It has been awhile. I haven't felt much like "putting pen to paper," as the old saying goes. Yes, I am far from my Flagstaff home for awhile working for the Yellowstone Association just outside the north entrance of the Park.
I arrived here on May 7th and have so far taken a three day "Wolves of Yellowstone" course with the Yellowstone Institute, and begun training and work with the association. Being up here on the Northern Range so early in the season I have seen lots of wildlife. Coming into the Park on my first day I was rewarded with a Grizzly Bear sighting.The folks who work and volunteer (as I do) for this outfit are very nice. As a group probably the nicest I have ever been around (so far). I share a condo with a woman who is also a volunteer. We go our separate ways and have different shifts and that is good for me. We are very different people but respect each other's space. At this stage of my life it is very difficult living with someone.
The past few days we have had snow here. This is something I like. Most visitors to the Park are not that enthralled with it. To be honest it does inhibit their movement with roads closing and reopening hours later. Guess it is especially distressing this being the "Memorial Day" weekend (usually the unofficial start of summer, even though "real" summer is 2/3 of a month away).
Last Thursday night I stayed in the majestic "Old Faithful Inn." I wanted to get a room in what they call the "old house" and was lucky enough to get a cancellation there. In the "old house" you have to walk down the hall to the bathrooms but it is in the original building (circa 1906). In addition, for no extra price, I got a room with 3 beds, so I invited my friends Bob and Ben Hoyle, both rangers in the Tetons, to join me, and they were able to work it out. I love to stay there when I can. We had a great time even if they had to leave early the next morning. They were worried about getting over Craig Pass and back down to the Tetons with the snowy conditions that had arisen over night.Not much happened during the time period in which I did not Blog. It was pretty much a routine spring in Flagstaff. My friends Marc and Carol came-up to see me off and buy a farewell dinner. I went to a party/BBQ at a relatively new friend's house before leaving. Also, there was the quick trip to San Diego County to see family. I was lucky that my niece Kimberley and her family were there for their Spring Break so got to see them. I went to a couple of my grandson's baseball games. It is always a pleasure watching and seeing them. Again, with my daughter and her family's hectic schedule I did not get to see as much of them as I would have liked, but such is life. Norma and Scott were perfect hosts as usual.
My job here in Gardiner is as volunteer information specialist. Basically, I do what I did as a ranger when working a visitor center info counter. The main differences are that I do not work for the Park Service nor do I have to give programs. The latter is nice in that I have no late nights, 8-5 is my shift, and am on 4 days and off 4. I get free housing and a small stipend. The biggest bonus is that I get to be in this beautiful part of the country.
As for movies, I will not go through all that I saw during my hiatus from blogging, but only those I have seen lately. Most have been just OK. I saw The 5 Year Engagement in Utah on the way up, and thought it a terrible movie and only went because I love Emily Blunt. I have traveled to Bozeman, Montana (closest relatively big city) and seen three films. Best of these was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It has a very fine cast of older icon British actors, including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, and Celia Imbrie. All characters are elderly people looking to get out of England and go to India for various reasons. The ensemble cast is great. A "super hero" film fan I am not but did enjoy The Avengers, especially Mark Ruffalo's characterization of "the Hulk." And of course Scarlett Johannson looks great in her outfit playing her "kick-ass" character. Battleship was entertaining but not great. Guess it was based on the board game, kinda of weird. As is usually the case the "pickin's" have been pretty slim in the start of the so-called summer film season. I hope there will be a little "gem" buried amongst them.
That's it for now from Montana.
