Idaho Potatoes and The Scorch Trials

I returned to Wyoming today, but not before getting some Idaho potatoes for lunch. I was going to go to a restaurant in Victor, ID called Grumpy's Goat Shack (for reasons that would make sense to my college clique but don't make sense to anyone else so I'm not going to elaborate) but they were closed for the season. Rude. Knowing that Victor was my last chance to get authentic Idaho potatoes in Idaho, I combed the streets for another option and found it. I got a grilled cheese because it was basically the only thing on the menu that was meat-free but the fries were really the main attraction here.

Tastes like potatoes and love.

Also, let's talk about dipping sauces. Ketchup has always been and continues to be my go to but recently, I have felt morally obligated to accept ranch dressing whenever it is offered (whether it is with fries or some other food group) because I know it was what Mandy would want, so I got ranch with my fries today. I did not, however, get "fry sauce." Everyone out here is crazy for fry sauce. They act like it's a big deal but it's mayo and ketchup. Like really people, it is not that big of a deal.

After that, I drove on the scenic Highway 33, which is apparently one of the most beautiful roads in America. I like to think of it as the craziest road I've ever driven while practicing my Oscar acceptance speech -- I'd like to thank the Academy for this award and for keeping me from driving off the road.

I'm staying at a hostel in Teton Village, WY, which is part of Jackson Hole but not actually Jackson (confusing, I know). Well, I got to the hostel before I could actually check in, so I went to Jackson itself to do some exploring. I have decided that Jackson is pretty much Banff but in Wyoming. I walked around and saw a lot of stuff (including some very tempting baked goods) and thought about how Wyoming will find any excuse to decorate with dead animals. I also saw an ice cream parlor where I could buy a gun. Thank goodness for Wyoming.

Being in a semi-civilized area again meant that I could enjoy one of my favorite things and go to the movies! I went to see The Scorch Trials, which stars Teen Wolf dream boat, Dylan O'Brien. That was basically the criteria I used to decide what movie to see... Despite the fact that the Maze Runner series is a personal favorite of two of my favorite people, I've never read the books, but I enjoyed the first movie and decided I would check out the sequel. What I really enjoyed were the pre-movie advertisements; you learn a lot about an area from what shows up before the movie begins and I learned a lot about Jackson/Jackson Hole -- some somewhat important stuff about their local banks and how to take care of your dog, but most importantly, I learned all about the movie Shane because that *surprise, surprise* classic Western was shot in Jackson Hole. How classic it actually is, I do not know, but I watched a lot of clips from it today.


I don't think that The Scorch Trials was a great film but I did have the entire theatre to myself and that was pretty great!

I'm now chilling in my hostel where I found out about a new website that's like Airbnb except it's free! People are just like yo, come stay on my couch and I'm like ok! Well, no, it isn't really like that but I'm still going to check it out.

Tomorrow the plan is to visit the National Elk Refuge but I keep getting conflicting reports on whether or not there will actually be any elk there so I guess we'll find out. (Also for anyone who might be confused, I mean "elk" like the horned, four legged animal and not "elf" like Orlando Bloom in a long blonde wig. I don't know where the nearest Elf Refuge is... Mandy).

Update on Satan

There were a few sarcastic comments that I left out of yesterday's blog post due to general exhaustion.

So, the most vile part of the Devil's Stairs was not the 90 degree incline. It was the 90 degree incline WHILE being totally convinced that I was going to be eaten at any moment. Do you know what happens when people tell you that you've significantly increased your chances of becoming a bear's next meal? Everything you see becomes a bear. EVERYTHING. I saw a cow and thought it was a bear. I saw a rock and thought it was a bear. A squirrel running across the trail... bear. A sparrow flying out of a bush... bear. My own footsteps... BEAR!

Luckily, I did not get eaten and can live on to be paranoid for another day. The end... or is it?

Let's Just Agree to Stop Naming Things After Satan

Hello from Idaho, or perhaps I should say Wyoming? I need to catch you all up on last night before I can move on to today's adventures. I am most definitely in Idaho, except Snapchat doesn't know that apparently. I picked up the geotag for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which to be fair, is where I'm headed tomorrow and only a short hop across the border, but most definitely in another state.

Last night was also the crazy Supermoon that has taken over every social media outlet know to social media. I couldn't get any pictures of that (my camera is nice, but not that nice!) but I did get a picture of this great Idaho sunset before "the real show" began. Also, shout out to my friends and family who were all looking at the eclipse at the same time as me -- it means we were looking at the exact same thing at the same time and that we were all together in a way.

