California Here I Come!

Good Morning Folks!

I am getting ready to head over to my old hometown, or at least the north part of the county, San Diego that is. It is time to see the progression of my young grandsons, not to mention seeing my daughter and sister(s).

My first stop will be in Prescott for the afternoon and evening. I need to see my good friends there. Speaking of which, last week I spent a couple of days with my friends Bob and Cindy Henry down in the Goodyear, AZ area. We did a little hiking in the Estrella Mts. near where they live and went to a spring training baseball game, Indians vs. the Rockies. I'd never been to a game before, at least a spring training one. It was a nice new experience with good friends.

Spring has hit here in Flagstaff and the temps have been in the 60s, too warm for me. Stuff must be blooming, or it might just be the mold underlying the melted snow, because my allergies have hit with a vengeance. It was really bad in the Valley (PHX area). However, I have to say that it is nowhere near as bad in Flag as it was all those years in the Juniper zone of Prescott.

Well, the news is in and I have been hired to work as a Ranger in Yellowstone National Park for the coming summer season. I will be at the southern most visitor center in Grant Village. It will be a great new challenge for me. Although it is in the same ecological system as the Tetons, learning about the geo-thermal features in more detail will be my main focus. We conduct some programs at the West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Being at Grant will also allow me to get down to the Tetons to see my friends more often than might have been the case had I been stationed further north in the park. Of course there are the grizzlies to deal with as well. There are more of them in the area, especially when I first get there. There about 8 streams feeding into Yellowstone Lake where trout will be spauning, and I am told it is a grizzly happy time there from May to early June. It is the main reason campgrounds in the Grant Village area do not open until mid-June.

As for movies I have only seen one that was really good. The Wrestler with Mickey Roark finally made it to Flag and his performance is great in it. Mariasa Tomei is very good as well. Roark's perfomance should have beaten out Penn's Milk!

Hope everyone is well and happy.

Ciao