Snow, Snow, Snow and Snow some more

Snow, Snow, Snow and Snow some more

As the calendar says today is April 28, 2017 well over a month and a half pasted the first day of spring somebody forgot to tell ole man winter out here in the Yellowstone region. We arrived in Yellowstone to a sunny day last Thursday and about 2 feet of snow on the ground. We had to dig out a bit to get the trailer in our spot but got set up with little problem.  But since then it has snowed every day since our arrival but the awesome beauty of this place helps you forget that you are an hour and a half from a town of any size in the middle of this winter wonderland.

Friday April 21, we began our first official day of work for Xanterra. Xanterra which is a made-up word taken from “Xanadu” meaning paradise described in the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and “Terra” the Latin word which means earth. Hence Xanterra means “Paradise on Earth”.  

We had to report to the HR building in Gardiner to get our paper work finalized, receive our employee ID cards and pick up our uniforms. This process was scheduled between 7 and 10 am. We were advised by some of our experienced co-workers to arrive early in Gardiner, because around 9 am the buses started arriving from Bozeman Mt. with those who flew here and this would lead to a longer wait. So we departed at 630 am for our 1 hour 15 minute drive. Turns out we encountered our first snow storm of the week and the drive ended up taking 2 hours. But we did arrive safely in Gardiner. Our first training session was at 1030 am and continued until around 4pm with an hour lunch then we had to make the commute back to our home at Fishing Bridge. Thankfully this was the only day that we had to go to Gardiner for training and the snow had stopped on the way back.

Lower Falls of Yellowstone River in Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Road Side Water Fall near Mammoth Springs 

For the rest of the weekend and first part of this week our training was held at the Lake Hotel. This hotel just celebrated it’s 125 anniversary and is the oldest wooden structure built in the national parks system. (Yosemite NP has an older wooden structure but it was built when Yosemite was still a state park) The building is painted bright yellow and sits on the banks of the Yellowstone lake. As for our training Paula and I are both going to be Guest Service Agents and will be checking campers into the campground here at Fishing bridge RV park elevation 7792 feet.  The training has been computer based and we have been learning how to properly check people in, make reservations, check people out and book activities for guest offered throughout the park.  

Now we were told when we applied that because of our location here in Yellowstone we could expect to see snow at some point every month we would be here. But it has snowed every day since our arrival on top of the 2-foot snow blanket already on the ground. One morning we woke up to 7inches of new snow. The silver lining is that the snow makes for beautiful scenery and makes it easier to spot wildlife. But thankfully at least with the new snow it is light and dry as soon as the temps rise it melts away quickly from the roads and trailers.

Beginning Of The Yellowstone River

On Wednesday, we had our first day off in a week so we headed off to Gardiner to the grocery store to pick up a few things and refill our propane tank before heading off to the Lamar Valley part of the park for some exploring. Because Gardiner and the Lamar Valley are about 2000 feet lower in elevation there is very little snow on the ground and the wildlife is more active in this area. 

Never no where you may see wildlife

Here are some of the sites we saw on our day of exploration in Gardiner and the Lamar Valley. The Bison (proper name) are starting to give birth to their spring newborns called “Red dawgs” because of their color and similarity to a large dog.  Other wildlife is very visible as well at this time of year as the animals start moving and recovering from a long winter. To this point we have seen 2 Bald Eagles, an Osprey nest, Bison, Elk, Mountain Goats, Big Horn Sheep, Pronghorn, Mule Deer Coyotes, 4 Grizzly Bears (at a distance) and assorted birds.   Below are some of the sites we have seen.

"Red Dawg"

Osprey Watching over her eggs

Coyote cleaning a carcus

Sandhill Crane

Now on a funny note as we started home from our day of exploring we got caught up in a “BISON JAM” which is one of the things Yellowstone is known for.   A “BISON JAM” is when the Bison decide to use the road for travel instead of the meadows or fields and in some cases it makes for easier travel for them to avoid obstacles such as a mountain cliff or deep snow.  Now too the funny part. As we started back toward home from the Lamar Valley we encountered a “BISON JAM” of about 20 or so Bison. Thankfully they were moving, unfortunately in the same direction we were headed and they were taking up both lanes with a steep mountain on the left and a steep cliff on the right so not a lot of options for us or them except to plod along at Bison speed. After about 20 minutes or so behind this herd a Park Ranger approached from the opposite way apparently responding to an emergency call of some type because he had the emergency lights activated on his truck. After he had weaved his way through the herd (which is discouraged for visitors to do) and passed us, he accelerated quickly to respond to his call. Now I don’t know whether it was an echo off the cliff walls or his rapid movement but the entire herd changed direction rapidly and in a full sprint began heading at us. Now thankfully the other lane was clear and there was a wide pull out on the shoulder because as they approached our vehicle they split like Moses splitting the Red Sea and they went around both sides of our vehicle. Now 20, 2000 pound plus Bison might have been plodding along before the Ranger passed but believe me those beasts can move at high speeds when they want too. Now there are no photographs or video of this incident as my sidekick was slightly occupied worrying about whether we were going to get stampeded.

