Summer 2017 ‘a bear-y good time’

Posted on October 19, 2017 by liv2rv

We have finished our summer work camping job at Luton’s Teton Cabins, just east of Grand Teton National Park. Dan feels the summer flew by, but I think it was just the right amount of time. There was snow when we arrived in May, and snow when we left in October…a lot of snow! We were the last ones to leave, as Dan was busy steam cleaning the carpets in the cabins. Although the weather was supposed to be 50s, we ended up with about 7 inches of snow! It was pretty though!

It did make for an interesting drive over Togowotee Pass, at 9600 feet and a steep grade! And this is after they had “cleared” the pass! Normally we like to leave early in the morning when we are in travel mode, but we had to wait until late morning for the road to improve.

We had another hard working crew this summer, and six of us will be coming back next summer. Last summer, with my broken foot, we did not get to do as much hiking as we had planned. This summer, we did many hikes, and even got our bicycles out. The Tetons and Jackson Hole are very bicycle friendly areas, with miles of paved paths.

Dan and Al had a great summer fishing (and catching!) trout. After a slow start due to the spring flooding, they were able to get enough to have a pot luck fish fry for everyone. Al brought his inflatable Sea Eagle boat, and they floated down the river many times. The boat folds up into a small bag, and is strong enough to hold both the guys, and all their gear.

The highlight of the summer, for me, was seeing (and experiencing) the Solar Eclipse. You can read about that here.

A close second was watching a grizzly and her two cubs, feasting on berries. (a special thanks to our co-workers Karen and Al for texting us when they spotted them in the park – about 2 miles from us).

We also had a bull moose run right across the road on our way back from the grocery store. I have learned to always carry my camera in September, as the wildlife is very active.

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After we left Wyoming, we had a long travel day and stopped at the Cabela’s in Rapid City, South Dakota, which lets you stay overnight in their parking lot. We were woken up very early to an alarm going off. We though it may have been our carbon monoxide detector. We both woke up in a panic, and started searching, only to discover it was our temperature gauge, which has an alarm clock. We have had this for over 8 years, and never knew it had an alarm clock! Apparently when we packed it up and put it away for travel, a button must have been pressed to set the alarm.

And 10 minutes later…we discovered it has a snooze feature!

Since we were up early, we just got on the road (it was 5 am), and watched the sunrise as we traveled east.

We are now back in Wisconsin. Originally, we planned to be here a few weeks, then head down to Amazon in Kentucky. However, our friend Mike’s bar and grill that we had helped remodel is not yet open. He was very busy this summer with his landscaping business, and did not finish the remodeling. So we are back helping him out, probably through Thanksgiving, and then we will head south for the winter.

Quote for the day: “You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.” Joyce Meyer

Winding down in Wyoming

Posted on September 8, 2017 by liv2rv

Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the flooding in the southern states afterward. And now we have been reading about Hurricane Irma, soon to be hitting Florida. Add in all the forest fires raging in California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana and it has been a devastating month for millions of Americans. Our only impact here in Wyoming has been hazy skies and poor air quality. If only there was some way for the rain in the South to make its way to the northwest, it would solve some of these problems.

Our season will be coming to a close at the end of September, but we have been keeping busy. Labor Day weekend means the end of families with school-age children. Now our visitors are what those of us in the tourism industry refer to as the “newlyweds and nearly-dead’s.” Luton’s Teton Cabins continues to be full, until the last week of September. At that time, we will start winding down, and begin fall cleaning. All the linens and curtains will be removed from the cabins and cleaned. Joanne will strip and wax the linoleum, and Dan will shampoo the carpeting. As with our Spring cleaning, it is an efficient process. The cabins are open this year until October 10, but all of us work campers will be done by October 1st. Brad and Joanne, the owners, will handle the cleaning of the few cabins that are rented after the 1st.

In the meantime, we have been out on a few hikes. Tom and Ellen, our friends working in West Yellowstone, Montana, came down for a visit. Next year, they will be working at a gift store in Skagway, Alaska. We will miss seeing them in the summer, but are looking forward to hearing about their adventures in Alaska. That is definitely on our list of states to visit…hopefully soon!

We did a short hike out to Taggart Lake with them.

Tom, Ellen and Dan

Here’s our Sound of Music photo!

The “hills are alive!”

