Happy Birthday, Jared!

August 31 – Happy Birthday Jared!  Love you son!

Wow, what a windy day and it was cold enough that we had to turn the heat on this morning.  We sat wrapped in blankets until the heat kicked in!

After breakfast and going through a stack of magazines we’ve accumulated, I went to the post office, 14 miles down the road.  Texted with Harry and I’m sad he’s not going to be able to come this weekend.  He said he needs to work!  I understand but hoped we’d get to see him again before heading home.  He won’t be home until the summer if he even comes then.

Bill went up and borrowed a tall ladder and after lunch I got on the roof to see how badly it needed cleaning.  Luckily it’s not as dirty as the slide toppers so Bill said we’d wait and do it when we get home.  He proceeded to wash the RV.  It took a couple of hours.

Since Harry isn’t coming we are leaving early on the 7^th instead of after lunch.  I changed our reservations and stops and that took me about 2 hours of mapping and calls. 

After dinner we drove down to Big Springs to look for Moose but no luck.  Bill thinks we waited to long so will try again earlier!

A somewhat productive day

August 30 – What a windy day!  Up to 20 mph winds, not something we like in the RV!

We had a nice casual morning and after breakfast Bill went to talk to the neighbor and was gone forever.  The gentleman is from Florida and we’ve had lots of conversations with him.   He helped Bill get the generator started the other day and today he’s going to show him how to use the RV to pump up the tires.

While he was out I baked brownies, changed some bulbs that were out and did a load of laundry.  When they came over to fill the tires I was out taking a panel off in the big compartment to retrieve a fork that fell a week or so ago and hit Bill’s foot and went under the slide through the hole the water lines go through.  Happily I retrieved my fork and the panel back in place. 

Earl, the gentleman from Florida, came in and he showed Bill how to better work the panel on the dash that tracks everything.  He and I discussed replacing our small couch with a recliner sectional and gave me some good pointers on that.  He’s a very knowledgeable man and very nice.  He’s leaving tomorrow and hopes to go to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque so I gave him the information on the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Posse Arena since everyplace within 100 miles has been booked for 6 months or longer.  Hopefully there’s a space left for him.

I washed Molly’s little hut and put it away today.  It didn’t take long to dry with all the wind.  Bill put the frogs away since one fell off in the wind and we don’t want anymore to get broken.

Made a simple dinner of grilled chicken, corn on the cob and mixed steamed veggies.  When Bill is hungry it’s good that I have something fast to fix!  Nothing much on TV so we both read.  I’m trying a new author, not like I don’t have enough books of my regular ones to read, but it’s good to explore!

Two boring days at work

August 28/29 -  Work was really slow and boring for both days.  The weather was really nice out but a lot less people in the park, so fewer people coming in to chat and pick up their mail.  People with cabins have left the valley also so not nearly as many laundry customers.  That means a lot less work cleaning washers after each use, so I managed to read a lot and make more scrubbies. 

Bill finds a lot more to do outside than I do inside. At 5:30 I’m able to start cleaning the dryers and then the popcorn machine and then Bill comes in about 6:30 to sweep and help empty the trash.  Then it only takes about 15 minutes to balance and close up at 7.  Friday we didn’t have any new arrivals but Saturday we had several, and of course, 2 that arrived just about closing time so I was a few minutes later starting my close out.  It’s a lot easier to balance when you only have 4-6 transactions a day, that’s how slow it was. 

Gina and Rick, the son and daughter-in-law of the owners, stopped by to say good-bye.  Gina was here when we arrived and she worked a lot with me the first couple of weeks and then she had to go home to Utah.  Rick was up every weekend that she was here and they are both extremely nice people.  She and I hit it off immediately and we shared stories and laughs.  He’s been asked to take over managing the park for his parents starting next year and they want us to come back.  I told her maybe in 2017.  We exchanged addresses also.  It was a slightly teary good-bye so I hope we at least get to come see them on some trip down the road.

Just another day!

August 27 – Another day off to laze around!  I had a lot of calls to make today.  Of course I didn’t reach a single person I needed on my first try and left messages.  Then I was dealing with our open enrollment for insurance and most of those people don’t have a clue.  AND our rates went up AGAIN.  I might have to get a full time job!!!

In the mean time Bill went to West Yellowstone to get some bolts to fix a fence and then I went out and helped him with it.  Gradually all but one of our calls were returned but the one from Golden Pond was not to my satisfaction so I called for the Director and found she’s no longer there so left a message for the “interim” Director.  No response, so guess I’ll start over tomorrow!

