I'm Still Alive

To my loyal fans:

I apologize for my absence. As I have mentioned a few times before, the internet here is "iffy" to say the least. It was out for the past two days so I was unable to do my technological updating. There will probably be a few things I forget to put in this recap of the past few days, so I apologize.

I had Monday and Tuesday off work, so on Monday I made the trek to Cody, WY which is 92 miles from Canyon Village. It was a pretty lengthy drive as it took me a little over 2 hours to get there, and over 3 hours to get return. I lucked out while I was in town and was able to meet up with a gracious softball family and they dropped off a box of hiking goodies from Mom, which is always a welcome gift. I'm now loaded on nonperishable goods for when I decide to hit the trail. I also made a pit stop in the glorious Wal-Mart which involved picking up a few more treats such as Clif Bars and Power Bars. It was much cheaper purchasing them there than coming back and buying them at the General Store here, which I'm sure you can imagine.

Last night was "Open Mic" night at the employee pub. I decided to grace the Canyon Village employees in attendance with a beautiful rendition of "Dirty Diana" by THE King of Pop, Michael Jackson. I think it's safe to say that it went over pretty well. I thought it would be amusing, but I didn't really plan on being the water cooler talk for everything the next day. Too late to change it now, I guess. Maybe I should just take this act on the road.

Earlier today there was a mule deer hanging out in front of my window for a couple hours. He comes by about once a day. It's nice to see him.

I've had some recent questions about my location compared to the recent bear attack near Cooke City, WY, which is near the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone. Just for the record, I'm about 2.5 hours from that place. From what I've heard, they captured the bear yesterday or early this morning and were awaiting DNA results to determine if it was the same bear who had caused the chaos. Sadly, it was. They euthanized the sow, and are looking to put her three cubs in zoos somewhere in the United States. They are afraid to leave the cubs out in the wild for a couple of reasons. First, they wouldn't be able to survive without their mother, and second it's possible the mother taught them the same behaviors of attacking human populations which could obviuosly become a negative situation. So, there's a little update on the bear situation.

More park rescue news: Last week sometime there were 16 hikers that had to be rescued from the side of a mountain down in Grand Teton National Park after a lightning strike. I believe all of them were okay, but still, a scary situation.

Speaking of the Tetons, I'm hoping sometime next week to make it down south to check them out. I believe that's the best place to see Moose currently due to the many lakes and ponds that are in that area. There's a tour that actually leaves from the Old Faithful area and takes riders down into that area, so I'm hoping to maybe catch a ride on that. If not, I may just take the 'ol Pontiac Vibe on a little road trip. We'll see...

As I've been typing this the internet has been cutting out multiple times. So, I'm sure there is more that I could say, but I'm just trying to get a post up. I will hopefully be able to get more up later, but until next time...

Dos Dias

Hello all! Here's my update from the past couple of days. Yesterday after working a grueling all day shift, a couple people from work and myself decided to hike Mt. Washburn. There are a couple of routes you can take to reach the summit. I think we took one of the shorter routes, which was probably a good idea being that we didn't start until a little after 5pm. It was 3.2 miles to the top, and we made it in about 1.5 hours. I feel like we could have made it a little quicker, but we took our time and just enjoyed the nice conversation and the great scenery. Many people claim that the best panoramic view of the park can be seen from the top of Mt. Washburn. I don't think I will argue with that. You can see the top of Avalanche Peak, as well as the beginning of the Teton mountains. It really was a great view.

As we were almost to the top we saw a few big horn sheep, but they were a little too far to get capture a good picture, so you'll just have to believe me that it was pretty cool to see them. Thanks.

I forgot to mention that as we were driving to the trailhead, there were mobs of people stopped on the side of the road to catch a glimpse of a grizzly bear. Well, needless to say, over three hours later on our return trip to Canyon Village there were still mobs of people. The view of the bears was a little better, so we decided to be a tourist and get out to take some pictures. I'll include one, but sorry it's not closer. You can see there's a mother grizzly along with two cubs. This photo was taken right before the cubs began to run ahead of the mother. It was a pretty neat sight to see. I'm glad I played the role of tourist!


Today I had to work the early shift, and went in at 6:30am. I got off a bit early and decided to head down to the Yellowstone Lake area. I didn't do quite as much exploring as I wanted to, but I did take a few pictures of the Yellowstone River, which I have uploaded.




