Where the Buffalo Roam

I started off the rotation with a five day trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I had heard of Jackson Hole as a world class destination for skiing and snowboarding, but didn't realize its close proximity to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

My passengers got off of the plane, which was parked on the ramp . As I walked down the stairs of the plane and looked up, I couldn't believe my eyes - the Grand Tetons were right there in front of me! Enormous, craggy mountains shooting out of the earth. It was a pretty spectacular sight. The ladies at the airport told me that we were only about 4 miles from Teton National Park and about 100 miles from Yellowstone and that this was the only airport actually inside of the National Park. The captain and I drove into the little town of Jackson where we checked into our motel and waited for Eric to arrive from Paris. A little photo opp on the Bear Chair:



That evening we checked out the little town of Jackson. Went to a local restaurant that served the best burgers we've ever had and a few beers from the Snake River Brewery. We decided to get some rest so that we could wake up early and take a tour around the Teton National Park and hopefully view some wildlife.

We saw a huge herd of Buffalo wandering around on Antelope Flats Road, here is one little fella having some dinner:



And holding up traffic:



They made funny noises:



We saw wolves hunting antelope:



And gorgeous mountain views:



Here is a photo of a barn that is over 100 years old with the Grand Tetons behind it. We saw this photo on a lot of postcards in town. We woke up at 5am in order to make sure we were there by sunrise. We made it to the field, along with a few other photographers that had much more professional equipment than we did - but I think our shots turned out alright:





The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in downtown Jackson:



They had saddles for bar stools, naturally.

We left Wyoming for Miami, Florida. The weather was hot and humid and the location of our hotel afforded us the ability to take advantage of the beach while we were on "hot call." The water was clear and as warm as bath water, which is much different than the Pacific ocean that I'm used to!



Eric taking a dip:




In the evenings, we'd walk around to find a place to eat at the various restaurants in South Beach. One night we decided to stop into Puerto Sagua - a little Cuban diner that has been around for years. We tried the Ropa Vieja, beef stew and fried sweet plaintains.

The highlight of our trip was seeing the space shuttle launch! Even though we were about 300 miles south of Cape Caniveral, we were still able to see the bright orange light of the shuttle launching into space around midnight on Friday. It was spectacular! After 5 days in Miami, work called to tell us we had a trip schedule from St Maarten to Geneva, Switzerland. I was excited to leave Miami - and the heat!

Summer 2009

Here are a few photos from recent travels and a little of what we've been up to this summer on the road:

Anchorage, Alaska - taking a break from the Vegas heat by the glacier:



Cute homes in Seward, AK:


Geneva, Switzerland - the big fountain in the middle of the lake:
Beautiful city, but extremely expensive!





In July, the company rented out L.A. restaurant, Xiomara for the summer party this year - fabulous mojitos, Cuban food and lots of dancing. There was a woman rolling the cigars by hand!






Narita, Japan where we found a sushi restaurant that has been around since 1934. The Sushi Man showed us exactly how to eat our sushi properly. He told us not to use chopsticks with our sashimi! You take the sashimi, turn it over with your fingers to dip the fish in a little bit of soy sauce (not the rice) and eat it all in one bite! He told us that It's important to eat it all in one bite because the filet of fish is marbled with fat, and better to eat it all at once to get the most intense flavor of the fish. We tried Salmon, Tuna, Eel, Mackerel, Scallops. The salmon was my favorite. He seared the outside with a blowtorch - the whole thing was TASTY!







Scottsdale, Arizona during a 4 day layover - Eric enjoying the water slide. Our hotel had a lazy river! Great for the 113 degree heat. Pretty view of the golf course from our room.







One of my favorite (but short!) trips of the summer was going to - Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We enjoyed an evening eating lobster and clam bellies on the water during one of those East Coast sunsets that I miss so much.