by
Jesse Archer
WELCOME, WYOMING!! The Grand Tetons are hazy from forest fires in nearby Idaho. The smoke makes for amazing sunsets. Los Angeles - you know what I'm talking about!
Here in Jackson loving all the quirks that make the west still wild.
Nobody locks doors (their cars or homes), I've been staying with my
buddy Jade and his amazing hound Reggie and riding on the back of his
Harley motorcycle without a helmet -pfft, not required. I met a guy at
the local hangout, the BIRD, and Jade tells me he's homeless, a drifter.
Under a barstool, I see his rolled up sleeping bag. And what about all
the southerners (with their thick drawls) overheard all over town? I'm
told Wyoming is a popular destination for the gallant south. "They're
rich... and they like to fish."
We've been totally taking advantage of the great outdoors. Cliff jumping!!
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| Cliff Jumping with Jade and Dylan |
Jade and I got zapped by stinging nettles trespassing into the old cabin where they filmed the 1953 Western
SHANE.
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| "Shoot em with your gun, Shane!" |
The cabin has seen better days. No roof, nettles for flooring - but that
view! I recently saw SHANE. A highly mediocre classic, IMO! Fight
scenes with a million punches where nobody ever gets hurt - the poor
sound mixer must have been working overtime sound effecting all those
worthless punches. And don't get me started on Paramount passing Alan
Ladd off as an imposing gunslinger. Bless.
We floated the Snake river (aka "Stroking the Snake") and only capsized twice. Dylan's poor dog has
been traumatized AND we lost a beer and my shirt. Shock.
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| Erin, Dylan, Jade |
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I rode the inner tube for a while, lazily. I begged Dylan and Megan to
paddle me forward as I sat there and did nothing. "Pretend I'm Cleopatra
entering Rome!"
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| Oh, Tallulah |
The group behind us were students at the University in Laramie. They let
out of the river before us, and I said, "Be nice to the gays!!" For
some reason out here, there's a theory abounding around here that
Matthew Shepard's killing was a drug deal gone wrong and not a gay hate
crime at all! But back to the students - they were also soon-to-be
missionaries who plan on smuggling bibles into China to spread the word.
Don't get me started.
Some people go to foreign countries to squeeze out their limited lives
onto another culture (I guess you got me started), and others go to
foreign countries to absorb another culture and learn that there are
other ways. Dylan (below) just got back from serving two years in the
Peace Corps in a remote village in Ghana, Africa. It was his birthday
last week.
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| Happy Birthday, Dylan! |
Here is my new partner in crime, Erin. She has absolutely no filter,
will do anything for a reaction and makes the Energizer bunny look like
it suffers chronic fatigue. I call her
Tallulah. It's the Tallulah show - with no commercial interruptions! She graciously adds, "The Tallulah show - now featuring Jesse"...
We went camping up at Curtis Canyon. She taught me how to use bear spray
and after a few thousand drinks she gathered neighboring campers,
regaled them with tales of this that and the other -and then, as if to
remind us that we were in the Tetons, took off her bra and tossed it
into the campfire. "Why did I do that? I loved that bra!", Tallulah
wailed as it went up in flames.
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| the Tallulah show |
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| Randomly collected audience - thoroughly entertained |
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I like this photo of us. Let the games begin!
ROAD TRIP!
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