Yellowstone Park and the Hubby

Saturday.  8:18 p.m.  Hubby gets off the plane in Bozeman.

Not a good picture, but I only had one chance at this and the setting was wrong. 

It really is the hubby, though, not some random tourist.

We hugged.  We kissed.  All the normal stuff.

You had to be there.

For some reason, I couldn't sleep in that nice motel room.

Two months of listening to my room mate's night terrors and the drunks outside my window have skewed my sleeping pattern.  I need noise!

Hubby claims that I was spacey yesterday...about an 8 on a scale of 1-10.  Thanks goodness he was driving.

On the way to West Yellowstone, I saw this sign.  Something I haven't shared with you all is that I grew up in a town of 300 people (no, I didn't leave out any zeros) and the name of the town is Harpster.  One of them escaped, obviously. 

Just down the road, we saw this Veteran's Chapel.  There were American flags lining the long drive.

Services had just started, but we didn't go in.  Something else you don't know about me (true confessions Monday) is that I was raised/forced to attend church when I lived in Harpster.  I even played the piano and the organ.  If you tell anyone, I will hunt you down and rip out your tongue.

The point is that I still, to this day, get cold sweats when I get near a church. 

I'll get therapy for this someday.

Here's the hubby checking out the scenery.

A noble profile, huh?

He did all of the mandatory tourist things...ooooooo, lookey there, wow, where are the bears?

Forgot to mention that his luggage went to India or somewhere.  We were able to get it before we left Bozeman.  Hubby has a way of letting people know that he expects service and that he takes no prisoners.  Must have been all of those years raised by the Colonel. 

Here's hubby in his new hat...no comment.

He's standing in front of the snow bus that takes visitors into the park in the winter.

West Yellowstone locals said that some winters, the snow is so deep, they don't even plow it.  They just drive on top of it.

We spent some time in West Yellowstone but hubby got anxious to see Yellowstone Park.  We drove in and got stuck in this traffic jam.

I was expecting a bison jam.  I wanted hubby to see one.  Not this.

I don't know what happened, but a car hit the RV on the other side and an ambulance passed us as we were driving toward the accident.

Right before this accident, we had picked up a hitch hiker who I recognized as a young man who lives in my dorm.  I knew he was strange, but everyone in my dorm is, so I thought to myself, "How bad can it be?"

Bad.  Real bad.  We were stuck in traffic with creepy boy for about 45 minutes.  He told jokes.  Really bad jokes and whined about not being able to pick up chicks.  He never quite grasped that we live in the same dorm.  I let it go at that.

We finally made it to Old Faithful and slowed the car down enough to push him out.  No, that was just a fantasy playing in my head.

Something was erupting when we dropped him off. 

I've never seen this one go off.  Got to check it out later.

It sort of looked like a fire hydrant that had been run over by a truck.

On the way back to West Yellowstone, hubby got to see a few thermal features that he loved.

He saw his bison.

He saw the weather change from warm to cold to rainy all in a few minutes.  He is confused about what to wear in Yellowstone.

We got stuck in the traffic jam again on the way back.

I slept great last night which means hubby is in for trouble today.  He already looks worried and it's only 6:00 in the morning.

It's great having hubby with me now.  I'm already tearing up about leaving my wacky world, but I know that more weird and wonderful things are waiting for me there. 

You'll hear from me again tomorrow whether you like it or not. 

The News From West Yellowstone

 It's Wednesday in Yellowstone Park.  That's the news for the day.

I'm stuck, again, in my room, with roomy.

It's only 4:30.

It's drizzling and gloomy.  

This will start soon.

I'd probably use a pillow, not a club, on her.







All I can do is read to you from the West Yellowstone News and hope it amuses you for a few minutes.

The front page story is about a mama grizzly and her four cups.

You can't see much here, but being far away from a mama grizzly is a good thing.













Now that we have the important story out of the way, let's turn to the West Yellowstone police reports.
I am copying these word for word.  I am not taking any creative license here.

I can't help myself.  I gotta add my comments in parentheses. 