We read some this afternoon and I made another reservation for our trip home.  It’s coming together.  Will be at least the 15^th. 

It was mostly a restful day, considering we have 2 12-hour days coming up.  At least it’s not as busy.  We walked over to get our keys back from another lady who was covering the laundry and office.  She’s really nice and they are seasonals.  We watched the Meryl Streep movie, Marvin’s Room, which was really good. 

Time to get back to reading and to bed early!

Back to normal, whatever that is!

August 26 – I had to make a call at 8 this morning about my parents so I was up about 7:30.  Bill got up at the same time as we both slept pretty good last night.  I tried to make my call but it took a while to get to the person who said let’s have a conference call!  Nothing got resolved but I finally got to talk to them and am supposed to hear back later today.

After breakfast I started on laundry and cleaning.  I put a pork loin in the crockpot for tomorrow or the next day’s dinner and took out a meatloaf to thaw.  Bill went to get our long lost mail packet that arrived here on the 23^rd.  I’m going to write a letter.  It won’t accomplish anything but make me feel better.  The package was not disrupted in any way and the tracking info was fully intact.  Go figure!  Bill also delivered all of the soda and water we brought back yesterday and let the lady working know he was available if she needed any propane pumped today.

Bill washed the car once the sun came out and I baked a small cake.  We both spent some time on the computer catching up on email and he did his facebook and I blogged.

I never got my return call from Golden Pond.

After dinner it was TV time and later some reading time.  Since I got 5 new books yesterday I need to pick up the pace!

Museum of Clean

August 25 – Breakfast was better than we expected.  They had one waffle machine but we were 4^th in line to use it.  Once it was our turn I made one that we shared and then the second one.  There was the normal yogurt, cereal, toast and some fruit.

Kelly and Don

It was probably about 9:30 by the time we finished breakfast and loaded the car.  Timing was actually perfect as we were going to the Museum of Clean that opened at 10:00.  The question was

Car made from cleaning tools

what to do about Molly as it takes at least 90 minutes to see it and they had no trees in the lot.  I went in and asked if we could bring her in inside her crate and they said sure.  She just sat by the front desk and observed while we got to go on a tour led by the founder, Don Aslett.  He was getting ready to take a group of young girls and we were asked if we’d like to join.  He’s a fascinating man, who is sharp as a tack at 80.  He started a cleaning business while in college to pay his way to school and ended up building it into a multi-million dollar company across the US, Varsity Contractors.  The museum, www.museumofclean.com, is full of antique sweepers and all kinds of cleaning inventions and so much of it is hands on. 

Carpet sweeper display

He also stresses recycling and has numerous displays using recycled cleaning items made into other things.  He and Bill hit it off right away as Don was a big Cleveland Indian fan and kept quizzing Bill about various players from the “old” days.  He was impressed that he got every question right.  We enjoyed following

Tub couch

the young girls and seeing how they answered his many questions to identify items they would never have seen before.  The museum is a non-profit and many items are donated.  Don has picked up items from all over the world so we got to see how they cleaned things in Germany, England, The Orient and beyond!  Don has been on QVC, a lecture/inspirational speaker and several TV programs.  If you ever get the chance to go to Pocatello, Idaho, you really need to see this place. 

Molly was patiently waiting for us so once I visited the gift shop (full of cleaning books written by Don, over 35 books) we headed up the highway to Idaho Falls.

It was lunchtime when we arrived and I said I’d eat the leftover chicken in the cooler and some veggies and we would stop to get Bill something.  Our first stop of interest was Reed’s Dairy where they make cheese and ice cream.  They sell cheese curds and that’s what we really wanted.  When we arrived they had a sign that you can get grilled cheese sandwiches so I went in and got Bill one with ham and they use homemade bread.  For $5 he got a nice sandwich, chips, soda and a kiddie ice cream cone.  What a deal!   So we ate in the car and then I went back for a kiddie cup for me and some Colby cheese curds and some cheddar ends, which were really inexpensive.  The ice cream was very creamy and delicious.  You could go out and see the farm animals too!  The place was very busy and a bus from the YMCA arrived as we were about to leave so that was good timing!

The rest of the day was a rush of shopping for us and some for the RV park.  We went to Sam’s, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Fred Meyers, City Books and Dave’s Market.  The car was packed full since we got cases of water and cartons of soda for the park.  We managed to get home about 6:30 which surprised Bill.  We only unloaded our stuff and once we got somewhat organized I scraped up enough leftovers for us each for dinner.