While I didn't explore many trails or anything, I did however explore the general store of the area. I decided to take a bit of a plunge and bought some ice cream. "Buffalo Chip" ice cream, to be exact. I requested a double scoop which apparently translates to quadruple scoop. As much as I was enjoying the taste of the buffalo chips, I could only eat about half of it. I discarded the rest and climbed back into the Vibe to head north where I stopped at some rapids and was able to catch the picture of the flying pelican. Unfortunately I don't know the "proper" name of this feathered creature, so I'm going to stick with pelican. I wish I had a bit of a better zoom and the picture may have been a little bit more appealing. Oh well. I sat around for a little while photographing another bird that was just hanging out on an island in the middle of the Yellowstone River after I saw this guy fly away. Luckily I waited long enough that he came back to join another bird that was floating down the river to meet up with the lazy guy I had been stalking. That probably doesn't make much sense to you readers, sorry.

Anyway, I'm off for the next couple of days and I'm thinking of heading in to Cody to get a little "city life" under my belt. I'm not sure of my plans, but I'm sure I'll think of something to do when I wake up tomorrow. However, I also am in desperate need of clean clothes, so that may take priority. Again, I'll decide that in a few hours... Until then, hopefully you enjoy the pictures.

I'll Try This Again...

Ok, I gave you my story from a couple of days ago that I just posted earlier today. I will now re-attempt to post pictures. If this doesn't work I think I'll head to Cody, WY on Monday or Tuesday to get some decent internet service to hopefully resurrect my blogging blunders.

Before I post these pictures, ask yourself something. Ask yourself, "Have I properly spread the word of Mark's blog that documents his experience of living in the World's first national park? Have I told my family, friends, neighbors and enemies? What about the guy at church that likes camping, have I told him?" If the answer to any of the above questions is "No", "I don't think so" or "I forgot I had family, friends, neighbors and enemies that would enjoy this" then please, promptly send out an e-mail, text message, phone call or deliver a telegram to that person informing them about the excitement that is taking place at Wyoming for Breakfast. Thank you.

Slow Motion

I am just posting to say that I am trying very hard to post more pictures more often. Again, the internet here is not ideal. It is very slow which creates a few problems when I try to upload multiple images. I have decent pictures from the past few days, but it has been extremely difficult to get them to load. I have been looking into other options to hopefully ease the situation, so if and when I figure out that there is a solution to this problem I will for sure post pictures like a maniac.

I'm not sure when I plan on going into a "real" town that may or may not provide faster internet services, but when I do that may be the soultuion to this problem as well. I know I have a huge number of faithful readers out there, so please forgive me on my lack of visual candy on the page. I am working too hard to get it fixed.

Where the Buffalo Roam

Sorry for no update yesterday. When I get back to use the internet in the evenings the conditions are less than favorable. It takes things way too long to load, so I think I may save my updates for the mornings.
Yesterday I went and did a little sightseeing on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I hiked the trail for a mile or two, but more or less was just being touristy and trying to get a few good pictures. It was pretty great. Not quite as great of a view as from the south side, but still worth seeing for sure.

Yesterday was also my first day of work. I didn’t do a ton, but it was still a good time. Everybody there is pretty nice and very understanding that I had no idea what was going on. I pretty much got the check-in procedure down pat, and now I need to learn everything else. It’s nice because we were put through all the situations during training so nothing is completely foreign, but just difficult to understand. There’s always someone on duty that is ranked higher than me and the rest of the lousy desk clerks, so we can always ask for assistance without a problem.

Today was a decent day. I woke up somewhat early so I could hit the trails. I had originally planned on trying to get a run in, but that failed. Instead I hiked the Cascade Lake Trail with is about 1 mile north of Canyon Village. It was a nice hike except for the massive number of mosquitoes. You pass through a wooded area before finding yourself in the middle of a big meadow. In this meadow I was able to witness a bison grazing on the luscious, green, Wyoming grass. I thought of snapping a photo but I didn’t feel like switching my lens to zoom in more than what my current lens was capable of. Upon arriving at the lake it was rather peaceful until I heard the loud chopping of helicopter blades thundering over the mountains that surrounded me. I’m guessing it was the firefighting crew(s) that is here to fight a couple of the fires that are currently going on inside the park.

