Nice day off!

August 7 – The power company notified the campground to notify everyone in the park that the entire area’s power was being shut off at 6AM for approximately 4 hours to do the repairs to the sub-station from the buffalo accident.  I woke up at 7:15 and checked the fridge and it was on so I knew the battery system had kicked in but I had no idea how long we could last on battery power and didn’t want Bill’s cpap machine to stop, so I turned on the generator and went about my morning routine.  The water here works on a pump so at about 9 I tried the water and it was on so I knew the power was back on.   Off went the generator and on with our day.  I learned later that they turned the power back on at 8:30, so that wasn’t bad when the estimate was 4 hours.

Nice tent!

It was cleaning day and with the change in our work schedule the laundry got behind so I did 3 loads of laundry along with the regular housework.  After lunch we got cleaned up to head into town later.  Karen called and we talked a long time and caught up on things.  Then we left for West Yellowstone to the Annual Mountain Man Rendezvous.  It looked like more tents than 2 years ago and we enjoyed looking at all of the hand crafted items using wood, fur, beads and more.  They have one tent

A sample of the goods for sale

of all period clothing that was really neat.  Bill was interested in a beaver pelt but ended up getting a little stuffed beaver made from beaver pelt and with a leather tail.  Molly wasn’t too thrilled with it but it sure feels nice. 

After a stop at the post office we had some time until dinner so we hit some shops.  Bill found a nice light weight rain jacket and that was our only purchase.  We debated on our dinner spot and landed at Beartooth BBQ.  It’s a combo bar and restaurant and had good ratings.  Since it was a little earlier than we normally eat we agreed to share an appetizer and get the 2 meat dinner with 2 sides to share.  We had the fried pickles and they were some of the best we’ve ever had.  They use spears and a batter that reminded us of corn dog batter.  Yum!  They would not let us both get the same meat so we got one sliced brisket and one pulled brisket.  Bill had potato salad and I had taboule. The sliced brisket was so tender you could cut it with a fork. We both agreed it was better as it didn’t have any fat on it.  It was a very tasty meal for sure!

We stopped in one more shop that was next door but by now it was just more repetition of the last 4-5 places we’d been to.  We decided I’d walk to the grocery store and Bill would go to the car and come pick me up.  I was only going in for a couple of things and I was outside and ready when Bill arrived.  The 14 miles home was uneventful, which considering how it’s been lately on the road, was a good thing!

Bill went over and visited with Hank next door for a while and then we had some ice cream for dessert and settled in to read and relax.