Bozeman, MT

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6:52 am - Tuesday - 50º F, humidity 75%, wind 2 mph out of the east.....clear blue skies.....forecast high for today is 77º F.....ahhhh....a small cooling trend!

After two successive 'weekends' spent exploring YNP we decided to do a little exploring outside YNP......we were in the VW a little after 11 am driving north......US-89 northbound is a beautiful two way road that winds its way along the banks of the Yellowstone River  for about 52 miles to Livingston, MT where we then merged on to I-90 eastbound another 21 miles to Bozeman.  The skies were quite cloudy, and as one might expect we were rained upon a few times going and coming from Bozeman.

Bozeman is the nearest large city, and is also home to Montana State University.  This town founded in August of 1864, was named for its founder, John M. Bozeman.  Our first stop was the local Goodwill where TLE and I both found a few articles of clothing without which we could not live.......we found it had been raining whilst we were in the store.....

....by this time is was close to 1 pm and time to scratch another itch we had......some brews and pub food.  There are numerous micro breweries in Bozeman, however, all but one, Bridger Brewing, were closed.  They have a 4.5 star rating on over 100 reviews, and those reviews were not lying.  Bridger Brewing has alfresco dining, but on this day with intermittent rain showers we opted for a rainless lunch and chose a table inside......

.....I ordered a 'Summer Shandy' and TLE ordered their 'McTavish Scotch Ale'

Summer Shandy and McTavish Scotch Ale.....both quite yummy!

.......Bridger Brewing's food specialty is pizza and we both chose to order a slice with a house salad ($8).  All of their food prices were very fair.  We would definitely visit them again.

 Giant pizza slices!

Next up was a visit to the local COSTCO to do some shopping, then to Target for TLE and for me a haircut.  Ya'll know I like to get my haircut at Supercuts, but alas, there are no Supercuts in Bozeman, so chose 'Great Clips' just across the parking lot from Target.

......initially I was told it would be an hour wait, but ultimately I was seated having my hair cut within 30 minutes.  That worked well for TLE as she had not been in a Target for quite a while, and enjoyed browsing up and down their aisles.  I received a great haircut from Kelly, and was on my way back across the parking lot in a driving rain to pick up TLE from Target.  It continued raining most of the way back home, but finally stopped about 25 miles south of Livingston.

Eventually the rain stopped, and we were treated to a beautiful view as we drove south on US-89 back to Gardiner, MT......

.....we were home by 5 pm with big smiles on our faces.  A very nice, uneventful day spent with each other doing things we enjoy doing together.

It was still quite warm when we arrived back at YRVP* so we opted to turn on the A/C for about an hour to cool off the interior of the Newell......still so thankful our 35 year old roof top A/C's work soooo well!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

*YRVP = Yellowstone RV Park

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Swarming..........

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6:55 am - Monday - 53º F, humidity 71%, wind 5 mph out of the east....partly cloudy.....forecast high for today is 84º F.

I have been getting numerous messages from friends and readers about the earthquake swarm here in YNP the last few weeks.  Officially there have been 878 earthquakes related to the super volcano that underlies all of Yellowstone National Park.  Typically there are from 1,000 t0 3,000 earthquakes recorded in YNP each year.  According to the USGS (United States Geological Survey) the majority of these are in the 1.0 magnitude range, but there was one 4.4 recorded, which is the largest recorded earthquake in YNP since March of 2014.  We are told there is just a 1 in 730,000 chance the super volcano will erupt in the next 12 months.  Neither TLE, nor I have felt any of the earthquakes.  Most of them have been centered up around West Yellowstone, which is about 60 miles southwest of our current location.  All that being said, if the super volcano were to erupt most of the northwest U.S. would disappear, and a large portion of the U.S. would be blanketed by volcanic ash.

