A great time was had by all (now with photos)

We are on our way away from the whole excuse for a shakedown cruise (and one might even say a key element to our getting on with this trip) -- celebrating my parent's 50th Anniversary.

My Mom & Dad invited us 5 kids and all of our kids to celebrate their union at the Rancho Alegre Lodge in Jackson, WY. It was my first time in the Teton's in 30+ years, and first time for everyone in my immediate family.  We ate well, saw many slide shows, played more D&D than I have played in years (and I've picked it up recently!), went hiking, took the tram, went white water rafting and generally had a great time.  I can say with all honesty that I would love to do it again.

My brother-in-law Tom helped troubleshoot and fix the issue with the issue with the slide.  And now I know enough to order the right parts and get it fully repaired w/o having to necessarily go to the Tiffin Motorhome Factory.  Though we probably will as we really enjoyed the Winnebago factory back in 2009.

We also got to see the very nice Emergency Room in Jackson courtesy of our daughter breaking her wrist and splitting open her chin while biking.  The doctors and nurses were great.  And now my daughter has all sorts of excuses to get away with what she would like to get away with anyhow.  The downside is that our return trip is going to be abbreviated as we would prefer to get her stitches taken out both at home and on the timeframe that the ER recommends.  Getting the splint switched to a cast is just the icing on the cake.

We did manage a quick day in Yellowstone including seeing Old Faithful, eating at the Old Faithful Inn and seeing the Mammoth Hot Springs.  Lots of driving today, but now we are in West Yellowstone and will see just how painful a speed run back to the Bay Area can be.  Can we do it in 2 awful days?  Or stretch it to 3 painful ones?  Tune in for more...