We were both tired as it’s not the same sleeping in hotels with outside noises going on and thin walls.  We were in bed by 10!

More Sightseeing

August 24 – This morning we had the hotel's continental breakfast which was OK. It took the same two loads to put everything back in the car that we brought in last night. We left the parking lot just a few minutes before 9.

We stopped in Soda Springs on our way through and found someone working at the cemetery who was able to tell Bill exactly where the headstone was for the Box Wagon Family. He was pleased that we got to see it and got his photo.

Across the street was an Ace Hardware store so we stopped to get lubricant for our very hard to open windows. I had checked on line and had several items to pick from so we hope this will solve that problem when we get back to the RV.

Inside of the tabernacle

The main objective was Montpelier but we went on through it to Paris, Idaho where the Paris

Paris Stake Tabernacle

Tabernacle is. It was built over a 5 year period ending in 1888 by the Mormons. It is a beautiful building. We'd say it's a church but it's actually a Stake Tabernacle. It's a meeting place for members of the church. Weddings can be performed there but they are only civil ceremonies, not considered the same as being married in a Mormon Temple. The inlaid ceilings were beautiful as was all the

Only stained glass in tabernacle

work done in the church. All of the benches and doors are original although the benches had been white and were redone. Since they used mostly pine in the church which doesn't have a nice grain to it, there was a special tool used after the paint/stain was applied to create the look of grain. The gentleman who gave us our tour was at one time the mayor of Paris. He was very gracious and answered all of our questions even though some we maybe should not have asked.

1881 Cabin

We visited a little cabin in Paris that was built in 1863 and was shared by 2 families. That would be a tight fit!

It was lunchtime by now so we backtracked over to Montpelier and had lunch at an Arctic Circle. We'd seen them in places but had not tried one. It's basically a McDonald's type place but they have more kinds of ice cream and milkshakes. I had a lemon pepper chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries and Bill had a Big Mac equivalent.

Replica Oregon Trail wagon

Across the street is the National Oregon/California Trail Center, the reason we came there! Tickets were $11 each for seniors and we waited about 20 minutes for a tour. We were the only ones on the tour and were both disappointed in it. We thought it was a museum and we would follow along and see how life was on the trail. Nope! A grouchy man in costume who was the “trail boss” took us through several “stations” where we learned we'd need $1,200-$1,500 for our family of 6 to make the journey. Then we bought a Studebaker wagon and oxen to pull it and 6 months of supplies. Then he took us as far as Clover Creek. There a young girl in costume told us this was the easy half of the journey and we rested for 3 days and shoed the oxen and mended what needed mending and she explained the tasks of many of the people in the wagon train. We liked her much better. The guy seemed to rush and get rid of us, maybe it was his lunch time!  When I say we “did” those things, it was all just talk about what a family heading west on the trail would have to do and have to make the trip.   Anyway, it was OK but not what we expected.

BigHill

From town we drove further out to the Trail Portal at Big Hill. Emigrants by the thousands entered present day Idaho at this location traveling along the Oregon-California Trail. Emigrants on the trail encountered Big Hill, thought to be the steepest and longest descent found on the tip west. 500,000 people traveled the trail from 1840 to 1914. The last person to go went the reverse at age 92. 18% of the 500,000 who left St. Joseph/Independence, Missouri died on the way. Most deaths were from cholera, other diseases or accidents.

Log house with out house

Time to head back west and to the Mormon town of Chesterfield, Idaho settled about 1881. The village is on the Register of Historic Places and the buildings are brick and wood. It has been a ghost town

General Store

for a number of years but recently some descendants of the original owners have refurbished a few of the homes. This year 5 couples live in some of the homes while volunteering by giving tours of the buildings and maintaining the General Store which was open until 1956. You start there for a tour but we had Molly with us and it was getting hot out so we drove around to most of the buildings. Chesterfield is REALLY out there so you have to want to see it to go, it's not along any main road for sure!

On the way to Pocatello for the night we stopped at the Flying J and filled up. We found a Super 8, newly refurbished, that allows pets so that's where we stayed the night. We checked 3 other pet friendly motels in the area and decided this was definitely the best bang for our buck. The room was as nice as any motel we've stayed in with all new carpet and décor. They also have the continental breakfast!

