Another stormy day which gave us the chance to rest. We were in the perfect place to do that. Outside, the weather was constantly changing. The lighting was often quite dramatic. We appreciated the pastoral setting after the high pace on the eastern side of the Tetons.
On one walk outside, Patti found the painting of an owl that gave the name of our AirBnB; The Owl Barn.
In the afternoon, we went into town to see a fine little museum called The Teton Geotourism Center. The exhibits were great-focusing on both winter and summer activities here. They had some wonderful videos and photos (there is a connection between this center and National Geographic Society). This museum focused on the history and current culture of The Teton Valley. That is the county on the west side of the Teton Mountains. It has around 10,000 residents who are very proud of their community. Dick got into quite a conversation with the staff, including the County Director of Development, who was passing through. Dick wanted to know what was driving the economy since we had observed a number of upscale homes and stores. He learned that tourism (summer and winter) provided the core income to the community, in addition to agriculture. But, they wanted to develop more Internet-based businesses since they had a highly educated workforce. Dick will explore with colleagues at National University about collaborating with them on an economic study.
Before we left the museum, Patti discovered that early in the county’s history, they had used sleds pulled by teams of dogs to get around in the deep winter snow. Of course, Patti had to jump onto the runners of a sled behind a team of dogs on a video screen.
After that stimulating time, we decided that we needed ice cream. The nearby drugstore had an old-fashioned soda fountain. We ordered Huckleberry ice cream and watched as the young woman hand-prepared Dick’s shake and Patti’s cone.
We packed up and then headed off to one of the community events that everyone raved about: Music on Main. This is a series of 8 free public concerts held in the town of Victor, about 8 miles down the road from Driggs.
During the course of the evening, there must have been 2000 people from babies to elders who gathered for this happy time. We were struck by how many smiling people there were around us all evening.
There as dancing, and children running around chasing each other. It was great to see a small town community just relaxing together. Kids could play without parents worrying about their safety. It was a very friendly gathering and we both had nice talks with several people.
-->
We also got to hear an excellent bluegrass group from California, Hot Buttered Rum. There was also a number of food trucks and stands to serve a quite sophisticated array of artisan pizzas, Thai food, Mexican, designer popcorn, and even some food from Nepal. We ate well and enjoyed the concert.
No comments:
Post a Comment