A Day at West Yellowstone

Hello all - today we decided we were going to play tourist - so we went into West Yellowstone and went to the IMAX theater and to the West Yellowstone museum and depot - the pictures above were taken in the museum - the first one is Dan with Dan the Depot Bear (which had been a small black bear cub) and the second is with "Ole Snaggletooth". Snaggletooth had been shot by poachers in a garbage dump - one of the things we found out today was that back in the early 1900's the tourists in Yellowstone would feed the bears - the hotels and lodges would leave their garbage out and the bears would come in to feed there - the visitors would walk right up to them and feed them - not a good idea. Anyway, it wasn't until the 1950's that the national park service decided that this might not be a good thing for the people or the bears and stopped the garbage feeding. It was very interesting going into the museum and seeing how the early visitors came to the park - usually by train and then by either stage coach or, later, by touring car. The museum even had the uniforms that the "Beanner Queens" worn and the song they would sing to the train passengers as they got off the train - the "Beanner Queens" were the waitresses in the Dining Hall at the Depot station in West. Anyway, it was interesting.

This is the statute that is in the middle of the road in West. We also went to the IMAX theater and saw - would you believe - ALASKA. it was pretty cool also, but not exactly what I thought it would be. It did show a lot of really neat wild life and some beautiful scenery, but I wouldn't expect anything less in Alaska. Anyway, we did a little shopping - finally found a lamp for the table between out two chairs and a few other things and then we came home. Oh, we also ate lunch in West. It was a nice relaxing day.

This is a picture of a snow cat that they use in West to get into the park in the winter. We found out today that the park shuts down in the middle of October and does not open again for motorized traffic until the middle of December. It is only open to foot traffic - snow skis, walking, cross country skiing, etc. I think that is pretty neat - you would certainly be able to see some neat things if you didn't have to worry about traffic.

We came home and let the pups out - and of course, they started chasing chipmunks immediately - this is Samantha after she climbed the wood pile searching for the little creatures. They are really aggressive about their hunt.

I've had a couple of questions that I will try and answer - first - no, this blog will not just be done over the summer - I plan on keeping this up for the duration - I'm not sure if I will be able to continue doing every day like I am trying to do now - but I will do at least every other day, if I don't do every day. Second - okay - I know that some of you (Crystal) are getting tired of the "moose" pictures but that, to us, is one of the most exciting things about our trip here - we have been to Alaska twice and have not seen moose - we have been out west before and have never seen moose - so every time I see one I get excited. Sorry, but I am sure that once we leave this area and we don't see moose any more I will find something else to take pictures of - just be patient.

I know that many of you are very busy with school now - Dana and the girls are back in school - and Melissa is back teaching but we miss the comments. We understand how busy you guys get but I hope you will be able to get back to letting us know what you think about our "great adventures".

Well, I'll sign off for tonight - I hope you have a great day and we'll talk to you tomorrow.

I got "snorted" at!!!

Well, something happened to me today that has not happened all summer - a gentleman came in the cabin and told us that there was a cow moose and her calf down in the spring. I looked at Dan and he told me to go and take some pictures, but be careful. So, I head down to the spring looking at the water the entire time thinking that the moose will be down in the water feeding. When all of a sudden the calf and the momma jump out in front of me and run into the woods right about the place we normally park the truck.


Well, I get a quick shot of momma as she is crossing the road. As I am watching them - she stops and turns around and looks at me - now baby is further back in the woods but I can still see him - I decide I will walk out on the gravel road and take some more pictures - Momma decides she does not want me to take pictures of her baby and she turns around and snorts at me - let me tell you that I decide that she is the boss and I will leave them alone. I tell momma "Okay, Okay - I'm leaving" and that's what I did -I told you I'm not stupid and if a momma moose turns around and snorts at you - you leave her and her baby alone! (I actually have the pictures backwards - this should be the first picture and the top picture is the one I took just before she snorted at me - oh well!)

Now, we'll move away from the moose - we have two more weekends or four days left to work - there is even a rumor that they might close the cabin a week early - if so, then next weekend will be out last weekend. (That would not be a bad thing, since we only had about 60 total people in the cabin all day!) S L O W !!!!!!! Our deposit for the day was the lowest we made all summer. I sure was glad that we brought a book today - I did get some reading done.

Dan and I still haven't decided what we are going to do this week - we do know that we be going back to the dinner theater at Mack's Inn on Thursday night and then we go into Yellowstone to dinner Friday night. IF next weekend is in fact our last weekend, it will really make a difference on what we do - so, I think we will have to think about it as this coming week as being our last week. I'll certainly let you know what we decide to do and if we stay that extra week or if we close the cabin up.

We have enjoyed watching football - with the pre-season starting to wind down - and the college season getting ready to start up - it is our understanding the AP has picked the Florida Gators as number one to begin this season - it should be an exciting season and it will be interesting to see how it plays out - all I can say is - Neil, I wish them luck. (Okay, Crystal, I'm not saying anything else!)

Well, I don't have much else to report for today - Melissa, I hope your Hamburger Casserole turned out okay - and I hope that your second week of schools goes well - I'm sure that you all will start to get back in the groove real soon. In the next couple of days I'll do the "books" for this month - I thought we were doing really well, until the problem with the truck and that sorta blew the budget - oh well, we'll see how bad it turned out in the next few days.

