovered The Inn on the Gallatin, a campground that offered everything we love about RV travel. We booked another stay at the end of that experience and eagerly looked forward to a return trip in this unique setting. The Inn on the Gallatin is a “boutique” for RVers.  The owners, Deann and Steve, take great pains to enhance the experience of their guests.  The campsites sit adjacent to decks overlooking the scenic Gallatin River. The flower beds and the lawns are immaculately maintained and colorfully accented with artwork and whimsey.

On weekends, Steve and Deann open a cafe next to the office for campground guests and feature gourmet breakfast offerings complete with warm doughnut holes and fresh coffee.  Breakfast at the Inn is a not-to-be-missed experience, and we invited Debbie, our friend from Knoxville, now living close by, to share this pleasure with us. Debbie had visited the cafe often after moving into the area and knew Deann and Steve well. They greeted her with open arms. We lingered long over the breakfast table before waving Debbie goodby and retreating to Dora for a nap.

The following day, Debbie’s husband Rick, also from East Tennessee, picked me up for a fly-fishing trip on the Gallatin. Rick is an expert fisherman and tied the flies that he shared with me.  On this day, Rick unselfishly decided not to fish and offered to wade the river and guide me through the section of the river he chose for us.  After several misses, his counsel paid off, and I landed a rainbow. The picture below illustrates my elation. Even if I had not had success at fishing, I would have been fine.  Fly-fishing in a mountain stream requires a degree of concentration that shuts out a lot of life’s noise. I find it very calming, and I owe Rick a big thank-you for a delightful outing.

The remainder of our time at the Inn was relatively low-key.  I prepared a delicious meal of scallops and bacon that we purchased frozen in Morro Bay, CA, and saved for dinner on our deck in Big Sky.  Smoke from distant wildfires drifted above us during our stay but was of no concern (yet).

At the end of our visit to Big Sky, we flowed away as calmly as the river behind us.  It was time to Ease Along.

Please see Picture Gallery that follows this post. (Link here)

Campground reservations in Jackson Hole are hard to come by anytime, especially on the Fourth of July. Helen and I had three days on the schedule for Jackson and were determined to make the most of it. It helped that, once again, we had camping reservations at the Kudar Motel, one block off the downtown square.

We arrived on the afternoon of July 3^rd and backed Dora into the wrong campsite, thinking we had the same site as last year. Thankfully, Michael, the owner, corrected us before we got too settled and led us to our site at the rear of the motel.  After settling in, we immediately drove to the lovely house that Carolyn, my son’s mother-in-law, rented for the summer and where Collin and his family were spending the month. We needed a granddaughter fix in the worst way.

Carolyn and her husband Johnny prepared a lovely dinner for us, and the girls brought us up to date on all they had seen and done since arriving at the base of the Grand Tetons. It was great seeing everyone. Although Helen and I were a bit road-weary, we stayed long into the evening and planned our next day, including the Fourth of July Parade.

Bob and Mary Alice, friends from our time in Berlin over forty years earlier, met us for coffee on the morning of the parade.  We had not seen each other since those days and had reconnected recently on social media. They have a lovely home in Jackson and divide their time between Wyoming and their home in Virginia. It was great catching up with them, and we agreed we had to do it again soon.

The parade was a fun-filled event! Crowds lined the street early along the parade route, and we worked to reach the meeting point for our family.  The girls arrived before us and looked eager for things to begin.  Our youngest planned to fill a grocery bag with the candy and souvenirs tossed out by parade participants. Once the parade began, we couldn’t look away for fear of missing something unique or unusual.  Parade organizers treated us to antique cars, several groups of cowboys and cowgirls, political groups, first responders, school children, and ordinary citizens looking to wave to the crowd.  On top of it all, a bluebird day made the experience even more pleasant. A grand time was had by all!

For our final full day, we planned to take a float trip on the Snake River. Collin rented a float boat and agreed to paddle it for us. The float trip would begin at the launch at Pacific Creek and end at Dead Man’s Bar.  When Collin lived in Jackson after graduating from college, we fished this stretch of water often and I was looking forward to a return trip.

The Grand Teton mountains are in view for most of the float and I find it difficult to avoid capturing them on camera, they are so majestic. I have several pictures of them from the float trip and from Carolyn’s house.  It is almost impossible to put their beauty into words.

The weather conditions changed dramatically on this day.  A storm came up quickly and pelted us with sleet for a few moments, and lightning strikes came close a couple of times.  We pulled over to the riverbank and waited it out. Few people win an encounter with lightning. Fortunately, the storm left us almost as quickly as it came and did little to dampen our spirits. We resumed our float.

That evening, we all shared a pizza in Dora and invited the girls to spend the night with us—a treat we get so rarely.  They agreed and it was good to be with them. After a weather-beaten day on the water, they slept well. 

Regretfully, Helen and I had to move on the next morning. Carolyn’s house was on our route to West Yellowstone, so we dropped them off with a couple of bear hugs from Big Daddy.  Our time together was short, but we remain grateful for every experience.  Thanks so much to Carolyn and Johnny for sharing her house and her time with the family.  They’re great hosts, and we enjoyed every minute, but it’s time to be Easin’ Along.

See you in West Yellowstone.