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Published: April 20th 2016
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Here we are, back in YNP for another season! Many people have asked if I was going to blog again, so here I am, please bear with me as I get back in the swing of things! When last we met, we had recently returned to Ohio and were in the process of settling back into “normal” life. It took us a long time to unpack Providence, and actually, we never totally did. For 6 months she was more like a closet we had to run outside and get things from!
We enjoyed our time home with family and friends, especially meeting our brand new grand nephew Finn, my niece Chelsea’s son. Our extended family grew by one more with the arrival of Drew, the son of my sister’s stepdaughter, Emily. Cassidy moved back home temporarily and we begged her to stay at least until we get home in the fall of 2016. It is comforting to know she is there….but she is probably moving all my furniture, replacing all my stuff with hers….oh well……
I have to admit, it was difficult going home, and I can’t say it was really good for me- or
for Jack. We got lazy, we gained weight, we battled being down in the dumps. In early December we took off to visit our niece Katie and her family as we had planned, then up to Rhode Island to visit YNP friends as we had hoped to. As we headed home we got a wild hair and just headed up to Niagra Falls for a couple days. The trip to PA, RI, and NY was energizing and mood boosting for sure!
We took off in January and February for Florida, spending some time in Sebring with some Ohio snowbird friends, visiting Highland Hammocks State Park. We then travelled to Oak Hill Fla. near New Smyrna Beach to catch up with some YNP friends, where we visited the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Finally we went to Panama City Beach to see another YNP gal pal, taking in the sights of St Andrews State Park. In the middle of all of these reunions we took a cruise to St Thomas, Grand Turk, San Juan, and the Dominican Republic. Saw some beautiful islands, had fantastic weather, but this year our cruise was lacking. We didn’t feel like it met the
standards of service of previous cruises. We said “maybe we are just done with cruises now”, but I know in a couple years, if we are somewhere cold, we will say “hey, let’s plan a cruise!” That’s just the way we are…..
And so for Yellowstone…. Jack is back as plumber at the Lake Hotel and surrounding cabins and campgrounds. This year I am working part time for the postal contractor at the Lake area post office. We arrived in Yellowstone on Wednesday April 13 in the evening. Originally thought we’d stay Wednesday night somewhere in Livingston MT and go in Thursday morning, but with snow in the forecast we decided to go on in. Good call! The trip was pretty good, but we did battle some heavy winds, sometimes causing us to pull over and wait a bit til they died down. I’m grateful that Jesus has his hand on us and we arrived safe and sound!
It was good to see old friends again, and more are scheduled to come over the next few weeks. Weather has been rather cold, with snow on and off. The last couple of days have been
nice and sunny with highs in the 40’s. A good bit of snow and ice around yet to melt.
So, in a repeat of last year, the guys are back at work and it is a few weeks before my friend Martha and I start our jobs, mine at the post office, and this year she is at the marina. What to do besides take off to do some forbidden recreating in the closed area of the park. Many roads are closed and uncleared at this time, so our range isn’t as large as we’d like. But this time of the year is the best! There are so few of us here, and tourists cannot get this far. It is so quiet and beautiful! Our highlights included seeing a pack of wolves 15 strong (the Mollies for anyone who follows YNP wolf stuff…) and a large grizzly as he swam across the Yellowstone River.
Accompanying me on my journeys with Jack and with Martha is Flat Makenna, a school project for our grand niece Makenna. Many of you may have heard of the Flat Stanley project, I helped my niece Chelsea with one many
years ago. So, my paper doll Kenna got to travel to Yellowstone and we are photographing her trip. If you are on Facebook you can see her adventures. The real live Kenna may only use like one picture for her project, but I like to make things fun. My Facebook friends seem to enjoy it.
I hope you enjoy the beginning of our photos! Photos of the bear will come later! I am hoping that Jack with get Saturday off and we can go out together for the day. We don’t have time to go too far when he gets home because it gets dark. I DO NOT like getting out of the car in the dark to unlock the gates!
This will do for now. Welcome back!
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