Now, before I sign off I'll let you see the last picture - it is really out of focus, but I think that you can make out the baby moose in the background - it was the best I could do before momma moose ran me off. Hope you enjoy - and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Five days of work left

Hello all - sorry I did not post last night, but after the play last night we came home and went straight to bed. The play was really good - I think it was better than the one we went to in West - in fact, we made reservations to go next week and see the other production that they do - it's a take off of Les Miserables and we understand that it is funny also. The dinner was very good also - prime rib, baked potato, corn, baked beans, rolls - a great salad and ice cream with a chocolate chip cookie. However, I was not feeling that well last night so I didn't eat that much - I did enjoy the salad and the roll, but I didn't finish the rest and I certainly didn't want the ice cream. But that's okay - I will maybe enjoy it better this week - we are going on Thursday night to the play at Mack's Inn and then we will have dinner in Yellowstone on Friday night - so we should have a busy time at the end of the week.

To tell you the truth, I am having a hard time with the idea that we only have two weeks left here - Two weeks from Monday we are leaving for Michigan - there are still things that we haven't done yet and having to go to Idaho Falls three days last week didn't help with our being able to get things done that we want to do. I don't know if we will get it all done or not, but it will certainly something that we will have to sit and discuss. Maybe we will have time to discuss it more when we are at the cabin tomorrow.

Speaking of the cabin - we have really seen a slow down in the number of people that are visiting - and I think that we will continue to see a slow down - but who am I to know. We have talked to people who live here and they say that now that school has started we will not see that many people - they say we won't even see that many on Labor Day weekend so we will see - I'll know this time next week won't I????

I have been asked about the weather here - well, that's another thing that we haven't been able to figure out - two weeks ago we were shivering at 29 degrees and then the last two weeks we have weather in the 80's - now, it's suppose to cool off again starting tonight, but we will see. It is also suppose to rain tomorrow, Monday, and possibly Tuesday- so that also might put a damper on what we will do next week also. I think I will win the bet about the snow (although I hope I don't). The weather is just another one of those things that we just can't figure out. But I guess that's just one of the things about a new area- we learn as we live through it.

I don't have that much else to report - Friday I was not feeling well - stomach so we didn't do anything until we went to the play - Today was work - we weren't that busy so once again I left for a couple of hours and did the laundry. I put ham and beans in the crock pot this morning before we left so - dinner was ready when we got home.

Now, before I sign off, I feel that I must make a comment on the passing of Ted Kennedy. First, let me say that I was not really a "Teddy" fan; however, with the passing of the 'final brother' the "age of Camelot" has come to an end. You see, John Kennedy was the first president that I "voted" for - I was the only one to vote for John in my fourth grade class and I was the one in my 6th grade class that had to be taken out when it was announced that he had been killed. I remember sitting in front of the TV for three days thinking that they would announce this was all a joke and that President Kennedy was alive and well, but we know that never happened. Then Bobby was killed and once again the nation was in shock and mourning. There was always the hope that when John Jr. came to age he would be "the one". We thought that maybe, just maybe, John Jr. would take his father's place, but that was not to be with John-John dying at sea in the plane crash. But now, with the passing of Teddy they are all gone and that age has died with him. The dream that was "Camelot" has also died. He is now with his brothers and his parents - May he rest in peace.

That's all for today - I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Thursday at home

This is what I looked outside today and saw - when he was suppose to be repacking the "basement" - does it look like he's working to you? Me either. Oh well, I guess it will get done sooner or later - but at this rate it will definitely be later.

Today was a quiet day at home - I gave the dogs a bath (not that they needed it - HA!) and I cleaned the house some. That was about it - I did do some research on the Internet and emailed some -people to get our schedule straight for the next couple of months. I am still trying to get something lined up in Georgia for the months of March and April - the first two places that we have applied to say they don't have any openings even though it shows on the state web site that they do. Oh well, I ended up applying for about four different parks that are close to Atlanta - we'll see what happens.

I did make reservations at a state park in New York that is close to Niagara Falls so we will be able to meet our friends from Florida in October - then I also changed our doctor's appointments in Dowling Park and our reservations at the RV park there as well - I knew that we could not keep the appointments in November due to working so we did change them to the end of October. Looks like we will be in Atlanta the weekend of Oct. 19th then we'll go on down to Dowling Park for a couple of weeks for doctors - then we will go down to Lakeland for a day or two before heading to Highlands Hammock on Friday the 30th - getting ready to start at our new job on November 1st.

If I could just get the stuff lined up in Georgia for the spring I would be happier - but it will work itself out.

I need to address a question that was raised about our truck - no it is not "new" - it is a 2008, and we bought it used. We are pretty sure that it was used by a rancher due to the hitch in the truck bed. Anyway, it is over a year old and has been used so it is not unusual for things to happen. We just hope that nothing else will go wrong in the next few months.

Well, I really don't have anything else to report - I'm going to go watch some football - I think the rain delay in Tampa is over. I'll talk with you tomorrow.

Idaho Falls

We went back to Idaho Falls this afternoon and picked up the truck - this is a statue that is at the entrance to a park just as you come into the city limits of Idaho Falls. Downtown there is a fabulous park area with waterfalls and all kinds of water features - it is on the Snake River and the rest of the city just sorta sits around this park - no, I wasn't able to take pictures of it today, but maybe someday in the future.


We were somewhat surprised at the bill for the truck - Dan and the service department manager had a miscommunication and they did more work on the truck that we thought they were going to do - the bill for the part and labor was a little less than $200.00 which we expected. Dan also told them to change the fuel filter which was suppose to be around $125.00 plus labor, but what we didn't know was that they also 'cleaned the fuel lines' or some such - soooo, the total bill was $500.00 - this was a very big shock to us, but there was nothing we could really do. Let's just say that Dan let the guy know that we were not happy with the situation, but the work had already been done, so we had to pay it. Now, before any of you start to blame FORD let me set the record straight - people are going to have remember - you are going to have parts break down - like radiator hoses. That's just part of owning a truck - Chevy's and Toyota's they all have parts that break. So, let's not start bad mouthing our Ford - plus Dan would NEVER own anything but a Ford - he's had a Chevy and didn't like it - so Ford will be our choice of vehicles.