We also went hiking on our off day with co-workers Karen and Al. Last year the trails to Hidden Falls by Jenny Lake were closed for renovation. Most of the trails have now opened, so we were finally able to do that hike.

We made the short trek over to see Hidden Falls.

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There was a group of people learning how to rock climb. It was entertaining to watch, but not something I would want to try.

Then we had a lengthy upward hike to see Inspiration Point, which overlooks Jenny Lake.

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On the way back down, we saw a two-toned bird, later identified as a Stellar’s Jay. That was our “wildlife” highlight!

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After we leave Wyoming, we will head back to Wisconsin for a few weeks, and then head down to Kentucky to work at Amazon for our fourth season. I’m not looking forward to working there again (too boring), but it is a great weight loss program for us!

Take care and stay safe everyone!

Quote for the Day: “Most anyplace one lives is essentially dangerous. There are floods in the Midwest, and tornadoes. There are hurricanes along the Gulf. In New York you get mugged.” – John Gregory Dunne

Cousins come a callin’

Posted on August 9, 2017 by liv2rv

First off, thank you for all the wonderful comments, e-mails and telephone calls from our last blog post. It really meant a lot.

Dan’s cousins, Roni and Jodi, made a long road trip from the Twin Cities to come out and visit with us for two days. We tried to pack as much as we could in the short amount of time they had, and we think we succeeded. The only thing they were not able to check off their list was seeing a grizzly bear.

We spent the first day on a quick tour of Grand Teton National Park, trying to stop at some of the highlights: Colter Bay, Jackson Lake Lodge, Signal Mountain, String Lake, Jenny Lake, Lupine Meadows, The Chapel of Transfiguration, Schwabacher Landing, etc…

Dan, Jodi, Roni

After seeing some of the highlights, we stopped in Moose for a little pizza at Dornan’s. While sitting outside we were briefly entertained by a fox walking near the deck.

DSC04474 (2) The next morning we headed up to Yellowstone, making a few stops in the Tetons to view a herd of Elk,

P1000307 (2) followed by a mama and baby moose!

P1000363 (2) And no morning is complete without a stop at Oxbow Bend, with the low-lying clouds covering parts of Mt Moran.

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Yellowstone was pretty busy, but Roni said she had “positive vibes”, especially after our wonderful start to the day. She was right, and we never had issues finding parking spots! Our wildlife sightings continued, with an Osprey in a nest,

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P1000500 (2) The cousins were impressed with the view of the Lower Falls.

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I think Roni and Jodi may have a new future career in the park service!

P1000472 (2) No stop to Yellowstone is complete without a visit to Old Faithful. It was Roni’s first time seeing the geyser go off. Despite its name, it did not erupt until 25 minutes after its scheduled time. The crowd of thousands was growing very restless, and a lot of cheers erupted when it finally went off. Roni said it was worth the wait!

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Although their visit was very short, we had a wonderful time and are thankful Roni and Jodi decided to venture out west to see us! Our door is always open for our family and friends to visit!

Quote for the day: “Nobody will understand the craziness of your family better than your cousins.” – unknown

Wildflowers, wildlife and wild scenery

Posted on July 8, 2017 by liv2rv

Busy, busy, busy is how the last few weeks have been at Luton’s Teton Cabins. The cabins have been at full occupancy through the 4th of July. We have a day or two reprieve until they fill back up again. The families have now taken over the cabins, with a few couples in the smaller cabins. Some cabins look like a tornado has gone through, with stuff everywhere! We have to be careful where we step when making the beds. We have met some wonderful guests from around the country, and a few international tourists as well. Our group of 9 work campers has been doing a great job, and our guests have left many wonderful reviews.

We did receive one puzzling note from a guest that checked out this week. They stated the cabin was great, but were disappointed by the mosquitoes. They felt for the amount of money that they paid to rent the cabin, we should have done something about them (the owners did spray their fields, but the cabins sit on 100 aces). The more I thought about this guests note, the more amused I became. I didn’t realize that mosquitoes should only bite people who stay in budget motels! Mosquitoes don’t discriminate. They go after everyone!

The Tetons received over 600 inches of snow this winter (normal snowfall is 400 inches). Between the snow melt and the spring rains, it has created a bumper crop of mosquitoes this year. But it has also rejuvenated the wildflowers. We have gone on several hikes so far, and I always take time to stop and photograph the flowers. I’m not really sure what they are, and just refer to them as yellow, purple, and blue flowers!

