Winter Wonderland

[bliscum]

Hope you enjoy!!!

 

[sayhello]

Oh my gosh, those are spectacular! The dog sledding looks so fun! And that bison shot is just crazy! I *hope* it's really zoomed!

Thanks so much for sharing your pics with us! Looks like a very special trip!

Sayhello

 

[Calfan]

Awesome pictures! I *really* want to do this trip. Even more so after looking at these pics.

 

[acndis]

I cannot wait for this trip! Any other suggestions of things to do on Pre/Post days? It is my DS (6), DH, and me!

 

[Grifdog22]

By the way - "the box" arrived yesterday. With the comments over the last six months about the backpacks, I have to say that I really like them! They are completely different than the ones we have received on our three other trips - these fold into a little pocket for storage, and are extremely lightweight. Not bad - just totally different. Paper Tags instead of the usual airport luggage handle wraps...and a nice booklet similar in layout and design to the last trip, but with a lot less information. The trip looks good, and we are beginning to gather up the warm clothes and thanks to a tip, I'm ordering a neck gaiter for everyone.

 

[carpenta]

By the way - "the box" arrived yesterday. With the comments over the last six months about the backpacks, I have to say that I really like them! They are completely different than the ones we have received on our three other trips - these fold into a little pocket for storage, and are extremely lightweight. Not bad - just totally different. Paper Tags instead of the usual airport luggage handle wraps...and a nice booklet similar in layout and design to the last trip, but with a lot less information. The trip looks good, and we are beginning to gather up the warm clothes and thanks to a tip, I'm ordering a neck gaiter for everyone.

I also thought the new bag was O.K. After all I signed up for a great trip (and have not been disappointed yet) not to get a bag. We have scores from our previous trips and cruises so the new bags are quite useful IMO. We would do this trip but we live in a "Winter Wonderland" already but the trip does look wonderful.

 

[Calfan]

I cannot wait for this trip! Any other suggestions of things to do on Pre/Post days? It is my DS (6), DH, and me!

Very exciting. Question: what airline are you flying? I had some fleeting thoughts about booking the 12/26 to 12/30 trip as a last-minute holiday getaway, but then I took a look at the airfare from Oakland or SFO to Jackson Hole and had to rethink. The cheapest I was seeing was $800 or so per person round trip.

 

[Grifdog22]

We are flying Delta. Airlines were a problem - we didn't book until the pre-post days were made available, as the airline schedule flying from the east was impossible to do on the schedule for this trip. We have to come in early and stay late. The costs were high as well and have only gone up since we booked. Jackson Hole airport actually lists every flight for every airline coming and going on their website...so you can look about.

 

[Calfan]

We are flying Delta. Airlines were a problem - we didn't book until the pre-post days were made available, as the airline schedule flying from the east was impossible to do on the schedule for this trip. We have to come in early and stay late. The costs were high as well and have only gone up since we booked. Jackson Hole airport actually lists every flight for every airline coming and going on their website...so you can look about.

Thanks for the heads up on the airport website. I will check that out.

 

[hilarys]

Wow, the pictures are amazing. Add this to the list of trips we want to do. We went to Wyoming summer of 2012 and stayed in Jackson (visted Tetons) and 6 days at a dude ranch near Brooks Lake. We all loved it and I would love to see that area in the winter.

Another transportation tip that saved us a lot of money, although I am not sure I would do it in the winter, was to fly to Salt Lake City. We flew OAK to SLC lots of inexpensive flights on that route. We rented a car and drove through Utah, Idaho and Wyoming to Jackson. It was a five hour drive and quite beautiful Again, not sure about doing it in the winter. On the way back we were ready for it to be done.

Hilary

 

[acndis]

Grifdog,

I got your PM but I thought I would answer on the forum in case anyone wanted to weigh. Delta changed our flights around so now we are arriving late on 12/25 which changes our plans of having Christmas Dinner in Jackson. Now, we will just crash in the inexpensive hotel we booked and join ABD on the 26th. I contacted the AmEx Concierge service and they recommended a bunch of activities and restaurants (many of which have been discussed on the boards). I think we have decided on tubing for one of our post-days and maybe a sleigh ride if time allows. Our son is six so I think the snow mobiling may be too much for him but we may change our minds.

As for our flights, they were VERY expensive, I was able to use Delta Miles and CITI Thank You rewards for all three tickets but we booked very early.

If anyone else, has good restaurant suggests, let us know! We can't wait for this trip.

 

[bliscum]

Here is a list of restaurants in Jackson Hole.
I ate lunch a E Leaven Food company, all home made soups and sandwiches etc.
I also ate at the Pizza place Pizzareria Caldera and it was very good. Others ate at the Snake River Brewery and restaurant ( had elk meat etc) enjoyed it but you need to call before you leave for reservations. The Blue Lion is another rated well. There is a new vegetarian restaurant in town close to the hotel but can not remember the name and people on our tour said to was very good.
Hope this helps.

