As I start this first blog we have already been up for about 20 hours, and with many hours of travel left it’s feeling a bit like a fairy tale – Grim! Having already been to Amsterdam (wrong direction) our second flight was pleasant enough – just long. Rachel managed to get through three full length films back to back on the in-flight entertainment system and ‘treated’ the whole cabin to various yelps, gasps and squeals throughout, culminating in a torrent of tears and sobs at the end of each (girly) film. I pretended to be asleep in case anyone asked me if we were together!! I didn’t have the heart to tell her just how much noise she was making.
We had en-suite facilities too; we were in the very back two seats of the plane next to the toilet!! We tried to sleep in between toilet flushes; each one sounding like the bottom was falling out of the plane. But the food was good and the entertainment improved when the cabin crew asked if there was a doctor on the plane. I almost volunteered just for something to do but thought better of it. I’m glad I did as someone had really been taken ill in row 28 and a crowd had gathered. We never knew the person’s fate.
We landed in Minneapolis in full sunshine and blue skies and we felt much better – that is until we reached the immigration lounge. Being the last off the plane (literally) we were at the back of the queue of approx 300 people. US citizens went left and the rest of us right. It was immediately obvious where the officials’ priorities lay, with five or six immigration officers on the US side and only two on ours! We were in for the long haul. Three more plane loads of US citizens came and went and we were still there, but no-one dared complain, not unless you wanted to be hauled off to the room in the corner, which was, as far as I could see, populated by those unfortunate enough to have less than white skin and maybe a beard! But, of course, it’s all in the name of safety I suppose. So we waited…and waited….and waited. One young woman we were next to was in danger of missing her connecting flight with only minutes to spare. Eventually she got to the immigration desk, having been allowed to jump the queue by a kind young man who had already lost hope of being on time, when she was promptly marched into ‘The Room’ and presumably gave up any chance of making her flight.
Rachel sleeps in a restaurant:
We had already been through two security checks with full body scans and were amazed to find that we had to negotiate a third. Another thirty minutes later and we were through and headed for the nearest restaurant for drinks – a very high tech affair with iPads on every table, where you could order from the online menu, swipe your card and sit back for it all to arrive as if by magic. This was a cashless restuarant! What was even more amazing was the bill, which came via email. This was a paperless restaurant too. A beer and a coke cost $14.78. That included taxes and a $2 tip, which was mandatory. I had the inescapable feeling that I had been mugged.
Our final flight of the day was uneventful and we were treated to views of the Tetons, towering monstrously high above the horizon, as we came into land at Jackson Hole. As we exited the plane in this tiny airport and walked across the tarmac (in front of another taxiing plane – things are a little more laid back here!) we literally gasped at the sight of the alpine-like mountains – jagged, sharp and incredibly high stretching away into the distance. The terminal building was like a log cabin (basically was a log cabin) fronted by an arch made of antlers.
The lobby was populated by crowds of travellers, some of whom were being greeted by cowboys in ten gallon hats, denim and leather boots; it was like walking into a movie. Thankfully, our cases survived the journey and, after hiring a car, drove out to Teton Village to find our accommodation.
It was dark when we arrived – very dark! There were precious few street lights and we drove around and around peering through the darkness trying to locate our ski lodge. Now, we are no strangers to trying to enter the wrong property, and this was no different: we thought we had the right place but, try as we might, we could not get the key to work in the lock. Thank goodness there was no-one home! We ended up knocking on a stranger’s door and asking for help – pathetic isn’t it? But we had been awake 27 hours by now and had had enough.
We fell into bed like dead things and Rachel was snoring (yes really) before her head hit the pillow! While I tried to drift off I thought about the view of the stars that make up the Plough, which we could see very clearly above the lodge and remembered that we see the same stars from home – just in a slightly different part of the sky. So we are not that far away from home after all. Tomorrow we explore Grand Teton.
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