Sunday morning was coolish, and I decided to take a 10 mile out and back (5 miles out and 5 miles back) bike ride north on US-89.  This area is a little disorienting to me because when I think of  riding 'north' I usually associate that with a gain in elevation, not a loss of elevation, but the Yellowstone here flows north, so as I ride north I am steadily losing elevation just as the river is.  The terrain all appears to be high desert with a lot of scrub brush, but it is beautiful nonetheless.  As I hit the 5 mile mark I came abreast of the La Duke Picnic area.......

.....a perfect turn around spot.......

......I made the turn and began the 5 mile ride back to YRVP*.......I stopped one more time to take a picture of the Yellowstone River, which is still running bank to bank.......

Looks like a scar from an old 'slide'

......in all it took me about 42 minutes to cover the 10+ miles at an average speed of 14 mph.  I burned just under 700 caloric units.   It's been a while since I rode my Cannondale Bad Boy on the pavement as most of my 'riding' the last couple of months has been on the bike trainer.....not the norm for me.

By the time we left for work at 1 pm the daytime temp was up into the 80's, and it was obvious it would be a hot day in the General Store.  I arrived at my station in the 'Fountain' at 1:30 to find things in full swing.  We were plowing through hot dogs, pretzels and ice cream at a remarkable pace, and that is the way it typically is for the first two hours of the 'CLOSE' shift each day.  Usually by 3:30 things begin to slow down to a moderate pace for the rest of the shift, and that is how Sunday went.

It was extremely humid Sunday afternoon, and without the benefit of A/C we felt it inside the store.  Apparently the local elk population was feeling it also as we saw 20-30 elk laying the shaded grass areas as we approached the General Store (I wish we had taken a picture).  By 9:30 pm I felt like the equivalent of a 'wet noodle', but there was a smile on my face, because I knew I had two days off the clock coming.

We will do some more exploring Monday and Tuesday......thanks for stopping by!

*YRVP = Yellowstone RV Park

P.S. - Here are the last three reviews of TVC on Tripadvisor submitted July 9th:

1 - "A single tent site for $50?!!! Pretty steep. Loud. Sites smashed in together. Not the experience we were looking for but, being the largest campground in the area we were able to find a site last minute."

2 - "So disappointed in Tahoe Valley Campground this year. We always stay a month or longer and always the same site, have for the past 7 to 8 years. They have always made sure not rent it out to someone else and keeping us first in mind for next year. We reserve it before we leave. We went to reserve it and they already had it taken by someone else. 

Talked to the new manager ( there has been 4 in the last two years ) he wasn't interested. Told us he couldn't take it away from someone else and give it to us. But they just did to friends who reserved a site last year and they gave it to someone else. Our friends ended up with a 30 amp site when they need a 50 amp. They said they won't be returning. 
This Campground needs a manager with people skills and Personnel skills. 
Someone able to supervise and oversee the workers. The facilities are not kept up as in the past. 
The family atmosphere that use to be here is gone. 
So sorry we won't be returning next year."

3 - "Campgrounds needs people out supervising sites. Too many people, cars and tents on some sites. If there was a fire, it would be a disaster to get out. There needs to be a limit per site. Ladies in the front office were wonderful and very helpful!"

All three reviews 3 star ratings.....interesting trend.

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Parking in the 'Park'

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6:37 am - Sunday (Friday!) - 53º F, humidity 75%, wind 4 mph our of the east northeast......partly cloudy with a forecast high (again) of 86º F.  This is our Friday, and we are looking forward to our off days!

TLE and I spent a large part of Saturday morning, before work, taking the written 'Platinum' test for our final 'Adventure Guide' designation.  The test is 'open book', but was still quite hard.  It took our two 68 year old brains operating at maximum capacity to find all the answers.......I am still not sure they are all correct.  The other written tests were easy by comparison.  Then it was time to begin getting ready for another work day.  

Initially the morning temps were cool enough that I finally turned on our 'fireplace' heater to take the chill out of the air, but by 10 am it began to warm up outside with a vengeance.  By the time we left for our 5 mile drive up the Gardiner River gorge it was in the high 80's.

We have a pretty large employee parking lot behind the General Store, but by the time the 'CLOSE' shift folks arrive there are very few spots left......sometimes we have to compete with the local wild life for parking spots........