We did go and make reservations for the dinner theater here at Mack's Inn - we will go see "The Hillbillies" on Friday night - we will be having Prime Rib and I'll let you know how it goes - it starts at 6:10 and I don't know when it will be over, so I might not post Friday night, but if I don't I'll be sure to fill you in on Saturday.


You might ask if we did anything else while in Idaho Falls other than return the rental and pick up the truck and the answer would be "Why yes we did." At the Museum of Idaho they had the Titanic Exhibit and Dan and I went this afternoon -----------------------



See, here are our tickets to prove it - it was pretty fascinating - they did have many of the artifacts from the Titanic and told the stories of the survivors and those that died. When we went in we were given "ticket" with the name of a passenger that was actually on the Titanic - at the end of the exhibit they had a list of all those who survived and those that didn't.




This was my ticket - I was fifteen - had been married for 50 days - and was sailing third class. What do you think - did I survive or not????
I went through the entire exhibit thinking that I did not - but I did - my "husband" did not - so I was a 15 year old widow. In case you are wondering - Dan was also given a ticket - he was a 28 year old male from Ireland - he did not survive. I think one of the things that will always stay with me - they had an "iceberg" on display that you were invited to touch with your hand - you were to see how long you could leave your hand on this large sheet of ice - I lasted about 20 seconds - then they tell you the water was colder than the surface of the iceberg. It is no wonder that people died so quickly in the water. Anyway, it sure made you think about the circumstances and how many died in vain.



That was about all we did today - I don't have any other pics to show you - maybe tomorrow. I hope you all have a great day and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Bears, Bears Everywhere

Some might think this is a real bear, but it really isn't - he just acts like it sometimes. I'm just kidding - Dan wanted me to take a picture of him today while we were at Yellowstone Bear World - this is a refuge for bears (well, duh!) They take in bears that have been orphaned - or in the case of one of the small baby bears, those that are rescued from these little country fairs - this poor little bear had just been rescued and all he would do is walk back and forth in his enclosure - the other two babies in the enclosure with him were playing and eating leaves off limbs. I really felt sorry for this poor little fella - he would occasionally walk over to where the other two bears were, then he would go back to walking back and forth. The staff explained that he wasn't used to having space - he was used to just having a small area. I think that is such an awful shame - and the good thing about a refuge like this is - they can rescue little babies and allow them to live a nice life. No, they will never be able to be in the wild because they are to use to humans - they would not be able to survive - but they are well taken care of here - AND they have lots of room to roam and play and interact with others of their kind.

Now, we were at Bear World in the afternoon and it was nap time for some of the bears - this guy was lying in the road, but was in the shade - we drove right beside him and he didn't move - The staff tell you NOT to get out of your car (that's another DUH!) and not to roll your windows down - I will admit that we didn't follow that rule - I rolled the window down to get this picture - I even stuck my head out of the window - BUT all the bears around this area were fast asleep - I'm not stupid - I know when I can bend the rules a little and when it is not safe to bend the rules.

This fellow was cooling off and he was really cool (no pun intended!) - you will be able to see a series of pictures of this guy until he is completely submersed except for his head. This guy was neat and I enjoyed watching him for a little while - one of the other rules was not to stop - we didn't follow that rule either - You can't get pictures that turn out while driving along - anyway, I really liked this guy - I told Dan that he looked like "Pete" (my girls will understand this reference) and Dan said "no he doesn't - he's alive"! HAHA! For those not in the family quick explanation of "Pete" - a 40 plus year old bear rug that my Dad got in Canada - that's the short story.

This guy was the granddaddy of them all - he was HUGE!!!!! As you can probably tell - and when you look at the link you will see that we did NOT roll the windows down when we were going by this guy -

Here were a couple of other bears cooling off in another water area - these were the first bears we saw - so they were pretty neat to see also.

You might wonder why we went to Bear World today - well, we went down to Idaho Falls again to take the truck in - Dan called this morning and they said to have it there by 1:00 today and they would start working on it. So, another trip to Idaho Falls but this time we had to rent a car - we couldn't stay in Idaho Falls all night. On the way home we went to see the bears. We also found out what is the matter with the truck - not as bad as we thought it would be, but will cost us money instead of it being under the warranty - the truck has a busted upper radiator hose which only leaked when under pressure (in other words, when we were driving and the engine was hot it would leak, when we got home and it was not under pressure it didn't leak - that's why we never had any coolant on the ground). Anyway, it is suppose to be fixed tomorrow which means ANOTHER trip to Idaho Falls tomorrow- three times in three days - not my idea of a fun week but we had to get the truck fixed - we only have 2 and a half weeks left here and I didn't want to take a chance of having the truck break down on us with the RV attached. I really don't want the truck to break down on us at all - and now we shouldn't have any problem.

Tomorrow we will go get the truck and and then come straight home - we are going to go by Mack's tomorrow and try and make reservations for the play for either Thursday or Friday night - I'll let you know which one we get tomorrow.

I don't have much else to report - I hope you enjoy the pictures of the bears - let me know what you think. Have a great day and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Here is the link - enjoy!

More Moose

Today was the day for us to go down to Idaho Falls - Dan wanted to go down to a RV center and get a replacement part for his chair - he broke the handle that closes the recliner (actually he did this right after we arrived here in Island Park). Anyway, he decided he wanted to go get that part today and he wanted to look at other floor models of Montana's - we have only one complaint with our 5th wheel (well, actually two) - in order to lean back in the recliner you have to pull the chair out into the room - in other words it is not a wall hugger. I can not lean back in mine at all because my chair is by the door - if I pull my chair out you can't get in or out of the door. So, we found a Montana dealer in Idaho Falls and took the 2 hour trip down today. We looked at several other Montana's but none of them solved the problem as we see it. It looks like we might have to buy our own chairs that will fit and take the ones that came with the 5th wheel out. I don't know if that will work or not, but it is something we will think about anyway. (My other complaint is the size of the refrigerator/freezer -it is TOO small for full-timers.)

