Jackson, Wyo. – For one day of our long weekend in the north western part of Wyoming, we left Yellowstone National Park and descended into Jackson.

Picture a ski resort. Throw in  a very Old West vibe. Then top off with a liberal share of rampant tourism.

Whisk together, pop into the oven, and in just 45 minutes, you get Jackson.

There’s about a three-block radius surrounding the historical main square of Jackson dedicated to T-shirt shops, novelty stores, and trinket havens. It’s a very classic example of western tourist town.

Which isn’t to say it isn’t fun to explore.

Oh, and there are A LOT of antlers. In the form of arches. Welcome to Wyoming.

See upper left? Ski runs. (Or snowboard runs. If you’re into that sort of thing.) I swear this kid knew I was taking his photo, even though I was only using my tiny fancy phone and could very well have just been looking at it.

Kids of the 21st century just know these things. Young whipper snappers.

Movie theatres are built within the belly of old armories in Jackson. Welcome to Wyoming.

Full disclosure? I don’t know for certain that this is an old armory. It just really looks like one. And I should know. My college was built within an old armory. Sadly a siege never occurred during my college career. I feel this would have been good life training.

This really doesn’t need any explanation. Welcome to Wyoming.

Carry on.

Having only one traffic light within the main town square radius, crosswalks need another safety mechanism. Like bright, orange flags. It’s your guide for crossing the long expanse of pavement. Feel free to wave wildly whilst on your journey. As if you’re landing a plane.

Honestly? I have no idea what is entailed in joining the International Order of Odd Fellows. All I know is, with an organization name like that, I want in. These opportunities don’t come along every ol’ day.

We came to find that Jackson is very much like Boulder. It’s not just anywhere you can find free poem boxes.

Or such a list of life lessons.

And they have an armory (see above), and I attended college in an armory (see above), and my school was in Boulder.

Q.E.D.: Jackson = Boulder. This is this kind of deductive reasoning that got me through college.

The restaurants around the main square sort of scared us off. (See: Cowboy Bar. Although, we did actually walk into the establishment and sit down.) So we went a bit further off course and were pleasantly surprised by this brewery. Very, very good. Very. If you’re ever in Jackson, give it a try.

The Grand Tetons sit between Jackson and Yellowstone. It’s one of the most amazing landscapes of all.

Welcome to Wyoming.

The end!