Whereupon cowboy hats are doffed

After a night catching up on some sleep in the Wort, we headed downstairs for some breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Looking over the menu, we were reminded that quite often, breakfast includes things like eggs. Katie has an egg allergy, so the menu shuffle began. She eventually settled on a monstrous bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar, butter and milk. She was pleased.

Amy had eggs. Not much to say about that.

I won breakfast. And this is how: I ordered biscuits and wild game gravy. It came with eggs, potatoes and some purple thingy. The wild game part of the dish was made up of elk, buffalo and boar and jackalope. OK, not that last one.

Big food. Chunks o' wild animals.

The biscuits were gargantuan – actually, the restaurant is an eatery of very large food. The gravy, with pieces of aforementioned wild game, was the highlight. It had a hint of bacon (I can only assume this was the boar doing its job) and wasn’t gamey at all. The chef came out to talk to us about the ingredients and preparation. The elk was given a seasoning rub and the buffalo was prepared with rosemary. The combination was a slightly salty, moist, tender topping to the heavy, rib-sticking biscuits.

See? I won.

We also go to have – and get this, Florida – the best orange juice I’ve ever had. Yeah, seriously. It was thick with pulp, which Katie isn’t so crazy about. So I took it upon myself to abscond with sip after sip as I diverted her attention.

Me: Katie, look at that painting of the elk. *gulp*

Me: Katie, there’s a bear walking down the middle of the street! *sip*

Me: Katie, look – it’s Harrison Ford!

Katie: Who is that, and why do you keep drinking my Orange Juice?

After breakfast we took a walk through the downtown area of Jackson. We headed for the park in the center of town, which is stunningly beautiful. The corner entrances to the park are gated by arches made up of more than 2,500 bleached elk antlers.

A walk around the retails shops that line the tiny streets will bring you by too many cheap T-shirt shops, but you’ll also find some fantastic clothiers, western outfitters, indian art, galleries and jewelry shops.

Of course we stopped in a great cowboy hat shop. It had every conceivable style in every size. Katie modeled a number of hats, narrowing it down to what she would like to sport around this very western town. There was a bowler hat. Of course I tried it on. Of course I looked like Oliver Hardy. But everyone knows trying hats on and taking pictures is what tourists must do. We would not break this code.

Howdy lil' lady.

A quick lunch at a pizza shop across from our hotel – and a sampling of Old Faithful Ale (light, not filling, heavily carbonated) – brought us back to the Wort for a little down time.

We climbed the stairs to the hotel’s second-floor mezzanine and sat down with one of our guides, Tiffany. Tiffany is a former Jungle Cruise captain at Disneyland. We swapped Disney stories, asked her as many questions as I could think of and had a really nice time getting to know her.

Heading upstairs to meet with Tiffany, our Adventures by Disney guide.

As with most Disney cast members, Tiffany is a fantastic representative of the company. She’s engaging, funny, knowledgeable, and really eager to make sure everyone’s trip is top-notch. (Note to whoever hired Tiffany: Nice job.)

We’ll be meeting our other guide, Drew, tonight.

What we’ve learned so far: Jackson Hole is stunning. I don’t really know what I expected Wyoming to look like, but not like this. It’s a lot greener than I thought it would be, and being at the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains is breathtaking.

We’re headed off to a welcome dinner with our fellow travelers in the Jackson Room just off the lobby of our hotel.