While we were there we also checked with the Ford dealer since we are still having some problems with the truck - we have had to add a gallon and a half of coolant since we got back from Butte - but there is no sign of a leak - which means we have a leak through the engine. Dan stopped at the Ford dealership in Idaho Falls and they said that they will need to pull the engine to find where the leak is - soooo, it looks like tomorrow Dan will call and make an appointment to take the truck in and we will be renting a car for a week or so - or until the truck is fixed. The mechanic said it could take a couple of weeks to get the parts he might need so we are looking at a time crunch - we need to get the truck in so we will have time to get it fixed before we need to leave in three weeks.

After we went to the Ford Dealership we went over to the SuperCenter to buy some groceries. The biggest problem we have when we buy groceries is finding space when we get home for everything - especially in the freezer. However, I finally got everything put away when we got home. BUT, on the way home, look what we saw on the side of the road. This was just south of Harriman State Park at a place called Swan Lake. The two bull moose where out in the lake eating and just hanging out - It was really pretty cool.


This is a picture of just one of them - I think when you look at the link you will be able to see them better - these pictures are a little small. But I hope you enjoy the pics. I never get tired of looking at moose, or finding moose. I can not tell you how much we have enjoyed seeing all the moose we have seen since we have been here - I know that we are very lucky to see the amount of wild life we have seen and believe me - I am very aware of that and very appreciative of the fact that we have had this opportunity.

We are still trying to make sure we have a job for next spring - we seem to be having a problem getting things wrapped up in Georgia - we make application and then don't hear anything from the park - the Volunteer Coordinator is really working with us and wants us to get a position, but we are not hearing back from the park rangers. We are thinking about looking at another park in Georgia now - this would be number three. We have emailed the coordinator and asked her what her opinion is - so we will wait and see what she says.

Well, I have pretty well caught you all up on what we did today. I hope that for all of you that are back in school today had a great day. I know that it will take a couple of weeks for everyone to get back in to a rhythm, but I hope you will stay with me. If there is anything you want to know, just ask - I will be happy to answer any questions.

Here is the link to the new pics - hope you enjoy!

Leaves are changing already!

Well, I have said in an earlier post that fall was coming - well, the last couple of days there has been a definite change in the foliage around here. It seems like everywhere we look there is a little red or orange or yellow. Of course, we don't have a lot of deciduous trees - most of the trees here are evergreen, but we can see a change in the few that are around.



Of course, we have been told that we will see snow before we leave and that is just three weeks away, but if the temperature keeps dropping the way it has the last week or so I will not be surprised. (Dan and I have a little wager - I say we won't - although I hope we do - and he says we will - let's see who wins.)

Now, when we get home from work - or anywhere for that matter - the girls run outside to chase the chipmunks - well, I hear this one little chipmunk crying out and see him/her run up the tree - so I go out and get this ------------


Look at this babies eyes - he is scared to death - and stayed in the tree for a long time - I finally made the girls come inside for a while just to give this poor little creature time to get away. I really don't think the girls would hurt one, but then I don't know that for a fact - Jessie did catch and kill a mouse this morning and she killed a mole yesterday (she is becoming our little killer dog I guess).

Today was SLOW at the cabin - between the rain and the temperature we didn't have many people who ventured out - plus most schools start tomorrow around here so many parents were at home getting those kids ready to hit the books tomorrow. I imagine that many of you in Florida are doing the same thing.

Well, guys, I don't have much else to report today - I am not sure what we will do next week. We know that we have to go to Rexburg to Walgreens and Walmart (the two "Wal's") and we want to make reservations at Macks for the dinner theater. We also have Sawtell Mountain to go up and look for raspberries - then we want to go back over the Virginia City. But it's suppose to rain all day tomorrow (snow????) so we might just stay in. We'll have to wait and see - for all of you that are going back to school tomorrow (whether you are a child or an adult) we hope you have a great day. Take care and go with the flow - let us know how things go and we will talk to you tomorrow! Love you all!

One more day this week

Hello all - this is going to be a short and sweet entry - we were busy today at the cabin - once again we never know what is going to happen. We also saw the "baby" moose after work - I was not able to get a picture due to some people scaring him/her away. But that's okay - at least we saw it again.

When we got home I cooked dinner -then before we could sit down and eat we were invited over to the neighbors for dinner - we had dutch oven chicken and dutch oven potatoes - with brocolli and sliced tomatoes and sliced cucumber. Yummy!!! So tomorrow we will have the bean and beef burritoesw/sauce that I had fixed along with the spanish rice. At least now I don't have to worry about dinner for tomorrow.

I just got home - the pups did not like the baby they had - he is about two and even though he was very gentle Jessie just doesn't do well with little ones. Anyway, I brought them home and decided to do my post for tonight.

I can't believe that I didn't get a single comment on the blog last night - I think you guys are getting used to moose pictures. I don't think I will ever tire of moose - but then that is just me. I really thought I would get some kind of comment, but then all you might be getting ready for the first day of school next week.

Well, I don't really have much else to report so I am going to sign off for tonight - sorry I don't have any pictures today - maybe tomorrow. Hope you all have a great day and I'll talk to you tomorrow!!

BABY MOOSE!!

