Decided that we didn't want to spend the night at Jackson Lodge due to high prices but did splurge on a delicious dinner with a view of the Tetons.
Lisa typing with Dave speaking:
A perfect dinner is a very subjective concept because we have individual tastes. Last night I had close to a perfect dinner. A perfect dinner has to include more than just the food. You can have very good food sitting in your car and it wouldn't be a perfect dinner. We had a perfect location, a two top in front of a picture window with an unobstructed view of the Tetons. The chef sent an amusee busche - of mozzarella rolled around tomato and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. We each had salad - I had a ceasar salad with tequila cured salmon slices which literally melted on my tongue - absolutely wonderful. It was accompanied by a lacy parmesan cracker. The menu indicated a strange item - moose butter. The secret was revealed when the bread came with a plate of butter in the mold of a 4 inch miniature moose. Lisa (indian name) "Shoots with Camera" immediately photographed it. It was a shame to destroy it but the delightful breads demanded it. We each had prime rib. I generally do not choose prime rib because it can be so fatty, but this was a 3 star restaurant and the menu stated that the angus beef was prime. I believe only 1 percent of beef in the US is prime. So I took a chance and had an 8 oz slice of the best medium rare prime rib that I have ever tasted, sans fat. That came with fire roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes. The waiter brought each of us a large thimble of horseradish sauce, which was very good, but the prime rib needed nothing so I did not even use mine. We enjoyed a bottle of Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir, which perfectly matched the meal, the location and the company. Lisa had dessert of Donuts and Bailey's Milkshake, which was a turnover stuffed with strawberries and peaches and on the side was a small container of dipping chocolate and a Bailey's milkshake. My dessert was the last glass of wine with two of the parmesan crackers that accompanied the salads, which the waiter kindly brought me extras. What would have made it a perfect meal? It would have had to be free.
Got up at 7:30 and had our breakfast and out by 8:30. Up to Signal Mountain because we heard we could see bears there. THERE WERE! On the way there was a little chapel - Chapel of the Sacred Heart and they have masses on Saturday and Sunday. Driving up Signal Mountain we spotted a van advertising professional wildlife photographer pulled off on the side of the road. We stopped and asked guy with huge camera what was going on and he said there was a bear. Looking down the slope about 20 yards there was a medium sized black bear calmly feeding. Within a few minutes he ambled off. We decided to follow the professional photographer, who had two clients with him. In about 10 minutes he pulled off to the side of the road and there was a large mother black bear with her tiny cub upslope from us. What a wonderful experience - the bears showed no fear of us even though the baby got within ten yards of us. He stood up once looking for his mother in the brush. It was great. Dave could not stop grinning. We watched them for about 15 minutes until they went out of sight and then we drove to the summit of the mountain. Great view. Turned around and went back to Jackson Lodge for our 11:30 float trip along the Snake River.
Had a shoreside lunch of hamburgers and hotdogs, potato salad, coleslaw, and huge cookies. Onto the huge raft - all 10 of us plus two oarsmen. The river is relatively mild with class 1 rapids. No danger of falling overboard. Not whitewater but scenic rafting. We slid along the front of the Teton Mountains with the guide giving nonstop commentary. Trip was relatively uneventful but extremely beautiful. Saw a mother moose and her calf. Dave spotted a bald eagle eating a fish along the shore. Trip lasted 2 and a half hours. Back to lodge, back to camp and back to blog. Decided to stay one more day to do more hiking and sightseeing.
Going to try to watch Survivor tonight on the laptop. A woman on the float trip is from Gloucester, MA and she said there was a man from there who is going to be a Survivor.
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