We have seen plenty of elk, buffalo and moose. I am still in search of the elusive porcupine. I was talking with one park ranger, and she gave me some areas to try, after 6 pm. Once the mosquitoes settle down in a few weeks, I plan on heading out on some trails in the evening to look for a porcupine.

On one of our hikes, we did see a bear, but it quickly ran off when it spotted us. The only other animals that we found were long deceased. It’s the circle of life…

someone’s dinner

Even though it’s July, there is still plenty of snow on the mountains this year. It just makes for a peaceful setting.
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Always nice to watch the sunset from the cabins.

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Quote for the day: “Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.” – Victor Kiam

Just plugging along

Posted on June 12, 2017 by liv2rv

We have been pretty busy at work so far this season at Luton’s Teton Cabins. It took about a week to complete spring cleaning all the cabins and the lodge. Every log gets wiped down with a damp rag, and then oiled with Old English Wood Oil. It is a tedious process, but the wood looks fantastic when we are done. Many guests this year have commented on how nice the cabins look, and they are surprised to find out they are over 25 years old. Brad and Joanne, the owners, are very particular about cleaning, and it shows. We have already received several 5 star reviews on Trip Advisor this year, and the season is just getting started!

We have a fantastic group of work campers this year, which really makes for a pleasant work environment. And, based on our first pot luck, they are all good cooks as well! Karen and Al are back again along with Jodi and Ken who worked here a few years ago. Joining our experienced crew this year are Shawn, Erin and Melissa.

Dan, Joanne, Karen, Brad, Shawn, Erin, Jodi, Ken, Melissa and Al (standing)

We have managed to get out and do a few things on our days off, when the weather has been co-operating. We had a few days of snow early in the season and it’s forecast again for tomorrow – ugh!!! We have also had some wind, rain, hail and flood warnings. This year the Tetons received over 600 inches of snow, and the snow melt has caused the rivers to be near flood stage. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the road to the cabins does not get closed.

Snow Day!

We went up to Yellowstone National Park with Karen and Al for a day. There was a lot of snow in the park.

P1000101 P1000094 With all the snow, we knew the waterfalls would be spectacular, and we were not disappointed! It was a bit windy out, as you can tell by Dan’s hair!

And no visit to Yellowstone would be complete without getting caught up in a buffalo jam!

And to top off the day, we met up with Tom and Ellen at the Old Faithful Cafeteria for dinner. They are working out in West Yellowstone again. It was great catching up with them, and we plan to get together later in the summer.

And to continue with our crazy weather, last night it was raining to the East, which resulted in one of the nicest rainbows I have seen. Melissa and I went out to take some pictures, and half of our guests were standing outside taking pictures as well. No rain…no rainbows! Thanks Melissa for the photo!

We are looking forward to a great summer and expect to be busy as the cabins are near capcity all summer. Hopefully the crazy weather will settle down soon so we can get out and explore the area more on our days off. We should have more time to explore since I won’t be sidelined by a broken foot like last year.
Quote for the day: “In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside 24 hours.” – Mark Twain

Settled in for summer!

Posted on May 14, 2017 by liv2rv

After we left Wisconsin, we stopped in Minnesota for a few days to visit Dan’s brother Gary and his wife Julia. We originally planned to stay at a local county campground, but it was booked up solid for the weekend. Julia had met us out at the campground, and Dan rode with her to a private campground a few miles away, to check for availability. They had not been answering the telephone. I stayed behind with Makena in the truck/fifth wheel. They were able to get a spot for us. Turns out there was a Harley festival going on, so everything was pretty booked up and the gal in the office was too busy to answer the telephone. I drove the fifth wheel all by myself, to the campground. I have driven it a few times before, but never by myself. Now I just need to stop looking in the rear view mirror! I met up with Dan at the campground, and he had me back into our spot. Never did that before! But he provided excellent guidance, and I feel a little more confidant now.