I know, I know, this is not a baby moose - patience! I'm sure all of you who know us think this is a picture of Samantha - well, you would be wrong! However, to make you feel better, the first time I saw this dog I thought it was Samantha also. Actually, if you look real close, you will see that this dog is NOT a female - his name is Peter and he belongs to our neighbors daughter and son-in-law along with a cute little female named Annie. (She's red.) They are here this weekend visiting Kaye and Joyce. Annie loves to chase chipmunks also - but Peter couldn't be bothered. Anyway, I thought you might like to see another daschund.


Now, you might wonder what in the world this is a picture of - how about wild raspberries. They are everywhere along the path to the cabin, but most are not ripe yet. I told Dan today that we needed to bring something to put the berries in. You might wonder why I would have pictures from the cabin today - well, we had to work today. Joyce is not feeling well so we told her that we would take her shift today. So, this week we will work three days instead of two (that's okay - that's an extra $30.00 plus mileage.) It was really slow - so slow that I left Dan at the cabin for a couple of hours and went and did the laundry. We have no idea what to expect tomorrow - we don't know if we will be busy or not, but I'm going to take my book with me just in case we aren't.

There was at least one other good thing about working today - when we started to leave and we were walking to the car the star of tonight's blog was in the spring -------- and it was --------




a BABY MOOSE!!! Now, it was not a new born - so I probably really shouldn't call it a BABY moose, more like a young moose - we don't know where momma was, but let me tell you - I was really on the look out for her while I was taking these pictures - I kept looking over my shoulder for her, but thankfully, she did not show up. This guy was not real sure of the people around her and she was a little skittish. A couple of times she stomped her feet and ran around. I really tried to keep my distance so as not to spook her; however, I did sorta follow her when she went down into spring.

Here she is looking straight at me - I'm up on the hill side and some other people came out on the hill side also and were talking. Anyway, when you look at the link you will see her put her ears back. I didn't stay too much longer after she did that - I figured she was getting upset and I didn't want to get trampled.

I was even able to get this picture of her before I left the scene. Anyway, it was pretty neat seeing a young moose like this and I was awfully glad that momma was no where to be seen. Doesn't mean she wasn't around, she just didn't come out where we could see her. I'll put the link at the end of the blog so you can see all the pics.

We haven't thought about what we will do next week yet - I'm sure we will take a trip down to Rexburg to the store. We might even go back into Yellowstone IF Dan decides he wants to try the fishing in there. (Of course, when I told him my plan on the hike and him fishing he complained that it would take him a half hour just to get back to where he wants to fish if we did that - so I suggested that I drop HIM off and then I would come back and pick him up after I finished the hike - I don't think that went over well - he doesn't give up control of the truck very often!) We still have not made our reservations at Mack's Inn for the Dinner Theater - Dan says we will do it next week. We still have to take a drive up Sawtell Mountain - so we still have things we want to do - and the time is quickly approaching for us to leave. We will just have to do as much as we can and let the rest wait until the next time - whenever that is.

Well, I don't have anything else to report - I hope you guys like the pictures of the moose - let me know what you think and those of you that are getting ready to go back to school I hope you have a very restful weekend! Here is the link to the pics. Oh, by the way, I'm watching lots of football - yes, it's only preseason but it's football and I LOVE it!!!! Enjoy the games if you happen to be watching also! (Okay Crystal, Brett didn't do too well tonight, but he has only been in camp two days - give him a chance!)

I'll talk to you all tomorrow.

Geysers and Springs and more

Today we went into Yellowstone again with the mission of taking pictures of the geysers and springs (mostly I wanted to take pictures of the springs). That we did, but we did more than that. I was finally able to get some pictures of the Candian Geese which is the picture above. There are several other shots of the geese but I wanted to put one on the main page for you to see.








We also ate lunch at the Old Faithful Inn - this is my new favorite place to eat. We had the buffet and it was EXCELLENT!! Plus, for both of us, it only cost $35.00 with tip. I did not have anything on the buffet that was not good - I ate bison chili, green salad, pasta salad, bar-b-que chicken (no bun), and baked beans. I even went back and had another green salad for dessert. Dan had trout (I even ate a couple of bites of his trout). We made reservations for the Friday night before Labor Day (September 4th) for dinner - we are going to call it our "last hurrah"! I think this place is so cool - Dan and I would love to spend the night here, but we can't because of the pups. Oh well, it's pretty cool just being able to go inside and see the fabulous architecture of the place. It is probably one of my most favorite places.





But now, for the main attraction:

This is just one of the lovely springs - the water is absolutely beautiful - they range in color from the clearest turquoise blue to a emerald green.

There are times that you would think that you are on the beach in the Caribbean - the water is so clean and clear and it looks like white sand - leading out to the blue water - except for the steam. That is definitely NOT the beach.

This is the spring I really wanted to take a picture of - you see this spring on many book covers- it is the Grand Prismatic Spring BUT I was not able to take a picture from above to really get the full effect of the spring. There is a way to get over on the other side and get up on that hillside, but it is about a 2 mile hike (one way) and Dan did not want to do the hike, plus we had the pups with us and they are not allowed on the boardwalks. Sooooo, I didn't get the shot. He is talking about going back into the park and doing some fishing and if he does I think I will let him drop me off at the trail head and I'll hike in to take the pictures while he is fishing - It should take me about 30 - 45 minutes to hike in (it is uphill) and then take pictures for about 15 - 20 minutes then hike back out - There is also suppose to be a waterfall back on this hike (Fairy Falls) so I could get some shots of it as well. By the time I did all that Dan should be tired of fishing. We'll see - but it is a plan.

This is another of the springs I really liked - it is called Emerald Spring and it is a beautiful shade of emerald green - of course I would have to love this spring - I love emeralds!!! I think you can tell from some of these shots just how deep these springs are. Today, I guess because of the slight wind, they didn't even smell bad.

