Time Is Zipping On By

Time Is Zipping On By

August 4, 2017

As the calendar has changed from July to August our time in Yellowstone is growing short.  July was the first month that we did not get any snow. Our temperatures have been in the mid-seventies and lows around forty at night which has made for some very pleasant weather for us. With the warmer temperatures, the west has started to dry out and at last count there were 287 wildfires. Fortunately, we have had some good rain fall along the way and the closest fire was about 25 miles east of the park but rain and cooler temperatures helped put this fire out. The National Forest services had about 275 firefighters set up in a camp for about two weeks on the road to Cody to help fight and control this fire. They also brought it a special plane to help fight the fire. We spent a Saturday afternoon along with a couple of co-workers sitting on Yellowstone lake watching and waiting for the plane to fly over and suck up water from the lake. But after about 3hours the rangers advised us that because of the improvement in the weather condition that the plane was not going to be used. Wild fires are part of life living in the west as most are started by lightning and some by careless humans.

July 13 brought my loving wife’s 56 birthday. For her birthday, I led our guests in singing happy birthday that morning at work and then again, a second time when our second shift came in to relieve us. Then  that night we went to the Old Faithful Inn and had dinner in the Inn. The Old Faithful Inn was built in !903 and is a beautifully designed building with a lobby which is 76 ½ feet tall. Again, I had the wait staff sing a very nice version of happy birthday to her again.  After dinner, we drove up to Belgrade Montana where we spent the night. The next morning, we got up and met my cousin Darcy and her friend for a kayaking trip down the Madison River. This was about an 8-mile trip and took us about 3 hours. The river and valley were beautiful and the river dropped through a rock canyon and wound down to a valley to the pickup zone.  Darcy and her friend were in tubes and Paula and I were in our kayaks.  I made one mistake as I put our cooler with lunch on Paula’s kayak and when she hit the river she took off and left the rest of us. Finally, she tried to wait for us so she tried to slow down but ended up running head on into a large rock. Thankfully she did not damage her boat but I was able to catch up and get my lunch. The day was beautiful with clear blue skies, temps in high 80’s and a light breeze which made it a very comfortable day on the river.  We spent Friday night in Belgrade and then got up Saturday morning and did our shopping and returned to the park. This marked the first two nights we had not been in the camper since March.

On July 22 Paula and I went back to the Old Faithful Inn where we went on top of the Inn and raised the flags on top of the Inn. This was a neat experience as we got to go into the crow’s nest in the upper reaches of the hotel lobby and then out onto the roof. I raised the Wyoming State flag and while we were up there the Bee Hive Geyser went off.  We left the Fishing Bridge area at 430 am to get there in time and it was neat being on the road at this time of the morning as no one else was on the roads. After raising the flags, we had breakfast in the dining room. Once we had breakfast we went to the Midway Geyser Basin where we saw the Grand Prismatic hot spring and then we hiked up to the new overlook that was just opened which allows an elevated look of the spring where you can really see the different colors in the hot spring.

Firehole River

After spending the morning hiking we headed off to Grant Village where we were to meet friends for lunch. On the way we picked up our second set of Harmless Park Employees who were hitchhiking to the Grant Village area. This couple had just arrived from Ecuador and were both working in the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. They spoke very good English and quizzed us on things that they should do and see while they were here. Once dropping them off we met up with Chris Eastwood and his family who were passing through on vacation. We had a very nice lunch with Chris, Jennifer and Emmie at the Grant Village lodge. Was so nice to see friends and catch up on Ringgold.  

On the weekend of July 28 & July 29 we traveled back to Belgrade to meet up with Darcy and her family and my Aunt Marcia who I had not seen in about 14 years.