Gary and Julia are now grandparents for the first time! Their daughter Carmen and husband Luke stopped over with Simon, who is now two months old! Welcome to the world Simon!

napping with Uncle Dan

We had a nice time visiting with everyone, and headed towards Custer, SD to visit with friends and former co-workers. The best part of working for Amazon, is the people we meet. And we have been able to meet up with fellow Amazon Camperforce everywhere we go. Although I forgot to bring the camera along for a few meals, we met up with Linda and two of her co-workers in Keystone, where she will be working this summer at a gas station/convenience store. The next day we met up with Bob for a good meal at the Alpine Inn in Hill City. We were joined by our friends and former co-workers at Crazy Horse Phil and Rudee, and both Margaret’s that we had worked with. They have both since retired. Bob will be working this summer at Crazy Horse and has been very impressed with the fact it is more than just a mountain carving. You can look back in our blog to the summer of 2014 to read more about our Crazy Horse experience (or type Crazy Horse in the search box on our site).

The next night we managed another get together, and our friends Chery and Dick also joined in. We were happy that Bob could join us again, as it is always nice to meet fellow work campers.

Dick, Phil, Jonell, Bob, Rudee and Cheryl

We hope they all have a wonderful summer, and will certainly meet up with them again! Since we had a long drive from Custer to Moran, WY, we left very early and had a pleasant day of driving. We knew we were getting close to our summer “home”, when snow started appearing out our window! Yes, 65 degrees, sunny and snow!

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We arrived late afternoon to Luton’s Teton Cabins, and were met with hugs from the owners, Brad and Joanne. Wonderful people to work for! Co-workers Karen and Al had arrived a few hours before us, and we met another new co-worker, Melissa. There will be two additional couples coming this week. Dan and I start on Monday, May 15th, and we are excited to get back to work again.

Most of the snow at the lower elevations (we are at 6800 feet) has melted, but the Tetons are exceptionally beautiful this time of year.

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We have already seen a moose, fox and Makena has been keeping an eye on a gopher that is just outside of our fifth wheel. We are looking forward to another great summer! I will post more on our jobs once we get started for the season. This is our view for the summer, from the cabins.

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Quote for the Day: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neal Donald Walsch

Grizzly, Moose and Eagles…oh my!

Posted on July 3, 2016 by liv2rv

Before I broke a bone in my foot, we did manage to get in two small hikes in Grand Teton National Park. And we were rewarded with plenty of wildlife sightings! Before we even got into the park, Karen and Al spotted this Osprey in a tree.

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For our first hike, we went to Hermitage Point Trailhead in Coulter Bay, and opted for the short 3.5 mile hike around Heron Pond and Swan Lake. It was a relatively easy hike, with beautiful views of the Tetons (actually, there is no bad view of the Tetons!).

We had some nice views of Mt Moran, which contains what is called the “skillet glacier”, but the locals refer to it as Jimmy Hendrix’s guitar glacier, based on the shape. The more I stared at it, I started to see a profile of a face (might be the high altitude!).

What do you see?

Karen, Al and Dan quickly spotted a Bald Eagle in a tree, and it must have taken me 5 minutes before I could see it. Karen was able to get a nice photograph of the Eagle.

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We also saw a few sandhill cranes, ducks and geese on this hike. Later that night we went on another short trip down by Shwabachers Landing, and found a very active beaver in the water, along with evidence of his recent tree trunk trimming.

DSC_0607 (1) DSC_0644 (1) The next day we went on another hike with our co-worker Jane, and literally ran into a fox crossing our path. Fortunately, he/she ignored us, but it did startle us.

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We also spotted a coyote off in the distance.

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But the highlight of our day was spotting our first “wild” grizzly bear. I will pass along a tip for spotting a grizzly….when you see this:

bear jam!

Make sure you pull over, because something exciting is lurking nearby!

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The park rangers did an excellent job at keeping traffic moving, and keeping the tourists from getting too close.

After I broke my foot, I was relegated to looking for wildlife from the car, and not on a hike. Fortunately, I was finally able to cross ‘bull moose’ off my bucket list of animals to see in the wild. This young man’s antlers are just starting to grow, and still have the velvet on them. Again, Karen had her nice camera with her, and got some excellent photos (Dan’s worried this will cost us money, as I have been looking at new cameras online!).

Hello Mr. Moose!

But the photo I was most surprised with (and one I took!) was of the bee that popped into the picture I was taking of a flower. I really didn’t notice the bee until I was looking at my photos later on.

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We hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Quote for the Day: “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France

We have arrived at our destination…

Posted on May 23, 2016 by liv2rv

…for the summer in the Grand Tetons. After several months of relaxing, it is time to get back to work! We are both ready to go for the summer. Before I get into our summer jobs, I will do a little catching up, since it has been 2 months since I last posted. Now that we are back to work, I promise to update the blog more.

