Travel Journal, September 14, 2007

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

This was a lazy day. We stayed in the campground until a little after 2 P.M. piddling with various projects. I got ahead a ways on the diary entries of Gideon Welles, the Union Navy Secretary during the American Civil War, which I am publishing day by day in my Daily Chronicles of the American Civil War, currently posting from September 1863. After that I set up our new wireless router so that Karen and I can be online at the same time. We also took a walk around the campground. The horses below were on the range land west of the campground.

Before going into the park, we went through a few of the shops in West Yellowstone. We saw some interesting things — many of them too expensive, in my view. But we restrained ourselves and didn’t buy anything before we headed into the park for dinner at Old Faithful Inn.

Construction on Old Faithful Inn started in 1903. The architect and construction crews worked through the winter to have it ready for guests in June 1904. It’s really hard to get a single picture to show what the inside of the inn is like. This picture is a composite created from 21 photos. The beams are straight, not curved. It’s an effect resulting from the blending of multiple images taken from one spot, but it does give a good idea of what the place is like.

We had dinner reservations for 6 P.M. and got there quite a bit early. It was nice to be able to just sit around and relax, looking at various things and taking pictures. The next photo is of the dining room at the inn. It’s taken from a second floor balcony that overlooks the room. Our table was the second one through the doorway at the top of the picture. The meal was good, but pricey.

Before supper we were treated to a long and impressive eruption of Old Faithful, which we viewed from the balcony over the entrance to the lobby of the inn.  It had been raining not to long before this, and we were reluctant to stray too far from shelter since we didn’t have any rain gear with us.

After dinner, on the other hand, there was a very short and less powerful eruption than the previous two that we had observed this trip. I had been asked to take some pictures of a group of people, using their camera, of course. After I took the first picture, Old Faithful started erupting, 4 minutes earlier than predicted and the eruption was so brief that I was only able to get a couple of shots before it started petering out. From our experience, it usually teases the viewers by spitting and sputtering a few times before it actually erupts. This time, it started erupting with no warning.

We made it back to the campground after dark. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any wildlife on the road.

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

Travel Journal – September 13, 2007

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

Today we drove the northern loop of Yellowstone. I’ve included several photos from the day below. We went in through West Yellowstone to Madison Junction, then north up to Norris Geyser Basin, up to Mammoth Hot Springs, out the north entrance and then back into the park. We ate lunch at a little picnic area right on the 45th parallel — halfway between the equator and the north pole. After lunch we drove down towards Tower Junction, except we took a dirt road called the Blacktail Plateau Drive. Once back on pavement, we went on past Tower, up over Dunraven Pass. By the time we got there, smoke from the wildfires in Idaho and Northern California were really reducing visibility, so we decided to save the drive to the top of Mt. Washburn for a later day. The smoke was bad enough that we could smell it inside the truck with the windows closed. After that, we completed the rest of the northern loop through Canyon Village and back to Norris.

Madison River, several miles east of the west entrance at about 7:30 AM. The air temperature was very close to freezing.

Bull elk wading in the Madison River, about 3 miles further into the park. Good sighting early in the morning — sometimes it’s the best time to see the animals.

It was about 40 degrees this morning when we ventured out on a trail, Karen was glad she had picked up a pair of gloves, though I didn’t need any. It was a really pretty trail by some of the boiling mud pots and steaming water areas.

The driver in this car had obviously read the warning about buffalo being dangerous animals. As this buffalo was walking away from us as I started inching forward, the car it was walking toward started backing up! and did so several more times until traffic arriving behind him prevented it!

Deer relaxing under a trampoline in the small town of Gardiner at the north entrance to the park — there were about 4 deer in this yard.

Wandering Garter Snake at the 45th parallel. Karen spotted it while I was taking pictures and called me over. Karen had purchase a couple of small field guides yesterday, so was able to identify him even as I was snapping pictures. It was actually a very small snake.

We saw this coyote on the Blacktail Plateau Drive. It was the third one we’ve seen and the second that we’ve been able to get some good pictures of.

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

Leave all that rush-rush-rush at home! — Don’t bring it here!

For the most part, we have found the other visitors to Yellowstone to be very courteous and polite — with most of them not in any big rush.

It doesn’t do any good to rush. You’ll just have to slow down a further down the road when come up to more traffic — or a buffalo, elk, bear, coyote or , just maybe, wolf traffic jam.

Some people just can’t leave it at home. Some just have to bring their hurry up, go-go-go life with them to the park.

