Friday, September 30th

Greetings to our blog followers. This will be our final blog. Jim and I wrap up our jobs on Monday and will
be loading up and heading home on Tuesday. This has been an awesome experience and we have enjoyed
every minute of it. We've had the pleasure to met a lot of really nice and "interesting" people (both fellow workers and park guests) and will have lots of stories to tell.
Our last visitors, Sergio and Margaret Comarella arrived Friday, Sept. 23rd.  We toured on Saturday and I have included a few pictures of Yellowstone's larger residents.  The bull elk came right up to the road to cross in front of us but was blocked by all the watchers.  Luckily he waited patiently for the crowd to clear and we assume eventually found his "harem" of females.  It's amazing how close people will get to these wild animals which has resulted in several injuries this summer. Jim and Sergio did some hiking on Sunday and Margaret and I did some shopping and geyser gazing here at Old Faithful.  They left Monday for a visit to Glacier National Park and will be back through tonight on their way to Jackson Hole for their flight home.  We have really enjoyed all of you that visited us and allowed us be "tour guides".



I've included a picture of the gift store in the Old Faithful Lodge where I worked and a picture of my manager, Marycline Pickenpaugh.  She's from Mississippi and this was her 3rd year as manager.  Another picture is of Jim, his boss Ron Beaumont, and me standing by the OF eruption prediction clock posted in the lobby of the lodge.  Can't begin to count how many people we've directed to that clock after fielding our most asked question "whens the next eruption?" And of course one final shot of Old Faithful.  We must have seen it erupt 300 times this summer but have never  tired of watching it. 

Thanks for following our blog and for sending us your messages during our post-retirement time in Yellowstone. We have enjoyed all of your  comments and hope you have enjoyed our adventure in Yellowstone as much as we have.
See you soon!!!!!

Ann & Jim

September 9th - 20th

After my family departed on Sept. 7th, Jim's former coworker Jud Brouse and his wife Diane arrived on Sunday the 11th.  Jim was able to take a day off and tour with them on Tuesday the 13th and they caught this bull elk bugling at West Thumb Geyser Basin.  It is the time of year for the elk rut and the bulls are really busy rounding up their harems and in the process are said to loose up to two hundred pounds in their frenzy to mate. The Brouses did most of their exploring on their own but we did give them a few pointers to must see spots and were able to join them for breakfasts in the employee dining room and dinner in the evenings after their exploring.

It was a wonderful visit and we think they fell in love with the park also.



They departed on the morning of the 15th and another one of Jim's coworkers came down from Emigrant, Mt to have dinner that evening.  (Ed Witt, his wife Avis, brother-in-law Ty and his wife Mary). They are renting a cabin just north of the park for a couple months.  On the 16th, Jim's brother and his wife Linda arrived at the park via the train to Havre, MT and rental car to Old Faithful.


We toured with them on the 17th, 18th & 19th including a day trip to the Grand Tetons where we did get to see 2 huge bull moose.  Our first viewing of the season!!!! A nice dinner at a brew pub in Jackson and of course the requisite "picture under the antler arch". We also caught some elk bugling on the way back to Old Faithful. We had an awesome visit and Tom and Linda were able to spend a night in the Old Faithful Inn on their last night.  They got to see Jim at work on the morning they left - bus stalking or greeting as he prefers to call it.

That's all the family visits but we aren't through yet.


More to come........
Ann

Monday September 5th

Attached are some of the wildlife pictures we caught while touring with Randy & Judy Weber. 

A female Bighorn Sheep






Ruffed Grouse







Pronghorn Antelope











A herd of bison














A mule deer fawn





And finally a picture of the "Point Fire" near Yellowstone Lake that has been burning in the park for a couple months and to this date has consumed approximately 1500 acres.  This is a lightning started fire so the forest service will let it burn itself out unless it threatens any buildings.

More to come.....................
Ann

August 31st to September 7th

Please pardon our lack of updates for the last month but we have been
blessed with company from home for the entire month.  We started  August 31st, with by brother Dan and his new wife Amy arriving.  We spent the first day of their visit touring the Canyon Area.  The first picture is of "Uncle Tom's Trail".  A 328 step stairway down into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone as viewed from the Lower Falls overlook.  We didn't give this one a try.  We know our limitations. 
We then went up to the Roosevelt Lodge where we took a trail ride on wagons to the Cowboy Cookout.  It is a 25 minute ride out to a picnic area in the mountains where you have a wonderful steak dinner, cowboy music, and a campfire with real "Cowboy Coffee".  A horseshoe thrown in for flavor so the legend goes.  We spent the night at Mammoth Hot Springs cabins and the next morning did some touring of the travertine terraces there - quite a site and the visitor center, Gibbon Falls and 
Firehole Canyon drive where we caught the chipmunk posing in the sun. Then headed back to the Old Faithful area just in time for my sister Judy and her son Randy to arrive Friday afternoon.

On Saturday the six of us did some intense touring of the lower loop.  Our first stop was West Thumb Geyser Basin which we toured along with a herd of elk.  Also stops at Gull Point, Yellowstone Lake Hotel, LeHardy Rapids, a picnic lunch, Hayden Valley (lots of bison), Mud Volcano, Canyon Visitors Center which has an awesome topographical map of the park, then into West Yellowstone, MT for pizza & beer. 




Dan & Amy left on Sunday Sept. 4th and Judy, Randy, Jim and I did the geyser tour down the west side of the park including Norris Geyser Basin, Fountain Paint Pots, and Midway Geyser Basin.  Saw all kinds of fascinating geysers, mud pots, steam vents, etc.  Stopped for another picnic lunch and a dip of the toes in the Firehole River which is warmed by Excelsior Geyser at Midway Geyser Basin by dumping 4000 gallons a minute of hot water into the river.

Tuesday Jim had to work so Judy, Randy & I toured the Canyon area and Randy did "Uncle Tom's Trail".  He said it was a tough one so we were glad we decided to wait at the top for him.  Then headed back to the Old Faithful area and toured the Upper Geyser basin.  Ended the tour with a really nice dinner at the Old Faithful Inn.  They departed on Wed. the 7th and toured the Grand Tetons on their way back to Jackson Hole to fly out on the 8th.  



It was wonderful  having visitors from home!!



More to come.........
Ann