Our Wrangler for the ride was the owner of the stable – Dustin. Apparently a lot of famous people live around these here parts, including Harrison Ford who lives just outside Teton Village and is often seen in the local shops ( but never in Wal-Mart because they haven’t got one!). The well know film star Dustin Hoffman may or may not also live around here, but we’ve got our own star in our Wrangler and since he works with horses I shall call him Dustin Hoofman. 

I was fortunate in getting a fairly intelligent horse who was a good plodder no matter what the terrain; he tried it on, but always obeyed my commands when I wouldn’t let him get away with it. The Chef was less fortunate and her horse was a bit on the lazy side (I think it may have been called 'Leroy') and she had to keep pushing it along. 

This horse riding game was new to us both, and the ride was very pleasant. We went up the side of a small mountain where the views were great. We even saw a deer through the trees, but that was about the only wildlife we did see. Wherever we’ve been on this trip we’ve been told what kind of wildlife to look out for, or have seen warning signs beside the roads telling us what wildlife to be aware of, but as Rosina observed, in this area, the only wildlife we’ve seen up close has been a small herd of cows who walked across the highway in front of us in the Caribou National Forest on the way to Jackson. 

My knees were quite painful when I climbed off the horse, I’m so glad I don’t have to make a living as a cowboy. We both enjoyed it, but probably not enough to do it again. I suppose you have to be lucky in getting the right horse, with the right scenery and weather. After all you’re sitting astride an awful lot of yet-to-be dog food and that’s fine as long as they do what you want them to do and they are well behaved, but if they were to kick off you’d have one hell of a job staying in control, and they could do you an awful lot of harm, so I think I’ll put my faith in mechanical things to get me from A to B in future. 

After a spot of lunch back at the RV we decided to go a for a 1 mile walk along the side of the busy road to Holbeck Junction where there was a store we thought we’d take a look around to kill time if nothing else. The weather just wasn’t good enough to sit around outside. Talking to Dustin Hoofman earlier, it seems that they’re about 3-4 weeks behind with their weather, this time last year it was 90F which makes me feel a bit better as the whole trip was planned around average weather conditions, and the current weather has caught us out a bit, and is doing nothing to enhance the experience. 

We had a good look around the store, quite an interesting place and bought a bottle of wine which was the same brand we’d bought in California which was very pleasant, and a few other bits and pieces. We then had to wait under cover for a heavy thunderstorm to pass before setting out back to the campground in the rain. 

When walking down the side of a road we always walk facing oncoming traffic, that way they can see us and we can see the whites of their eyes. The expressions on their faces are often a picture. They look in absolute disbelief that anybody would be mad enough to be walking along the side of a busy road especially in the rain. Nobody walks anywhere in America. 

Today though, there was one other person out along that road. He was coming towards us on the opposite side with no raincoat and clutching a sleeping bag. He looked like a short-arsed Rob Roy, complete with wild ginger hair, beard and brown teeth but without the kilt. He crossed the road to ask us if the store and gas station were far away. I explained that they were only about half a mile over the brow of the hill. We then got in to a sort of conversation about somebody or other, and then Bob Marley, and having established where we came from, he asked why Bob Marley had never performed there – completely barking. As he began his brisk walk in the pouring rain towards a potential lift, I hoped that one day he would meet his hero Bob Marley in the next world, as he didn’t look to have had much luck in this one. 

As we had run out of fresh white bread The Chef unleashed our secret weapon – British Yeast. We had bought a pack of Hovis white bread yeast sachets with us and purchased a couple of bread tins back in Texas. We bought the flour about a week ago and now the moment had come. We had to turn up the central heating pretty high in order to create a warm area for the dough to rise. The two loaves of bread required two 15 minute sessions of kneading which The Chef did whilst I undertook mundane tasks like scrubbing the mud off the bottom of all of our footwear. 

I did say “Wouldn’t it be a laugh if, after all this, we couldn’t get the oven to light again”. The comment was not appreciated, and fortunately for me I did get it to fire up, though not straight away. The additional heat the oven generated was most welcomed along with the smell of fresh baked bread. 

Our evening meal comprised of sliced cooked beef ala Wal-Mart deli, salad, lovely fresh crusty bread and the bottle of Californian wine carried a mile down the road in the pouring rain past a mad Rob Roy and being hit by the spray from passing trucks.

Tomorrow we leave this campground and will not be sorry to do so, it is greatly overpriced for what it offers, and we will be stopping by Snow Mountain Resort at Jackson www.snowking.com where we’ll be taking a trip on the Alpine Slide. 

LOCATION TONIGHT: Snake River Park KOA, 9705 S. U.S. Hwy 89, Jackson, WY, 83001.