quest for the west, adventures by disney, 8/25/09 - 8/31/09

Discussion in 'Non Disney Photos / Mobile Phone Photos' started by gary, Sep 3, 2009.

  1. gary

    gary Member

    so like all great trips, and make no mistake, this was A+++, all the way, each and every day, in each and every way, it has to start somewhere, so here i present going to jackson wyoming, and btw, it's jackson, jackson hole is the valley, including the associated towns of jackson, kelley, dubois, etc
    this'll be a long one folks, and will probably take about 3 weeks or so to fully post, it'll be photos and commentary, ala the panama canal thread from last year
    for some reason the ability to insert pictures between commentary eludes me at present, so the header numbers correspond to the photo numbers
    1. we started our day at chicago, o'hare airport, united direct to jackson at 1154, hanging in the seat area, nothing much to do but kill time, we used a bus transfer from midway direct to o'hare, and got there sooner than expected, so we had a couple hours to kill
    3. just looking out at the jetway, for some reason it's a rare trip that i don't take this shot, any airport
    4. wild neon overhead sculpture thingy in one of the passageways to terminal 3
    9. in flight, almost there, terrain starting to get real mountainous now, proved a few minutes later by a pretty steep descent angle into the jackson airport
    10. on the ground, rolling to the terminal, first view of grand teton peak, the big daddy of them all, 13,000 +



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  2. gary

    gary Member

    so it's around 1400, we are on the ground at jackson, the lady is yelling, keep moving people, as most everyone is a little winded, jackson is at 6200 feet elevation
    13. here's why they try to keep you moving, jackson international has no jetways, it's stairs for everyone, which set up the next 2 shots
    12. frontier airlines, notice the cool tail wrap
    14. the famed antler arch, each spring the jackson boy scout troop goes into the national elk refuge and picks up the antlers and auctions them off for charity. the elk winter down in the refuge by the river for the more temperate climate and the food given out, the males drop the racks in feb-april before heading up to higher elevations for the summer
    this arch and the ones we'll see later in town square are made from antlers donated back to the scouts after auction
    16. the disney guides were in the terminal, luggage was gathered, and in short order all incoming folks were loaded onto a couple of vans for transport the 12 or so miles into jackson, with very informative historical commentary by the driver all the way into town, off in the distance some houses, distances are very deceiving out here, what looks close can be 10 miles away
    23. one of the first things we saw when we got into town was a stagecoach ride



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  3. PolynesianMedic

    PolynesianMedic Global Moderator Staff Member

    Great photo's Gary. ; I really like the one of the house in the distance, and the neon on the ceiling.
     
  4. Coo1eo

    Coo1eo Member

    Great shots & commentary to boot. Can't wait until you actually get into the meat & potatoes of the trip. I'll be sure to keep checking back.
     
  5. gary

    gary Member

    we arrived at our lodging for the next 2 nights, the wort hotel, a real nice, old historical hotel, right in the center of jackson, we couldn't have had a better location for being on foot
    27. the front/side of the wort hotel
    25. looking down main street jackson, actually called broadway
    26. the local ski area, called snow king, and for a good reason, jackson averages 500 + inches of snow a winter
    17. grand staircase in the wort hotel lobby
    22. the relief carved entrance door to the cowboy suite, and no, disney for some reason chose not to put us up in there, so i have no inside photos


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  6. PolynesianMedic

    PolynesianMedic Global Moderator Staff Member

    Great photo's and descriptions. ; What a great place to go and explore. ; I really am going to have to get out there one day. ; Eagerly awaiting your next post. ;
     
  7. Scottwdw

    Scottwdw Member

    Oh, sure, tease with a good lead in and then leave for a long weekend. ; :D ; Have a great time!
     
  8. Paul

    Paul Member

    nice photos Gary, looking forward to more.
     
  9. gary

    gary Member

    so i couldn't go off for a long weekend without a little eye candy, since we had a few hours free until supper, and most of the next am free, i decided to walk over 2 blocks to the dollar rental and see if they had a tin can available, i had to settle for a toyota minivan, but a set of wheels was priceless, as you'll see in the next few posts. i'm going to take a moment to send out a GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT,to landon and daniel, our disney adventure guide for the week, they were flat out awesome, they even knew the way to the famous barn shot
    28. first encounter with bison, if you want to call them buffalo,then it's properly, the american buffalo, so as to distinguish them from the water and cape buffalo's, the true buffalo of the world, and yes they are really really large, and pretty common, on the road to mormon row, and i tried out my new filter, a singh-ray blue and gold polarizer, thus the overly blue or gold at times
    29. part of the old mormon settlement that was in this part of the valley, and this 24mm, not uwa, it really is that vast out there
    30. more of the old homestead buildings, much of this area was settled in the late 1800's
    31. the full homestead, notice the log/chinked construction, still holds up pretty well even today
    32. the famous aj moulton barn, i show this to illustrate how important lighting and the need to sometimes be there at the right time is, luckily i realized the potential and had wheels and time for the sunrise shot, we've seen this before, i posted up a variant a couple of days ago, within a couple of seconds of taking this shot i knew what it really needed


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  10. goofmick

    goofmick Member

    Awesome report so far, looking forward to more.
     