This is a good shot of the blue and the depth - isn't it just unbelievable??

This is a smaller spring but once again the color of the water is wonderful.

For the first time I took one whole SD card and about half of the second one - so I will have two links at the end of today's blog. Dan has gone fishing tonight - let's see if he brings any fish home tonight.

Tomorrow we are going to go and make dinner theater reservations at Macks Inn for one night next week - we'll see when they have an opening. After we make our reservations we will go do laundry which Dan always LOVES to do - not. Anyway, it has to be done. I also think that I am going to upload some photo's to Walgreens (I have a discount coupon good through Saturday) I won't pick them up until next week, but we will need to go to Rexburg to buy groceries next week anyway.

Well, other than the springs that is about all we did today - I hope you enjoy the pictures - please let me know which ones you like best - here is the link to #1 and here is the link to #2.

Enjoy and I'll talk with you tomorrow!!!

What in the World is this????

Okay - take a look at this 'thing'. Do you have any idea what it is??? Well, it is just down the road from where our 5th wheel and to tell you the truth it is a little scary. Have any idea? Well, maybe this will help ...........



Does this help? No, okay I'll tell you - how about a bear trap? No really, that's what it is - in fact there are three of them at the end of our road. (Actually this is the smallest of the three.) Before you ask, no they are not set up to catch a bear here - but I tell you the truth - it is still a little scary to think that they have that many bear traps ready to use. That is one animal we have not seen - we would like to, but from the safety of our truck. Not that I'm a scaredy cat, but those are some animals you just don't mess with. I would really like to get a great picture of a bear. I do have a couple of pictures from one of our trips into Yellowstone - but they aren't very close. If I am patient my time will come.

Today was the wiener roast at out neighbors place. Dan and I were under the impression that just a few people would be there and I made a small dish of pork and beans. Boy, were we wrong - there were over forty (40) people at this "little" roast. These are all people that Joyce and Kaye know from where they spend their winter - which is in Overton, Nevada. (This is about 80 miles from Las Vegas) close to Lake Meade. Joyce told me that this group has been together for many years and that they have two get togethers every summer. It was sorta nice to be included in this group even though we will not be wintering in Nevada, and we probably won't be in this area next summer. It was really an honor.

Well, we talked to the lady in Alaska again today and we got all the paperwork filled out and mailed to her. Now, we will just have to wait and see if we get the position. Dan also talked to the guy that handles the park we want to go to in Georgia - he is suppose to call Dan back. I would really like to have all this stuff lined up and on the calendar before we leave here in September. Right now, we know that we have the position in Florida for the months of November and December and we will be taking January and February off ( we'll be in Dowling Park for those two months)- then we're working on getting March and April in Georgia. We would take the month of May off (actually that would be a travel month) - IF we get the position in Alaska we would need to be there June 7th and would probably then work until August 27th. That would have the next year planned and I would feel much better if I knew what was going on and where we are going. We'll just have to wait and see if all this works out - if it does you guys will be the first to know.



I don't have much else to report - I think we are going to go into Yellowstone tomorrow and take the pictures that I have been wanting to take. Then I'll do laundry on Friday and clean the 'house'. We did go out to dinner tonight - we went to the Lakeside Lodge and I had Country Fried Steak with twice baked potato, corn and salad. Dan had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and a salad. I brought half of my dinner home and will have it tomorrow night - I'm not sure what I will fix for Dan, but I am sure I can figure something out - Dinner with tip was $40.00.

Hopefully tomorrow night I will have many pictures for you to see - just depends on the weather. Hope you guys are having a good week - I know that school is getting ready to start down in Florida and you guys will be hard at work soon (I remember how hard it is to get back into the 'work' mode), but I hope that you will keep reading the blog and keep the comments coming. Dennis, I'm glad you liked the rail fence picture. I'm thinking about uploading some of the pictures to Walgreens and see if I can do some enlargements. We'll see.

Talk to you tomorrow

BRETT!!

Oh, I forgot - Brett is BACK!!!!! We watched the news conference on ESPN and I just might have to rout for the Vikings - well, maybe I'll just rout for Brett!

Oh my gosh - Alaska!

Hello all - today was a day at home again - Dan did go fishing for awhile. He said that he caught a couple but I haven't seen them yet - once again they "were too small" and were returned to the creek to grow up some. I guess someone else will catch them next year. In case you haven't noticed I sure do love to give Dan a hard time - we have a great time kidding each other and giving each other a hard time, but it is all in good fun.

Now, what in the world did I mean by the title of this blog you might ask? Well, I was searching on the internet and I found a job for next year in ALASKA! Okay - we don't have the job yet, but we are certainly working on getting it. This will be in a part of Alaska that Dan and I have not ever been to before. This job is in Tiglit National Wildlife Refuge and we will have the choice of working in the campground as hosts or in the interpretive center. This Refuge is right outside the town of Tok which is close to the border of Canada. Now, like I said, we don't have this job yet, but we certainly will enjoy it if we do get the job. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

Now, there has been quite a bit of discussion about my ability to ride a horse - so, let me put this argument to bed, so to speak. Okay, it is true that several years ago I was riding bareback and was thrown. When I hit the ground I did break my upper arm and I did require some rehab and I do have a bone spur. However, a couple of summers ago I rode again - this time with a saddle and I did quite well - thank you very much. I did learn my lesson from my little broken arm - I don't ride bareback any longer. Now, to tell you the truth I don't see me riding any time soon, but I am here to tell you that IF I want to I will.