Bison Jam before the stampede

Thursday and Friday, we returned back to the Lake Hotel to wrap up our computer training before we begin practical’s next week in preparation for opening day May 5^th.

As I am writing this our forecast low for tonight is 12 degrees, but 40 for Saturday’s high and next week is supposed to improve to the upper 40’s maybe 50 by Thursday. SO maybe ole man winter may finally be deciding to take his summer vacation.

We have Thursday May 4^th off and are praying for warmer conditions so we can hopefully make a trip to Cody Wyoming which requires a trip over Sylvan Pass which is around 8500 feet elevation. The road over the pass is scheduled to open then if we don’t get any more major snow. There is a Wal Mart there and a real nice Buffalo Bill western museum that we want to check out.

So for all you folks suffering in the 90 degree heat enjoy, and remember to turn before you burn and think about US living the dream in the winter wonderland of Yellowstone.

Never forget to look and see where you just came from

Until next time the RamblinRuis

Allen and Paula.

Yellowstone arrival

April 24, 2017

We have arrived in Yellowstone

Wow what a whirlwind as Paula and I left Florida on April 14 headed to Yellowstone. We were very fortunate and missed all the severe weather that had plagued the south the week before.  Seven days and 2700 miles later we arrived in the Yellowstone park on Thursday April 20.  

To summarize our journey here is a day by day break down:

Day 1 April 14 was Cedar Key Florida to Jemison Alabama which carried us through rural Alabama and the city of Montgomery. Because it was Easter weekend we ended up staying at the Peach Queen Campground. Because this was Easter weekend our choices were limited but we were able to find this location before it filled up. It was an old KOA campground and suited our needs for a place to sleep. We also had dinner at Cracker Barrel on one of our gift cards

Day 2 April 15 was Jemison Alabama to Benton Illinois. This was mostly all interstate as we traveled to Nashville and then across Kentucky and southern Illinois where we stayed at a KOA campground. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and got a good nights sleep. We also tried to locate an Easter sunrise service but it seems they don’t have those in Benton.

Day 3 April 16 took us from Benton Illinois to Beatrice Nebraska which was our longest day which was roughly 536 miles and 9 hours. This took us west on interstate 64 to St Louis and I-70 to Kansas City. After KC we took a rural road that was what used to be the original Pony Express route and then joined up with what was the Oregon Trail. Paula and I were talking and she said, I wonder how those people packed up everything they owned in a wagon and took off to forge a new home in the west. I laughed and said what do you think we are doing, now we aren’t in a horse drawn wagon and we do have a few modern conveniences but we are headed west with our house in tow.  We spent the night with my Aunt and Uncle Bob and Maxine Burroughs. This is the first night we spent in a house in over a month. It’s was very nice to see Bob and Max who is my dad’s younger sister.  We had burgers for dinner and then we sat around chatting and catching up. The next morning, we had breakfast with them at a local café before we hit the road. We really enjoyed visiting with these two-special people.

passing by the St Louis Arch

                                                                Pony Express Trail

Day 4 April 17 was the shortest day as we did not leave Beatrice until around 10:30 and traveled to Mitchell SD home of the Corn Palace. This day took us through Lincoln Nebraska, Sioux City Iowa, Sioux Falls SD and into Mitchell. This was the first day where we started to notice that the urban sprawl was fading behind us.  The view was large farms and small towns scattered along the way. We stayed at a very nice campground in Mitchell and when we arrived we were the only ones there but 3 more rigs came in before morning. We drove into Mitchell for dinner and drove by the Corn Palace to see how it was decorated. For those who haven’t seen the Corn Palace it is the local civic center which is hand decorated in corn with a different theme each year. This year is Rock of Ages and they had the images of Elvis and Willie Nelson on the building which were done in very good detail. After the Corn Palace, we had dinner at the Cattleman’s Club where we both had the probably one of the best steak dinners we have ever had.