Sign on the Cascade Lake Trail

After my hike I decided I’d head down to Lake Village to check things out, but I didn’t make it. I should have known that there would be a massive number of bison hanging out on the sides of the road which would slow me down. I turned around and figured I’d save the trip for a day off when I didn’t have to worry about being back in time to report for duty.

There were several bison that decided they would take turns leading traffic down the road. So, as you can imagine tourists were leaning out of their windows while their vehicles were still moving, and trying to get a shot of nature without actually experiencing nature. Okay, I can’t lie… I stuck my camera out the window and got a few photos as well. Call me a tourist.

Darwin

Hey there readers. Today was fairly productive. I traversed the lands of Canyon Village and took it upon myself to check out the couple of gift shops and makeshift grocery store. I also stopped by the post office to get my information set up so I can receive any snail mail that is sent my way. I was then contacted by my fellow Guest Service Agents that reside in Lake Village. I’m guessing they must’ve been worried about me since I’m up here all by my lonesome. Nice group of folks, really.

We all met down in the Old Faithful area. It was about a two hour drive to get there, but some nice scenery accompanied the lengthy time behind the wheel. I would have made a bit better time had there not been construction between Norris and Madison, but oh well. I just turned off the Vibe and put on some good tunes thanks to XM Radio.

Upon my arrival at the Old Faithful Inn I learned that I had just missed the excitement of Old Faithful itself. I met my compadres near the entrance of the Inn and we headed for the car to head about 4.5 miles north of our current location to hit up the Fairy Falls trailhead. The trail was pretty busy, but the other day we learned off a different route you can take once reaching the waterfall which is rarely traveled and you can experience the magic of Imperial Geyser without 50 of your closest friends with 2.3 megapixel cell phone cameras to capture their Yellowstone memories.

The Fairy Falls was a pleasant sight. It wasn’t a massive waterfall by any means, but enough to make you appreciate the nature that is out here. I tried to capture a couple of images with different shutter speeds and such, but nothing came out too spectacular. It was hard to review what my image looked like on the LCD screen of my camera because of the bright sun, so I was just was changing features and snapping photos in hopes that something looked decent.


Fairy Falls

Fairy Falls

Trying to navigate through geogthermal hotspots. A dangerous activity.

Next, the Imperial Geyser. It was pretty neat. You didn’t have to wait 90+ minutes to see it erupt like Old Faithful, and there weren’t huge crowds of people to fight in order to get a good view. My pictures didn’t come out too great. Many of them are way too bright, so I’ll need to practice that for the future. I know I’m just an amateur, but I’m learning that taking pictures in the heat of the day with the blazing sun directly overhead is quite a challenge.

We decided to add a bit more onto our hike and walked back on a service road that went through some open meadows and next to a lake that I unfortunately do not know the name of at this time. There were a couple times the trail seemed to disappear and we had to walk around and between a few of the thermal features which was slightly nerve-wracking, but fun nonetheless.


Imperial Geyster resting...

Imperial Geyser in action.

We ended the day with dinner at the Employee Dining Hall in Old Faithful. I finally went in to the Old Faithful Inn, and let me tell you, it is certainly a site to see. I could only think of all the times I had seen it on the Travel Channel and all the great things they had said about it. I'm sure many of you know that the Inn books up very quickly, so if you ever decide to you want to do that, make sure you do it as early as possible. Want to know which room to stay in? Contact me. Good day.

I'm in the Canyon

Hello audience. Sorry for my lack of updates. I think it's been a couple of days. I haven't done much too exciting. I've just been finishing up training and today I made my trek to Canyon Village, which is south and east of Mammoth Hot Springs. I like it here as far as the scenery is concerned. Much more wildlife, furry creatures, tall pine trees, waterfalls and rivers. I can't complain.

First thing's first: This blog entry may be shorter than originally planned due to the fact I just spent roughly an hour trying to get the stupid thing to connect to the network. I'm ready to be done on the computer. But, moving forward...