For dinner we went to Old Downtown Pocatello with the intention of having Greek for dinner. Once we parked and got to it, it was closed. There was a big street party going on welcoming back the students at Idaho State.  Our second choice for dinner was a home style place recommended by the front desk, ButterBurrs. It was very good and lots of people. They serve you a “twist” with each meal that we knew was a cinnamon roll type thing so we said to serve it last. Well, I had cinnamon and Bill had the raspberry and they are about 8 inches long and thick and gooey and so good. I had thought about sharing a piece of pie until they brought those out. We barely managed to finish them off.

Molly hadn't eaten a thing while we were gone but finally decided she was hungry. She sits by the door of the room and wants to go explore.

We watched “Scorpion” and then Bill read while I typed my journal.

Headed on a road trip!

August 23 – The plan was to leave on our excursion at 9 but we didn't get up until 8 so it was about 9:15. I packed us a lunch and snacks and Bill loaded the car after a nice big breakfast.

It was still very smoky and hazy out and it was a brisk 50 degrees. Burrr! Our first stop was about 20 miles down the road when Bill thought he forgot one of his pills. He did forget one but it's an over the counter so we stopped again in Blackfoot way down the road. There was a Wal-mart right at the exit so I went in first and got the pills and a Sunday paper and used the facilities while he stayed with Molly. Then it was his turn.

There were so many wheat and hay farms along the way and more baling to be done. Once you see all the cattle you realize how much hay it's going to take for a winter up here. We passed Idaho Falls and Pocatello, both which we will catch on the way back. We didn't stop again until the exit for Lava Hot Springs. We fueled up at a Flying J at the exit assuming prices will be higher in the tiny towns along the way.

We arrived In Lava Hot Springs around lunchtime. First we stopped

City springs

at our hotel, Riverside Hot Springs Inn, to see if our room was ready in hopes of leaving Molly while we went out exploring. Since they were full last night they didn't have our room ready yet so we just took her with us. We stopped at the city park where there was tubing in the Portneuf River. We had our lunch at a nice picnic area and then walked down the path to the end of the city “spring baths”. It was beautifully landscaped.

On the way to Soda Springs there were a number of Historical Markers that we stopped at to read up on the local history. This is an area where the Oregon Trail crossed, geysers, a ghost town, all sorts of interesting places. The drive over the pass would have been amazing of it wasn't for all of the smoke in the air. The vast fields of wheat, new crops and harvested, the colors were beautiful from the top of the pass.

Soda Springs Geyser

We missed seeing the Soda Springs Geyser at 2:00 but circled

Geyser Run off

back and saw it at 3. It really shoots straight up and the flow from it is beautiful. It looks coppery or golden. We drove up just in time to see it go off.

We stopped at Octogon Springs where the water is carbonated by nature. I had an empty water bottle that Bill filled and later put a packet of Snapple in and said it was pretty good. I tasted it and it was nasty before the Snapple. There were 3 middle school kids at the spring just relaxing on their

Bill filling his bottle with
carbonated water

last day before school starts. They told us to put grape kool-aid in the water and not to drink the water from Hooper Springs as he heard they swim in that spring.

Man made lava flow

We drove out to see Hooper Springs and Park which is across a big field from the Monsanto Slag Pour. They call it a man made lava flow. I would like to watch when they do the pour as it is molten rock being poured and would look like lava from a volcano.

Around the city park, Corrigan, are several historic monuments. We saw the Dinkey Engine, which was a miniature locomotive used in 1926 to haul supplies to

Conda Bus

the dam for the Alexander Reservoir. It was located at the bottom of the reservoir in 1976 and restored by the Union Pacific Railroad. There is a Conda Bus that was used between 1922 and 1936 to carry phosphate mine workers between the towns of Conda, 8 miles north to Soda Springs.

Along the main highway is a monument where Brigham

Monument to mark Brigham
Young's cabin site

Young had a summer home cabin built in 1870. It was being moved in 1944 to make room for a motel and was destroyed in the process.

Now isn't that a big bale of hay?

We attempted to go to Sulpher Springs and when we turned off the main road to a gravel road, it wasn't bad at all. Then I turned off that to a very rutty dirt road and stopped and we both agreed it was not the road for the car, so I backed out and we headed back into Soda Springs. Along the gravel road I got my chance to have my picture taken on a huge hay bale.

Back in town is the Fairview Cemetery where the Wagon Box Grave is and they have a sign pointing down the aisle where it's “supposed” to be.  We could not find it. This isn't the first time a cemetery has said “go this way” and then there are no further instructions. We drove around a bit but didn't see one the shape of it. It was the first grave in the cemetery. It contains a family of 7 on their way to Oregon in 1861 and were killed by Indians. Others in the wagon train found them the next day and used the family's wagon to bury them all together using their blankets and quilts.