                                                                    

                                                                        Corn Palace

Day 5 April 18 was Mitchell SD to Sheridan Wyoming. This was all west on I-90 which carried us through the Bad Lands, Sturgis SD, and by Devils Tower. The landscape really changed on this day as we entered the high desert plains and gained about 3000 feet in altitude. This was the first day that we were effected by weather as we picked up an 18-mph head wind blowing in our face. Needless to say, this cut our fuel mileage and almost felt as if you left up on the accelerator you may be going backwards from the strength of the wind. This was another 500 miles plus day and carried us into the mountain time zone that we will remain in for the remainder of our stay this summer. We grabbed a quick dinner at a local Pizza Hut buffet and headed off to bed.

                                                                 Bear Tooth Mountains

Day 6 April 19 Sheridan Wyoming to Gardiner Montana.  At around six am the wind picked up as a storm rolled through the area. Now if you have never been out west even a small rumble of thunder will carry for miles. As I lay there listening to the storm I could see two brown eyes next to me glowing in the dark, after listening to the wind blow for a while we discussed our options as we had planned to stay 2 nights in Sheridan to break up the drive. We decided to pack up after checking the forecast as the weather was supposed to improve the further west we traveled. The rain slowed down long enough for us to get hooked up but the wind began to increase and was blowing at around 29-mph when we left Sheridan.  After only about 5 miles west bound in a steady rain we came upon a highway message board with the following message;

 HIGH WIND WARNING GUST IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH USE CAUTION

Now if you don’t think that will get your attention as you are blowing around on the interstate with all of your worldly possessions in tow then you might want to think again. The landscape was rolling hills and ravines some of which blocked the wind some of which allowed the strong 40-mph gust through. Again, it was a head wind and limited our fuel mileage but with the grace of God and a few clinched hands on the steering wheel we were able to make it out of the high winds in Billings Mt. Now our plans had been to meet another couple in Gardiner Mt on April 20 and going to Yellowstone on the 21 after filling out paper work at the human resources office in Gardiner. But while we were traveling we received an email from the staff at Yellowstone advising of a pending snow storm for the 20^th and they advised everyone to try to be in the park and head toward the campground by noon. So, with this news we changed our plans and ended up in Gardiner Mt for the night at the Yellowstone RV park located right on the Yellowstone river.  We restocked our food supply, washed our clothes grabbed a quick meal of Salmon Burgers at “The Corral” restaurant in Gardiner and then headed off to a good nights sleep.

Day 7 April 20 we woke up to a temp right around freezing and we realized that we weren’t in Florida anymore and that the calendar my say spring around the country but winter still had a grip on the Greater Yellowstone Region. We topped of our water tank and our propane and left Gardiner behind as we entered Yellowstone. We were most defiantly entering into a different world. The natural beauty around us was amazing. We have been here on two other occasions as visitors in the summer but this was different. The mountains were snow covered the elk were in the valleys grazing, the bison were in the roadways to avoid the snow drifts in the meadow. The snow had a wide array of animal tracks which were visible from the roadway as we passed.  It was truly a heavenly portrait and confirms to us that only God’s hand could create such beauty.

                                           Big Horn Sheep grazing on road to Gardiner

                                                                                  

                                           Roosevelt Arch North Entrance to Yellowstone

                                                                                 

We were able to arrive at our campground before the snow storm rolled in. As we arrived at the Fishing Bridge RV park we found that the snow plows had opened the roads and the sites of the campground and that’s all they had done. We located our assigned site which is #71. On either side of the cleared site was a snow bank about 24 inches high. The sites are back ins so to make the turn we had to dig our way in which included cutting down parts of the snow backs on either side of the site and shovel the snow out. Then once on the site additional snow was removed to allow the slides to open properly. After about 2 hours we were all cozy and set up on our site ready to start work the next morning. To be continued……….  

Until next time from the RamblinRuis.

Allen and Paula

On The Move Again

April 13, 2017

On the move, again

Well it is hard to believe that it has been a month already and it is now time to pack up and head toward Yellowstone.  This week has been sort of slow. The weather remains nice but dry and there are currently 100 or more wild fires burning in the state with the largest near 17,000 acres in Big Cypress.

Sunday, we made our last visit to Cedar Key Baptist which I think was a little sad for both of us as this has been a nice place to worship on a weekly basis since we left Ringgold.

Monday was hair day as Paula had made an appointment with a local hairdresser to get beautified one last time before we leave civilization. Well 113 dollars later she was “Va Voom” which is what the hairdresser was looking for.  Obviously not what she was accustomed to in Ringgold in service or price but she does still have her hair and it’s not gray anymore.  For me it was 5 minutes behind the trailer with my trusty old clippers for a buzz job which cost me 0.00 dollars and my gray is gone as well.

Tuesday was vehicle service day and grocery day to restock for the upcoming travels. We spent the morning at Chiefland Ford for a 4-wheel alignment which was needed due to a slight pull to the left. Once the service was completed we went to Wal Mart to resupply with groceries for our trip. Not that we want pass grocery stores but it’s one less thing to have to worry about while traveling. Tuesday was also date night and we had dinner at one of the waterfront restaurants in Cedar Key and then went down to the Wild Life Refuge and out onto the board walk to watch the sunset and the full moon rise over the marsh one last time.

                                                Sunset over the marsh land Cedar Key

                                                    Full Moon Rising over the marsh

 Wednesday, we began to pack up the trailer and some of the photos and nick knacks we have to make our trailer look like home. And we did our laundry so everything was clean for the road trip.

Thursday, we completed our packing in between a surprise lunch with an old friend Dana White and her fella Wilson who have been in Florida visiting friends and attending the Rodeo in Kissimmee Florida. We had lunch at a burger joint overlooking the Gulf of Mexico and had quite a show as the resident pod of Dolphins were splashing and swimming around about 50 yards from the restaurant.

Ashley sent me these from the Yellowstone Facebook page showing some of the spring activity in Yellowstone.

                                            Grizzly Bears on Spring Hunt in Yellowstone 

                          Nobody told these guys the roads aren't open in Yellowstone yet.

On Friday April 14, we will begin a new part of the adventure as we leave Cedar Key behind and head toward Yellowstone. For those that wish to follow along here is our projected route.

Friday Cedar Key to Birmingham Al.

Saturday Birmingham to Benton Illinois

Sunday Benton to Beatrice Nebraska (overnight with my Aunt Max)

Monday Beatrice to Sioux Falls South Dakota and then west on I-90.

We don’t have places picked to stay beyond Sunday night but we plan on meeting another couple we will be working with in Gardiner Mt on April 20.

Work begins April 21.

Not sure when we will be able to blog again but it may not be until we are set up in Yellowstone but we are excited for this next part of the adventure and will share when we can. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we make the roughly 2300-mile journey.

Until next time

Ramblinruis

Allen and Paula

Countdown to Yellowstone

April 7, 2017

Countdown to Yellowstone

Well as we type this blog we are entering our last week here in Florida. Things have been good here in Florida but I think we are both looking forward to a change of scenery. We have accomplished our goals here in Florida of getting our residence established here along with wrapping up our organization of the home. We have done some more exploring and made a trip to Gainesville and Chiefland to resupply and pick up a few items that you can’t get here on the islands. Our weather has been good for the most part but we have had a stretch of days in the high 80’s and even a day or two of 90. As a side note we checked the forecast this morning for Yellowstone and the high there was supposed to be 29 with rain and a chance of snow for the next 4 days, that’s gpnna take some adjusting to after being in Florida for a month but I am sure it will just add to the adventure.

For those that don’t know Ashley’s birthday was this past Wednesday on April 5^th. This amazing young lady turned 27 years old. WOW that makes some of us feel old.  I can remember like yesterday where I was when the call came that she had decided to enter this world. I was working 3^rd

shift at DPD and was in the process of packaging evidence from a pretty substantial drug arrest which I was very pumped about, but as vivid as the memory of that arrest is even today, nothing can compare to the memories of being a DAD that began the evening of April 5, 1990 and have continued for the last 27 years. We are both extremely proud of the young women Ashley has become and are excited for what maybe around the next corner in her never-ending adventure.