I did not do anything today at all - except look up some stuff on the inter net and try and get my printer to work - for some reason it just didn't want to work today - maybe it will decide to work tomorrow. I'll try it again then. Oh Dana, I did order something on the Internet and had it sent to your house - we'll get it when we get down there in November.

We have the wiener roast tomorrow -so I will fix the pork and beans in the convection oven in the morning (have I told you lately how much I like the convection oven???) Really, I have cooked many meals and have yet to turn on the oven. I was not sure if I would like the convection oven since I had never used one before, but I don't think I would have another microwave without the convection oven in it.

Well, I really don't have anything else to report for today - let us know what you think of the possibility of the Alaska job. We look forward to your comments. I'm glad you like the pictures, I'm thinking about having some enlarged, but I just don't have a place to hang them. We'll see.

Harriman State Park

Today Dan and I went over to Harriman State Park and visited "Railroad Ranch". This was a ranch that was owned by a small group of men including John Harriman - he owned one of the railroads in the early 1900's. We just walked around the old ranch and looked at some of the old building - which are all in really good shape, at least on the outside.



Dan was fascinated by all the old farm equipment - he read all the signs they had posted that named the equipment and what it was used for - one of the pieces that I thought was pretty interesting was the ice cutter - they had a large saw that was pulled by a horse that they used to cut blocks of ice out of the lake. Pretty cool (no pun intended).




These are the barns where you can go on horse back rides - no we did not go, but it would have been fun.




There are still a few wild flowers out and I got this shot on the walk back to the car - the flowers are not as proficient as they were when we first got here, but there are still some around.

This is probably my favorite picture I took today - I call it "Reflection" - it is just a pretty neat shot (or at least I think so, hope you do too).

After we left the ranch we drove about eight miles down the gravel road to see the campground - boy were we disappointed. It sure wasn't what either one of expected. It was really run down and the road getting to the campground was horrible!!!! There is no way I would take our camper down that road - and as you know I will take us down some pretty rough roads. Anyway, we left the campground and came home to eat lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon at home - the dogs spent the day digging in the dirt and chasing chipmunks. I cooked dinner at home tonight - pork chops (on the grill), fresh green beans and fresh corn on the cob - both of which was bought at the farmer's market last week. Good dinner!!!

I don't know what we are going to do tomorrow - maybe just stay home and do the housecleaning and that stuff tomorrow - we bought some peaches at a farmers market last week and I need to use them up as they are starting to go bad. I think I might make a small peach cobbler with them. I can't cut them up and put them in the freezer - there is NO room- so I must do something with them that will use them up. (The freezer is so small that we haven't had any ice cream since we moved into the trailer- which makes Dan unhappy - but that's just the way things go). Wednesday we have been invited to a "Wiener Roast" with Kay and Joyce (our neighbors). I'm going to fix pork and beans for that - but I won't have to worry about that until Wednesday morning.

We are starting to look at the atlas to see how we are going to travel over to Michigan in September - we are going to Dale, Becky, Cindy, and Bonnie (which are Dan's sister's children). We will probably spend 3 or 4 days with Dale before heading over to Pennsylvania. They are going to Florida for a week and are leaving on September 26th - so we should have some time to "play" going over to Michigan - we are going to go to see the Crazy Horse monument - it is not finished yet, but the last time we were out this way we didn't go see it - of course, we will also go back to Mount Rushmore since they are close to each other. I'm not sure what else we will go see on the way, but I am sure that there are other great places to visit.

I think that we might go to another one of the dinner theaters around here either this week or next - they only have three more weeks of putting on the shows - so we just have to decided which week we want to go. We also have decided that we will try and make reservations for Old Faithful Inn dinner the week after Labor Day (our last hurrah in Yellowstone). It should be nice.

Well, I don't have much else to report - here is a link to the pictures I took today - hope you enjoy!


Let me know what you think! Talk to you tomorrow!

Four Weeks to go

This is one of my favorite pictures of the river on Firehole Canyon Road - it is actually the Firehole River. There is a place on this river where you can actually swim in the river - which I think is pretty cool - no pun intended. There aren't many places in Yellowstone where you are allowed to get in the water - so to have a place that is designated for swimming is pretty neat.


We are finished with another week of 'work' - we have four more weeks to go. If the weather gets any colder (yes, I said colder!) I think we will be up to our necks in snow. The temperature this morning when we got up at 7:00 was 29 degrees - Dan actually got up in the middle of the night (actually about 5 am) and turned on the small electric heater in the bedroom. It never got warm all day today (high was about 52) and it was cold in the cabin all day - I sat by the small electric heater that is at the cabin almost all day. The temperature tonight is suppose to be about 29 or lower - then it is suppose to start a slight warm up by the end of the week - by warm up I mean around 75, which will be nice for a change. The 'locals' were even complaining about the temperature today - they have said that this has been a very unusual spring and summer with first all the rain and now the cold weather . It actually snowed in Ashton last night (that is where the nearest grocery store is - about 30 miles from us) but we didn't see any snow (darn!). We'll just have to stay warm for the next few days and then things will get better.

Next week we have a multitude of chances - we can go back into Yellowstone to take the pictures at the geysers, we can take a ride up Sawtell Mountain and look for wild raspberries, we can go back over to Virginia City, we can go to Harriman State Park, or we can ride over to the wild life refuge. As you can see we have many choices - now we will just have to decide which one or two or more that we will do. What ever we chose you will have a first row seat.

So until then - you guys all have a great week - and we'll talk to you tomorrow.

Fall is in the Air!

Hello all - well, this is a picture I took on Friday in Ashton. On our way to Rexburg we stopped by the ranger station to send a fax and the tree right next to the ranger station is already starting to turn - of course the temperature today was a balmy 57 degrees and the forecast is for it to be down to 28 degrees tonight with a chance of snow showers. This is August for goodness sakes - even the locals are surprised at this weather. Of course, we wouldn't mind a little snow - it would be sorta neat. We'll just have to wait and see.

