Day 7 - Yellowstone - 7-19-17 - Oregon Trail & Mormon Country

We were not really impressed with The Virginia Lodge in Jackson, WY.  It was probably built in the 60's and wasn't quite as nice as most of the lodging on our Caravan tours.  It was adequate and probably all the tour company could afford in this location.  Jackson is home to the very wealthy.  The average person (teachers, police) who works in Jackson lives in Idaho since the cost of living is so high there.  We were told there are 1200 jobs available - hard to find people to work in the service industry.

Jim Kelly, tour guide and Keven Crooks, driver

 We entered Idaho this morning and traveled along the route of the "Oregon Trail".  We visited the National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and took a ride on a covered wagon!  This was a unique adventure where we experienced what pioneers would have experienced on the trail.  Well, sort of!

 Our next stop was for lunch in a small town on Bear Lake.  We enjoyed ice cream sundaes and fries at Zipz.  There were several small, fast food places to get lunch and they all claimed to have the best raspberry shake in town.  Raspberries were in season and available fresh at the convenience store/gas station.  It also had the best restrooms in town.

Great Salt Lake

Mormon Tabernacle

Temple Square in Salt Lake City

Our guide talked a lot about the Mormons, how they came to be in Utah, their strong faith and dedication to family, and their wealth.  We had a tour of Temple Square and our guides were young girls on mission there.  One was from Texas and one was from Los Angeles.  They were being monitored by older girls from Mexico and Brazil.  I was impressed by their strong commitment to what they believe.  They were well-versed in Mormonism and answered questions from our group.  Someone asked why there were no crosses.  They said they focus on Jesus' resurrection, not the crucifixion.

After a short rest, we enjoyed our farewell dinner at the Hilton - delicious chicken with brown rice and steamed broccoli and cheesecake for dessert.  Again, I threw up after a few bites.  When I came back to the table, my plate was gone and replaced with dessert.  Someone had wondered if they should check on me in the restroom - Ron said "She'll show up when dessert is served".  And I did!

Another uneventful flight home on July 20th and we're back to normal!  Well, almost.