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| The cub standing tall |
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| Mama Bear |
Monday, April 30, 2012
Grizzly sighting
Since I have a week until my work begins I spent some time sightseeing yesterday. After hearing multiple reports from other people around the dorm about a grizzly and her cub in the area I decided to try and find them. It wasn't hard...I drove up the road a mile and they were right off the side digging in the snow for food. I sat and watched them for nearly an hour and they paid no attention to me whatsoever. Later that evening me and Sam drove out to find cell coverage and came upon two park ranger vehicles. We weren't sure what they were doing but drove around them slowly, luckily we drove slow enough because right past their vehicles was a black bear laying in the woods. We only caught a quick glimpse of him and didn't manage to get a picture, but Sam was glad since she didn't get to see the grizzly with me earlier. Here are some pics of the two that I watched yesterday afternoon. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Getting settled in Yellowstone
We got up early to go the HR office in Gardiner to begin our real adventure. Registration took about a hour, where we got our photo ID and uniforms. The weather outside was beautiful, very cold with snow pouring down...just how I imagined starting my "summer job." Once registered we headed into the park to await an orientation presentation, with an hour and half to spare, we tried to get warm in the car so that Herb and Charlie wouldn't freeze their little turtle butts off. The presentation took about an hour once the time came, and went over a lot of basic information about Xanterra (the company we are working for), life in Yellowstone, what to do in case of a bear attack, and lastly why you shouldn't get too close to the animals (videos on buffalo attacks are scary but very entertaining). The drive through the park to the lake where our dorm awaited us was exciting. The snow covered pines and views of the mountains were amazing. We even spotted some buffalo along the way. We also had a near death encounter with a badger (luckily he decided not to cross the road). Since the part of the park where we are working is not open to the public yet, we had to open a locked gate to get to where we were going.
We were among the first to arrive at the dorms and get our room assignment. Luckily that also meant we got to search the rooms around us for the best wardrobe, mattresses, and end tables. We will be living in Osprey dorm, which currently does not have internet so I am writing this from Pelican dorm which does. There is no cell phone service whatsoever at the Lake, so calls to friends and family will be few and far between until me and Sam are able to get phone cards for the payphones. Since I have a week until my work begins, I am going to use that time to explore the area around us, as well as head back to Gardiner for things that we need/forgot and for an oil change for the Jeep on Tuesday. We have already heard that there is a grizzly and her cub in the area from multiple people, and some guys I met yesterday even saw them last night about a mile from where we are.
It only took us a few hours to get settled in the dorm and make it feel like our new home. I slept soundly last night, finally not having to travel and wake up early helped with that I think. I will try and upload photos of our first day in the park and our dorm and room soon. Once work begins and we start planning for hiking trips and tours around the park we will be posting more, but our posts will not be as often as they have been this week. But keep looking out for new and exciting news from Sam and I as our summer in Yellowstone begins, and hopefully summer does come soon!
We were among the first to arrive at the dorms and get our room assignment. Luckily that also meant we got to search the rooms around us for the best wardrobe, mattresses, and end tables. We will be living in Osprey dorm, which currently does not have internet so I am writing this from Pelican dorm which does. There is no cell phone service whatsoever at the Lake, so calls to friends and family will be few and far between until me and Sam are able to get phone cards for the payphones. Since I have a week until my work begins, I am going to use that time to explore the area around us, as well as head back to Gardiner for things that we need/forgot and for an oil change for the Jeep on Tuesday. We have already heard that there is a grizzly and her cub in the area from multiple people, and some guys I met yesterday even saw them last night about a mile from where we are.
It only took us a few hours to get settled in the dorm and make it feel like our new home. I slept soundly last night, finally not having to travel and wake up early helped with that I think. I will try and upload photos of our first day in the park and our dorm and room soon. Once work begins and we start planning for hiking trips and tours around the park we will be posting more, but our posts will not be as often as they have been this week. But keep looking out for new and exciting news from Sam and I as our summer in Yellowstone begins, and hopefully summer does come soon!
Final Travel Day
We set out from Rapid City on our way to Gardiner, MT for the last leg of our long journey. On the way, about an hour and a half in, we made our last scenic tour at Devils Tower. It was a huge pillar of igneous rock that suddenly rose out of the ground. The native Americans of the region have a legend about its origin. It is said that long ago seven girls were being chased by a bear. They prayed for rescue and as the bear reached out for them they rose up into the air on a pillar of stone. The bears claw marks can still be seen etched into the side of Devils Tower today (know to the Native Americans as Bear Lodge). The girls' spirits rose into the sky and became the stars of the Big Dipper. We went for a short hike part way around the tower and came to a look out spot were you could see remnants of a hand-made ladder that the first man to climb to the top used. It was simply a rope with wooden stakes for climbing the whole way (somewhere around 1500 feet).