Pretty.

Now, on to today -- which started with disappointment. I had the brilliant idea that I would go to yoga this morning... except when I got to yoga, I was the only one there. No explanation, no yoga, no nothing. So I decided to walk around town.

I checked out the Geotourism Center, which was free! I learned that foxes aren't -- as they are portrayed on the internet -- just derping around when they dive face-first into the snow. They're actually hunting -- they can dive through three feet of snow just to catch a rat, but it only works if they're facing north. While I was at the Geotourism Center, I saw they had a stack of free postcards. Now, I love free stuff -- it's basically the reason I walked around the Geotourism Center -- and I love postcards but I was going to pass this one up until I realized that this was a postcard for the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, WY. Do I remember ever hearing about NOLS? No, I do not but I was in Lander two weeks ago, so it's pretty crazy that I would just happen to find a postcard that says Lander on it in Driggs, ID. I took the postcard. 

After walking around town, I went to go hiking. I'd been warned that it was bear season. Not as in the season when people can hunt bears but the season when bears hunt people. I guess this distracted me while I was driving because I. drove. up. the. wrong. mountain.

The view from the wrong mountain.

I get lost an awful lot. Glad to see I'm sticking with tradition. My host gave me a hand drawn map of how to get to her favorite trails (she suggested the one mile trail for me... more on that later) and I guess I didn't follow it properly because I quickly realized that I was not getting where I needed to get. I turned around and managed to find my way -- via four miles on a bumpy dirt road (that wasn't included on the map).

So, back to the bears. I had been told that I needed to buy bear spray. Later I was told that I didn't need to buy bear spray. The one thing that the townspeople (yes, they shall be known as townspeople because that is what you call people who offer you friendly advice in a town with only one stoplight) did agree on was that I should stick to one of the better traveled paths to avoid death by bear or moose or mountain lion but especially bear. This is how I ended up taking another trail and accidentally hiking seven more miles than I originally intended. Yes, I went on an eight mile hike.

Casual walk back.

I decided I would try Devil's Stairs. I don't know why I ever thought this was a good idea. We need to stop naming things after Satan! Like oh hey, nature AND HADES! You can say that I should have guessed this hike wasn't my best bet based on the name but there is also Devil's Food Cake and cake is the opposite of evil. Also, don't you think the Devil's Stairs should go down? I mean, Hell is supposedly beneath our feet but I can tell you that I was NOT walking in a southern direction! Not even close. The trail was supposedly 4.3 miles long and even with my saintly internal soundtrack of Climb Every Mountain on repeat, I turned around at 4 miles because when the last .3 miles are at a 90 degree angle, I value my sanity and my calves enough to turn around. So I guess that the devil got me, but I'd rather have the devil get me than a bear.

At the end of a long, yet relaxing day, I have decided that I am clearly Katniss Everdeen -- not only because I periodically do the Mockingjay whistle on hikes just in case -- but because in the books, the Capitol is in the Rocky Mountains and I'm currently in the Rocky Mountains, ergo SAT logic has taught us that I must be in the Capitol. You may call me Thomson Jaffe: The Girl In Sweatpants.

Peace and love, Idaho potatoes.

No, U-da-ho.

Ok, that blog title isn't exactly appropriate but it's funny. To me at the very least.

I am in the state of everyone's favorite starch -- the potato -- Idaho.

I am unbooked for the week and thought, well, I've never been to Idaho, so here I am.

On my drive here, I got to see a lot. One of my favorite parts was crossing the state border into Idaho -- just long enough to take the picture you see above -- before driving back into Wyoming to finally drive back into Idaho. Along with seeing a lot, I also got like 3/4th of the way through Gulliver's Travels, which I only started this morning -- I figured that a book about traveling was the way to go although I'm not sure how I feel about it.

During that mini-trip back into Wyoming, I drove through Afton, WY, which has the world's largest elk antler arch. I didn't know that was a thing. How could I have been so ignorant for all these years?! (But I did tell you that everyone in Wyoming uses antlers in all of their decorating a few days ago).

Once I got back in Idaho, I decided to stop and get some ice cream, but not just any ice cream. Rainey Creek's world famous square ice cream. Once again, how did I not know this was a thing? It is world famous, after all.

