Almost Home

Well, we had a great time in Las Vegas and actually left with more money than we came with. Our stay in Phoenix was wonderful. We finally got to see our daughter's new home which is very nice and I got to play golf twice. We are in Nashville now and leave for Virginia tomorrow. It will be nice to finally get home and after looking at the weather for Yellowstone today(High 19 and Low -6) it appears we got out just in time.

6 Days To Go

We have been very busy the last few weeks. We had a great visit with our friends Al and Marsha from Tucson and then our last weekend we had a wonderful 4 day visit with ou son Michael. This is our last weekend before leaving so we are trying to get packed up so we have free time to do a couple of hikes before we leave on Sunday. My last day of work is Saturday. Mary Ann is working a couple of hours Sunday Morning and we will leave when we gets off work and drive to St george, Utah. On Monday we will arrive in Las Vegas and then go to Phoenix on Wwednesday. It has been a great summer.

Busy

Well, we have 22 days left and we are going to be busy. In addittion to working our friends from Tucson are here on Sunday and leave on Wednesday so we will be busy showing them the park. Then our next weekend our son arrives on Sunday and is here until Thursday. When he leaves we will be down to 10 days left and we need to start packing up. We have had a great time but I think both of us will be ready to return to the real world. We have made some special friends but will keep in touch and visit during the year. Thank God for free flying.

What a great weekend

After we got off work on Sunday, we drove to Flagg Ranch Campground which is 2 miles outside the south entrance to the park. The Air Force has 10 twenty six foot camping trailers they keep there and rent for $80 a day. We went with 3 friends. Sunday night we just kind of hung out. On Monday we hiked 8 miles in to the south park of yellowstone to see Union Falls. It is the second highest waterfall in Yellowstone and it was totally awesome. We did a mile add on to scout pond which is thermally fed so the water is fairly warm and we all enjoyed the water. We then hike the 8 miles out for a total of 17 miles. We were all worn out especially Mary Ann and I. Our 3 friends were used to that distance. When we got back to the trailer we grilled steaks and cooked zuccini and potatoes on the grill. And of course drank lots of beer and wine. It was one of the best days we have had in Yellowstone. We all slept really good Monday night.

Where Has the Time Gone?

Well, I have not written anything in a long time. We have really been busy. It seems like we have only been here a short time but we have been here 3/12 months and only have 1 1/2 months left. There is still a lot we want to do.Yesterday we hiked Mt Washburn which was a wonderful hike and gave great views of Yellowstone. It was only a 6 mile hike with 3 miles up and 3 miles down and an elevation gain of 1400 feet but Mary Ann and I both were really tired. I think the elevation had a lot to do with it. Old Faithful area is about 7700 feet and we started the hike at 8800 feet and went to 10,250 feet. In two weeks we are doing a 16 mile day hike to Union Falls with 3 friends. That is a lot more than either of us have done. Mary Ann and her friend Stella went Whitewater Kaayaking on the Gallatin River. Mary Ann described it as fun but scary and a rush but terrifying. She said she enjoyed the time in the kaayak but not so much when she went out of the kaayak. She went up against a rock and got a big bruise on her behind. Our friend Marsha and her husband Al are visiting in early September and it looks like our son Michael will visit the middle of Septemeber and we leave September 27. We will spend one night in St George, Utah and then drive to Las Vegas where we will spend two nights at the Venetian. We have tickets to see Phantom on the 29th. Then we will drive to Phoenix to spend time with our Daughter and Son-In-Law.

Over Halfway Finished

July 10 was our halfway point of our time in Yellowstone. It seems like it is going really fast. I was going to try to upload some pictures but the internet is too slow. We had a great 4th of July weekend. We went to Bozeman, Mt on Sunday the 5th to celebrate my birthday. We had a wonderful dinner and the next day stocked up on things from Costco and WalMart. On Tuesday Mary Ann surprised me with a boat trip on Lake Yellowstone with 3 of our friends. We did a little sightseeing, a little fishing and we had a champagne brunch on board the boat. The weather was nice and we had a great time. Wew are leaving here on September 27th and will spend that night in St George, Utah. Then its on to Vegas for 2 nights at the Venetian where we have tickets to see The Phantom. We will then drive to Arizona and spend some time with our daughter and son-in-law before heading back to Virginia. We have not finalized any plans after that as of yet.

What a Ride!!

On Tuesday we drove 2 hours to Big Sky, Montana and went whitewater rafting on the Gallatin River with 4 friends. It was totally awesome. We had a great guide and the weather was the best we had had in about 3 weeks. It was sunny and in the 70's. Of course, the water temperature was in the 40's but you are dressed really warm with a wetsuit, then a fleece jacket and then a rain jacket over that. We spent about 2 hours on the river. It was up to class 4 rapids and there was one stretch they call the mad mile(WOW!). On the drive up, we saw a Moose and her baby and we also saw a black bear just off the side of the road. We are still having a great time and will now be here until September 28.