Also at Devils Tower was Prairie Dog Town! Home to tons of little prairie dogs. They were jumping in and out of their holes, and running across the road to socialize with each other. They barked at each other to warn about us since our big red car was driving through their houses. We even got a pamphlet about all their habits and lifestyle choices. Though prairie dogs used to live in all areas of the Great Plains, they have been reduced to just a few "settlements" like the one at Devils Tower that we saw.
We arrived at Gardiner, Montana just as the rain did. Luckily we had a little time to unpack, but by the time we found a little pizza place, it was raining steadily. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the room. The next morning when we woke up, it was snowing! And there was an elk outside our window. She was cute. Since it was snowing we decided to head in to Yellowstone to enjoy the wintery scenery, in April... The park looked very picturesque and peaceful, as there were not many visitors this time of year.
We relaxed in the room for the rest of the night, and enjoyed some Chinese take-out for what might be our last Chinese food for the next six months. Of course, it was delicious. Mike kept seeing the local wildlife out of our hotel window, and he decided to go outside and try to get some close up pictures of the mule deer grazing, I will let him tell the story..." Well, there I was staring them deers down. They looked at me and I just looked right back. Then I took some photographs of them deers and they kept on eating grass and lookin' at me. They moved on behind someone's house so I decided to track em down. Once again we had a starin' contest for a few minutes just 20 yards away from each other. By that time I was cold so I came back inside."
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| Artists rendering of the Native legend |
Also at Devils Tower was Prairie Dog Town! Home to tons of little prairie dogs. They were jumping in and out of their holes, and running across the road to socialize with each other. They barked at each other to warn about us since our big red car was driving through their houses. We even got a pamphlet about all their habits and lifestyle choices. Though prairie dogs used to live in all areas of the Great Plains, they have been reduced to just a few "settlements" like the one at Devils Tower that we saw.
We arrived at Gardiner, Montana just as the rain did. Luckily we had a little time to unpack, but by the time we found a little pizza place, it was raining steadily. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the room. The next morning when we woke up, it was snowing! And there was an elk outside our window. She was cute. Since it was snowing we decided to head in to Yellowstone to enjoy the wintery scenery, in April... The park looked very picturesque and peaceful, as there were not many visitors this time of year.
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| First views of the Rockies from the Jeep window thru Montana |
We relaxed in the room for the rest of the night, and enjoyed some Chinese take-out for what might be our last Chinese food for the next six months. Of course, it was delicious. Mike kept seeing the local wildlife out of our hotel window, and he decided to go outside and try to get some close up pictures of the mule deer grazing, I will let him tell the story..." Well, there I was staring them deers down. They looked at me and I just looked right back. Then I took some photographs of them deers and they kept on eating grass and lookin' at me. They moved on behind someone's house so I decided to track em down. Once again we had a starin' contest for a few minutes just 20 yards away from each other. By that time I was cold so I came back inside."
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Sightseeing Day!
Mike: Today we planned out a non-travel, sightseeing only day...and what better place to do it than in Rapid City, South Dakota! There were so many attractions around that the two of us decided we had only time to hit 3: the old mining/rough n' rowdy town of Deadwood, the in-progress Crazy Horse Monument, and one of our nations most spectacular wonders, Mt. Rushmore. Though I (Michael) had been to this area before and seen Mt. Rushmore, I hadn't the opportunity to explore the first two listed.
