Leaving Yellowstone!

I ended up leaving Yellowstone on September 29th.  We had more than enough people the last few days, so several of us were given the last couple of days off.  As much fun as I had this summer, it was time and we were all ready for the season to end.   By the time I got the rest of my stuff packed and said my good-byes, it was early afternoon.  I headed back out the east entrance (Cody, WY), and drove through the Wind River Canyon.  The fall colors were so gorgeous that I had to stop several times to enjoy the view.

Wind River Canyon

The drive that day was a little longer than I anticipated, due to booked hotel rooms.  Sunday was a long day of driving through Colorado with 75 mph speed limits all day.   That night I was back in Texas and spent the night in Dalhart.  Monday's drive was pretty boring but I met Ann in Denton late in the afternoon.  As soon as I got there, I stopped in for a mani/pedi!!!  Pure bliss!!!

Robyn and I

My niece, Erin

While I was in Denton, Robyn (another PR friend) met me for lunch - Indian food.  It was great seeing Robyn and catching up on her retirement plans and sewing projects.  My niece, Erin, also met me for barbecue one night!  Ann and I feasted on Mexican food one night and then visited her grandson (and his parents!)  It was a busy, fun time!!!  I continued on to Houston and had a babysitting date with Caden on Saturday.

My time here has been super busy!!!  I am working on my next adventure.  Details soon:)

One Last Visitor!!!

Many of you know I have been sewing since I was a teenager - a lot of years!!  As a member of the online sewing community Pattern Review almost from its inception, I have been fortunate to meet many of my online sewing friends.

Yvonne and Robert

Earlier this summer, I got an email from Yvonne (vonnevo on PR) that she would be visiting Yellowstone NP in September and was planning to come by and meet me.  Such Fun!!!  She and Robert stopped by the store on September 23 - my birthday weekend.  Fortunately, I had the afternoon off so had time to visit.  The three of us spent several hours talking, etc.  I am happy to report to my other PR friends that she is just as nice in person as she is on PR.  Amazingly, we talked very little about sewing.  That was probably a mistake on my part as she is one of the most admired sewists on PR.  After leaving YSNP, they were headed back to California to housesit for another PR friend.  Isn't the internet amazing???  By the way, they live near Brisbane, Australia!!!

Other highlights of the weekend:  As you know, you have no secrets on Facebook!!!  The night before my birthday, I was taking some of my Taiwanese friends out to look for wildlife when they started singing Happy Birthday to me.  They had seen it on FB!!!  When I used my free meal at the "grill", Penny decorated my plate:)

 Jeanne also surprised me with a birthday cake and some nice gifts.  As I have said before, many friendships were made over the summer.

Me with Matthew and Jeanne-
he called us his American "aunties"

Customers say the craziest things!

Over the summer, we have heard some crazy questions and comments.  Most of them give us a laugh       . . . some drive us nuts!!!  Thought I would share here:

1.  What time do they turn Old Faithful off?  Amazingly, this is asked pretty frequently.

2.  How do you tell  male and female buffalo apart?  (A middle aged woman asked me this - her husband looked at her and said "males have dangles")

3.  We sell lots of mugs and other breakables that we always wrap.  Lots of people comment "could you wrap that, we are traveling" or "we're tourists, could you wrap that".   Makes us nuts!  Just once before the season is over, we'd like to say "everyone is a tourist!!".

4.  One day I got a big lecture from a woman on the 1988 fire.  If we had just cleared the underbrush it wouldn't have happened.  I wonder which of the 2,000,000 plus acres she wanted to clear?  In reality, this is a national park and the philosophy is to let nature do its own thing.  Fires are natural and are a good thing for forest growth and health.  There were several fires in the park this summer.

5.  Big signs point to the restrooms, grill, grocery, etc. but most people walk in the front door and ask "do you have a restroom".  One man even asked me "do you have a restroom - a men's restroom"?  There are days we just want to point to the sign and say "duh".

6.  What time do they let the animals out?

7.   In August when the bison were in rut, there was a herd walking down the road in front of the store. This is called a "bison jam" because it stops traffic in all directions.  When they got right in front of the store windows, two decided to mate.  One of the female customers asked a manager if he was going to "put a stop to that".    Nope!!!

Hiking Adventures

Matt (from South Wales)

My last few weeks in Yellowstone were filled with a few more hikes, final visits to my favorite places, fun times with friends, and packing!!  Oh yeah, there was some work in there, too:)

The Canyon area is my favorite place in Yellowstone NP.  Even though I didn't hike as much as I thought I would this summer, I couldn't leave without hiking along the canyon rim and hiking  down Uncle Tom's Trail to the bottom of the falls.

The Canyon - it was smoky.

Standing way too close to the edge for
me!

A co-worker and I hiked along the Canyon Rim for a couple of miles starting at Artists' Point.   Matt is from Wales and is 40 years younger than me.  I only had to remind him of that age difference 2-3 times:)  The views were spectacular and it wasn't a difficult trail - only a few "breathing" breaks.  Even after being in Yellowstone for four months, there are times I need oxygen!!!

Another day I hiked Uncle Tom's Trail to the bottom of the canyon - as they say 300 steps down and 3000 steps back up.  It wasn't as hard as I expected and I was rewarded with a close-up view of the waterfall.

Another canyon view.

Matt and I also hiked to Fairy Falls one day (near Old Faithful) and drove through the Tetons to see the fall foliage.  Another great day filled with amazing views.  Matt saw his first moose of the season in the Tetons.

Several final drives with other co-workers included sitings of a grizzly, elk, mule deer and many bison. One morning I was out early enough to see frost on the bison.  So amazing:)

Sunset on Lake Yellowstone.

Fairy Falls

Lewis Falls

Matt's first moose.

Golden Aspen in The Tetons

Note:  I am in Houston now but still have a couple of blog posts of my summer adventures.  These posts are reminders for me:)  Fast internet and cell service are wonderful things:)  Making plans for my next adventure.