  11. gary

    gary Member

    41. trying to show some more of the wide open spaces here

    42. off the other way

    43. the barns that are part of the former mormon row, now rental cabins and b&b

    44. all are in good repair, and yes, gary's on his barn thing again as a photographer

    49. including the early 19th century adobe walled ranch house, i put some coin in the donation box for the foundation keeping this place up, we've lost too many of the old farm houses from the landscape



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  12. Tim

    Tim Administrator Staff Member

  13. PolynesianMedic

    PolynesianMedic Global Moderator Staff Member

    Gary these shots are amazing. ; Great captures, and I really like the look of those images with that filter.
     
  14. gary

    gary Member

    so we resume our travelogue, still the first day in the west, a few more of the old homestead and the surrounding valley of jackson hole
    53. the view through the small grove of trees, a feature of many older homesteads, many times planted to give a little shade area for those hot western summer days
    61. the stock loading chute, from later years when trucks took the place of cattle drives
    68. the water supply, you need water for the stock and gardens
    69. another view of the homestead
    72. and that most necessary of structures, the one slot outhouse, i did not check for the sears roebuck catalog

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  15. gary

    gary Member

    and just down the road, the herd of bison, large slow animals, that can take the right of way on a road just by sheer size
    74. a couple of curious ones
    79. the one on the left was very large, very curious, and very aware of the presence of my car, gray in color, i was hoping he was not mistaking it for a challenge to his herd supremacy
    81.baby with mom behind, calves are born april/may
    82. more of the family unit
    83. large bull crossing in front of me, he gets the undisputed right of way, taken right from the driver's seat with side mirror for scale




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  16. gary

    gary Member

    and so the day draws to a close, tommorow, lunch at the jackson playhouse, white water rafting on the snake river in the afternoon, and local rodeo at the fairgrounds
    84. welcome dinner at the wort hotel, the guides had us all briefly introduce ourselves, where from, and what 1-2 things we most wanted from the trip, of course number 1 was at least 1 photo worthy of 16x20 size print, more on that later, and of course every dinner needs a cowboy singer
    86, 87 and 89, timed tripod night shots of broadway in jackson, all within a block of the wort hotel
    90.and as i'm taking these a guy pulls up and parks a 63 vette, in immaculate condition, so of course i can't resist the shot, who could??



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  17. PolynesianMedic

    PolynesianMedic Global Moderator Staff Member

    Thanks so much, this looks like a really great trip! ; I like that last shot of the Corvette.
     
  18. zackiedawg

    zackiedawg Member Staff Member

    Amazing stuff so far. ; The west is just beautiful - Haven't been to Jackson in quite some time myself. ; I don't think last time I was there, I saw it anywhere near as well as you did (I had just a day through town on a long road trip).

    Glad to hear the Disney excursion was so well done too.

    Looking forward to more.
     
  19. gary

    gary Member

    8/26/09, day 2, our full day in jackson, i still have the rental, so i get up at 0 dark thirty, and make my way out of town again where i get the famous barn shot
    91. the aj moulton barn at sunrise
    93. grand teton peak at sunrise
    94. some trees for scale
    96. the barn with grand teton from a slightly different angle
    87. miles and miles of wyoming

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  20. gary

    gary Member

    back in to town, breakfast at the wort, back into the rental, out to mormon row again with karen and a fellow traveler, mary, who had mentioned at the intro dinner, she really wanted to see a buffalo, so i had her grab her fairly new nikon and off we 3 went to see the bison

    99. bison, barn, beautiful scenery, all in one location

    101. the stream and the barn, ok i promise, last barn shot, at least for now

    103. while never showing any signs of aggression,the top bull was always keeping an eye on things, and people need to realize this when near these animals, these are wild animals, not a petting zoo, stay in the car, and be ready to leave the area if necessary

    104. babv rolling around scratching that itchy back, next to momma

    107. the classic stereotypical american west shot, bison, praire, and mountains, all in one place




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