I have always been a fan of western movies and as a history buff have always loved the westward expansion era of the post Civil War United States, so naturally I have had a hankering to get to tour one of the most notorious towns of the Old West. Though it has grown into a major tourist area, Deadwood still holds onto that Western feel. Touring the town was a treat, and the visitor center built into a renovated train station gave a good starting point for our tour. The Adams Museum did a fairly good job of showing the history of Deadwood, though if the museum had a clearer message I think it would have been much better. The exhibits seemed haphazard and somewhat disconnected from one another, nonetheless Sam and I enjoyed the displays. The highlights of our trip to Deadwood came from the Kevin Costner sponsored "Midnight Star", and the Mt. Moriah Cemetery. The Midnight Star is a building built around 3 separate floors with 3 different themes; gambling, bar and grill, and fine dining. We toured the second (which included tons of Kevin's costumes and posters from his many hit films) and had a couple great burgers for an early lunch. The Mt. Moriah Cemetery was a humbling experience for both of us. The cemetery rested on the hill behind the town, and held the graves of many of the early settlers of the area, including famous names such as "Wild Bill" Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock. There was a special area designated for the Jewish settlers, and an area named "Potters Field" which held many of the early poorer residents that could not afford headstones. Walking the steep hillside among the old headstones really gave me a feeling of how important these early settlers of this area were. Though many have been forgotten, and their stories are not often told in our time, our country would not be what it is today without the pioneers of the "Old West".
Our next stop of the day was certainly my favorite, the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is extremely hard to describe the experience without seeing it firsthand, I was awestruck by the story of Korczak Ziolkowski and his family and what they have been undertaking for the last 60 years to bring a dream of the remaining Native American community to reality. The monument to one of the last great Lakota chiefs, once completed, will dwarf such sites as the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, and the Washington Monument. The reason it has been taking so long to complete is that the project is funded entirely by private donations, and no federal funding. Mr. Ziolkowski and his family, as well as Native leaders, strongly felt that this project should be funded by public interest and not by taxpayers dollars, which I think is quite admirable for a project of this scope and importance. Seeing the memorial was only a part of the experience, there was a great Native American museum and testaments to the life of Korczak as an artist as well. I would strongly encourage any visitor to this area to include this site as a stop on their trip.
Sam: Lastly we finally arrived at Mount Rushmore! I have been wanted to see it for forever, but always figured, "it's in South Dakota and when in the world am I going to be in South Dakota ever?" Hmmm never thought I'd ever be in South Dakota, but here I am. When we got there it was just as good as I had hoped it would be! It was humongous and all the presidents looked regal and very presidential. George looked the best (but then he's the best president anyway), Lincoln looked very serious and exactly as I would expect, Teddy was sort of hiding behind T.J. and Lincoln they were shoving him out of the monument (His glasses were awesome though; they made it actually look like he had lenses!), and it always seemed like we were looking up T.J. nose, no matter what angle we were at. Michael and I made sure to take the little path that goes under and around the monument so you can get up close and see it from different angles. It was so fun and a great way to end our fun sightseeing day. Now tomorrow it's back on the road and finally to Wyoming! Our Destination!!!
(Pictures of our sightseeing tour will follow tomorrow, it is time for sleep!)
I have always been a fan of western movies and as a history buff have always loved the westward expansion era of the post Civil War United States, so naturally I have had a hankering to get to tour one of the most notorious towns of the Old West. Though it has grown into a major tourist area, Deadwood still holds onto that Western feel. Touring the town was a treat, and the visitor center built into a renovated train station gave a good starting point for our tour. The Adams Museum did a fairly good job of showing the history of Deadwood, though if the museum had a clearer message I think it would have been much better. The exhibits seemed haphazard and somewhat disconnected from one another, nonetheless Sam and I enjoyed the displays. The highlights of our trip to Deadwood came from the Kevin Costner sponsored "Midnight Star", and the Mt. Moriah Cemetery. The Midnight Star is a building built around 3 separate floors with 3 different themes; gambling, bar and grill, and fine dining. We toured the second (which included tons of Kevin's costumes and posters from his many hit films) and had a couple great burgers for an early lunch. The Mt. Moriah Cemetery was a humbling experience for both of us. The cemetery rested on the hill behind the town, and held the graves of many of the early settlers of the area, including famous names such as "Wild Bill" Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock. There was a special area designated for the Jewish settlers, and an area named "Potters Field" which held many of the early poorer residents that could not afford headstones. Walking the steep hillside among the old headstones really gave me a feeling of how important these early settlers of this area were. Though many have been forgotten, and their stories are not often told in our time, our country would not be what it is today without the pioneers of the "Old West".
Our next stop of the day was certainly my favorite, the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is extremely hard to describe the experience without seeing it firsthand, I was awestruck by the story of Korczak Ziolkowski and his family and what they have been undertaking for the last 60 years to bring a dream of the remaining Native American community to reality. The monument to one of the last great Lakota chiefs, once completed, will dwarf such sites as the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, and the Washington Monument. The reason it has been taking so long to complete is that the project is funded entirely by private donations, and no federal funding. Mr. Ziolkowski and his family, as well as Native leaders, strongly felt that this project should be funded by public interest and not by taxpayers dollars, which I think is quite admirable for a project of this scope and importance. Seeing the memorial was only a part of the experience, there was a great Native American museum and testaments to the life of Korczak as an artist as well. I would strongly encourage any visitor to this area to include this site as a stop on their trip.