On the way, up to Belgrade we took a detour and visited Quake Lake Mt. This is the location of one of the largest Earthquakes recorded in US history.  In 1959 a 7.5 quake hit the Hebgen valley and lake area of Montana.  In a matter of seconds, the side of a mountain came down and blocked the Madison river. This instantly created a new lake which is now referred to as Quake Lake. Unfortunately, 29 people were killed in the flooding and rock slides created by the quake.  It was amazing to see the force of nature and the amount of rock that came off the mountain is such a short period of time.  The next morning Paula and I got up to meet Darcy and her family for breakfast and spent an hour and a half visiting and catching up.  After breakfast, we headed off to the Hylite Canyon area  of the Gallatin National Forest where Marica, Darcy, Maranda (Darcy’s daughter) Paula and I hiked up to a beautiful waterfall called Palisade Falls. Then after the hike we stopped back along the river and had a snack. This was a great visit and time to catch up with family.

July also included an employee appreciation dinner which was given to us by Xanterra.  The meal was very nice and included a steak dinner in which our managers and supervisors served us our meal. 

We also spent our down time looking for wildlife as we have done for most of our down time here in the park. We spent several evenings out watching a grizzly and her white 3yr old cub. These two are real celebrities as they have spent a lot of time along the road from Fishing Bridge to the East entrance. The rangers have had their hands full trying to manage the excited visitors and keeping the bears and visitors safe during these up-close viewing opportunities.

As August rolls in we now have 45 days left here for the season. We have been blessed with our new friends which feel like new family members.  We had an office pizza party last night it was nice to be able to hang out with our coworkers in a social environment.

August is our last full month in the park and will be gone probably before we make our next post. We are starting to make plans for the upcoming months. We know you will find it shocking but it does look like we will be making a return trip for a second season in Yellowstone.

Hope all is well where ever you are and whatever you are doing.

Until next time

Ramblin Ruis

Allen and Paula

Halfway Point

Halfway Point

As the calendar has rolled from June to July we have reached the halfway point in our summer. It’s hard to believe that we have been on the road now for 4 months and been in Yellowstone for over two months. June was a very busy month for us and very eventful one as well. Work has been going well as Paula and I have settled in and both have been asked to assist with booking activities for our guest. This is in addition to checking our guest into the campground. This gives us a little more interaction with the guest as we have had to learn about each available activity and then share with the guest what they will be doing on each activity. These activities include horseback rides, bus tours of the park, guided fishing tours, a scenic boat cruise and a chuck wagon old west cookout. 

Wagon Train

On June 9^th, I got to go on the old west cookout as a new guest services agent which served as a “shakedown” for the old west cookout crew before they had to serve real guest. Unfortunately, Paula was unable to go because of her allergies to horses so I got put on the wagon with the extra crew members since I was by myself. We were on the wagons for a 30-minute ride into the back county being pulled by Belgian draft horses. Once we arrived at the cookout location we were served a steak dinner with 5 sides and apple crisp for desert all cooked cowboy style.  Then after some stories around the campfire we loaded back up and made the return trip to the corral. Now don’t feel too bad for Paula cause she was out chasing wolves in the Lamar Valley area on my truck. (yiks)

Xanterra hires roughly 3500 employees each summer to work in the campgrounds, hotels, retail locations and food services. Most of these are college age kids and a lot are foreign students who come and work just so they can experience Yellowstone and have a place to live. Most don’t have cars especially the foreign students. So, it is common practice for those without cars to make a sign that says, “Harmless Park Employee need a ride to Canyon Village” and they hitchhike around the park in this manner. It is considered a fairly safe practice but is not condoned by Xanterra or the National Parks Service. It is even such a common practice it was documented in a recently written book called the People of Yellowstone.   I had been reading a few stories from this book and had just learned about the hitchhiking practice from one of the stories. A night or two after reading about the hitchhiking Paula and I had finished doing laundry and we decided to ride out just before dark into the Haden Valley to see how high the Yellowstone river had risen from the snow melt.  As we approached the road junction to turn right toward the Haden Valley we saw two young girls standing on the side of the road with a sign “Harmless Employee need ride to Canyon Village”. Now by this time it was almost dark and it was 16 miles to Canyon Village which would require you to travel through the Haden Valley which has wolves, bison, grizzly bear, elk and coyote just mention a few animals roaming freely. So, I decided to pull over and give these girls a ride. My loving wife said we would take them halfway which would have meant dropping them off in the middle of the valley in pitch dark.  Then realizing what she had said she quickly recanted and agreed with me that we would carry them all the way. The two turned out to be Xanterra employees from a city near Bangkok Thailand. Come to find out they had missed the employee shuttle bus to Cody and so they decided with the help of another American employee to make a sign and hitchhike to Cody WY so they could see cowboys. Which they did 80 miles there and back but they did not see cowboys and were disappointed. They were very nice and asked a lot of questions in broken English they were 18 and 20 years old and had not a clue about how dangerous what they had done was.  When we dropped them safely off at Canyon Village where they both gave Paula a hug and traditional Thailand bow. 

