Sunsets, Colors and Just Plain Sitting Still

We have been here since August and have been sitting still. Thoughts of hooking up and moving, hitch itch, are there but we still aren't ready for it. The rest has been good and the colors have been our best reward. We are working on a list of repairs and the first one is our truck.
If you followed along with our Alaska odyssey you know we have had engine heating problems and loss of coolant, Extensive repairs in Soldotna didn't really fix the problem and so we took the truck in to the Chevy dealer in Jackson Hole.
It turned out to be bad news as the head gaskets are leaking coolant, so we rented a car and hopefully the truck should be done in ten days or so. The dealer thinks we didn't cook the heads but they have to pull the engine and so this is definitely a major repair. We just paid the truck off in May so go figure but thank goodness we made it here without blowing the engine. I shudder at the thought of what it would have been if we had broke down on the Cassier Highway.

The colors are another reason to be here in the Fall. The oaks and aspen are turning and so the mountains are red and yellow and the leaves are starting to fall. Added to this the sunsets are spectacular as the smoke from all the fires makes for beautiful refractions as it sets over the Salt Mountains.
We are kind of on a bear watch as bears are reported about two miles away in the Town of Star Valley. Nothing so far and thats good as no one here has bear proof garbage containers.We have also built and finished a picnic table and a saw horse/barbecue stand.

Another nice thing about sitting still is that we have been able to start working on some of the Alaska rock and mammoth ivory, which is a lot more fun than repairs. Raven Art, in Alpine,(hows that for a plug Barbara), displays our work  here and we have spent a couple of days talking with Barbara about a Wyoming jade display in her Art Store.
Her store is filled with local artists work and its a real pleasure to be able to spend some time there as other artists are always there dropping off their new work and so we are getting a chance to meet people working in a wide variey of media. There are quite a few shows in the area and two local artist coops so both are high on next years list.
Fires continue to be the big story here and all are watching a fire which threatens to force an evacuation of part of the town of Jackson Hole. We are quite a ways from there, fifty miles, still all are hoping for some rain and no wind. Even though my ending stays the same I really do want some rain to fall. Clear skies