 

[RSM]

The Snake River Grill was outstanding. Excellent local cuisine. Reservations are recommended.

For lunch, we also ate at Dolce. Really good gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and soups.

Each is located near/around the center. Less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel.

 

[acndis]

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

We will be using them on our pre/post days. We ended up making reservations at Wild Sage at the Rusty Parrot. Also sounds great!

Don't have my box yet but did get my Insiders' gift yesterday.

Got Neck Gaiters this past weekend! We are getting ready!

 

[Grifdog22]

Greetings from Jackson Hole. We will try to do a more formal trip report with lots of pictures upon our return. We arrived yesterday for a pre-day. Weather was an issue flying in from the East. Nevertheless, we got here to a beautiful snowfall, so none of the mountains were visible. Just beautiful. Pickup was flawless, and the Wort Hotel is great. We spent some time with the concierge (Best to do this in person, our pre-trip e-mails were not answered) and she was the best concierge we've ever encountered.

We had a wonderful midafternoon snack at the Silver Dollar Bar and spent the evening at the Jackson Hole playhouse for a very intimate (i.e. 18 people) dinner and show. We weren't hungry, so the food was picked at. The show was, to us, hilarious and we really enjoyed it. If interested read the yelp reviews. It turns out the guides for all three of the ABD trips here were at the table next to us. We left them in peace, and really enjoyed the show.

Breakfast, covered flawlessly by ADB at the Wort was out of this world. The concierge had arranged a sunrise trip for us for animal spotting with Wildlife expeditions. She took care of everything, last minute, so we were the only ones on the trip (ie. private tour) at regular tour prices. We loved it. The guide couldn't have been better, and the concierge had pushed the "sunrise" time back just a little to give us time for breakfast. Perfect. Jackson Hole is a blast to play in. The guides are great - we start the ABD dinner tonight.

Will report more shortly. Very very good start.

 

[carpenta]

Sounds wonderful. Thanks for giving us a quick report. Really looking forward to the day bye day so we can " live" through you guys......

 

[wallawallakids]

Yes! Thank you for the update. Sounds like you are off to an amazing trip so far. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Calfan]

I just found out that Hanneke, one of our amazing guides from our Scotland ABD will be guiding the 12/26 trip! I am so bummed we weren't able to make it work and so jealous of those departing in a couple of days You are in great hands with Hanni. She is energetic, enthusiastic and has such a warm and bubbly personality. Your kids will love her! Have fun. I still hope to do this trip in the next couple of years.

 

[sayhello]

Have a fabulous time, Grifdog22! I'm looking forward to your Report! Sounds like you're off to a wonderful start!

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

It's Christmas morning and everyone's still asleep...and this trip is excellent. There are more "surprises" on this trip than we've had in the three, so I'm not posting spoilers at this point. Opening dinner was an over abundance of food and well done. For those of you who have taken several ABD trips, you know the usual presentations - but some nice added touches. The Wort Hotel continues to be above and beyond for the holidays. Fully decked out with the staff really "into" the season.

They've already had more snow than usual this time of year; we saw helicopters circling in the morning, and our driver told us they were preparing to blast for controlled avalanches. Just after he said this we drove by a temporary highway sign warning of avalanches. Whoa!

The dog sledding was much more than we anticipated. Use their gear! We all did, and were all grateful. The views were magnificent. The snow amazing. The dogs, powerful and for some a bit of a challenge. The guides they send along are outstanding. My daugther and I were on one sled, my wife, daughter and guide on a second. We made one team. They break you out so that there isn't a large group traveling together. You are a few minutes apart, but don't see or hear anyone else. Our sled's dogs were overly enthusiastic, so they had to be held back a bit which involves putting some of your weight on a drag pad. This will catch all the snow - so use their boots! When the dogs were substituted around, then it got physical for me, helping push the sled a bit. Whew! Several of us did this and I think this was chosen and planned to give us the full experience. I loved it, but my wife watching said she would prefer to stay in the sled...

So you drop your clothes at the hot spring, leaving only you bathing suit on, and run across a snowy boardwalk into the hot springs. Really nice. Several then exited the hot springs to dive into a snowbank (at 19 degrees) and then back into the water. Lunch was prepared while we were in the springs. The hard part is then running back over the boardwalk to go to the unheated changing room where your clothes were starting to freeze, dry off and get redressed for a great luncheon. Then the trip back. The trip back has some serious speed to it - its much more downhill than the trip up. With the sun slipping behind the mountains, again the scenery cannot be described. And the temperature drop is remarkable (and wonderful). Because it was Christmas Eve, the guides had made reservations at a number of restaurants to hold them for folks who had not made the calls. They magically got ours changed so we could have an earlier dinner and join another family. Christmas Eve is truly magical in Jackson Hole.
Today we are off to Yellowstone. SayHello - can I post a 15 second video link as well in a trip report? To hear the dogs - the sounds of the sled - (if I can make it work) better conveys the point.