Another blog post about food! We have really been enjoying the culinary scene here for the past few days. At first, we were a little scared that we were looking at a week of pork ‘n’ beans. Much to our delight, Jackson Hole is a foodie paradise!
Teton Thai. Great Thai food, cool atmosphere. ‘Nuff said.
We visited The Kitchen in downtown Jackson Hole and split a burger with applewood smoked bacon and truffle fries. And kale. Gotta get the greens. It was delicious!
We lunched at the Lotus Cafe, and cannot get enough of it! Acai bowls, burgers, salads, smoothies, sandwiches, tacos, cookies, even pho! All organic, can be gluten free. We have been there 3 times. In 2 days.
The Bunnery – I stopped there for coffee, and looking at the baked goods just wish I had more time to try it for breakfast.
Rendezvous Bistro. OMG where to even begin! Seasonal menu, fresh veggies…let’s just start there. WE walked into a really chill yet upscale bistro with great music playing in the background. The manager noted one of the moms squinting at the menu and promptly brought over a pair of reading glasses. Talk about attention to detail! The menu – wanted to try every single thing on it. Kit was especially intrigued by the buffalo frog legs, thinking that it was a cross between a bison and a frog, rather than frog legs in buffalo sauce. Laughed about that one for hours! We finally settled on splitting tuna tartare, an heirloom tomato salad, and vegetable wellington with portobello mushroom and goat cheese. Complimented our wine selection (Malbec and a Petit Sirah). The food was absolutely incredible. The only thing truly disappointing is that we would have to fly back across the country to try the rest of the menu.
Definitely inspired now to try and re-create some of these dishes at home!

Of course it would not be a typical K & M trip if we did not focus (obsessively) on food.
If you have been following out blog, or know us at all, you know that our loves in life include trying local cuisines, coffee, ice cream, and NZ wines. So of course we are excited to try the local food. First if all, there appear to be a lot of burritos. Yum! We split a summer veggie burrito which I can’t wait to try and replicate at home. Kit’s mom split elk tacos with us…. They were gamey, rich, and delicious.
We also tried huckleberry ice cream and huckleberry dark chocolate.
Old Faithful with strawberry ice cream, does it get any better?

Today was our first day focusing on Grand Teton National Park. So, we know we have to catch you up on 2 days of Yellowstone, but that will come.
Today started off with breakfast at the longest grill in America at the Jackson Lake Lodge. Literally, the counter snaked around the entire restaurant! Had some granola & fruit to prep for the hike. Not exactly cowboy food, but oh well.
We then went down to Jenny Lake to hike for the day. The hike around Jenny Lake has a trail (maybe 7-8 miles), but also a boat that can ferry you across the lake (in case 3 miles is more your speed). The south leg will take you to waterfalls, as well as Inspiration Point. Now, Inspiration Point is 7,200 feet in altitude. We decided to start off by taking the south route to Inspiration Point. The hike was going well, of course the typical jaw-dropping scenery.

We were going to wait until we reached the top to relax, have a snack (no bears this high), and really enjoy. Once we reached the point, we took a moment, sat down….and then we heard the thunder. Like REAL close. Now I don’t really mind storms, but being on a rock ledge 7,200 feet in the air is not exactly where I want to be. And then it started to hail. Yes, HAIL. Let’s just say, we were all inspired to get down that mountain PDQ.
Here we are, reached lower land and soaking wet.

We did dry off though as we hiked. We actually decided to hike the rest of the way around the lake rather than “cheat” and take the boat across. And we figured it would totally justify the thai food we were planning to gorge ourselves on at Teton Thai. The hike was great – the north side is much flatter and there were horses that kept passing by.

The moms definitely impressed us with hiking the entire lake route – way to go!

Luckily, it did not rain again until the very end. The last 50 yards were an all out sprint to the car in the rain!

We have had quite a few debates/ discussions on this trip. We realize now all the information from US History in 5th grade was replaced by medical knowledge. However, 2 moms that are teachers joined in the following discussions.
1) The Continental Divide: What is it again?
Moms- where the water flows in a different direction.
Does it run North/South? Is there only one? More than one? still not sure….

2) Buffalo vs Bison: are they the same? Are they different? Is bison the plural of buffalo or is buffalo the plural of buffalo? Can you use all parts? Do they have horns? Are they endangered? Kit wants to know if it is legal to hunt them. Is it better to drive by an angry looking one slowly as to not draw attention to yourself or gun it?
After a very long debate, we have decided that there are many buffalo all over the world, having come close us to quite a few in Africa. But bison must be the American buffalo, which do in fact have horns. They also apparently have their own nickel.

