May 2010 Archives

a couple of years ago on memorial day sunday, i went with will on the back of his motorcycle to the local (York local) memorial day service at lakeview.  we both used to HAVE to attend the service as members of the high school marching band, and i hated it at the time; however, it gave me an appreciation for the holiday later on and made me aware of memorial day's significance.  thanks, wilbur, for going with me a couple of years ago and fueling/refueling my appreciation for the people who have served and currently serve in the armed forces.

did i mention we played apples to apples at the pub the other night?  gah, i love that game and can't wait to play again, but because i played so long on saturday night, i didn't get much sleep so i was tired at work all day sunday and slept 4 hours after lunch on sunday.  i got back into my regular sleep pattern last night, just in time to not need it.

went riding bicycles through the upper geyser basin after my long nap.  that never gets old.  nothing here gets old, ever.  everything retains its luster no matter how many times i've seen it. as soon as we started to head out, all the geysers seemed to be going off at once--daisy, grand, bijou, etc.  i was too cold to watch though. i drove my motorcycle down to rachel's cabin to see the awesome poster someone put up for her while she wasn't looking.  the motorcycle's only managed 3 miles in yellowstone due to crappy weather--snow and rain or snow-rain combo.     

i gotta go back to work...after tomorrow's ashift i get 4 days off and i'm using two of those days to see MGMT in SLC!!! xoxoxo

So the governor of wyoming was in town saturday--he has juridiction over about 20 people and 500 bears.  he had a special lunch at the snow lodge.  everybody was kinda stressed out about it--even chef mike dean came in to help out.

friday, mom woke me up at 545am, i guess she wasn't think about the time difference or thought i was working or something. 

my motorcycle was delivered at 115pm friday afternoon by Rickey Bobby and his friend.  I didn't ride it except to the dorm b/c the weather sucked.  Kester and I took naps friday to recover from Bozeman and then got our room organized because wendy brought us some crates to elevate our beds. 

at 515 friday after noon, we (adam, alex, carolyn, steve and i) went to mallard lake.  there was a 400+ ft elevation change on this hike--where i started at old faithful, it was raining lightly and not freezing so i wore shorts.  we got about a mile from the lake and the snow was knee deep and it was snowing like crazy...my boots got saturated and after i took a picture of the lake, i bolted out of there for fear of losing extremities.  claire bear said she would be a fudgecicle if she went hiking with us yesterday--she says bc she is black she has a lower tolerance for the cold.  i dunno if there is any scientific proof for this claim, i just go with it, and say ok, claire.

yesterday, after work, i took a nap, falling asleep to sunset strip.  after i got up, i tooled around for a bit, went to the lodge to get a snack for myself and wendy and was hoping i would see my old boss jenn...not happenin--even off peak eating hours and off peak yellowstone, that place was packed...i guess it's the beginning of peak though since it is labor day weekend.  the pretzels at the lodge suck, btw.

we (carolyn, steve, colin, alex, adam, and i) went out to fairy falls yesterday around 530pm, a highly anticipated trip as this trail just opened yesterday for the first time this season due to bear mgmt.  along the trail, there is a spot to scramble up a hill and get an aerial view of grand prismatic--beeeeeeeautiful.  i'm going back today, and i can't wait.  i hurried back from the fairy falls trip to get over to the employee pub to play apples to apples with some folks.  that game is awesome.if you;ve never played, go out and buy it for yourself today!!!! fun for all ages.  it's sunday morning and i have to go back to work 

phil just said, "i wouldn't give you shit...not just once."  That would be cowboy Phil from Montana who has been every occupation under the big sky sun, and who now works in the snow lodge kitchen with me.  He just came in and told me i was supposed to be at work and nearly made me poo my pants.  anyway, i'm up early because mom rang.  i told her i bought a bike (motorcycle bike) yesterday.  that was hard to say to my mom b/c i know how much she worries.  i'm getting more life insurance when i purchase my motorcycle insurance today. i have a bad ass helmet and a high visibility jacket so the blue hairs wont hit me. 