During the month, we continued to explore different parts of the park and find new areas and back roads that the general public doesn’t usually travel. We have seen a total of 52 bears now both black and grizzly, 7 wolves and bison jams galore.

Then in the last week of June we got a pleasant surprise as Ashley came to visit for five days. She has been struggling this summer with laryngitis so the doctor took her out of work for a week as most of her job entails talking to people about wildlife. I think she left the doctor, took her sick slip to work and booked a flight to Yellowstone in about 3 hours’ time. It was great to see her and we spent almost all of her time here covering the park from the geyser basins to wildlife watching we covered every road in the park in two days. And she was able to limit her talking which helped her voice come back. And she got to see 9 bears while in Yellowstone.

Always looking for wildlife

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

The wildflowers are out in full bloom and this place just gets more beautiful with each passing day. The landscape has changed from snowy to lush green with flowers and animals everywhere.  The Bison have shed their winter coats and the  Bull Elks antlers are growing an inch a day making them quite a sight with their huge racks. It still amazes us how many people do not heed the NPS warning to stay 25 yards from Elk and Bison and 100 yards from Bear and Wolves. We are forever seeing people 10 feet away from a big male Bison trying to get a selfie with him. We haven’t seen anybody gored yet but fear we will before the summer is over.  

With July 4^th, we had a steak dinner for our staff with pot luck sides which was very good food and a good time to visit with our coworkers. We also had a pool on when a large bank of snow that was across from our campsites would melt. We could pick up to five days per person and put 1 dollars in the pool for each day you chose. The pot was 48 dollars and the official date of melting was declared by our judge to be July 4th.  3 other guys on our crew and I had picked July 4^th so we each took home a whopping 12 dollars.

As we celebrated July 4^th we are very thankful for our freedom in this county that has led to the creation of places such as Yellowstone. Our freedom has also allowed to be able to choose our new lifestyle and be able to work here in Yellowstone. I know this country is far from perfect but even on a bad day it’s better to be an American than anyone else in the world. You even see the excitement in the faces of the foreigners we see on a daily basis as to how happy they are to be in America to visit and how lucky we are to live here.

Til next time

Ramblin Ruis

Allen and Paula

No!! We don’t have Wi FI

No!!  We don’t have Wi FI

June 1, 2017

Hayden Valley

It has amazed me in the first month of living and working in this beautiful place with its pristine 2.2 million acres of wilderness how many people get upset because we don’t have Wi-Fi. Now I realize that we are as society which has become obsessed with social media and modern conveniences, but with all there is to see and do here Wi-Fi would be my least concern. On that note with the increasing numbers of visitors even those of us who did have our own internet access have lost access due to the volume of use of cell phones and I-pads and other communications that overwhelm the 3 park cell towers. Hence this is one reason it has taken this long to update the blog.

Yellowstone River

May was a busy and interesting month. Paula and I began our jobs as guest service agents. In the first week or so after opening we had a majority of European visitors in the park. These folks all had rented motor homes and would all seem to arrive at one time late in the evening. In talking with the guest most were renting brand new RV’s from manufacturing locations in the mid-west and were spending their 2 to 3 week holiday traveling the US and visiting as many national parks as they can in that short period of time and then they would drop off the RV at RV rental location on the west coast or even Alaska. A pretty neat way for them to see our country. We have found the language barrier challenging at times but have enjoyed meeting so many interesting people from so many different places. Most of them have been very pleasant to deal with and very understanding with a few issues that arose during freezing temperatures and were just so excited to be here.  