.....I haven't taken many pictures of the wild life around Mammoth Hot Springs, and specifically all the elk that wander around grazing in the abundant grassy areas.  Most of the elk are 'cows', but occasionally we will see a young 'male' elk, calf, with short antlers.  I have yet to see a grown male elk, bull, in a densely populated area like Mammoth Hot Springs.  In the middle of the day parking becomes a major issue in Mammoth Hot Springs, and we get many, many tourists driving into the employee parking area looking for a place to park. There are orange cones in every single unoccupied site, plus numerous signs advising this area is strictly for employee use only, but they still try to park there anyway.  I totally understand their desperation.  Sometimes it can take us an extra 7-8 minutes to drive the last few hundred yards to work as there are so many folks looking for a parking spot.

When we arrived our 'CLOSE' shift things were pretty slow, and that is how the day, by and large, remained.  We had some spurts of activity, but generally it was very slow paced.  At one point a young woman (leader of a youth group) approached us at the 'Fountain' to announce she would be purchasing 17 single scoop ice creams for her kids.  Amazingly, we processed those 17 orders in less than 10 minutes......we are getting good!  That was the one big rush of the day......we had a few times when there were 7-8 folks in line, but it was nothing like last Saturday and Sunday (4th of July weekend).

Just as we were getting ready to close the 'Fountain' for the evening we got a rush of about 10 folks (two families)......as the clock struck 8:30 pm we simultaneously emptied 4 of our 8 tubs of ice cream......a perfect ending to our day!

TLE and I were on our way home by 9:40 pm, and home just before 10 pm.....one more day in our work week and then our exploration of YNP continues!  The full moon peeking over the local trees.......

.......by the way, did you know that 80% of the trees in YNP are of the lodgepole pine variety?

Thanks for stopping by!

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Positive energy.....

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7:34 am - Saturday - 53º F, 71% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the east southeast......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 86º F.  It was breezy all last night, and is still breezy as I write this morning.

Life moves along pretty quickly, and here we find ourselves waking up July 8th in a completely different place than we thought we would be a couple of months ago.  Yellowstone was not even on our radar back then.......well, in hindsight, all I can say is Miss Serendipity smiled down upon us going back several years ago when we met our friend Art at Amazon.  When the chips were down Art was there to help us focus on what we wanted, and what was important.  Through his contacts at Delaware North we landed these wonderful seasonal jobs in Yellowstone, and TVC is now just a distant bad dream whose vortex we have been blessed to escape.

We have been hearing a lot of news out of TVC the last week, and it appears things continue to deteriorate.  Equity Lifestyles, Inc. encourages their customers to file reviews on Tripadvisor after their stay.  They strive to maintain a 4 star rating, and so far it is still there, but the negative reviews are beginning to accumulate over the past 14 days.  The biggest complaints are noise at night, filthy restrooms, and over flowing dumpsters.  The Yelp reviews lately are really devastating.  It makes us sad to see all the hard work we, and others put in the last three years being undone in one summer....really in just a few weeks.  By the end of the summer most if not all the long term seasonal employees will be gone never to return.....some will be gone within the next two weeks.  I haven't heard from any current employees who plan to return next summer, so it would appear that the new manager will have to start from scratch to recruit new seasonal workers for the 2018 summer season.

Okay, enough of the maudlin talk......we are in the midst of the warm season here in YNP, and Friday was another warm day.....high 80's interrupted by a couple of rain showers.  The time passes by quickly each day as we become more and more familiar with our jobs.  Friendships are developing, and the more time we spend with our co-workers the more we like them.

The customer smiles I see across the 'Fountain' counter, and unwavering positive attitudes, and senses of humor displayed by my co-workers make it easy to endure the 2+ hours of uncomfortable heat in the afternoon.  Thankfully, we did not get big crowds Friday, but business was steady and once again we achieved our sales target for the store.  We only went through about 12 tubs of ice cream Friday, but sold a lot of pretzels.  We are getting better at estimating how many pretzels to heat up, and ended up with just one unsalted pretzel at the end of the 'CLOSE' shift.

