We went up to Jackson Hole with Carlos’ Dad a couple of weeks ago. I had put a lot of effort into planning our routes so he could see a lot of beautiful country. I really tried to do everything possible so that he, and really all of us, would have a great time. I’ve been very stressed about trying to make everything perfect when he was here. Don’t ask why.
We left on a Tuesday morning and drove through Logan, Utah then Preston, Grace and on to Star Valley then to Jackson. It is beautiful, beautiful country—I definitely recommend the drive! We stopped for lunch at the Yankee Doodle Cafe in Alpine, Wyoming. It was okay food, but it was fun to see all the Americana memorabilia they had. We got to Jackson about three and went to see David. He let the kids ride the horses and we spent a long time looking at them but sadly, I’ve lost that memory card. The pictures were precious. And all of the other pictures I hadn’t downloaded. I’m getting sick thinking about it so on to other things.
After that we checked into our hotel and then walked to the town square. Carlos’ parents really enjoyed that, it was fun. We did a little bit of looking in the stores and then got ready to go to the dinner ride at the Bar T 5. We had a great time. The food and entertainment was great as was the service. Again, Carlos’ parents really enjoyed the evening.
On the way up, we were sitting at the front of the wagon and Jaiden started to rub his eyes a lot. The were getting red and he started to sniff a little. We thought, great!, he must be allergic to the horses. He was fine once we got away from them and he was running around having a great time flirting with the girls that work on the ride! On the way down, we sat at the back, hoping to be further away from the horses but he immediately started coughing and just got worse and worse. He has mild asthma but usually only has problems a couple of times a year after a cold that just hangs on forever. So of course, neither of us even thought to bring his inhaler. Well, it got to the point where even I was freaking out (that’s another story…) and asked the driver if David could have someone come and pick Jaiden and myself up and take us down faster.
They got a truck up lickety-split. We were just going to go to the Bar T 5 and get him some water and warmed up to see if that would help but he just got worse in the car so I decided to go to the hospital instead. So that’s where we spent the next couple of hours. Carlos and his dad came after a little while. Aaah. It was actually really funny because the medicine they gave him can cause hyperactivity and sleeplessness. Yeah, it did. He had all of us rolling, even the nurses and doctors, after he was feeling better. He wouldn’t stop talking and was talking very rapidly. The nurse was very cute and took him out to step on the bear tracks that they have in the floor there and the doctor showed him a video on his laptop of a bear.
We went back to the hotel where Carlos’ mom had the other two sleeping and visited with David and Kelly for a while. At about 1:00 in the morning, Carlos woke up sick and spent the next few hours vomiting and just being generally sick. I tried to find a store to get some meds at about 5:00 but nothing opens until 6:00. There was some debate about what to do but Carlos finally said that he thought he should go to the hospital so off we went. Again. They kept him there for a few hours while the gave him an IV. They said he wasn’t too hydrated but it would help him feel better, faster. They also gave some anti-nausea meds and did blood work, but everything came back fine, he just had a virus. It took him a couple of days to recuperate.
We finally got back to the hotel and had to hurry and finish packing and check out. We had to bag the swimming, I think the boys were disappointed. I ended up driving with Carlos in a back seat. We were headed out when Carlos’ mom remembered she’d left her shoes under the bed so back we went. I decided we couldn’t come this far without even seeing the Tetons, so we drove the few miles out of town and at least got a view of the splendor of those mountains.
Headed out of town, I got pulled over by a jerk of a cop and though I was speeding, he didn’t need to be such a jerk. It was my last straw and I basically had a nervous breakdown with the cop. So then Carlos had to drive for a while, then his dad did and I just sat in the back and cried for like two hours straight. I did a good job of ruining what I had tried so hard to make perfect. And caused myself to be judged harshly instead of people trying to understand and help me. But really, it’s my own fault.
At some point during the trip I also lost my other memory cards and $40 (we did find the $ later!)
We came home through Bear Lake and Logan Canyon. So we made a big circle as saw some beautiful country. We stopped at Bear Lake and the kids and I played for a little while but it was really windy so we didn’t stay long.
We did have a great time on the dinner ride and with David and Kelly, but the rest of the trip was basically awful! I told Carlos that the next time I want to go somewhere, he needs to lock me in the closet until the desire passes!
If you made it this far, you’re either really bored or as crazy as I am! The post below has the pictures from the trip. This post should be explanation enough of most of them!
