Even though the calendar says November I'm not quite sure I'm ready for the cool (cold?) and cloudy weather that has descended upon us in the last couple of days. How about you? It did give me the perfect excuse to huddle with my laptop and put together the last of my Fall trip videos to round out those on Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as well as Earthquake Lake. The video below captures some of the Fall colors and gorgeous views we were able to see during our mid October travels through Grand Teton National Park. Thankfully we had wonderful weather, a far cry from the gloomy skies outside my window as I write this. I've seen this part of the country in the middle of summer a couple of times but always count myself lucky to be able to visit later in the year when the days still get warm but the nights are cold and make you glad to have a warm sleeping bag or lots of blankets. Oh, and the summer crowds are just a distant memory which makes spending time with the local moose population a more intimate treat.
We had seen a mother moose and calf back in July and think we saw them again this trip as they were contentedly munching away on the trees behind a cabin in the little town of Kelly. And one morning as I was exiting the campground men's room I stumbled into another moose rubbing its massive antlers up and down on a tree not more than ten feet away. Fortunately he was preoccupied and I was able to back up to a safe distance from which to just stand and watch. Just me and a moose sharing the quiet of a Wyoming morning. We could both see our breath in the cold air but with the sun on the rise it was the start of another perfect Fall day in Northwest Wyoming.
Our next trip was set for January when we would head below the equator to hop a cruise to Antarctica from Argentina. Unfortunately the good folks in Argentina where the cruise would start don't have any more of a handle on COVID than we do here in Colorado right now so travel to Buenos Aires is off limits and alas we've canceled that trip until some future non-COVID date. Who knows when that will be, if ever, but one hopes for the best while planning for the worst.
Instead of visiting penguins we're now planning on heading to Florida and the Keys for a bicycle trip with the fun folks at Senior Cycling who go by the moniker of "Fun Folks On Spokes". Its not exactly Ride the Rockies or the Triple ByPass, or my favorite Leadville 100, but who's to argue with cycling flat terrain at sea level while being coddled in a swanky hotel every night as you slowly (very slowly) meander across 44 islands and over 42 bridges between Key Largo and Key West in shirt sleeves and shorts (Key West averages daytime January temps of about 75 degrees - yup, no penguins). Instead of moose we'll have our sights on Manatees and dolphins.
Well that's enough for now. It's Election Day and I hear tell some folks in Denver still haven't voted. I'm casting my ballot in favor of Flipper, Bullwinkle, and Gentle Ben this year. Anyway, grab a mug of hot chocolate, grab a blanket and curl up on the couch and spend a couple of moments visiting one of the prettiest places on the planet on a day that was warm and the sun was still shining...
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