Oregon Trail ruts

As we headed back towards Lava Springs we stopped to see some of the Oregon Trail ruts along the river and a spot called Sheep Rock where the Oregon Trail and the California Trail separate.

It was nice to get back to Lava Springs and only took us 2

No Molly didn't go!

loads to bring our stuff and Molly's stuff in the room. The hotel was built in 1904 and has 3 hot thermal tubs in the basement that we got to use. They are at 108 degrees and boy was it hot! She showed us how to add cold water to cool it down some.

Our private tub

We went after dinner, which was in the hotel and absolutely delicious! Bill with with a filet but I had the duck pasta primavera.  Homemade pasta even!  After our nice dinner and 30 minutes in the thermal tub we were so relaxed and barely able to get back up the stairs, as there is no elevator. Molly loved having a big room to roam around in and with the king bed we should all get a good night's sleep with lots of room!

Resting day

August 22 – Happy Birthday Dad!  My dad is 87 today!  I mailed him a package of snack goodies that we hope he will enjoy. 

We slept in and after breakfast we did some housework.  I did more work on the computer and made some reservations for the trip home.  We decided to go to southern Idaho tomorrow over night or maybe 2 nights.  I made a reservation at a motel that allows cats so Molly is going with us.

"Now and Then"

After lunch we showered and went into West Yellowstone

Too bad "White Buffalo Woman"
was behind bushes on all sides

for a while.  We found 2 more of the painted buffalo statues but did not find the place that was recommended for Bill to get his hair cut.

We did some Christmas shopping and checked out a shop that is closing at the end of the season.  No super bargains but we got a few things. 

Once we got home I was back on the computer while Bill watched TV.  Then he got a call from the park owner asking if he could come help him so off he went.  I baked potatoes and sautéed boneless pork chops in some of my peach white balsamic vinegar and then reduced it for a sauce.  It was yummy!  We had some squash for the veggie!  He had considered having dinner in West Yellowstone but since we are going out of town we figured we better eat in tonight.

I packed part of my clothes and put a load of wash in.  We watched “Hell on Wheels” and then read up on that this is the last season!  Crap, I think we are the black widows of TV shows.

Lazy Day!

August 21 – I slept really well again but my neck pull is still there!  I decided to almost make a Sunday breakfast today.  I did the bacon, cantaloupe and toasted coconut pancakes but no egg for Bill.

It’s very windy out today and it has helped move some of the haze so we can see the mountain better again.  I hope it’s a sign some of the fires are under control.

 

We spent most of the day inside.  I did a load of laundry and got busy on my blog.  Picasa changed its format and I’m having some issues with how it is all working.  Kam is going to convert me to Google’s “new” photo program after we get home.  I’ll just live with it for the rest of the trip.

I made chicken noodle soup with my chicken stock from dinner and grilled cheese.  It wasn’t that it’s cold out, but thought I better do it on a day I have time.  Bill did a lot on the computer also.  He’s been posting a lot of photos on Facebook.

After lunch he went up to check the mail and still our lost Priority Mail has not arrived.  I called our post mistress again and she said she tracked it just before lunch and it only said it left Denver, ON THE 18^TH!  Certainly no one is giving this any priority!

I caught up the blog and worked on my pictures some.  Finally had some time to sit and read.  The wind never died down.  For dinner I put some meatballs I had made in sauce and let them simmer and we had spaghetti and salad.  That rates right up there with meatloaf to Bill.  While we ate I had put some peanut butter muffins in to bake.  They are gluten free and very simple to make.  We each had one warm from the oven and it was pretty tasty.  Later in the evening we had another one and the peanut butter was more intensified.  That’s a keeper!

Nothing much on TV so Bill read and went to bed about 10 and I stayed up until 11 to finish my book.

Slow day with a beautiful sunset!

August 20 – I slept really well last night but think I was a bit contortioned as I pulled a muscle in my neck and down into my shoulder.  Who knows?

We went through our normal set up routine and then Wendell called to let us know he now has what Elaine has so he wouldn’t be in.  He gave Bill directions how to take the quarters out of the washers and putting it in the change machine as he knew it was running low.

I helped Bill with that task before he headed out to do more painting. I was a slow day for me again until mid-morning and people came in.  Bill always has plenty to do outside and he came in several times to take a break.  It’s still very hazy out from the fires.  We are glad we are not headed further west. 

