Day # 33 - Yellowstone National Park

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

8:16 am - Tuesday - 57º F, humidity 81%, wind 3 mph out of the east southeast.......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 85º F today.

The name of the game here at Yellowstone National Park is rain the past few days.  It has rained almost every day for the past two weeks, but the past few days we have been getting hit with strong storm cells which  pass over us in as little as 30 minutes, but sometimes up to an hour dropping copious amounts of moisture accompanied by hail, one lightning flash after another with the attendant thunder shortly thereafter.  Monday evening we got hit by two of these storm cells about an hour apart.  All that being said, I am getting ahead of myself.

The morning temps Monday were just delightful, and the sky was cobalt blue with nary a cloud in sight.  I thought our site(s) looked idyllic in the morning light so I snapped a quick picture.....

.....the two trees you see provide us with shade for a big part of the morning and into the early afternoon, but the tree on the right is my continual antagonist when it comes to satellite TV reception in the evening.  As long as there is no wind things are pretty good, but if the wind comes from the south as it does a lot, then the moving branches and leaves reek havoc with reception.  Sometimes it is easy to get bugged by minor things, so I just keep reminding myself that it's really not that big of a deal in the over all scheme of life, right?  Besides, we are blessed to be living in such an amazing environment!

We reported for our 'MID' shift at 11 am (11 am to 7 pm) to find things relatively quiet for a Monday.  Over the past month we have been here Monday's have been pretty busy according to our co-workers.  Since we have not worked Monday's until this very day we have yet to experience a busy Monday, and this Monday was comparatively quiet.

The Mammoth Hot Springs General Store is getting ready for the annual National Park Service inspection.  Each year the NPS inspects all the General Stores (operated by Delaware North) to be sure DN is doing its job.  This year the 15 year contract is up for renewal, so this inspection is of particular importance as its results will have a direct bearing upon DN's chances of getting another 15 year contract.  Anyway, we spent part of the day being briefed on what needs to be done over the next few days to prepare for that inspection.  Our store always appears neat and orderly, but there are always a few more things to do to make it extra sharp in appearance.

The hours passed quickly once again, and before we knew it was 7 pm.....within minutes we were in the Beetle plunging down the Gardiner River gorge.  Since we have worked so many 'CLOSE' shifts we rarely get enjoy the drive home in daylight.  Oh, by the way, the tips from June were distributed Monday.....TLE and I each received $68 as our share.  I told TLE about 95% of those tips were earned by the 'Fountain' folk, but she didn't buy into it one single bit.  It is true, though, that about 95% of the tips received fall into the 'Fountain' tip basket.  A typical busy day will see us receive about $50 in tips there......sweet!

Getting home a little after 7 pm afforded us the opportunity to sit outside enjoying the early evening air and clouds from an approaching storm cell...... 

Looking eastward

....eventually the evening cold chased us indoors, but it was nice to sit outside for an hour, or so.  About an hour after we went inside the Newell the aforementioned storm cells passed through Gardiner depositing rain, and sometimes hail for about 30 minutes each.  The daily rains help keep the dust down, and also help tamp down the temperatures.  We are looking forward to our two days off (Tuesday/Wednesday) and continuing our exploration of YNP.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you need to buy something from Amazon, think of us.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.