I made a quick trip to Billings yesterday, camped overnight next to the Yellowstone River, and got attacked my mosquitoes. It was glorious. Actually, it wasn't too shabby. The strange thing was that there was an oil refinery right across the road and neighboring the Yellowstone River. That's a true shame... Anyway, after a short night's rest we decided to head back from Billings via Highway 12. All I can say is it is a phenomenal drive. I highly recommend it to anyone driving in that area. We maxed out at somewhere close to 11,000 feet at the top of whatever mountain we were driving on. Plenty of beautiful lakes and such on the way down. Basically, save up your money, fill up your gas tank, and head towards Red Lodge, MT.

I was in a big hurry to get out of the dorm facilities in Mammoth so I could make it Canyon before the person in charge of giving me my room key left for the day. The drive on Beartooth Highway/Hwy 12 took a little longer than anticipated. I made it to Canyon Village in a little over one hour. Not too bad considering I had to maneuver a "bison jam" and a "bear jam". (I've had multiple questions already asking what a "(insert animal type) jam" is. Basically a bison gets in or near the road and causes all of the silly tourists to come to dead stop and whip out their favorite picture maker to savor the memory of a furry creature that likely isn't seen often in their homelands.)

Upon arriving in Canyon I was directed to the personnel office to gain access to my room, but before I could even make that happen I had already been seen by my assistant manager, Becka. This worked out wonderfully because she then guided me up the stairs to the lodge where I'll be working and I met serveral co-workers. I then got the low-down on when I'll start (Wednesday at 2pm) and then was given a tour of the facilities that Canyon Village has to offer by my manager, Nadia. Thank you ladies.

I came back, moved a few things into this massive sized room I am equipped with and then went to the dining hall. I was the cool kid who ate by himself today. Not a problem though, as I was actually somewhat impressed with the meal selection, which was a hearty portion of chicken penne with alfredo sauce. After that I decided I'd head to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to snap a few photos. It turned out to be somewhat of a learning trip as I began talking with a couple guys who were there taking pictures as well.

I saw quite a bit of wildlife today and snapped a few images of that, and will try to upload the best ones, but I must say that this internet connection is very slow and even more questionable, so if there aren't too many photos, I'll try again later. Enough of the rambling, I shall be on my way now.

I tried to incorporate some of the clouds in this. The picture didn't really do justice for the actual view.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

What's up Mr. Bison? This was on my drive, so I just stuck the camera out the window and snapped.

Just a good shot of the moon on my way back from the Canyon.

There's Lava where? In the creek?

Another day of training that kept me so focused I could hardly think about what I wanted to do with my free time. In other words, I had so much extra time during training that I read "Yellowstone Day Hikes" to determine how I would forget the boredom that was overtaking me at the time.

Today turned out to be a good day for photos. Elk were plentiful this morning on the walk to breakfast and hung around much of the day. They were around quite a bit again this evening after dinner. Darren, Charissa and I decided to go for an early dinner to leave some time open for hiking. We just returned. We hiked the Lava Creek Trail which was close to the Gardiner River.

The trail was relatively flat most of the way. According the park ranger at the Ranger Station across the street, it was an out-and-back hike which totaled 7 miles. We didn't get all the way to the end, but we probably hiked a good 5.5-6 miles in my estimation. There was a nice little backcountry campsite right next to the river about 2.5-3 miles in that is tempting to go back to. It has nice tree covering and such as well as flat surfaces for the tent.

Enough of the rambling, how about some photos.

This is as soon as you step out of our building.

Lava Creek Trail

Hey there, little deer.

Yo Beaver, Where U At?

Today was a thrilling day of training. It's been awhile since I've had to sit for a "class". Today was all basic stuff because we were educated on certain safety aspects, locations of places throughout the park and how to handle questions from customers. It was nice information to have, I suppose. The safety stuff was a little redundant because it's all the same stuff we've been taught at previous jobs and chemistry class from high school (QUICK, TO THE EYEWASH STATION!).


We took quite a few breaks, but were still finished by about 3:45. The guy I am rooming with at the moment, Darren, and another Guest Service Agent (Charissa) and I all decided we were going to head out for a hike since the weather was quite gorgeous. We ended up deciding on Beaver Pond Trail, which is actually right behind our dorm. It's about a 5 mile loop trail. We had to kind of hurry in order to be back for dinner, which was over at 6:30. This was very important -- more on that later. I wasn't too hip at the time of going to that trail, but it turned out being pretty cool. Beavers are apparently active there during the late afternoon. I hate to break it to you, my readers, that we only saw ducks. Oh well, it was good scenery.