Always look behind you, you never know what you might have missed 

Sunset over Pelican Valley and  thermal features

Full moon over the Absaroka Mountains

As the middle to end of May rolled around we began to climb steadily in occupancy when we were hit with a nice spring snow storm. The forecast was for 1-3 inches and we ended up getting 16 inches for a total of 30 inches since our arrival on April 20. This storm presented some challenges for us as a staff and our guest as we lost power and water for 12 hours. Most people visiting Yellowstone on Vacation are not prepared especially when the temperatures are hovering in the low 30’s and upper 20’s for daytime highs. Most guests rolled with the punches and went about with their plans once the roads were reopened by the Park Service. One of the benefits of living on top of the world’s largest super volcano is the ground is warm and once the temps get above freezing the snow melts pretty quickly.

Bison looking for grass during our spring snow storm

Lots of "Red Dawgs"

Paula and I have a very good schedule as we work two nights and three days and we have Friday and Saturday off. So, on our first weekend off after opening we ventured off to the south of Yellowstone toward the Grand Teton Mountains and Jackson Hole. These mountains are called the Alps of the United States because of their height and beauty. Because of the high snow fall amounts this year the Tetons are completely covered with snow and glisten in the sun. We also retraced some old footsteps that we as a family had traveled 13 years ago by going to Moose Wyoming and driving down Moose Wilson Road. Thirteen years ago when we visited this area Moose Wilson Road was a nightly trip at Ashley’s request because of the Moose and other animals we saw on this road. So every night after dinner we would discuss what we were going to do and Ashley’s reply would be “I Want to go to Moose Daddy”, so thirteen years later minus one family member Paula and I  rode down Moose Wilson Road and were able to find one Moose grazing in the marshes alongside the road.  Unfortunately, this area has really grown and developed with condos and lodges for the Teton Village ski area and this was the only Moose we saw. After a grocery run, propane refill and lunch we made the 3 hour drive back home. This drive with the Teton’s out the left window is a truly amazing scene.

Grand Teton Mountains

Our next weekend off we headed north to Bozeman Montana where on Saturday we met my cousin Darcy and her husband Mark who live just outside Bozeman. Darcy and I were very close as kids growing up when my family would travel to see my dad’s family in Minnesota. We would usually stay on the farm with Darcy and my aunt and uncle. It’s was great to see her because it has been at least 10 years since I had seen her. We had lunch and planned some future kayaking and tubing trips for later in the summer. After our visit, we resupplied at the Bozeman Wal-Mart. I got a new camera with a better zoom for wildlife pictures and we headed home.