Sam: Lastly we finally arrived at Mount Rushmore! I have been wanted to see it for forever, but always figured, "it's in South Dakota and when in the world am I going to be in South Dakota ever?" Hmmm never thought I'd ever be in South Dakota, but here I am. When we got there it was just as good as I had hoped it would be! It was humongous and all the presidents looked regal and very presidential. George looked the best (but then he's the best president anyway), Lincoln looked very serious and exactly as I would expect, Teddy was sort of hiding behind T.J. and Lincoln they were shoving him out of the monument (His glasses were awesome though; they made it actually look like he had lenses!), and it always seemed like we were looking up T.J. nose, no matter what angle we were at. Michael and I made sure to take the little path that goes under and around the monument so you can get up close and see it from different angles. It was so fun and a great way to end our fun sightseeing day. Now tomorrow it's back on the road and finally to Wyoming! Our Destination!!!
(Pictures of our sightseeing tour will follow tomorrow, it is time for sleep!)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
An Early Start
Soon after, we took an awesome detour to the Badlands (also free b/c of National Parks week), also in South Dakota, where I took a million pictures and Michael and I "ooo"-ed and "aww"-ed at the huge rock formations that make up the entire national park. Not only were the rock formations neat (with cool geological stratigraphy!), but the views of the prairie were amazing, which is probably why I took soooo many pictures. At the park Michael and I took a nice trail that went within the rocks and gave us even cooler views, and went on a fossil trail where we saw fossils of prehistoric animals like the many that can be found in the Badlands still today. While in the park, we came across the local wildlife: prairie dogs, wild sheep and turkeys, as well as the occasional South Dakota bicyclist.
After that it was off to the hotel in Rapid City to get the turtles (who had been really good sports about a long days travel) settled in. We were met at the front desk by a very nice lady with an authentic South Dakota accent; very similar to a Minnesota accent. The hotel has a western feel due to the abundance of wood furniture and paintings of cowboys that seems fitting for a town like Rapid City. Tomorrow we are off on some adventures to Deadwood, Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore!
Indiana to Kansas City, trip day 2
We started out by journeying a half hour south of our hotel in Dale, Indiana to a historic site. We were among the first visitors of the day at Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home, where he lived during his childhood after moving with his family, his father Thomas, mother Nancy, and older sister Sarah, from Kentucky. The site was very nice, informative, and also very peaceful. The NPS has done a great job to enlighten visitors about the formative years Lincoln spent in Indiana that made him the man he would later become. The educational video shown in the visitors center was even narrated by Leonard Nimoy! I would strongly encourage any interested in our 16th Presidents life to someday add this site to their "places to see" list. It is less than a half hour from the interstate and took me and Sam just over an hour to experience everything they had to offer. Sidenote: It is also National Parks week, so we have been attending all the parks this week for free! (More to come)
We continued our journey along the Interstate to St. Louis, cruising at 60 MPH past the St. Louis arch, Mississippi River, Cardinals stadium, and the Rams stadium in quick succession. We missed the exit to tour the arch because it came up so fast...we were a little disappointed but decided to just keep traveling forward. Personally, crossing the Miss. River was a big one for me, and I felt as if now I had truly entered the west and left the east! A few hours later we approached our destination: the Oak Grove KOA Kampground. Everyone at the campground was very friendly and our cabin was (as Sam says) "quaint and cute." Once settling Herb and Charlie in their home for the night, we struck out toward Kansas City for a genuine KC BBQ meal. Finding L.C's BBQ on a Google search of places visited by Man Vs. Food, we decided to head there based on a gut feeling that our bellies were about to be filled with a hearty, delicious, cholesterol filled meal. The restaurant wasn't much to look at, but the smell inside was enough to make your mouth water. The air was thick with smoke from the grill right behind the counter, and a line was quickly forming. Sam ordered a pork sandwich, I ordered a beef sandwich, burnt ends (everyone in front of me did so I decided to go with the locals), and fried green beans. Needless to say our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.
Leaving Kansas City very satisfied we returned to our cabin outside the city to rest up for the night. After building a small campfire and sipping from a bottle of Missouri wine bought earlier that day, we turned in for the night ready for another adventure.