We left Florida at the end of March, when it had started to get hot and humid, and made a bee-line to Elkhart, Indiana to have some routine maintenance work done on the fifth wheel. Tiara RV was able to squeeze us in, and we would recommend them for service on fifth wheels and travel trailers if you are ever in the area.

Our next stop was “Camp Meyer” (Dan’s sister and brother-in-laws house). It’s Makena’s favorite “campground” and once again she was very excited when we let her out of the truck. We parked there for about 5 weeks, while visiting friends/family and taking care of routine medical/dental visits and truck maintenance. As usual, there is never enough time to visit with everyone, and we hope to see those we missed this fall.

Several trips were made to Oconto Falls, to visit Dan’s parents. His dad has made remarkable progress in his recovery from guillain-barré syndrome. Dan was able to take him out golfing, and Makena convinced the ‘grandparents’ that she needed to walk and play multiple times every day. Grandparents are such easy targets! We also played many games of ‘hand and foot’, and provided some iPad ‘tech support’.

Dan’s parents

We had a few nice visits down in the Milwaukee area with friends and family, in between our appointments. Our good friends Dave and Angie had us over for an excellent BBQ, and Mike and Karlyn took us out for a fun night on the town. We also had a delicious Cinco de Mayo dinner with college friends Robin and Mary (forgot to bring the camera).

My brother Brian, and sister-in-law Annette had us over for a visit, and we were able to take advantage of some nice weather to get in a short hike in the Kettle Moraine Forest, along with a climb to the top of the fire tower.

Brian, Dan and Annette

We stayed at my sister Margie and brother-in-law Greg’s house for a few days, and had a nice time catching up with them, as they are temporary ’empty nesters’ with my nieces both away at college. Dan and Greg snuck out for a local beer tasting, and seemed to have a good time!

Cheers from Greg!

I was also able to get together for my annual “patio beer” with a former co-worker, Amy.

Patio Beers! It’s always nice to catch up with family and friends, but we had only a limited amount of time, before beginning our journey west. First stop: Des Moines, Iowa. We were able to attend the Drake University College of Pharmacy Hooding Ceremony. After 6 years, Jasmine received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree, along with about 105 other students in the program. During the ceremony, her father Gary (Dan’s brother) leaned over towards me and said “We now have a Dr. J in the family!” I think he’s been waiting 6 years to say that!! I’m not sure what he was happier about: the fact Jasmine is now a doctor, or the fact that he no longer has anymore college tuition to pay for, as all three daughters are finished with school!

Congrats Dr. J

No More Tuition!

While we were in Des Moines, we were able to meet up with fellow RV’er Linda Clayton for dinner. She will be workcamping for the summer at a campground in northern Wisconsin. It was nice to catch up with a fellow Amazonian! I don’t take selfies, so the picture is not very good! When Linda and I were both Picking together at Amazon, people insisted we were sisters.We left Iowa and continued West through Nebraska and up into Wyoming towards Grand Teton National Park. We will be spending the summer at Luton’s Teton Cabins in Moran, WY. I will do a separate post in a week or two on our specific jobs and perks. If you want to see what the cabins look like, or follow along on a live web cam of the Grand Tetons, you can click on the link above.

We found this job courtesy of our friends Karen and Al, whom we will be working with this summer. We have not been doing too much exploring yet, as I have been battling a bad cold, and the weather has been a bit chilly (27 degrees this morning!). Today it alternated between sunshine and snow flurries which is typical Spring weather for Wyoming!

Our drive into the Tetons was interesting. Nothing like a snowstorm in late May!

I did manage to plant some basil, cilantro and a container tomato plant. They were outside for 2 days, and have been sitting inside the RV the past couple of days. It should warm up next week, so hopefully they will start perking up a bit with some sunshine.

My summer garden

The big pot was a gift from our former neighbors, The Kierzek’s. They have four wonderful kids, and they used their thumb and finger prints to create designs on the pot. Thanks again Adam, Faith, Josh and Ben!! (and Kyle and Jolie too!) Hopefully with all the love that went into the pot, it will help produce some good tomatoes this summer!

Stay tuned, more frequent blog posts to follow! And as always, thank you for following along on our adventures!

Quote for the Day: “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV

Category Archives: Wyoming