Memorial Day brought the beginning of the summer here at Fishing Bridge RV Park in Yellowstone. From now until the second week of August we are 99.5 % full. We had a nice two days off but chose not to go anywhere over the weekend due to the extra travelers inside and outside the park. We did get up early on Friday of Memorial Day weekend and head north to the Lamar Valley for wildlife viewing. We started out at around 8am and because the last road to open for the season over Dunraven Pass (road clear but still 2 feet of snow piled on both sides of the road) opened we were in the Lamar Valley by 9am. As we approached the bridge across the Yellowstone river we saw a large crowd of people gathered on the east side of the bridge with lots of big lens cameras. This is a clue in Yellowstone that its either a wolf, black bear or grizzly bear. We parked and walked across the bridge and there was a sow black bear with two cinnamon colored this year cubs on the river bank below the bridge and three rangers handling crowd control. Thankfully we had bought the new camera and we were able to snap some great shots. As we stood there someone noticed on the opposite side of the bridge and on the opposite river bank that there was a second black bear sow with two last year cubs. These guys were climbing the bank and we were able to get some really nice shots of those three as well. It is rare to see that many bear in one area at the same time as one kid walked by us he said in amazement,” wow I have just seen six bears”. We spent probably an hour watching the first mamma bear and her cubs. As we were watching I noticed that there were four Bison on the road on the west side of the bridge headed in a full sprint toward the bridge. As they approached the bridge the leader veered off to the left and started to climb the roads side bank. Now keep in mind there are at least 200 people of all ages standing on the bridge watching the bear and her cubs. Then as the leader approached the end of the bridge he looked down at the river bank and fast current of the Yellowstone river and he changed his direction and headed back onto the road and bridge. Now it gets exciting you have 4 large male Bison and 200 people and a few cars on a bridge which is 100 feet above the river. As the Bison began to sprint across the bridge in the east bound lane the bridge began to bounce from the sheer weight of these animals. The ranger began yelling for the pedestrians to get behind the cars on the bridge and keep the car between them and the Bison. As I was trying to snap a picture to capture this moment in time in case it was my last, I looked around for my wife and she was sucked up so close to a white Honda Accord that you would have thought she was part of the paint on the car. As the Bison passed you could hear them breathing and snorting they are most diffidently an impressive and massive animal. As they approached the end of the bridge one of the rangers stepped in front of the Bison waving his hat and orange vest and they veered of the road at the end of the bridge and off into the meadow. Disaster averted and the adventure continues.

Picture is blurry  because the bridge was bouncing

On Memorial Day, we had a staff cook out of hamburgers which were provided by our Manager Jan and potluck sides provided by the rest of us. This was good as we were working so we got to eat dinner without having to fix anything and enjoy some co-worker fellowship.

On Tuesday after Memorial Day we met up with my former partner at DEA Chris Young and his family who passed through Yellowstone on a two week vacation out west. It certainly was good to see Chris and his wife Ruby and their daughter and son in law and two grandsons. Chris and I spent the majority of the last 2 1/2 years prior to my retirement working on cases together. For those that know Chris he has a quick wit and good sense of humor which I miss but he still couldn’t talk me into coming back.

Partners reunited if only for a few minutes

We are very fortunate to have a very good crew to work with at the RV park and when we interviewed we were told that a number of the people returned each year. As Paula and I discussed whether to take the job that was a key factor in our decision. There had to be a reason that people kept returning to Fishing Bridge. Well we found the reason. Her name is Jan and she is the campground manger. She has been the manager for five years and she bends over backwards to make sure we enjoy our time here. She spoils us with cinnamon rolls or pigs in a blanket in the mornings and today was ginger bread that she baked. She is five foot 2 spunky and full of life and she is all about making sure that our guest and staff have a pleasant experience here in Yellowstone.

As the calendar rolled from May to June the Yellowstone Lake has thawed, we still have snow on the ground around the campground but now mainly where piles were pushed to clear sites or the road. The wildlife is abundant for viewing and the temperatures have begun to rise as well.  But the saying is in Yellowstone if you don’t like the weather wait 30 minutes and it will change. This was proven last Sunday as Paula and I sat outside soaking in the warm sunshine eating our sausage biscuits and reading our daily devotion. All of a sudden, the sky started to get dark and it began to rain and then sleet on us. And as quickly as it started it stopped and cleared back off for a beautiful afternoon proving that truly if you don’t like the weather just hang around it will change.

We refer to this as a Bison submarine.
To be as big as they are they are very graceful animals

 We have seen 28 bears in the short time we have been here not to mention the numerous other wildlife sightings. One particular grizzly actually crossed the pedestrian walk on the Fishing Bridge over the Yellowstone river. This is a very crowded area and people were way too close to the bear trying to get pictures and selfies. Luckily the bear just wanted to cross the bridge instead of swimming the river, and fortunately no human foolishness caused the bear to attack which would have cost him his life.

Hope all is well where ever you are and that you enjoy whatever you are doing this summer and as Ashley always says get out and enjoy a park. We are truly blessed to be able to enjoy so much of what God has created.

Until next time the Ramblin Ruis

Allen and Paula