*** We now know that stopping to take a pic and then quickly trying to move past is a surefire way to entice a buffalo to come to the car at a very rapid pace

3) Bear spray: what is it exactly? Is it a good idea to further anger an already aggressive animal?

We arrived in Jackson Hole, WY yesterday, with all 4 seasons of clothing packed. We have been pretty excited about this mother-daughter trip for awhile. After all of our adventures, we figured we should take out mothers along!
We arrived in JH, picked up our SUV, and drove through the downtown JH. Looks very cute, a quintessential mountain town- cant wait to explore that more later this week. We went to Teton Village and hiked the Lower Loop trail. I know, I know…. We did not hike to the summit, but hey, we had just flown in.

We then discovered the Teton Village summer concert series. The village has live music in the square every Sunday evening, and the performer that night was Shooter Jennings!!! Everyone gathered around on picnic blankets, brought coolers of craft beer, and sampled the local food trucks – heaven!
This trip is getting off to a good start!

The bridge in Da Nang…..

Yes, it has been awhile since we posted. Still have more to share about Vietnam, but this “real job” thing seems to have gotten in the way, as well as jet lag.
Once we made it through the Hai Van Pass, we decided to make a trip to the ancient city of Hoi An, a short taxi ride from the city of Da Nang. Talk about a great decision! Only regret was there was not more time (although with the sheer number of silk shops and tailors, this was probably a good thing). First of all, a little background info about Hoi An. The city os an ancient SouthEast Asian trading port, along the South China Sea. From the 7th-10th centuries it was important in the spice trade and had international influences including Chinese, Japanese, and Dutch influences. Also, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We arrived in town and just decided to spend the first part of the afternoon walking around. The streets were lined with many shops offering gifts, silks, dresses, and art as well as cafe’s. We thought “this is cute” until we turned a corner and stumbled upon the river, and discovered why people rave about this city. Think: Venice meets Vietnam. We decided to hop in a flat river boat and see the city from the river:

We then had an amazing meal at this delicious outdoor cafe along the river, complete with its own lantern-lit pergola.

After dinner, we discovered that at night, the children sell candles to float down the river. I am sure that this is for the tourists, but the effect was stunning! Hoi An: definitely a must!

Since we left Hue, we have pretty much been on the road. And let me just say, what a road to be on! So as to not overwhelm all of you following this (thanks moms), we will break up the journey into tasty bite-size morsels.

On leaving Hue to head to Da Nang, we decided to to the longer, more scenic route known as the Hai Van Pass. This is also referred to as the Ocean Cloud Pass that transverses the Annamite Mtn Range as it hugs the South China Sea. The BBC’s Jeremy Clarkson also referred to this as “-one of the best coast roads in the world.” (Thank you Wikipedia). It separates North and South Vietnam, and historically has been a strategic road. The road itself climbs high into the mountains with views overlooking the sea. You go around numerous, very sharp, twists and turns to get what is a most spectacular view. What is NOT written is the first hand account from the Vets of traveling this road at night during the war as it was the only supply route.

Roads that would make James Bond envious:

We could see bunkers from the First Indochina War (the French Vietnam 1940’s-50’s) dotting the terrain:

Luckily, there was a “rest stop” with a scenic overlook. We were able to stretch our legs, take pictures, and get some ice cream (mung bean and tarro flavored, of course). A few vendors occupied this prime spot on the top of the Hai Van pass, and showed us their marble & jade figurines as well as their South China Sea pearl collection. We were told the pearls were not only real (as demonstrated by holding a flame to them), but the same ones as worn by Michelle Obama.

Of course we have not really mentioned a huge part of this trip, and that is the Vets. This is a period of time that our parents lived through, but we are not as familiar with. We have heard the history of the politics and how unpopular the war was, but it has always remained something for the history books.
Getting to know this group of guys and their wives has been a great experience.
At first, it was very hard to imagine that these guys were part of a war. They really all reminded us of a favorite uncle perhaps. Through the trip, they would mention areas that they had served in, stories from their time in the war, which made the entire trip much more memorable to hear what Vietnam was to them.
At the beginning of the trip, they each told us when they served and what branch they were in. Later in the trip, as we got to hear their stories, we understood a little more. They were only 18-22 y/o, an age when many of us were concerned about what to wear to a football game. And they were living what Apocalypse Now was based on. We are talking tours in the Mekong Delta, supply routes through the Hai Van Pass (more on that later), helicopter pilots… and now doing humanitarian missions. These guys are serious bad a** s!
We had a ceremony for them at the end of the trip, and here are a few pictures: