I have travelled to some fairly remote places in the world, from the Amazon Rain Forest in Manaus, Brazil to Kruger National Park in South Africa, but I experienced the greatest level of disconnectedness right in my own back yard, in the Yellowstone National Park. For almost our entire time in Yellowstone, I was able to send only one text message and receive only one text message. We had a great time, but I must confess that I felt a little ill at ease being so disconnected. Perhaps this sabbatical is just what I need to break my technology addiction. Perhaps Yellowstone will prove just a warm up for Glacier and Denali National Parks to come.
The texts I did send and receive were from Chris Inman and to his wonderful wife, Emily. Chris and I lived in the Beta house years ago, though some of the memories seem like they happened yesterday. At one point, Chris sprayed the entire contents of a fire extinguisher into my room at the end of a night's festivities, much to the chagrin of Scott Kirkegaard, my only roommate with anything of value, including his prized computer. I am not sure how the two of them worked it out. In any event, Chris informed me a few days ago that Emily and his daughters would be in West Yellowstone, so I texted Emily to say that we would be stopping by the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone and asked it they would care to join us. This was the first day of the sabbatical during which we set an alarm. We left the Fishing Bridge RV Park by 8:30 or so and drove arrived in West Yellowstone at 10, just in time to catch up with the Inman family. We had an enjoyable time, the youngest among us had the opportunity to enter the bear enclosure (after the bears had been removed) in order to hide their food for them to find when they reentered. According to Dagny, this sounded like more fun than it turned out to be. We did see four of the grizzly bears and three wolves, which exceeded the numbers we saw in Yellowstone (one each). Two of the younger grizzlies wrested in their pond, which proved to be the highlight of the discovery center.
After few hours with the grizzlies, wolves, and Inman's, we loaded up and headed to Bozeman, where we met up with Jll's sister, Julie, who lives in Bozeman for roughly half of each year. Dinner and Fuddrucker's was followed by a game of Rook, which rounded out the night. I hate to admit it, but I love Fuddrucker's burgers (which I think are second to Del Frisco's) and ever since Denver closed its last franchise, I have noticed them whenever we travel. Jll and I left the girls with Aunt Julie while she, Alastair, and I headed to the RV park for the night.
Tomorrow should be a fairly calm day, though I do need to find a welder or fabrication shop to work on the RV. Apparently putting six bikes on the rear bumper may not have been the best idea. While the rack and its mount are holding fine, I fear that when we go over large bumps, we are slowly ripping the 4" steel bumper off of its mounts.
The texts I did send and receive were from Chris Inman and to his wonderful wife, Emily. Chris and I lived in the Beta house years ago, though some of the memories seem like they happened yesterday. At one point, Chris sprayed the entire contents of a fire extinguisher into my room at the end of a night's festivities, much to the chagrin of Scott Kirkegaard, my only roommate with anything of value, including his prized computer. I am not sure how the two of them worked it out. In any event, Chris informed me a few days ago that Emily and his daughters would be in West Yellowstone, so I texted Emily to say that we would be stopping by the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone and asked it they would care to join us. This was the first day of the sabbatical during which we set an alarm. We left the Fishing Bridge RV Park by 8:30 or so and drove arrived in West Yellowstone at 10, just in time to catch up with the Inman family. We had an enjoyable time, the youngest among us had the opportunity to enter the bear enclosure (after the bears had been removed) in order to hide their food for them to find when they reentered. According to Dagny, this sounded like more fun than it turned out to be. We did see four of the grizzly bears and three wolves, which exceeded the numbers we saw in Yellowstone (one each). Two of the younger grizzlies wrested in their pond, which proved to be the highlight of the discovery center. After few hours with the grizzlies, wolves, and Inman's, we loaded up and headed to Bozeman, where we met up with Jll's sister, Julie, who lives in Bozeman for roughly half of each year. Dinner and Fuddrucker's was followed by a game of Rook, which rounded out the night. I hate to admit it, but I love Fuddrucker's burgers (which I think are second to Del Frisco's) and ever since Denver closed its last franchise, I have noticed them whenever we travel. Jll and I left the girls with Aunt Julie while she, Alastair, and I headed to the RV park for the night.
Tomorrow should be a fairly calm day, though I do need to find a welder or fabrication shop to work on the RV. Apparently putting six bikes on the rear bumper may not have been the best idea. While the rack and its mount are holding fine, I fear that when we go over large bumps, we are slowly ripping the 4" steel bumper off of its mounts.
Awesome guys! What are your plans in Seattle? Justin says he will RV sit for you. If nothing else, we would love to have you over for a BBQ and you are welcome to crash our pad any time.
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