The afternoon got really slow and we only had 3-4 check in’s.  I had 3 no shows that we had no phone number for so I made them a map and put it on the door.  I made 3 scrubbies and took my netbook with me today and at least wrote some of my journal.

The area ladies play Bunco on Thursday so they were in and out.  I had no late laundry people so I had everything done by 7 (will Bill helping with the floor and taking out the garbage) and since it was a slow day I was balanced and out at 7:10.

Although still hazy it was a nice
sunset tonight!

I got to sit and relax for a bit before making dinner.  We had our leftover chicken and broccoli salad and I heated some canned corn.  After dinner I stewed up the chicken carcass and picked it all off the bones to make soup tomorrow.

Once again I didn’t feel like getting on the computer so we watched some TV and read.  That’s our normal routine!

Back to work!

August 19 – Ugh, up at 6:45 and off to work we went! It's a different group of people that come in on Wednesdays. Not nearly as busy as Friday and Saturday. Elaine stayed home sick and Wendell finally came in about 11 and used the front loader to put some dirt and gravel in the drive way. He smoothed it out and Bill raked it the rest of the way. Will be much nicer for folks in big rigs coming in.

One set of Bill's fine looking poles!

Bill finished his project of staining 2 coats on the entrance poles today. They look really nice. He also re-stained any stray benches that he found. I think he has some picnic tables he wants to do also.

Nothing much went on, Wendell left and didn't say a word but we've closed before so that's no problem. Bill came and helped me with the trash and floors and I managed to get out before 7:30. We had Lean Cuisines tonight. I gave Bill a choice of that or the rotisserie chicken. So dinner was easy to fix and tasted pretty good after a long day. Since it's slowed down a lot I got to make more scrubbies.

I stayed up til 11 to watch my show, Suits, and called it a night!

Shopping and a Movie!

August 18 – Today was a trip to Rexburg! It's about an hour south and that's the closest Wal-mart and real grocery stores.

We didn't leave until about 10 and checked the office to see if our mail packet was in. Negative! It should have been here on Saturday and has Bill's pills in it and he is totally out. On the way we stopped at the clinic in Island Park to see if they could give him a script for a couple of days and but would entail filling out a bunch of paperwork and seeing the doctor so Bill chose not to go that route as yet. Then we stopped at the post office to see if the post mistress would have any better luck than I did in tracking the package. She couldn't see anything more than me, which was it made it to Salt Lake City and was “out for delivery”. She took my number and said she'd see what she could find out.

Once we got to Rexburg we went to Wal-Mart so Bill could see if the pharmacist could fill the new script that was still in Florida's store. I did what little shopping I planned on there and he did get the script transferred but now has to have his Dr. in Florida do a totally new one to get it again back in Florida. What a hassle!

We had lunch at a place like Chipolte and it was very good. The prices were about the same also and that was a surprise. Then we made a stop at Dollar Tree before heading to the movies. We saw “The Man from UNCLE”. It was good but Ilya is a much bigger man than David McCallum. I think there will be a sequel and we enjoyed it!

We went further into town to the Broulim's which is such a great store. Then Bill dropped me at Albertson's while he went back for his script! He was very relieved! We received a call from the post mistress that our priority package's code got messed up and it got re-routed to Denver! Couldn't someone just read the address and send it on to us? How stupid is that?

Since it would be past dinner time when we got home, I bought a rotisserie chicken and some broccoli salad and that's what we had with some fruit. Enough for another night after work.

Back to work tomorrow and then 7 days off.

Back to Yellowstone!

Midway Geyser Basin

August 17 – Bill wanted to be up and leave at 8 for Yellowstone but it was 9 when we left.  The crowds were not nearly as bad as we’ve seen them in the past.  We saw a number of bison on the way in which is the first time we’ve seen more than one along that section of

One stretch of the basin

road.  We stopped at Midway Geyser Basin and were excited that we got a parking space on the first try.  Normally cars are overflowing along the road sides.  The Grand Prismatic Spring is the major attraction there but the hot spring water flowing over the banks into the Firehole River is really impressive.  There’s a long boardwalk up and around most of the springs and geysers.  There were bison prints in some and even writing done by some jerk tourist. Why would someone want to ruin what has taken nature years to

Grafitti at the basin

create?

Wonderful tour busses!

Again there were many Japanese and several tour buses.  We were definitely in the minority.  Once section of a spring is flowing over long grass and it looks like a tree knot formation.

