Day 23: Kayaking on Jackson Lake and A Story That Makes Me So Happy!

Before I begin about our 23rd day, something happened today that MADE ME SO HAPPY. Our neighbors in the RV Park are from Southern California and were delightful. It was a couple a little younger than Rick and I, Mark and Michelle, and Mark's Mom and Step-dad. We were given fresh homegrown tomatoes by the Grandma and they were delicious. We had so much fun getting to know them and Rick was so jealous of the fancy, big and beautiful rig they had......not to mention the brand new Jeep they were towing! To be fair, I was lusting after Michelle's beautifully manicured hands and feet. Sigh! I haven't COMPLETELY gone off to the other side!!!

When Mark, told me what he did, I didn't really 'get' what he did but it sounded similar to another friend's description of his business. That other friend, is also from Southern California, but lives a bit away from our new friends. Over the course of the week, I wondered, do they know each other? Well, I kept forgetting to ask Mark if he knew Jimmy H? Finally, just before they were about to pull up stakes and move on to Yellowstone, I ran over to where he was finishing up his 'unhooking' and said, "Hey Mark, do you happen to know Jimmy H...". He looked startled and said "YES, I used to work for Jimmy's company before I moved off on my own!" CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???? We took the following picture and sent it to Jimmy. It is worth noting also, that Jimmy H is part of the family I have mentioned earlier in my blog....the parents are like second parents to me, my friend is like a sister. Again, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? It made me so happy! 😊

OK, back to US!!! Today we planned to go kayaking in the morning but all the kayaks were rented and we needed to come back in 2 hours. As an aside, we found out that Grand Teton National Park's visitor volume is up 20% over last year, and in fact is the record year of visits EVER!!! Anyway, back to having to wait 2 hours to kayak. We went for a little walk and it was beautiful. We walked on forested floors, a pine needle path and a stoney lakeshore.

And then, yup more gorgeous scenery!

Finally, it was time for our kayak and again, an amazing experience! I learned that the front person, ME, is to be the 'motor' and the back person, Rick, is to be the 'steerer'! Clearly, I have a LOT to learn!!!🤷‍♀️