I can hear you guys asking now, "Mark, why is dinner so important?" Let me say this: Employee Appreciation Day. That's right, they went from Grade C cafeteria food to Grade B. Thank you Xanterra! Some chicken breast, which was good, fried green beans, not so good, and an amazing chunk of choclate cake. Healthy.


I've got a little bit of "homework" to do tonight. It's just a few pages of reading, so it shouldn't be too strenuous at all. I'm about to get started on that, then I think we're going to head down to the Pub. Again, not much to do here after dark.

Here are some photos from the day. I'm still working on my formatting. I'm not too good yet. Jake seems to have figured out the formatting and designing. Props to him. More to come later.

Here I Am

Sadly, I have no pictures to post from yesterday. I went out to get a couple of snap shots and forgot my battery sitting on my desk after charging it. Too bad. So, that was a bit disappointing.

I left Bozeman, MT around 7am yesterday morning and arrived in Gardiner with plenty of time to spare so I could check in before all of the people that came in on the bus. This had me a bit hesitant at first because all I saw were old people and more old people. Once I got to the park and went to our orientation meeting there were a few more youngsters, but not many. I still haven't seen too many people my age that came in yesterday. So, maybe that just means they aren't doing the same job as I am.

I'm currently in Mammoth Hot Springs where we will train for the next five days before I head down to Canyon Village. I hear there's quite a bit of traffic down there, so that should be fun.

Last night I jumped in on some pick up basketball. I think I gave myself blisters the size of Texas. We played 3 games, and I must have been the magic touch because we lost all of them. I had a few acrobatic plays and a few that were a bit embarrassing. That's alright though, I didn't see any NBA scouts in the stands.

We went down to the Employee Pub last night and stayed there for an hour or so. I had difficulty obtaining an alcoholic beverage because I'd already lost my employee ID which shows that whether we're 21 or not. I realized I probably left it in the Rec Center but when I went in to find it, it was nowhere to be found. Luckily, my boy Andrew who I'd just met earlier while he was working there was thoughtful enough to give it to the security guard who was then in the process of tracking me down. He eventually found me at the Pub. It all worked out.

The pub had TV, which doesn't seem to be available too many places here. It had foosball, pool, darts, good 'ol arcade games, and quite a bit of food to chose from. So, that seems like it could be a decent hangout once it gets dark and us humans are at the mercy of the bears.

Time to go to breakfast before the a thrilling bout of training sessions. I'll try and put more up later, and maybe a few photos.

"G'd Up in my Birkenstock Sandals"

I had nothing to write about until just now. I'm now in Bozeman, MT. Tomorrow I will check in at Gardiner. According to this it shouldn't take too long to get there. I'll probably leave here around 6:30 or 7 in the morning so I can check in by 9. They (the "boss", I guess?) suggest arriving before all of the people riding the bus from Bozeman get there to hopefully speed the process along.

Anyway, what I now have to write about is somewhat amusing. I went to Downtown Bozeman to get something to eat. That was successful, but upon my revival to the hotel I thought I was trying to open the wrong door. I then went down to the front desk to make sure I was at the right place (which I was), and they made me a new key. Then I came back and tried to open it again. I failed. I then I had to return to the front desk and the girl came and opened it for me. Thank you to the friendly staff at the Bozeman, MT Super 8.

Anyway, a quick summary of my day:
I walked around Downtown Bozeman, a lot.
I got a hair cut. This guy was quick, too. I liked it. I'm pretty sure he cut my hair in about 5 minutes. Awesome.

I'll hopefully have the chance to take some pictures tomorrow. I'll put them up when I get the chance. See ya.

Here's Montana

Not a lot to update on tonight. I'm now in Billings, Montana (sorry for the washed-out photo) watching Forest Gump at a hotel. I got into town around 8:15 but didn't take a tour or anything. Tomorrow I think I'll head towards Gardiner, MT (my check-in point) which is only about 3 hours away. This should provide plenty of time to search around Billings for something to do. I wanted to get in a run this morning before I left Fort Collins, CO but got stuck watching le Tour de France on the television, so that put a wrinkle in the plans.