Along the walk to Fairy Falls

A little further down the road was Fairy Falls.  The parking area is really small but we found a spot along the road.  It was disappointing as we didn’t know to see the falls it was a 2.5 mile hike one way.  We took a couple of photos of some geyser pools and headed down the road to Biscuit Basin.

They call it Biscuit Basin because 4 days after the earthquake in 1959 one of the geysers starting spewing mineral chunks

Cool formation at Biscuit Basin

that landed around the geyser that looked like biscuits.  This area has some very interesting formations and geyser pools.  These are things that can only be formed by nature

Water flow at Biscuit Basin

and we get very upset when we see what some people can do to them.  Unfortunately everything is open 24 hours a day so anyone can come at night.  Also there are numerous hats and visors that get blown off of people at many sites.  The rangers use long grabbers to get some of them but many are too far out.

In front of Old Faithful Inn

Our timing was perfect as we arrived at Old Faithful at bathroom break time and lunchtime.  We parked at the General Store since they have restrooms and picnic tables

Huge geyser cone in Upper Basin

but as our luck would have it after we came back from inside the tables were all taken.  We just sat in the car and had our picnic lunch.  While we sat there we spotted a bison right along the sidewalk to the upper Geyser Basin where we were going after lunch.

By the time we ate and walked out to the geyser basin the

Buff in front of Old Faithful Inn

bison had moved but we still got some photos.  I had forgotten to bring my extra camera battery so didn’t get many photos on it.  I had to use the photo option on the video camera.  It zooms better but the resolution wasn’t set as high.  We did another long walking loop which we both

Castle Geyser

needed.  The basin is up a bit high so we got a beautiful view of the Inn and some shots with the loan bison in front in the field.  Towards the end the skies were turning gray and I was getting a bit uneasy as I DO NOT like lightning and it was cooling down fast also.  We walked faster and got back to the Inn just as the drops started.  Bill headed to the restroom and I waited for Old Faithful

Today's Old Faithful shot

and of course I got to see it but he only caught the tail end. By the time it was over the storm had blown past or around so we walked back to the car and headed back to West Yellowstone.

On the way out we drove the Firehole Lake Drive in hopes of catching Great Fountain Geyser going off.  That’s the one I took great shots of on the wrong setting and they came out white!  Well, we sat for quite a bit and it wasn’t doing anything so we finally left

Great Fountain Geyser Cone

and on the way we saw the elk at their regular spot but nothing else along the way.

Can barely see the mountain for
the haze

In West Yellowstone we parked and got an ice cream.  That local Wilcoxson ice cream is so good.  I love the Cream Coffee flavor!  We need to get out of here as I never eat ice cream except when we travel and coffee ice cream is my downfall and my extra pounds this trip!  We stopped in some shops and got some good deals on gifts for the family and stopped at the grocery and decided on some deli roast beef.  Bill was excited that I was making it with gravy and mashed potatoes for dinner with a side of steamed broccoli.  It’s a 15 minute dinner and I only do it 4-5 times a year! 

The smoke from the Montana and Idaho fires are still bad and people are asking if they are getting close. 

 We watched some TV and chilled.  Tomorrow we are going to Rexburg!

Restful Sunday

August 16 – It got cold last night and we hadn’t left the heat to come on and neither of us took the initiative to get up and get some heat going until Bill got up at 8. He turned on so many lights and made so much noise that I was awake.  He put an extra blanket on me and turned on the space heater and went to the living room. I didn’t go back to sleep but at least I was warm. 

We had our nice Sunday breakfast and then got busy with laundry, cleaning the floors and putting out ant bait again under the small sofa. We haven’t been inundated with them but don’t want to get started. There have been a few here and there.

I decided to make deviled eggs for the good-bye-summer farewell gathering as that was the only thing I could think of that I had all the ingredients for. Bill started looking at maps again and re-rerouting us when we leave and also planning our remaining days so we don’t forget anything we planned to see. He said we have only 6 more days to work. I caught up on my journal but the internet was still down so didn’t post anything this morning. 

The sun came out and it warmed up in the RV in a hurry so we went to AC. We need to

Elaine, Becky, Amelia, Kelly, Andrew, Bill (Wendell
took the picture)

make a list of all of our RV issues so we can see what Winnebago might be able to do when go there on the way home. We went over for the farewell meal at 2 and it was very good. The lady who runs the gas station for the owners did all of the cooking. It was nice to finally have some time to just sit and visit with everyone. Of course it delayed Becky and her kids from getting to leave but I think everyone enjoyed it. 