This morning, we were driving less than the 45 mile-per-hour speed limit somewhere between Norris Geyser Basin and Mammoth Hot Springs. Coming from the other direction a vehicle whipped out from behind a camper as soon as the vehicle in front of me was past him and then, as soon as he was past the camper, he whipped back into his lane. If I had been driving the speed limit, we might have been in a head-on collision.

As they went past our vehicle, I tried to make feel them more like they were back home. I pushed down hard on the center of the steering wheel. I’m sure the sound of the truck horn was something they were probably very familiar with — back home.

That may have been the first time I ever used the horn.

While at Mammoth, I talked with a park service worker who had been cleaning one of the restrooms yesterday when several tour buses showed up. Apparently power was out in the area at that time— and with it water pressure — and flush toilet. When she tried to tell the passengers that the flush toilets were not working, all she got was anger and verbal abuse. So she locked the doors.

I don’t understand why people have to be that way.

Yesterday, we were in one of the park stores in the Old Faithful area. Karen was waiting in line behind a lady who had brought an undercharge on a purchase from the grill to the attention of the cashier, which was the right thing to do, although it took time to figure out the right price and make the correction. However, the guy behind Karen was moaning and groaning loudly to his wife about the slow service and that there was only one checkout counter open. Karen said that she felt like telling the guy that the girl was just doing her job and that he should just give his purchases to his wife and go outside to cool off. But Karen would never do something like that.

Why do people have to be that way?

I guess for some, it’s just the way that they’re built.

Comments on “Leave all that rush-rush-rush at home! — Don’t bring it here!”

September 15, 2007

Opal Tribble @ 5:48 am

Just relax already! That is what I think a the moment I take two trips each year solely for that purpose. I’m in Summerton, South Carolina. I rent a condo right on the waterfront. It’s a great place to go to unwind.
I believe we all need to take time an smell the roses. I try to make a point and do that no matter how busy I become.

Opal Tribble @ 5:50 am

I’ve met those people a lot also at work, stores, vacation. I always think “Just relax!”

Mike Goad @ 6:36 am

Unfortunately, too many people are so inconsiderate, it seems, today – and workers in the service industries and in retail too often take the brunt of their attitudes. We always try to be patient and understanding with the workers we come in contact with. It’s amazing how appreciative they are sometimes, especially after the person just before us was a real pain.

teeni @ 10:32 pm

People do seem to want to zip along at the speed of light sometimes. Maybe slowing down is an appreciation that comes with time and life experience.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

Some more people sent me messages about The Pharmacy America Trusts. How can you not trust people with names like these:

• Serer V. Creosoting
• Sunbathing S. Weakling
• Radiotherapy J. Apartheid, and
• Monopolization E. Pianofortes

This is a follow-up to Spam email and silly names, which had three other people with silly names who sent me the same message.

I hate spam!

We’ve visited Yellowstone National Park more times than we can remember over the years. One thing that has held true every time we visited after Labor Day — a U.S. holiday at the beginning of September — is that the crowds are gone except at the most popular spots like Old Faithful, and, even there, the crowds are not as large.

It’s not holding true in 2007. The crowd to watch Old Faithful do its thing was standing room only. It was difficult to find a place to park in those huge parking lots. On the roads, there is a steady stream of vehicles, not bumper to bumper, but usually there is always a car or two in sight ahead of you and another one or two behind you on these winding mountain roads.

We thought it would not be necessary to make a reservation for dinner at Old Faithful Inn. Wrong! –We made a reservation for Friday evening.

We are staying at campground near West Yellowstone. The lady at the check-in desk told me — when I asked how crowded things were — that one of the hotels in town had called to see if they had any cabins available, because the hotel was full. She said that this was the first time it had happened this year.

A man and his daughter staying in one of the cabins told me a similar story. They had been to Yellowstone before in September and didn’t anticipate that they would need reservations. Not a single room was available in West Yellowstone. They managed to get a cabin at this campground, which is several miles from town.

My guess is that some folks, many of them retirees like us, postponed their trip until September because of the extreme heat at the beginning of summer and the wild fires of July and August in the western states — much as we did. As well, more people know how great Yellowstone is in September — so more people come. There was also a lot of foreign tourists, as well.

Never-the-less, we are enjoying our visit to Yellowstone. I’ve disconnected the water hose to the camper because it is supposed to freeze tonight, but tomorrow is supposed to be a cool, but sunny, day.