I'm Exhausted

Well after a particularly busy week, what to you do to relax. You get together with friends in the Old Faithful Inn and drink wine until 10 PM and then get up the next morning and go on a 9 mile hike. I think every bone in my body hurts right now. Our friends actually hiked 13 miled but we drove to the trailhead and joined up with them. They are younger and in better shape. It was a great hike. The first 4 miles was up hill with an elevation gain of about 1500-2000 feet. This morning we are going to hike 4 miles to pick up our car and then Mary Ann and I both work from 2:30 - 10:30PM. I will be almost happy to go back to work. On our next weekend, we are going white water rafting with friends, Boy, it is a tough life

Another Great Weekend in Paradise

We had another great weekend. On Monday we hiked Mystic Falls again which is about a 2.7 mile loop trail. One of our hiking friends from last year was in town as he will be working the marina at Yellowstone Lake this year and he wanted to hike Mystic Falls. It had snowed on Sunday and closed most of the roads until Sunday afternoon but the weather was great for our hike. Yesterday we drove to the canyon area and hiked the south rim trail which has a little of everything. It is about 5 miles. We started out hiking across a big meadow which kind of felt like the sound of music. It continues on to clear lake crossing a thermal area with geyers and mud pots. After that it goes into the woods and then arriving at the rim of the canyon where you have a wonderful view of the canyon and the upper and lower falls. It then continues down to the river and finishes back at the picnic area where you started. A wonderful Hike. We hiked with our friend Stella who is the Assistant Manager at the Old Faithful Inn and Jim who works at Lake Yellowstone. After the hike, we drove to Rosevelt Lodge which is in the northeast part of the park where we participated in the Old West Cookout. Everyone who works the front desk at the hotels and lodges gets to go to the cookout for free so we can let our guests know how it is. You ride a covered wagon for about 30 minutes from Rosevelt to Pleasant valley where you have a meal of grilled steak, corn, potato salad, baked beans, corn bread, watermellon and peach cobler. They have a singing cowboy and it is quite fun. On the ride out there we saw bison and prong horn sheep. On the ride back to Old Faithful we came across a black bear that was grazing just down the hill from the road. There were about 15 cars stopped and was quite a traffic jam. We got some good pictures. After watching the bear for about 20 minutes, he decided to come up to the road and cross the street to go up the hill. The mass of people who had stopped split leaving a gap between them and the bear walked between the people and up the hill. Then when we thought our day could not get any better, we spotted a big black wolf just off the road between canyon and norris junction. It was too dark to get a good picture but it was really cool. We arrive back at Old Faithful at 10 PM. Today, Mary Ann and I both have to work from 2:30 to 10:30 PM. Thats all for now.

Just Pictures

We had a 3 day weekend so we drove the Beartooth Highway and have spent the last 2 days in Cody, Wy. We actually have good internet at the Holiday Inn so I thought I would download a few pictures.


Mary Ann & Carla - Mystic Falls Hike


Bison and Calves at Biscuit Basin



Our friends Rob, Maggie & Carla

Ron Looking at Yellowstone Lake 5/24

Mary Ann's Bear Sighting Outside of Mammoth Hot Springs

Mary Ann's Bear Sighting

Mary Ann at Trout Lake

The Snow is Starting to Melt

The weather has been really nice the last few weeks. Most days it is in the high 50's or higher and we have had a few days in the 70's. It gets cold at night. Usually the low will be in the high 20's or the low 30's. It has been interesting to see most of the snow melt away. We are scheduled to get rain starting Friday and may even see some snow. Last year the last big snow storm was June 13. Enough of the snow has melted and almost all of the hiking trails are open. Most of the hiking trails had been closed until Memorial Day Weekend for Bear Management. I guess the bears know to vacate after Memorial Day. Sunday, we did a 8 mile hike from the Old Faithful Inn to Biscuit Basin and then Mystic Falls and then returning to the Old Faithful Inn. We hiked with 3 friends and had a wonderful time. Yesterday Mary Ann and I did another 8 mile hike. We hiked to Fairy Falls and then to Imperial Geyser and back. We are both sore but are getting in shape and used to the altitude. Next weekend we have 3 days off so we are planning to drive the Beartooth highway and then continue onto Cody, Wy where we will spend 2 nights and do all the tourist stuff plus Mary Ann wants to do some shopping. Work has been good and we have been really busy.

The Old Faithful Inn Opens

The Old Faithful Inn opened on Friday at 11 AM. I had the opening shift which was pretty cool. The guests started lining up at the front door at about 10:30. We had some typical opening day problems but all in all it was a good day. I started my weekend today and am enjoying just lounging around. Mary Ann finished her training yesterday and arrived at Old Faithful about 4;00 PM. She is training today to be a ranger volunteer and will start training at the Old Faithful Lodge tomorrow. The Lodge opens on Friday. We are happy to be back and have renewed a lot of friendships from last year. I am looking forward to all the snow being gone and the weather getting warmer. I am anxious to start hiking again. That's all for now.