On Thursday March 30 we had to make a trip back to Bushnell to the DMV to get our trailer title/registered in Florida. Once again this was a pleasant trip and we wrapped up our business with the state of Florida. On the way, back we had decided to make a stopover at Rainbow Spring for a kayaking trip on the Rainbow river. On a previous trip to this area we found a nice county park named KP Hole which has boat and kayak launches on to the Rainbow River. We arrived at KP Hole park around 2pm and were on the river by 2:30pm. We decided to paddle up stream to the spring were the river begins which would make for an easier return trip. Because it was a weekday the river was not very crowded and made for a nice trip. There were several birds and several different species of ducks on the river. Because it is spring several of the pairs of ducks had young ducklings. It was neat to watch the males standing guard as the mothers tried to teach the young duckling to swim. One family was on some floating reeds and the ducklings had a Congo line going as they took turns going into the water and swimming back around to the back of the line to try again at perfecting their skill. Another duck family was swimming along the bank in a long straight line following one parent while the second parent brought up the rear in case one of the youngsters fell behind. We paddled to the spring which is located at the Rainbow Spring state park where we docked and got out stretched and had a snack. On the return trip, we saw several fish and turtles swimming in the crystal-clear water. There were also a number of turtles sun bathing along the banks on logs.

Turtle on rock to left of Cormorant

Fish swim below boats

April rolled around and brought some changes to our neighborhood. A number of our neighbors who are snow birds from northern states or Canada began packing up and pulling out to make the trek back north to their homes. We met a nice couple from Wisconsin that were snow birds and every winter they traveled from up north to Florida for a couple of months to avoid the snow and cold. On Sunday, we again attended church at Cedar Key Baptist. The congregation was a little smaller as a number of those who had been attending were also snow birds and had gone north.

As most of you know last May Paula had a detached retina in her eye which required surgery and because of the surgery she was unable to travel with me to Alaska to deliver Ashley’s car. Well on Monday we had a little scare as she woke up and she began seeing some floaters in her other eye. (floaters are common with aging but were frequent in her eye before she had the detachment and the surgery) After consulting Dr. V her surgeon at Duke Medical Eye center we had to make out first professional contact and find an ophthalmologist to check out her floaters in her good eye. Thankfully we found one in Chiefland and he worked her in for Tuesday morning. After a little anxiety and the exam we can breathe a sigh of relief there is not a tear in the retina on her good eye but we will follow up with an ophthalmologist in Wyoming in a couple of months. Truly this was a praise and something we will keep an “eye on”.

As we begin to make our preparations to head to Yellowstone we have been able to speak to some of our co-workers that we will be working with this summer. This is good because Bill and Trisha have been doing this for a couple of years and have been able to provide some helpful insight. Like bring a snow shovel because even though the park service will scrape the roads and our sight for snow there will still be a lot of snow on the ground when we arrive and we may have to shovel snow when we set up our trailer so our slides can open. We plan on meeting up with Bill and Trisha in Gardiner Mt on April 20 so they can help us figure out the first few days which will be very helpful.

On Wednesday April 5 in the midafternoon we took another trip through the Suwanee Wildlife refuge. We have had several days of rain this week and it was a little cooler so we thought the wild life may be a little more active. We saw a number of gators which varied in size from 1 footers to 6 footers one of which started to cross the road in front of us but quickly ducked back into the bushes as we approached. We also saw several birds, an opossum, an armadillo and a eastern diamond back rattle snake.  Now you will notice that there is not a picture of the snake posted and that’s because my sidekick was in such shock with what she thought was a stick in the road wasn’t a stick at all but a 2 foot long rattle snake that she couldn’t take a picture.

We have been very fortunate this week that the weather that unfortunately spawned the strong storms and tornados across the south has stayed north of us. We did have some weather Wednesday night and we woke up around 12:30 am Thursday morning to a tornado watch. A quick check of the radar indicated a very strong squall line was just off shore headed our way. There was an obvious bow in the radar signature which is indicative to a possible tornado. So, we took the precaution of going to the office / club house building to monitor the situation and get into a little stronger structure. Now I have ridden out my fair share of strong storms and severe weather in a camper or tent much smaller than ours in days gone by, but not always by choice.  We stayed at the club house for about 2 hours of bonus bonding time as we waited out the storms. Thankfully the storms weakened as they made land fall and all that was lost was 2 hours of sleep.

As for now our plans are for us to leave Cedar Key on April 14 on our trek to Yellowstone. Because of the potential of unpredictable weather this time of year we may leave a day or two early depending on next week’s weather forecast. We will hopefully be able to make it to Gardiner in 4 ½ to 5 days but we have some extra time built in incase we encounter any bad weather. As we begin to prepare for the trip our focus will change from rest and relaxation to preparation.  We will update next week on our route and departure once we get a better feel for the weather.

Until next time

Allen and Paula

Ramblinruis