A day on the Greys River and a day in the Grand Teton National Park

After the reunion our daughter Jen drove down to visit us in Star Valley. We knew what she wanted to do, fish the Greys River and spend a day in Grand Teton National Park. Knowing her expertise in fly fishing we first planned on spending a day on the Greys The Greys River is the longest undammed river in the forty-eight states, (seventy miles). It flows into the Palisades Dam which was built across the Snake River and provides power to Star Valley besides holding water for Idaho’s farmers. Entering the canton, between the Salt and Wyoming Mountain range we drove up the rough road. Its usually graded before the Fourth of July and is good for a few weeks before all the idiots drive as fast as possible down the road destroying the temporary smooth road, (it turns into a potholed washboard mess). Stopping at our first spot we donned our waders, tied on our flies and waded into the river.

Renita had spotted two sheep which had escaped from a Sheephearder and Renita took their picture. Meanwhile, It wasn’t very long before Jen had a fish on!

She has learned a lot and knows how to lay out line, casting further than I can. She landed and safely released the fish. (the water temperature was near sixty-five and meant the fish must be released quickly or they will die). My biggest accomplishment was to keep my footing and not fall face first in the river. Heading further up river we stopped at several other spots where I finally caught and released two while Jen out fished me again. It makes a me proud to know how much she loves fly fishing, (and how good she is at it). After lunch the water had warmed up we called it a day and we headed back home. The weather was going to be hot and so we decided that we would spend the next day in Grand Teton National Park.

Driving through Jackson was tough. The number of people made for long lines of cars. It was an ordeal. Entering the park, we got the cameras ready. We wanted to hike up the Heritage trail but it was closed due to bear activity. Not seeing any wildlife, we drove to the old cattleman’s bridge, demolished a long time ago and then crossed the dam.

We have never seen the water so low in Jackson Lake.

Many of the gates were opened and the water was further emptying the lake. The plan is to only leave about six percent of the water in the lake. Driving across the park we did not see any bears, elk, deer, or wolves. It was really the wrong time as one needs to be early to have any luck. It’s a very bad berry year and the Parks Wildlife management people are worried that the bears will be attracted to careless people leaving their packs unattended. Leaving the GTNP we returned to Jackson for shopping but the parking spots were all full and so we called it a day and headed home. We did end up stopping for Lobster Rolls at a restaurant, luckily finding a place to park. It was a great visit by our daughter! Every day we see either of the kids brings us memories, peace and joy. Clear skies

The Brackin Thirteen, a family reunion of their decendent's in Waterloo, Iowa

I grew up having seventeen sets of Uncles and Aunts. Trying to count all the cousins was a bit much, but every year, the Brackin Thirteen, held a reunion at the Gehring farm near West Union, (six were on my Moms side). It was always on Memorial Day weekend and before the reunion we would stop at the West Union cemetery, where we would place flowers at our Grandpa and Grandma Brackin’s, grave before walking the short distance to our Great Grandparents grave. Their site was easy to find as it was, at the time the largest tombstone monument's in the West Union cemetery.

From there we drove to the reunion where the male cousins would run amok, before the meal and invariably end up in a corn cob fight. The younger ones,(me included) would end up trapped by the older males until one of my uncles would rescue us and tell us dinner was ready.

Since then, the family had grown older and scattered around the country. This year My cousin Becky, decided to attempt a reunion in Waterloo, Iowa. Unfortunately, many of my cousins were too old or lived too far to attend, (and many had passed). We ended up flying from Wyoming, as we have stopped driving distances due to the cost of rooms and the price of fuel.

We had several days and after a great meal on Friday and then gathered Saturday for the reunion at the church basement. Becky had done an outstanding job of gathering pictures of the “Brackin Thirteen”, and had coordinated the food, (we brought a Key Lime Cheesecake). She also had pictures of many of the families and encouraged us to take the ones of our immediate family.

The attendance was small, only twelve of us attended. It was a far cry from the old days.

We were happy to see all who were there and we relieved tales from long ago. It also gave us a chance to find out what our cousins were doing, (everyone from my generation have retired although some have side gigs, one is an Uber driver and we make and sell our custom jewelry). Thank you Becky, for all the hard work! Well done! We were happy to see faces we haven’t seen in years! Clear skies