At Yellowstone

Well, we are at Yellowstone and you cannot believe all the snow still here. Last year the last big snowstorm was June 15 so that is something to look forward to. I completed my training at Mammoth on Sunday and am now in the Old Faithful area. Mary Ann is still training at Mammoth and will complete her training on Sunday and then come to the Old Faithful area. I will be working the front desk at the Old Faithful Inn which opens Friday, May 8 and Mary Ann will be working the front desk at the Old Faithful Lodge which opens Friday, May 15. Our room this year is very nice. We got 2 Twin beds which we put together to make a king which is a lot bigger than the double bed we had last year. We have 18 people working at the Old Faithful Inn and most of them are 50+ as opposed to last year when we had a lot of young kids and everyone but 3 of us are new. I got promoted to Senior Guest Service Agent which is like the shift supervisor which means I get to deal with unhappy guests. It was fun when I arrived at Old Faithful as I got to see alot of friends from last year. I am sure it is going to be a great season and we are going to do a lot of hiking. The only bad thing so far is our room is so far from the dayroom(location of the internet connection) that I cannot get the internet in my room but i just come and sit in the dayroom and so far the connection has been good. As you can see from the picture, I think Mary Ann had a little too much time on her hand. The first week of my training, Mary Ann only worked a few hours. I think she got bored.

What a Hectic Year but A Fantastic Wedding

Well, my daughter's wedding was a joyous event. Everything went well and a good time was had by all. We rented a 6700 sq ft house near the Seville Country Club in South Gilbert that was perfect for the occassion. After some nervousness about rain, it cleared up by 1 o'clock and was fine for the 5 PM outdoor ceremony. The ceremony went off without a hitch and the reception after was great. We could not have pulled it of without the master planner and creative genius(Mary Ann), great staff(Dale, Jannell, Steve,Carol, and family members Jean, Alice, Becky, and Betty Jean). Our friend Marsha did the cake and it was stunning. Sharon did a fantastic job on the massages. In fact if she would have got me any more relaxed I would have gone to sleep and missed the wedding. A special thank you to Diane for housing Mary Ann prior to the wedding so she could accomplish all she needed to.Our son Michael was busy running any errand we needed plus shooting video. A very, very SPECIAL THANK YOU to Donna for taking absoluting perfect pictures of the event. Also a special thank you to Stev for stepping in and filming the ceremony. It turned out great and the memories will last forever for Kim and Mike. There are so many people who helped out( Mike's Dad and family and our friends from Tucson). I hope I did not forget anyone but Mary Ann and I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends. After the wedding we spent 2 nights in Las Vegas and then 3 nights with our friends in Boise. We are now in Bozeman, Montana and are on the way to Yellowstone National Park to work again from 23 April until 2 August. I plan on updating the Blog every week or so.

I'm Back

It has been a hectic month and a half. We had a good Christmas and New Year in Virginia. Our son was able to visit for over a week. Mary Ann is constantly busy making preparations for our daughter's April 11 wedding. We had originally planned for the wedding to take place in Freestone Park in Gilbert but have since changed to have it at a house we rented in Gilbert. It is on a large lot, has 6700 sq ft and six bedrooms. This gives us a place to stay, somewhere to have the reception and Mary Ann can get everything ready ahead of time. We left on vacation on 16 January. We spent the night in Charleston, SC and saw a lot of historic Charleston. The next day we drove to Savannah, GA and spent the day touring the city. We spent the night in Kings Bay,GA and then the next day we drove to Kennedy Space Center where we did the tour and actually saw the Shuttle on the launch pad as it is scheduled to launch this month and they move it to the launch pad 30 days prior. We spent the night in Melbourne, FL and drove to Fort Lauderdale the next day and picked up Carol and Steve Kizziar at the airport. We toured the Coral Castle in Homestead, FL and spent the night at Homestead Air Force Base. The next day we drove to Key West where we had rented a 3 bedroom townhouse on Key West Naval Base for 3 days. We spent the next 3 days exploring Key West, enjoying sunsets and freezing(they had record low temperatures). On January 23 we drove to the Everglades and spent the day exlporing before heading to our motel in Fort Lauderdale where we met up with other friends(Janelle and Dale Huddleston and Jan and Richard Fisher) who were also going on the cruuise. The next day the eight of us left on our cruise to St Maarten, St Kitts, and Grand Turk. St Maarten was the highlight where six of us did the Zip Line where you go from tree to tree on cables or walking on ropes, cables or boards. Luckily you are attached by safety cables so you cannot fall unless you are stupid enough not to connect your safety cables. We then spent the rest of the day at a nice beach enjoying sun, food and beer. On St Kitts Carol, Steve, Mary Ann and I took a tour of the Island and then had lunch and relaxed at the beach before taking a water taxi back to the ship. On Grand Turk Janelle, Dale, Mary Ann and I rented a golf cart and explored the island. It is only 6 miles long and 1 mile wide. After taking then back to the ship we returned to Governor's beach which was the best beach I believe we had been to. It was less than a mile from the ship but was deserted except for a few people. We arrived back in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday and drove as far as Walterboro, SC and checked in the Holiday Inn in time to watch the Super Bowl(What a game). The next day we arrived back in Virginia. Mary Ann is busy again preparing for the wedding and we will return to Phoenix next week for a short visit.