We did go down to Rexburg on Friday - we went to Wal Mart and bought groceries and then we stopped at the Ace hardware store and bought Dan an ax and an electric chain saw (what he wanted for his birthday). Then we went into Yellowstone about 5:30pm and ate dinner. We stopped at one of the geyser basins and took a couple of pictures but it was really too dark for them to show up very well.

But the best pictures I took was of Old Faithful at sunset - those turned out really pretty well, but I'll let you be the judge.........................................

This is just one of the many I took - you will be able to see the them on the link - I really took quite a few, but I think this is one of the best shots - you know that you have to take a whole lot to get just a couple that is good. I hope you enjoy.




This is one of one of the geysers - this is about the only geyser that we got to before it was too dark for the pictures to show up - Dan has promised me to go back in around noon and go to all the geysers so I can take pictures. We also want to go back into the park at night - we found the 'sit-down' restaurant in the Old Faithful Inn (not Lodge). We found it AFTER we ate dinner Friday night - this is the Inn that you hear about all the time when people talk about Old Faithful - I have a couple of pictures of the interior of the Inn - it is really the coolest place - it has a double sided fireplace that you can walk into it is so large (too bad we were a day early going in to the park - since Obama was there today with the kids - oh well - they had already closed off one of the parking lots for the helicopter to come in).

On the way into Old Faithful we went down Firehole Canyon Road and got this picture of a female elk - there are also some pictures of the waterfall that is the canyon -

Now, the next picture I'm not happy with posting - but Dan is insistent that I do so - he took this one of me climbing back up the side of the mountain after I took some pictures of the waterfall - I handed him the camera so I could climb up the rest of the way and this is what he did .............

As you can tell, the wind was blowing pretty hard - but the temperature had not started to drop yet - I did in up putting on my rain coat. Anyway, you can see why I did not want to post, but I couldn't disappoint Dan.

Today was really very busy at the cabin, which was somewhat surprising considering the weather - but we have decided that we never know what is going to happen each and every day. On the days we think we will be busy we aren't and the days we don't think we will be we are swamped. Who knows??? We'll just have to wait and see what each day brings.

Well, I really don't have anything else to report - I hope to get some comments on the pictures and the close call to seeing the President. Hope you enjoy - here is the link to the pictures.

Birthday Boy!

So, here is the birthday boy! He is just sitting in his chair looking at a magazine. That is just about all he has done today - he didn't even go to the laundry mat with me - I even put his clothes away. Oh well, it is his birthday and he is entitled to just sit at least one day a year. He did go fishing yesterday evening. He didn't bring any fish home, but he said that he caught a "few little ones". Since I didn't go with him I will have to accept his explanation. He did say that he saw the cow moose crossing the main highway in front of him on his way home. That told us that we need to really be careful if we are out driving at night or dusk - you never know when a big ole moose is going to run out in front of you.


Now, I've been asked what football game I have been talking about - well, how about the Steelers and the Cardinals - is it the best game in the world, no - but it is football on ESPN - and guess who one of the broadcaster's is - give up???? How about Jon Gruden - you know, "Chucky". I was somewhat surprised to see him as a commentator. I also have horrible news - I now have a new team to hate - not only will I hate the Oakland Raiders and any team T.O. plays with, but I can now add the Eagles to my list. Why you might ask? Well, how about them signing Michael Vick to a two year deal. I don't think that person (and I'm being very kind by calling him a person) should not have been signed by ANYONE! I don't care if Tony Dungy is his "mentor". I like Tony but I am not very forgiving when it comes to Michael Vick. Anyway - I'll get off my soapbox now - it just allows me to rout against another team. That's okay.

Now, I did go to the laundry mat today - had four loads - so I spent $10.00 on laundry. You know it really isn't the money so much as the time that I resent. Maaybe resent is a little strong. I think it is a complete waste of time to have to go sit in a laundry mat and wait for your clothes to wash and then have to spend more time waiting for them to dry. At least when you have a washer/dryer at your home, no matter where you home is, you can do other things while the clothes are doing their thing. Even at most campgrounds you have a laundry mat on site and can go back to your 'home' and do something and then go back - you know not waste a lot of time, like just sitting in a laundry mat. Anyway, it's just something I will have to live with for awhile. I guess I'm just in a grumbling mood tonight. Sorry about that.

Well, I don't know what we are going to do tomorrow, if anything. We might just spend another day at home. At some point we are going to have to do the big grocery trip to Rexburg, but we will probably do that next week. I do know that we are planning to go into the park tomorrow evening and have dinner. So, I might not blog tomorrow night - depends on when we get home - so if you don't see something from me don't worry.

I'm so glad that so many of you saw the baby moose in yesterday's pictures - that was really a special moment. Now, before I sign off I need to answer some questions - Dennis - no, I didn't get a picture of the 'famous barn' - Dan didn't want to get out of the truck and do any walking - so I had to get out and climb through the fence to just get the picture of our "new" homestead. Plus, there were bison everywhere yesterday - also, there weren't any wildflowers on Signal Mountain. I was really sorta surprised - but a lot of the wildflowers have disappeared since we have quit have rain every day. Things are really dry around here - the humidity is at 20 percent right now and even when it rains things are dry in an hour. That's just the way the weather is here. Speaking of which - the high here on Saturday is suppose to be around 68 degrees with a low of 30. That's a little cool. Oh well, it will be fine just throw on a sweater and we'll be off to work.

Well, I'll sign off for now and go back to my football game - talk to you tomorrow (maybe!)