*  A caller could not locate their welfare check.  (Look under the empty Moose Drool cans.)
*  Five 800 mg ibuprofen tablets were found.  (Call the guy who lost the welfare check.)
*  Children were not allowed recess at school until the bison in the parking lot was gone.  (The bison ate my
    homework?)
*  A male in his late 70's was reported overdue, getting back late to the hotel.  (Bison in the way?)
*  A big bull bison was reported strolling down Madison Ave.  (He was looking for the male in his late 70's.)
*  A caller reported being bit by a brown weenie dog.  The owner of the dog was located and cited.
    (Only a weenie would report this.)
*  A bison was seen at Hwy 20 and Firehole Ave. headed towards the alley.  (Do bison make drug deals?)
*  The same bison was seen attempting to jump over a fence at the car wash to get to the highway.
    (Pole vaulting?  Bison Olympics?)
*  Dispatch received a call concerning three individuals engaged in disorderly conduct.  They took their      
    fighting outside.  (It's alright to fight outside?)

 You have to love a town that has this kind of news.

The police are armed with nerf guns and water pistols.  Oh, alright, I mean no offense.  I'm sure there is some serious crime in West Yellowstone. Sheriff  Barney Fife and his crew keep things in order.  Sorry again.  I'd better stop now before I hurt anyone's feelings.  Too late?

Let's hope for good weather tomorrow.  The new Montana quarter is coming out and the ceremony is to be held in front of the Old Faithful Inn.  Until then....Judy here reporting the news fit to report from Yellowstone Park.

Memorial Day Weekend, Yellowstone Park: Part Two

I woke up this morning...eager to have another whole day off in Yellowstone Park.

Wait, wait, open the blinds slowly.

Does the wet cat give you a clue?  Back to rain, sleet and snow.

I lounged with roomy until she got ready for work and decided that I was going somewhere no matter what the weather.

So back to West Yellowstone to visit with David Barnes, the owner of Yellowstone Traders.

He had offered me a job at one time (that was before he got to know me better) and I wanted to see how he was doing.

Did I mention that it was cold and rainy?  Guess I did.

Here's David holding up one of his beautiful buffalo hides.

I hope that's what it is.  It sure looks better in his store than on the buffalo.

I can just picture a roaring fire, a buffalo hide on the floor, useless lap kitty barfing in the middle of it...kitty is ruining the image.

And there are more hides, like cow and alpaca and who knows what else.

Fortunately, David doesn't do this himself.  There are no bloody tracks to the back room.

It's an attractive, clean, blood free store.

He also has fantastic bison leather computer bags and purses.

Hubby will like this because they have compartments for guns.

It is the west...danger lurks around every corner.

For the gentler soul, there are buffalo teddy bears and furry pillows and all kinds of unique items for the West Yellowstone visitor.

O.K., David, that's my advertisement.  I really do like the store and I certainly like the company.  Check out David's website at http://www.yellowstonetraders.com/.

Also check out his blog.  You'll get a feel for what it is like to live right outside the gates of Yellowstone Park.

I have to add that David is originally from St. Louis, Missouri.  He had a nice respectable job at Anheuser-Busch in the digital marketing IT department.  He got caught in some huge layoffs and decided to shake his life up.  He found this business for sale on Craig's List.

Mama Barnes was not happy with the move to the middle or the end of nowhere.  I guess the moral is, don't let your son look at Craig's List.

West Yellowstone has a slew or herd or something of bison statues, decorated in a variety of ways.

Of course, I found the one fish and it was too cold and rainy (I have mentioned the weather, right?) to photograph the bison, so you're stuck with a fish.

Back home in Ohio in the town of Beavercreek, they have painted beavers.

I'm not saying anymore about the topic.

Here is the Ho-Hum Motel.  Rumor has it that a lot of the indigent end up there.

There is even a fund to help put them up.

Now I know where all of the Yellowstone employees go when they get fired.




 

Here I am going through the gate, back to Yellowstone Park.

See the rain?  The cold, cold, rain?

I decided to walk around Old Faithful, just to get a little exercise, and this is what I have to put up with now.

Tourists walking slowly, tourists acting badly,  tourists talking on cell phones, tourists messing with my quiet time.

I thought you needed one more picture of steaming, bubbling things.

I stopped by the Old Faithful Inn to pick up roomy for dinner.

She's the one on the left. 

Have you noticed how dark it is in there?

I'm getting one of those head lamp things that miners wear.  Think it would be against the dress code?

Around 7:00 tonight, the weather cleared up.  The rappers are outside my window playing their favorite tunes.

Did I mention more than once that it rained the two days I was off?  I go to work at 2:30 tomorrow, so technically, I still have some time left.  Stay tuned for Memorial Day Weekend adventures, Part Three.  There may be sun.

