Because Jackson is so expensive, I decided to check into couch surfing on our long drive through Wyoming. After a brief search, I landed on Christina’s profile. She is 23, a Park Ranger at Grand Teton, and lives inside the park. This is perfect. Luckily she responded to my request to house us for two nights. I found out later that such quick, positive responses are rarer in the couchsurfing community. Lucky for us, this would save us the exorbitant Jackson lodging fees, and provided us a better experience staying inside the park with our own personal guide. I assumed Christina’s place would have a nice view, but I had no idea that meant, Grand Teton would smack you in the face each glance out the window. There could not have been a more ideal location.
Part of my goal for this trip is to meet as many interesting people as possible, and Jackson lived up to expectations. We shared a drink with some new friends that we met while hiking. Mary even offered up a place to crash in New Orleans once we make our way there. Leena tried to get us a discount at the pizza shop where she works by mentioning her name at the register. We paid full price for pizza, but both offers were greatly appreciated. Christina the ranger/host showed us some of her favorite hidden photo locations throughout the park. She also sent us with a map of highlighted stops in the Tetons and Yellowstone. She adored Mac (even though Mac was more concerned with Tom and I leaving him forever every single time we walked out the door).
Brandon was a fellow couch surfer staying with Christina. He had won a trip by entering a photo contest with a travel company. We shared an educational conversation about his sailboat racing league in Connecticut. There is definitely no rec-league sailboat racing where I’m from. Most of the lingo he used sailed 10,000 feet over my head, but it did remind me of the humor in sailing terms. When he declared that he gets a good workout from “trimming the spinnaker” Tom and I actually laughed out loud. I was disappointed that he didn’t get my wedding crashers reference, though. “Swing the Jig Boom” has never had a more perfect use.