The moon has now reached its 'FULL' status as of last night, or at least it appears so from this picture.  We were off by 9:45 pm bidding our friends adieua, and on our way home down the Gardiner River gorge.  Looks like it's going to be another warm day today (Saturday)......we have been leaving our windows open 24/7, and it is almost always very pleasant inside by the time we get home at 10 pm.  We were in bed by 11:30......

Pictures of a couple of the large stuffed animals Delaware North has in the Mammoth Hot Springs General Store 

So, in conclusion, I will strive to spend each day thinking good thoughts and sending positive energy out to our friends still mired in the train wreck that has become TVC.

Thanks for stopping by!

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'Busy Season'

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6:59 am - Friday - 58º F, humidity 63%, wind 1 mph out of the east northeast with partly cloudy skies with a forecast high today of 85º F in Gardiner (forecast high for Mammoth Hot Springs is 81º F......Mammoth is about 1,000' feet higher in altitude than Gardiner, which explains the difference).

The average temperatures in July and August here in Gardiner, MT, and in Mammoth Hot Springs, YNP, WY are in the 80's, and that is exactly what the forecast for the next 15 days looks like.  Thank goodness the humidity is low!  We are typically turning on the A/C about an hour before we go to work as it begins to get warm in side about that time.  We do turn it off and open the windows when we leave for work at 1 pm, and usually when we return around 10 pm it is comfortable inside, so that is another good thing we like about working the 'CLOSE' shift.

As I sit here composing today's missive I can't help be reflect on how dramatically our lives have changed in the last month, but I am so happy we made the change!  We are back doing what really makes us happy......seeing new places, and meeting new people.  We have settled nicely into our new jobs, and look forward to spending time each day with good people in a professional work environment.

We are now officially into the 'BUSY' season which runs from the 4th of July weekend to the middle of August, so it is pretty busy each day, but not overwhelming.  Well, let me clarify....it is a little overwhelming at first when you are learning a new job, and new computer system, but after a week you settle into the rhythm of the work place.  There are times when the store is packed with humanity, especially when a tour bus, or two unload right in front of the store.  For about 30 minutes it gets crazy, then things settle down again until the next human onslaught.  At any rate, things will begin to slow down in mid August when the kids go back to school, and we will be able to do more exploring without having to fight the traffic.

My job working in the fountain has a lot of variety, which I love......it makes the work day fly by, and that is exactly how it has been for me the past 10 days now that I have settled into my job.  Some days I am the cashier, some days I spend my time heating up pretzels, some days I scoop ice cream, and some days I do a lot of cleaning.  There is always something to do, and never a dull moment.

Occasionally I will look up and see TLE waving at me across the store and I smile......life is good, and we both love what we are doing, and the people with whom we work.  Caught this picture of the 'almost' full moon outside the store last night around 9 pm........

......it was a very warm day in Mammoth Hot Springs, and by the end of our shift my shirt was damp with perspiration........there was not much of a breeze Thursday, which usually helps cool of the interior of the store.  We did get some rain early afternoon, which, I guess was predictable as I washed the VW before we went to work.....doh!

We were off work at our usual time, and home just after 10 pm where we watched a recorded episode of 'ALONE' before hitting the sack at 11:30 pm.  

Thanks for stopping by!

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"Another day in paradise!"

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7:18 am - Thursday - 59º F, 61% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the southeast.....cloudy....forecast high is 86º F (81º F at Mammoth Hot Springs).

Wednesday began warmish, and got hot quickly.  I use the word 'hot' advisedly.....it is relative to your particular latitude, and what is the norm for you.  We've been used to temps in the 50's and 60's for such a long time now that whenever it gets into the 80's it feels like a significant heatwave to us.  I woke up around 7:35 am Wednesday and it was already in the high 50's.  

