Travel near national parks  features crowds and construction

Confused Asians, crazy drunk van drivers, monstrous RVs, nervous semi drivers, and thousands (perhaps millions) of tourists were among the highlights of a recent trip to Jackson and Pinedale.

We were headed north on Highway 287 to Jackson to attend the open house for the new home of the Hughes Charitable Foundation.

But a lot happened before we got there.

For starters, we groaned as a flagman stopped us just as a huge line of cars ahead of us headed off in the distance behind a pilot car. This was barely 8 miles from home. Was this a harbinger of the kind of trip we would endure?

The nice flag...