Today we’d planned on neither traveling nor sightseeing … and after yesterday’s adventures … it was timely! And there was no better place to unwind than in the rural community of Tetonia.
The “city” of 0.57 square miles in area lies parallel with the majestic Teton Range
After last night’s storm and the drop in temperatures, snows had dipped down to the 8,000 foot level
along the Idaho’s eastern border. As of the 2010 census, it had 269 residents, 95 households.
After attending to a variety of housekeeping chores we decided to walk the ½ mile into downtown Tetonia
Looing south
Looking north
where we’d hoped to grab a pizza and beer at Dave’s Pub for lunch.
Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 2:00 PM on Mondays.
As near as we can determine, along the main street, Dave’s together with a Post Office,
Nail Salon (which was closed), Sinclair gas station/general store, up-scale antique and craft store,
LDS Church,
auto repair shop (on a side street), and the Lodge and RV park where we’re staying are the only functioning businesses in the town. The rest of the buildings are all shuttered.
Admittedly, a few ancient silos and grain elevators …
but we have no way of knowing if they are still used or merely artifacts from the town’s more illustrious past.
This evening we returned to Dave’s Pub for dinner. Walking in we felt like we'd stumbled into a far west version of “Cheers” where everyone knew everyone’s name (except ours, of course) and smoked! Still, they were all extremely friendly to “strangers”.
During the course of our dinner, including a really good local craft beer,
the regular “crowd grew from three to six, plus two people who worked there.
By the time we'd walked back to our motorhome we realized just how much the smoke stink had permeated our hair and all of our clothes.
Before calling it a day, we chatted with a father and son from Wyoming who were staying the cmapground paused to watch some of the lingering clouds continue to dissipate over the Tetons to the east
and the clouds to the west begin to turn a reddish-orange.
Tetonia is yet another example of why we love our travels which have taken us to so many well-known and iconic spots across the US and Canada, provided us chances to visit friends and family we’d otherwise never get to see, and spend time in small out-of-the-way towns hardly anyone has ever heard of and often have an opportunity to meet some of their residents.