I went around Fort Collins for awhile, and it seemed like a nice town. They've got some good shopping areas with what looked to be like good eateries. I almost had to pull the awkward card and go eat by myself. I was able to convince myself not to do that, being that I had to do that at the hotel for breakfast earlier in the day. I was looking for a t-shirt shop type place with Colorado State apparel so I could get a hat for Dad, but I wasn't able to find one. The bookstore at the union on campus was closed since it was Sunday, so I came out empty handed. Sorry, Dad.

I took a little walk around the Animal Sciences building, simply wondering if Sarah and Noah would soon be students attending classes in that building. I don't think I was supposed to be in the building being that only one door was unlocked and all of the lights in the hallways were shut off. Good thing I didn't get caught!

The drive today was long, but manageable. I saw quite a few horses, which may have been wild. I really don't know, but it was cool to tell myself they were. There were a number of antelope, and a sighting of bison amongst cattle. Not too bad for a days worth of work. There was a little rain coming from the Colorado/Wyoming border and into Wyoming. After I was north of Cheyenne, it really wasn't too bad and was pretty clear for most of the way. However, once I hit the Montana border it was a different story. Plenty of rain showers all the way to Billings.

This is about all I've got for now. See ya.

See ya later, Kansas

I left Lawrence yesterday a little after 1 pm. A little later than I wanted to, but it worked out nonetheless. I made it to Colorado Springs by about 8:30 -- right on schedule. I experienced Jose Muldoon's and some bar that I can't remember the name of. The bar, well, it was strange. Plenty of young folks mixed with a whole lot of old folks. I guess in Lawrence you get used to seeing mainly college kids experiencing the side effects of alcohol. This morning I took in some great views at Garden of the Gods before I departed to head north.

I'm currently sitting outside of Jet's Espressoria on Pearl Street in Boulder, CO. I've been looking for a place to get some Wi Fi action and all of the places weren't working. Even Starbucks failed me! Thanks a lot to the largest coffee chain in America. I'm using the internet to search for a hotel near Loveland/Ft. Collins where I think I'll call it a night. While I had access to this shop's internet I figured I'd do a little update on the blog. I've gotta hurry though being that I'm sitting outside the shop because it's not open at this hour, and I have no access to an electrical plug in case my battery runs out!

I went for a run near the Boulder Reservoir which is to the north of Boulder. I was originally planning to run around the lake/reservoir but couldn't seem to locate the trail so I continued down the road where there were some more trails. This place was nice. A little pond/lake to run around if you went to the left and just some great views of the mountains if you went to the right. I took the turn to the right, after seeing a couple CU runners with the highly acclaimed Mark Wetmore on a two-wheeler pacing them. Needless to say, this made me feel quite slow.

This is my view before I ran.

And the trail...

And, after my exhausting run at altitude...

Ok, I need to get on the road. Hopefully I'll have some more updates to come!

T-minus (about) 1 Day

Well, my apartment is finally empty of all my belongings. I have managed to find a place to put everything in my Dad's shop, that way I didn't have to rent out a storage unit. I really didn't want to spend money on a storage unit. I'm now in the process of figuring out what I'm going to pack into my car and what I may leave behind. All I know is I will for sure be taking clothes (shocker, I know) and backpacking/camping supplies. I need to maybe refine my materials for my camping list a little bit, but everything is packed into my newly purchased Osprey Aether 70.

I've been reading up on a few trails that I would like to do in Yellowstone, and they seem endless. So, I hope I have enough time and energy to at least knock out a few of them. Speaking of the park, I received an e-mail today from Xanterra (my employer) that asked if I would be interested in working at the Roosevelt Lodge. It seems rather intriguing. Rather than living in a dorm-styled building, the employees actually live in cabins. I had read that people working at the Roosevelt location would live in cabins, but I didn't realize that there was no running water. I think it could be a entertaining, yet challenging, to live in a place such as that. The place is also heated by using a pot-belly stove. Luckily they provide the wood for you, so I won't have to go out and chop down the entire forest in order to stay warm. I can't decide if that is where I would like to work, or if I will gamble on landing a different location that provides running water that won't require an outdoor trek to the showers/bathrooms.