After our delicious meal we headed home and watched some TV and read.

Very busy work day!

August 15 – Another day at work and the place looked just like it did when we left.  No more water had come in so that was good.  I had a laundry customer waiting at the door at 8:00 so we were up and running.  And I was running all morning as there were two times during the day that every washer was being used.  I had 2 dryers go crazy on me and did my best to give good and interesting information to many people.  Everyone thinks you are a local and ask all kinds of questions, like the best hiking trails and if a road is gravel.  Now I do know where one gravel road is!

I washed out more washers today than I thought possible.  The afternoon slowed up and it got really hazy out.  Several people asked if there was a fire nearby so I looked it up on my phone and found there were fires in southern Idaho around Twin Falls, Hagerman, Shoshone and Boise and with the direction of the wind that’s what was causing all the haze.  There are also some fires not too far away in Montana but they would be blowing north. 

There were also a lot of questions about the internet so I finally had to call Wendell and ask him to call the company.  He called back and said they were having technical issue from here to Idaho Falls so I could at least let people know it wasn’t our fault.  Probably some of that bad lightning last night hit some of the towers.

Bill did a lot of weed eating and we finally figured out how to lengthen the weed eater so it was more comfortable for him to use.  He makes himself a list of jobs but there are so many he wants to do that of course he never gets them all done.

The afternoon starting slowing around 2 and by 5 there was no one doing laundry.  That was nice for me as I could start cleaning the washers one last time at 5:30 and then got right on the dryers.  Bill did the bathrooms for me today and swept the floors and took all the trash out.  The owners got in about 6:30 and the Eagle Scout project was done and signed off on so they were quite jubilant.  I would be too after spending a good part of the week working on it.  They are such a nice family and we have certainly enjoyed working with them.  Bill went on his way home and the family waited until I had balanced and made change for me for the till for tomorrow before they left.  As soon as I locked the door I remembered my long sleeve shirt but after dinner and darkness we went back out so we could check the big outdoor sign and see if it was working (and it wasn’t) and I got my shirt while Bill put a cap on a sewer.  We also checked all the solar lights to see which ones were out.  Most use batteries so we will see if they want them replaced.

We had watched our show “Hell on Wheels” at 8 so when we got back in we just read for the rest of the evening.

Bye Newell, back to work!

August 14 – Up and back to work!  It was a slow starting day for me after Bill did the floors and I got all set up and ready to go.  Then as soon as Newell came in to do his laundry it got busy.  I had hoped to get to visit with him some but it just wasn’t happening.  Phone calls, laundry issues, check-outs and the list goes on.  Bill was in and out and we said out sad good-byes to Newell, until the next time!

Kerry called and added to the mix of issues.  Dad got a fellow resident in a head lock and hit him and our understanding is they took him to the hospital but he was fine.  Now they say either dad has to leave or we have to have a companion for him form 10 AM to 6PM daily.  I got busy on that and got a temporary one from Age Advantage until we could find a male companion.  We think he is too much for a female to handle.  I ended up contacting the man who was caregiver for years to one of Bill’s former principals and luckily for us he was interested immediately.  He has been working part time and said he’d work 7 days a week for us.  I put him in touch with Kerry to iron out the details and he is starting on Tuesday.  What a relief!  It’s a bit additional expense but there’s nothing else we can do.  They are going to schedule dad an appointment to re-check his meds and see if they can increase but some of the problem is getting him to take them so we hope Joseph will be able to keep him on track.

Bill started on his pole painting project at the entrance.  He didn’t have a ladder high enough to do the top of the tallest one as the owner had that ladder with him working on his grandson’s Eagle Scout project.

It slowed up enough in the afternoon that I had time to get back to making scrubbies.  I managed to get 2 done today to add to my collection.

Later in the day we could see the storm clouds heading our way and at closing time we got hit pretty hard.  We had hail bigger than peas banging on all those Laundromat windows.  And we had some mean looking lightning strikes that seemed super close.  Then water was pouring in under the doors and one section of windows where they meet.  I was glad Bill hadn’t left yet as he mopped up water and put towels down to keep it contained.  The hail faded into rain and than slowed up so Bill went home.   We had done all the evening duties but I still had to balance.  He brought me back my raincoat but by the time I left it was about 30 degrees colder but the rain had passed on or stopped. 

We had a repeat of our dinner last night but the fish was gone so I had Italian sausage and Bill had a burger.  Still have enough meat for another night!  I was too tired to blog or journal so will once again have to rely on my failing memory of what and where went on each day!