I am now chilling at the Airbnb bunk that I booked myself in Driggs, ID. It is my first time staying at an Airbnb which is kind of like a hostel/hotel situation except that it is someone's house. So it's a homestay that I'm paying for essentially. This one is definitely more like a hostel than others I've read about. I'm in a room with three bunk beds, although only one other bunk I've taken. I've seen others where it is legit just someone's extra room or even their couch. I don't think I'm desperate enough to ride a stranger's couch for $30 a night... yet. But this place seems totally fine.

Now, I have no idea what there is to do in Driggs. Like I said before, I basically came to Idaho for the novelty of coming to Idaho and this was the absolute cheapest place I could stay. I shall find out soon enough though because my belly is rumbling and I think it's nearly time to find some dinner -- probably potatoes.

I have been exposed to a hideous thing. All people who know the Biddle/Jaffe clan understand that the University of Michigan is the way to go. The grandparents went/met there. The parents went/met there. I would go there for grad school if they had something I wanted to study (Seriously? How does one of the most prestigious BFA programs in the country not have an equally prestigious MFA course of study? But I digress). University of Michigan means that Ohio State is bad. I learned this lesson around the same time that my father brainwashed me against coffee.

Well, this morning, I'm checking all my various social media accounts and bam! BETRAYAL! Whitney is visiting her boyfriend in Ohio and *gasp* found an Ohio State geotag. This is a heinous crime! How dare my eyes be exposed to something so indecent!

*Ends rant. Drops mic.*

Welcome to Lyman

The photo says it all. I've started my second residency of the fall in Lyman, WY, with two new partners and so far, things are swell (if not slightly boring -- no offense).

On the drive here, I stopped in Little America, WY, which wants to be like Wall Drug in South Dakota but isn't. They have a lot of billboards and 75 cent ice cream cones but nothing is quite like Wall Drug. The name "Little America" might have been the most interesting part about it for me. I got some gasoline and french fries and drove on.

We had auditions yesterday and I have nicknamed myself CinderTAD. Having two partners is strange because this is a two person job and it's Taylor Ann (always Taylor Ann, never just Taylor) and Kayla's first week as partners and their first week on Aladdin so it is way more important that they work on their partnership than getting along with me (we're all getting along though so no worries there) which means that I'm here to lend a helping hand in any way that I can but am letting them take the lead on most things. I'm also the one who is going to get dressed up at the end of the week because I'll be playing the Genie again, so CinderTAD is all in good fun.

 This morning I went on a walk to explore the town and just about walked it end to end. I didn't bring my fancy camera, but I was equipped with Snapchat, so I grabbed a pic. I'll probably go back out before I leave again (my walk lasted a whopping 45 minutes, so I think I can squeeze it in) to get some real pictures, but this is it for now.

Last Night in Lander

Ok, the title of this post has a bit of a double meaning. I'm talking about my last night in Lander, but I'm also going to include things that happened last night, so it's like two last nights.

Last, last night, aka Friday, we finally figured out how to get WiFi in the cabin. Better late than never, I guess.

Before that, I went downtown and picked us up a few copies of the Lander Journal. Now, my I say that I was very impressed with the heft of the newspaper? Not only that, but they publish bi-weekly! Good for them. Well, I didn't pick this up just to read about how a Lander girl won the design contest for Wyoming Susan G. Komen or any of the other interesting stories I now have at my disposal, I did it for their little blurb about MCT! Did I make the front page? No, I did not. Did Katrina, Aladdin's mother and the vagabonds? Yes, they did! I tried to take a better picture than the one you see on your right, but that just wasn't happening and beggars/blog readers can't be choosers.

Last night, we also made the kids fight to the death! Not really, we had a little contest to see which group could be the BIGGEST and MOST EXPRESSIVE! (Those words must always be shouted and acted out with large, exaggerated gestures). The camels won and I was responsible for giving away the prize -- which was the opportunity to see their costume before the rest of the cast. Naturally, I couldn't just show them, I had to show them.

Wearing the camel costume is kind of like an Aladdin right of passage, so it was about time it finally happened!

The camel's head might need some love one of these days. It's a little droopy.

Now today, which is also my last night in Lander, for real, was the first show day of the fall tour! I finally got to make the joke I had been dying to make all week!


It's a genie on a genie!!! I'm so funny! And adorable.

Time to say goodbye to Lander and Katrina and hello to Lyman and my new partners, Taylor Ann and Kayla (yeah, I'm getting two partners, it's insane).