Memorial Day Weekend, Yellowstone Park: Part One

And now for the highlights from Judy's day off in Yellowstone Park, Part One:  The Start of Memorial Day Weekend.  Pretty heady stuff, wouldn't you say?

First, the bad news.  It's raining, snowing, sleeting, raining, snowing, sleeting....it's hard to keep track of the weather here.  If you are cooking out in your shorts, don't even bother to tell me about it.

The good news is that I am not a tourist who has invested a thousand dollars in a trip of a lifetime.  The roads were closed this morning, and the way things are looking, there are going to be some unhappy travelers tonight.

I started out the morning with a nasty gourmet breakfast at the employee dining room (English muffin with peanut butter and some toast.)   It seemed the safest option.

I ran into one of the women who conducts tours of the Old Faithful Inn.  She gives the history of the building several times a day.  She told me about an author, C.J. Box (real name?) who wrote a mystery, called "Free Fire," based in Yellowstone Park.

Kind of looks like a country/western singer, don't you think?

The hat is probably hiding a bald spot.

I bought the book at the gift shop, and will let you know how it goes.

The Yellow Buses are back!  These tour buses were in the Park from the 30's to the 50's.  They were sold when tourists fell in love with their own cars and the demand went down for their services.

In 2007, Yellowstone Park bought them back, refurbished them and they are popular again.  That's why you should have hung onto your poodle skirts and saddle shoes.  Old always becomes new again.

If you want to know more about them, check out this site, http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-4661-National-Parks-Travel-Examiner~y2009m5d10-Yellowstone-National-Parktake-a-yellow-bus-tour.

As I was wandering around outside, I ran into a sweet couple in their 70's from Pennsylvania.  Richard and Helen were looking for the web cam so they could wave to the folks back home.  Being the guest services person that I am, pat self on the back, I walked them to Old Faithful and pointed out the cameras perched on a tree.

They insisted that I wave to their family with them.  We went back into the Old Faithful Inn and chatted for a while.  I now know about their cancer surgeries, all of their children and their political orientation.  They wanted me to hike with them, but I had plans to head into West Yellowstone.  It is amazing how you can bond with perfect strangers.

The Governor of Wyoming, Dave Freudenthal, was staying at the Old Faithful Inn.

As I was talking to my sweet friends, he passed through with a film crew.  He was appropriately dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans.

Grizzly son and I decided that this wasn't a big deal as only about a hundred people actually live in Wyoming. 

It would seem that anybody could be governor of Wyoming if they really wanted to.  Maybe the citizens of the state just rotate the job every few weeks or so. 

Grizzly's girlfriend and I took off for West Yellowstone after lunch.

Something new is going on now in the Park.

It is fly fishing season. 

I didn't see any of them actually catch a fish, but they were having a good time in their expensive gear, standing in the middle of a freezing river.

I hope they can move fast in those waders when the bison take their afternoon stroll through the area.

Of course we saw more bison on the way...nothing new or exciting, but the drama is building now that there are thousands of tourists in the Park.

These smarty pants were standing right next to a mother and her calf.  The Park ranger was walking the opposite way from this scene.

He was probably going to his car to call the ambulance ahead of time. 

West Yellowstone was jumping, even in the rain.

Just like every other tourist town, you can buy t-shirts, hats, key chains, stuffed bison toys, and over priced jewelry. 

We looked but didn't buy.  Remember, we earn minimum wage.


West Yellowstone even has a summer theater, called the Play Mill.

A windmill in Yellowstone?  Could there have been a more appropriate choice?  How about the Bison Poo Players or Theater in the Poo? 

Couldn't resist a poo reference.

My real mission was to find a room for me and the hubby when he comes to rescue me in June.

The prices are incredibly high for the summer, but I decided on The Hibernation Station.  If I have to pay a mountain of money to sleep in a bed, it had to be here.

That's a statue of elk in the front.

Look at these adorable cabins with tepees on the top.

Who needs the Holiday Inn when you can have some atmosphere?

This is a picture of one of the rooms, taken from their website.

It sure isn't dormitory living. 

I can't wait to live like an adult again.  The earplugs at night are really starting to irritate me.

They are necessary to drown out the roomie's snoring and the drunks outside my window.

Last night, roomie screamed so loud in her sleep, she woke herself up.  She was dreaming that a wolf was ripping the throat out of a dog.  She needs some long counseling sessions.

Tonight may call for a pub visit.  I hear a Moose Drool calling my name.

Stay tuned for Part Two of Memorial Day weekend....same time, same place.