Most of the past 2 years for all of us have been spent hunkered down. My bride, Lady Deborah and I, have done some traveling beyond the borders of Our Town, but certainly nothing like we experienced until April, 2020, and the full-blown arrival of the worldwide, Covid-19 viral pandemic. From when we met in San Diego in 1979 until a little more than 2 years ago, travel, travel, travel was a huge part of our personal routine. We have been to 6 of 7 continents (no Antarctica, yet), and over 100 countries across planet earth. Our travel bug became severely restricted as a result of the dreaded pandemic.
Well, we have begun to get out again, and one of our favorite places to re-visit (last there, May, 2021) is Jackson, WY. Recently, we met up with Debbie's youngest sister, Rachelle, and her husband, Michael, who flew in from San Diego to spend a few spring days with us. They joined us in our townhome there last year, too, as we enjoy each other's company, along with the never-ending beauty of the Teton Mountains. Since it was "elbow" (calendar-wise) season there, the tourist numbers were greatly decreased. Some roads into adjacent Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) were open, but several were closed due to the existing heavy snow. Massive Yellowstone National Park (150-years old this year!) farther north of Jackson had most of it's roads closed, too, passable only for snowmobiles and snow coaches. Our commercial airline flight once again landed in Jackson Hole, about 8 miles north of town. It is the only airport in Our Country located entirely within a national park (GTNP). Two days after we flew out, headed for home, their airport closed for repairs/expansion, and it is not scheduled to be reopened until June 27.
Because of so-called "staycations", millions of Americans have not traveled outside this country the last 2 years. That coupled with the common phrase, we are "loving our national parks to death" resulting in large overflow visiting the Jackson/Yellowstone region last summer. When my bride and I first began visiting the area over 4 decades ago, the permanent population of Jackson was about 2,500 residents. With the latest census, the town total is now just under 10,000. Routinely during the busiest summer months, the quaint town swells to over 30,000/day. Needless to say, this huge increase greatly strains the area's limited resources.
Jackson didn't totally escape the pandemic's economic downside. During our recent visit, we noticed a few long-time business operations are no longer there, and there are a few empty buildings without a business operator. Because of always-present supply and demand, however, I don't think those business vacancies will remain for long. It has been said in the past, Teton County (Jackson's county) is among the wealthiest counties per resident in the U.S.A. As was the case during last year's visit, too, new residential and commercial construction, including tall building cranes, is a common site in and around the Jackson town area.
There is always a warm feeling when we are in that special area of far northwest Wyoming. My bride has told me for many years, there is only one other place she would choose to live instead of Our Town. Remember, too, dear readers wherever you are reading this installment, Ms. Debbie has experienced LOTS of places over time. The only other place she would choose to call home would be Jackson, WY!! And, yes, I wholeheartedly agree with her!
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