Have I mentioned I love going to work at 1:30 pm?  Well, let me say it once more....."I LOVE GOING TO WORK AT 1:30 pm!".......typically I'm up around 7 am, so that means I've got 6.5 hours until I have to punch the clock.....I can do a lot in 6.5 hours.  On Wednesday I decided to take a 5 mile mountain bike ride.  I had noticed hikers and mountain bikers hiking and/or riding along a trail across the Yellowstone River from our RV park, and had finally figured out where the trail began so around 10 am I got on my Intense 5.5 and rode into Gardiner (about 1 mile) and over to the trailhead for the single track trail.....

.....this trail runs for about 30 miles, and used to be the roadbed for the road to the Roosevelt Gate at the north end of YNP.  I had no intention of riding 30 miles out and back.....that would be an all day thing.  I just wanted to get in a 60 minute ride to get the juices going and see what adjustments my bike would need.....there are always adjustments when a bike has gone through long periods of disuse. 

It was beginning to get warm as I entered the trail, but there was a slight breeze and that kept me feeling cool.  Eventually I came even with Yellowstone RV Park across the river and stopped to snap a couple of pictures.....

 

There's the Newell peeking out between the trees

A pano of the river and park

.....it was a beautiful, cloudless day.  I rode another mile, or two northward before turning around and heading for home. By the time I got back to the trailer it felt much warmer, and the breeze was beginning to die.  I spent the rest of our time before work reading and taking my daily pre-work nap before getting dressed for work.  We were in the VW and on our way by 12:55 pm, and at the General Store parking by 1:15 pm.

It was already getting hot inside the store (there is no A/C) when we began our shift so I filled my water bottle with ice water and made a point of drinking as lot of ice water all through my shift, plus I would take periodic breaks in the walk infreezer where the temps are near zero.....that helps cool you down quickly!

Since it was the day after the 4th of July the crowds were not overwhelming, but we stayed busy......our 6 pm 'lunch' break came and went and once again we were 'clocking out' after another work day and on our way home.....

......we stopped briefly at the YNP post office.....I love this Post Office....who doesn't want to have a mailing address with YNP as the location?  There was no mail, but I am expecting my annual tags for the VW to arrive any day now.

As my friend Roscoe (co-worker here at YNP) would say....."Another day in paradise!".....thanks for stopping by!

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Devolution.....

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7:56 am - Wednesday - 58º F, 58% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the east southeast......sunny skies here in the Yellowstone River valley outside of Gardiner, MT.  Forecast high for today is 91º F!

We planned to do a small bit of site seeing again on Tuesday, but by 10 am we had decided we were going to stay home, put our patio awning out, and just relax......sort of a devolution from Monday's scheme.....we have not done that for a very long time.  This was the first time since we arrived at Yellowstone RV Park that we have had our patio awning out.....the winds are very unpredictable here, and we don't want to have it ripped off the Newell by an unexpected gust of wind.  Since we were gong to be at the Newell all day long we decided to deploy it for some extra afternoon shade.

TLE enjoying the shade, and the cool zephyrs

We read, napped, listened to our XM Radio, and then napped some more until about 2 pm when it got too hot, even with the awning deployed, to be outside anymore, then went inside, closed the windows and turned on the A/C for some heat relief.  We are so grateful our 35 year old A/C units still blow ice cubes.  Since we are on 30 amp electrical service we only turn the rear A/C unit on, and that is more than enough to keep us comfortable so far.

Eventually we decided to binge watch some more of the original 'Twin Peak' series I wrote about a few days ago, and ended up watching about 8 episodes taking us to near sundown when we called it quits for the time being.  It doesn't really get dark here until about 10:15 pm, so the 4th of July fireworks show did not really start in earnest until about 10:30, and went on until well after 11:45 pm when the finale finally began......we had fallen asleep by them, but were awakened by the fuselage of exploding fireworks.....

....it was over as quickly as it had begun, and we drifted off to slumberland once again.....Wednesday will be the beginning of our new work week....still on the 'CLOSE' shift.....yay for us!

Thanks for stopping by!

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