Back to the beginning (well, not quite...)

As I sat with my friend Marieeeee a few days ago (she was kind enough to meet me at Le Reve for breakfast - see previous post!) she encouraged me to start at the (sort of) beginning (aka: when we started this cross-country car trip.).  I figured why not?
I have been reading the magazine Artful Blogging for several years and always enjoy the stories and beautiful pictures presented by creative artists. Since my husband and I decided to be on the road for over 3 weeks I thought it might be fun to set up a blog.  I'm just not great at Facebook and I wanted to be able to share my feelings about art and connect with other artists.  Even though my interests are literally scattered across the map, I feel a stronger connection with the creative side of my brain right now...so much to explore!

So...to begin at the beginning:

We started in Florida where my husband insisted that I see Cirque du Soleil in Orlando.  WOW!!  I smiled from ear to ear the entire show - they are incredible!!  I haven't had a reason to go to Las Vegas but I have one now!  :-) 

The next day we were off across the country to make it to Jackson Hole, WY.  (Why is it called Jackson Hole?  It came from the fur trappers in the "wild west".  This excerpt from the Jackson Chamber of Commerce website sums it up:  "For the mountain men, a "hole" indicated a high valley that was surrounded by mountains, and William Sublette, who was (David) Jackson's partner in an early fur company, referred to the mountain valley along the Snake River as Jackson's Hole."  Please refer to http://www.jacksonholechamber.com/jackson_hole_wyoming/jacksons-history.php). 

We settled at the Parkway Inn in Jackson (nice little inn with a great breakfast!).  The next day we drove to the Grand Tetons for a hike to Taggert Lake.  Though we were told we couldn't go further than the one mile mark (too much snow, need our waders, etc.) I went on anyway.  As I walked along I heard a loud chirping noise.  It sounded similar to a chipmunk but louder.  When I reached the lake (see below) I asked the ranger what the animals were (I had taken some pictures).  She was excited to tell me that they were yellow-bellied marmots (first ones of the season!).  The one was chirping to his mate across the way - sooo cute!  She finally came over and joined him:

I kept walking (yes, through the snow but it was passable) and here is what I came to after another half mile - beautiful Taggert Lake!

We drove to the same park area the next day because we were told the bike ride to the Amish barns was beautiful (about 3 miles round trip - just right for our knees!).  The pictures I got were so naturally "Wyoming" I had to post a few...

A lone outhouse against a big backdrop... :-)

We moved on the next day to the Amangani resort - more on that tomorrow as it deserves its own post! 

Happy Day!  Cheers and smiles, VG

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.