An inch

That's what we missed yesterday--an inch of cold, wet rain.  Yep, that much-bally-hooed Big Storm was The Real Deal and when it blew in early, we flew out early.  We could easily see and feel it coming our way Thursday morning.  So, in a real no-brainer decision, we decided to pack up and skee-daddle away from Jenny Lake as fast as we could.  We drove away from Site #36 at 9:50 am and it started raining at 10 am. 

During our drive home yesterday it rained hard south of Jackson and all the way through the Snake River Canyon.  Between Alpine and Irwin, we could see the tops of various peaks painted in pure white.  Meanwhile, it was raining here in Idaho Falls upon our arrival at 1:05 pm and it continued to rain off and on throughout the day and into the evening.  A major high school football rivalry game was even canceled last night because of the persistent lightning.  We sat warm and cozy inside our little house happy to be dry. 

This morning, we glanced at the data from the Moose weather site.  Total rainfall yesterday was about an inch.  Meanwhile, it rained nonstop over there from 6 pm to about 3 am this morning before it finally let up.  Ugh.  It's 38 degrees over there as we write this so, obviously the Tetons are draped in white and that would be a spectacular sight.  However, at this point, we're happy to have foregone such a sight to wake up nice and dry here at home.

When we started camping in Mid-May it was because of that NVUM gig.  We really didn't have any choice as to whether or not we would be camping. If we wanted the NVUM gig, we had to camp at the appointed times and places of the interviews.  Well, this trip was different.  We had the flexibility to heed some guidance from our Dear Friend, Prudence.  Luckily, Prudence spoke loudly and clearly to both of us and we took her sage advice.  Thanks, Prudence!

The Y2Ten Jenny Lake Trip, although shortened by a day, was everything we wanted it to be and more.  Our 2010 Summer Camping Season has now come to an official end.  It was quite a ride--perhaps the best and most diverse camping season we've ever had.  We spent more nights in a tent in 2002-2003 (roughly 120 nights each of those summers) but the bulk of those were at Huntley Campground along the Rogue River in Gold Beach, Oregon.  Frankly, back in those summers, we both grew very tired of living in a tent for so long.  This summer it was truly delightful to be able to return often to our home in a place we both love--Idaho Falls.  The coming and going back and forth created a summer whose time flew by in a blink.  However, we enjoyed a great kaleidoscope of people, places and pleasant experiences.  With all that said, we're both really glad the camping season is over.   We need a great, big, long break from camping before either one of us is remotely interested in setting up a tent any day soon again.  We have a trip booked for mid-October down to The City of Rocks and, hopefully, we will be back in the "camping mood" by then.  Right now, it's time to relax at home (or San Diego for Susun between 9/11-9/21) and savor the memories of the summer gone by.  Whew, what a ride!

More soon, Cheers, jp