A lost Exit78 post, recovered from Internet Archive WayBackMachine; March 2011

I usually just dump obvious spam messages without looking to see who they are from.

Today, though, I had three messages that were seemed likely to be from the same source. Of course, it might just be that there are more than one spammer using the same link addresses in the spam messages. Not likely, but I don’t really care. Spam is unethical — and it’s just plain wrong!

It was slightly humorous to see the names of the people the email was supposedly from:

• Villain G. Semitrailer,
• Armhole I. Ganging, and
• Reverences G. Kerchief

Silly names are about the only thing that seems to be creative by the jerks that send spam.

I hate spam.

Travel Journal – September 11, 2007

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

On our second day in Yellowstone — we counted the day we got to the campground as the first day because we got there so early — we headed south towards Old Faithful. Along the way, we came across a couple of big ol’ ravens. They certainly are a lot bigger than a common crow!

This hot little blue pool is called Firehole Spring. It is on the Firehole Lake Drive, a loop road north of Old Faithful. It erupts nearly constantly with bubbles of hot gas rising through the water causing a violent boiling like action.

The obligatory visit to Old Faithful…

… with a lot of other people — most of them taking pictures!

We spent a couple of hours in the Old Faithful area and then drove down to West Thumb and walked the loop through the West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Fishing Cone geyser on the shore of Yellowstone Lake.

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

We’re camped a little over 6 miles from the western entrance of Yellowstone National Park. I had just finished picking up my tools after setting up our internet satellite dish – and happened to look up.

The sky was dark, but we have a street light right next to our camper at this campground, so I didn’t expect to see the inky black sky inset with thousands of twinkling stars. However, I was standing in the shadow of the camper which blocked the light from the street light.

Looking west, south, and north, there was no light pollution from surrounding towns – because there are no surrounding towns in those directions. To the east is the town of West Yellowstone and there was some light there, but not much.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen such a starry night. It was easy to make out the Milky Way and the major constellations – at least the ones that I can still remember.

Most of the time, I simply do not have the opportunity as there are so many trees where we live that block the view. As well, there is a lot more humidity in the air which contributes to atmospheric haze that blocks starlight and diffuses the light of towns and cities over a wide area.

Over too much of the US, light pollution from the urbanization of America limits the view of the night sky.

Starry, Starry Night…..

Travel Journal, September 11, 2007

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.

We arrived in West Yellowstone today, camping about six miles from the west gate of the park. After we got the camper set up for our stay, I ran into town to find something to anchor our new internet satellite dish as it was pretty gusty and Karen got started on laundry – one thing that it’s hard to escape from.

We made it into the park by a little before 3 o’clock and spent about 4 hours enjoying the scenery and seeing some of the animals.

Karen had put a stew in the crock pot, so when we got back to camp we had supper waiting for us.

While in town earlier in the day, I had picked up a local a newspaper. The top headline on the front page of the West Yellowstone News says, “It’s a Town in Bear Country.” The article relates two recent bear incidents in the area. In one, a grizzly was a attracted by the smell of garbage on a screened in back porch – you can guess the rest. The screen on the porch didn’t keep the grizzly out. Fortunately, he didn’t make it into the cabin. In the other incident a bear at a local campground “nipped a man sleeping outside his tent, leaving a bruise on his thigh.”

We’re currently at the campground mentioned. We’re in a hard-side camper and won’t be sleeping outside – not that we would under any other circumstances.

Karen had this to say about the incident in her blog: “….a bear had been sighted in the campground several weeks ago!!!! Some idiot decided to sleep outside of his tent and was awakened by a bear who it said “took a nip” at him. I imagine he screamed like a little school girl and scared it and it took off… he was not injured. Everyone is warned as they come into the campground to set up that you are not to leave any food out ect, not even an ice chest as it might have scents of food. You have to clean off your grill if you use it and put your grill in your car or trunk or camper overnight and not leave it outside.”

I took quite a few photos today on our drive into the park. These are some of the better ones.

From the truck we saw a coyote trotting and looking for food close to the road and Karen rolled down the window as I slowed the truck to a crawl. She snapped off about 10 photos of this as he wandered through the grasses. While I take most of the photos, sometimes while I’m driving if we see something Karen will roll her window down and start snapping. Sometimes she’ll take a photo through the front windshield, but a lot of those don’t turn out due to glare or bug splatters.

Some of the wonderful Yellowstone scenery along the Madison River — more to come.

Note: This “lost” Haw Creek Out ‘n About post was recovered from the Internet Archive WayBack Machine.