I gave a quick look to the map yesterday to try and determine my route on the way to Yellowstone and as I once thought that I would take roughly a week to get there, I think I'm going to cut it down and take 4-5 days. The first leg of my trip will be from here to Colorado Springs where I will be staying with a friend. Can't pass up a free place to stay! After that, I'm anticipating at least half a day or more wasted away in the Boulder, CO area. As my family knows, I'm rather intrigued by that place. It's a great city, it really is. I hope to make it north to Billings, MT either that night or the next. I have a feeling I will have to take a slight detour and stop somewhere in between. From Billings I haven't decided if I will just wake up early and drive the short distance to Gardiner, MT early on the morning of July 13 or if I will go to Gardiner the night of the 12th and be there for "check-in" the next morning.

If anyone has any suggestions on "detours" I should take as far as scenery or activities are concerned throughout the trip, please let me know. I've got a day or two to play with, so I might as well make it count!

Tonight I took a trip over to Dynamic Earth and purchased some new pants. I'd seen them a few weeks ago and have been trying to convince myself to get them for awhile, so I finally did. I then went across the street to Backwoods and came away with a fancy new Patagonia belt and a pair of Keen sandals. Again, I've wanted the sandals for a long time but I just couldn't convince myself to buy them. So, thanks to Mom and Dad for helping out!

Okay, it's getting rather late, so I'd better sign off for now. Hopefully I'll be back with some great information for you next time.

A Bit of a Rewind

I guess I should have talked, er, blogged about this on my last post. But, the goal of my blog is obviously to document my experiences of living in Wyoming. I've recently purchased a Nikon D3000 to help me document, as well. A beginner's camera for a guy with beginner's talent. Many of the photos I take will hopefully appear on this blog. If you have any pointers, suggestions, critiques or complaints I would appreciate hearing them. With the great scenery and wildlife that is in that portion of the country I felt like it was necessary for me to have a camera that could capture the greatness of the shot.

While I will be talking about the happenings of Wyoming most of the time, it is possible I will also touch on my opinions of many other things. That could range from the happenings of the sporting world, rap music, NOT politics, my attempts at photography and my hiking and running events. Basically, we'll see where this leads and hopefully I don't get too off topic or boring. I will do my best to do frequent updates, but truthfully, only time will tell.

I was convinced/coaxed/forced into creating this blog by my brother, Jacob. You can view his much more witty and professional writing here. Enjoy.

Well, Fourth of July was a bit of washout. We were successful in lighting off all of our goods within the city limits without an encounter from the Lawrence Police Department. In order to get everything lit we were furiously rifling through the boxes of fireworks kept in the garage and lighting them in between the downpours that Mother Nature graced us with.

After the Mass Street Mile yesterday Jacob and I went back downtown to watch the races that were going on. It was much different than than the KU Criterium that was going on on Saturday. The racing was much faster which became slightly dangerous once the street became a bit saturated. It definitely kept the bikers aware, as well as the fans.

I've been packing for the last week or so in preparation for moving up to Yellowstone and I finally took some of the boxes out of my apartment today. All that is left to move is my big pieces of furniture which I will do here in the next day or two, hopefully when it isn't raining.

I don't have much more to post that wouldn't be a waste of your time. So, until next time...

A Good Day to Start

Happy 4th of July to you, America. This is my first blog entry on what hopes to be an adventerous next few months. At the end of this week I will be departing my hometown, Lawrence, Kansas, to head northwest to the Equality State -- Wyoming. There I will be working as a Guest Service Agent at one of the many lodging facilities inside Yellowstone National Park. If I knew which one I was working at I would gladly disclose that information, but I do not. Sorry.

Today started off with a true bang as it was race day for all of the elite athletes in the Lawrence-Kansas City-Topeka area. The Mass Street Mile was ran in conjuction with the Tour of Lawrence. It was a great race, and very fast. The winning time for the men's race was somewhere around a 4:43. I came in sixth (second in my age group) at 5:04 and Jacob rounded out the top 10 with a 5:19. I was pleased, and also surprised, with the competition this morning. I feel we could have ran faster, but we decided not to use EPO this morning.

This was a nice follow up to attending the Tour of Lawrence up on the University of Kansas campus last night. There was some great racing and plenty of fans. Really, a great atmosphere. It's about time Lawrence hosts more events like this. I think the community here can really support these types of things and help them become very successful.

I will now proceed to light fireworks illegally in the Lawrence city limits.