Leaving Kansas City very satisfied we returned to our cabin outside the city to rest up for the night. After building a small campfire and sipping from a bottle of Missouri wine bought earlier that day, we turned in for the night ready for another adventure.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Travel Fun
Sam: Travel Day 1 has come to a close and we are here in the hotel in Dale, Indiana! We've crossed the mountains of West Virginia (and listened to John Denver's Country Roads along the way), the Ohio River and 1 time zone to make it safely here to the farmlands of Indiana.
It was raining when we left the home state, and was very foggy on the mountain, but the roads were just as pretty as ever- we are sure to miss Virginia's beauty! The scenery was very nice in all the states, and we took a few pictures in each. (Which you can see by clicking on the geyser photo because I can't figure out how to get them in the corner there).
Michael: We took a few detours along the way to break up the driving and explore a bit. We kept seeing signs for bourbon distilleries thru Kentucky, the "Kentucky Bourbon Trail". We decided to stop by the Wild Turkey distillery. Apparently, you can visit all of six whiskey distilleries (Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Makers Mark are the others) and they give you a "passport" that you can mail in for a free T-shirt once you visit them all. Luckily the Wild Turkey plant was only 15 minutes from the I-64 and the closest to us. We saw many of their 26 barrel warehouses along the side of the road before arriving at the visitor center, where we were treated to a free tasting of our choice of 2 of their products while watching a short video about the history and operations of Wild Turkey. It was a quick visit, then we were back on the road.
After a few more hours we arrived at our hotel in Dale, Indiana. After checking in and getting the turtles settled (they were ready for clean water and some food after a long day in the car), we headed off to the famed Santa Claus, Indiana to see a year round holiday town. This was a treat for Sam, since Xmas is her favorite holiday. It looked like they were gearing up for the summer tourist season as the holiday theme and water parks were not in operation yet. There were statues and depictions of Santa everywhere! The town was really in the Xmas spirit...on a pretty ridiculous level. But since we were there we enjoyed a home-style dinner at the St. Nick Restaurant where we sat in a booth as a party of about 10 Santas with their Ms. Clauses had a boisterous cheer filled dinner next to us.
Tomorrow we head towards Independence, MO!
It was raining when we left the home state, and was very foggy on the mountain, but the roads were just as pretty as ever- we are sure to miss Virginia's beauty! The scenery was very nice in all the states, and we took a few pictures in each. (Which you can see by clicking on the geyser photo because I can't figure out how to get them in the corner there).
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| Wild Turkey! |
Michael: We took a few detours along the way to break up the driving and explore a bit. We kept seeing signs for bourbon distilleries thru Kentucky, the "Kentucky Bourbon Trail". We decided to stop by the Wild Turkey distillery. Apparently, you can visit all of six whiskey distilleries (Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Makers Mark are the others) and they give you a "passport" that you can mail in for a free T-shirt once you visit them all. Luckily the Wild Turkey plant was only 15 minutes from the I-64 and the closest to us. We saw many of their 26 barrel warehouses along the side of the road before arriving at the visitor center, where we were treated to a free tasting of our choice of 2 of their products while watching a short video about the history and operations of Wild Turkey. It was a quick visit, then we were back on the road.
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| Santa Party! |
After a few more hours we arrived at our hotel in Dale, Indiana. After checking in and getting the turtles settled (they were ready for clean water and some food after a long day in the car), we headed off to the famed Santa Claus, Indiana to see a year round holiday town. This was a treat for Sam, since Xmas is her favorite holiday. It looked like they were gearing up for the summer tourist season as the holiday theme and water parks were not in operation yet. There were statues and depictions of Santa everywhere! The town was really in the Xmas spirit...on a pretty ridiculous level. But since we were there we enjoyed a home-style dinner at the St. Nick Restaurant where we sat in a booth as a party of about 10 Santas with their Ms. Clauses had a boisterous cheer filled dinner next to us.
Tomorrow we head towards Independence, MO!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
A Full Car
One short post before the trip begins tomorrow.
The car is all packed and we are on out way out west! Everything barely fits in the car, but we finally got it all in there. Should be a lot more updates now that the trip is underway, so look for lots of pictures as we head out to Yellowstone!
The car is all packed and we are on out way out west! Everything barely fits in the car, but we finally got it all in there. Should be a lot more updates now that the trip is underway, so look for lots of pictures as we head out to Yellowstone!
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