Bozeman was a blast and while my pictures the last few days make me look like a lush, i'm really not (even though i totally could be if there were no trails to hike here).  i've hiked and biked almost every day since being here, and the trails that have been closed in the old faithful area b/c of bear management are fixin to open up so i'm looking forward to getting a bunch of miles under my belt with a quickness.  so, bozeman is totally liveable.  the drive out and back was amazing.  on the way back in yesterday, two bald eagles flew right over top of the car and we saw a moose.  the town of big sky is on the route.  greg was our bartender at half moon saloon--to and fro.  at half moon saloon they have volleyball, bocce ball, and other outside sports in an area out back.  the view you have sitting in the place is outstanding, you can watch the clouds roll in over the mountains.  dad facebooked me yesterday to tell me he had been to half moon saloon and stayed at their hotel as well.  they have license plates all over the walls, from every state--even SC!  so when we got to bozeman, wednesday evening, we checked in at the western heritage inn.  it's not as close to everything as some of the other hotels but the walk is nice and bozeman turned out to be kinda rowdy as it is a college town so i bet you anything we had a quieter atmosphere to sleep in than we would have downtown in the middle of it all. however, next time i go i really wanna stay at the lewis and clark.  we (steve, wendy, annaliese and I) have been eating from the employee dining room for the last month so we were really excited to get some decent grub in our mouths and bellies.  the first culinary delight was 18 Miles from the Border, but on the way there, we stopped at montana ale works b/c anyplace that has craft beer, i gotta try out.  i had a raspberry wheat beer which i thought was kinda too sweet for a beer--tasted kinda like lambic--i was expecting for of a purple haze taste.  it was good, don't get me wrong, just on the sweet side.  then we booked it to the mexican restaurant where kester and i order margaritas only to be told, there is no tequila in the house.  in fact, there was no liquor at all in the house.  apparently a liquor license in montana is 900,000 dollars?  hmmm, gotta research that.  anyway, the waiter says they make their margs with mikes hard lemonade.  now for someone who has their heart set on a top shelf margarita, this is a poor substitution but if you're not a tequila drinker, you may be really pleased with this swap.  anyway, we stuffed our faces with chips, sangria, vegetarian tamales, tostados, burritos, and JALAPENO CHEESECAKE!!!

then we started the pub crawl.  at our first stop, i started telling a story about a drag queen performing TELEPHONE with four little black guys dancing around her and that made wendy medina spit her beer all over annaliese b/c she got tickled at the idea, and hell i hadn't even gotten to the good part yet.  then next we went to bacchus pub

where they were doing karaoke--it was packed out so we had one and moseyed on down the street after one.  all these bars here serve sweet tea vodka from SC, but they don't have just plain ol' non-alcoholic sweet tea--wth?!  if i had to choose a last meal right this second, it would be a gallon of sweet tea.  it's the best.  anyway, rachel moan told me i had to get a thai coffee drink form PLONK bar so i made a point to go there, and the drink was well worth it--all rachel had to tell me was sweetened condensed milk and i was all over it.  next was crystal bar where we parked it for the night.  some folks that work at the inn--kevin, ronnie, jacob 2 from greenville, sc, and olga--happened in there as well. 

we had a ridiculously good time and i loved talking music and movies with ronnie, kevin's girlfriend.  we made lots of new friends.  mine and steve's singing and dancing got a few stares close to the end of the night...then we walked back to the western heritage, and went to bed

wendy and i got up pretty early friday morning and headed to a northern lights outlet called the barn where we shopped a little bit but didn't find much so then we came back, picked up kester and steve and headed BACK to crystal bar for a bloody mary wihch of course is instant feel betterness. then we went shopping in bozeman like mad...MAD.  cds, fake moustaches, t-shirts, 2nd hand clothes, sheets, guitars, towels, motorcycles...what?! steve couldn't hang the whole time and took a nappy nap in the car. 

we ate lunch at this place called the dock...it's like a chuck e cheese for adults.  they have thai and indian food, a casino, and SKEE BALL which we played until we got our food.  apparently, they also have a hippo fetish:

so after the dock, we went motorcycle buying--not shopping b/c i already knew what i wanted--BUYING.  i called up the dealership on the way and said, hey i'm coming in there, i want a bike today, sportster 883, have what ya got ready for me to look at.

 2 seconds after walking in a picked out my bike.  then i went and picked out a helmet and i also bought a high visibility riding jacket.  so, i'm now the proud owner of a harley-davidson which is supposed to be delivered by noon today.  after the harley store, we hit up target and REI then went HOME--we were all exhausted by that time and i had to sing all the way home to stay awake. 

breakfast time--xoxoxo

so, we kidnapped abigail monday and brought her back to old faithful village to hang out with us.  there is no cell phone service in Lake Village as i previously mentioned so she had to coordinate her ride on tuesday through facebook...just like we had to coordinate our visit to lake with her on facebook.  we brought her back and had chill time in the room then got ourselves ready to go to the pub.  we wore the hats, the ukranian hats, oh yeah. since we don't have liquor at the employee pub, abigail taught us wine shots.  abby and i danced like it was our job monday night.

Tuesday work was not fun to get up for.  Also, claire bear tried to sabotage my day by intentionally giving me decaf.  wendy to the resue on that one--with some maxwell house hazel nut added to REAL coffee.  yum.  we were pretty slow tuesday morning so i got done qith a quickness and since it was my friday, and abigail was in town, we went to the bear pit and b/w kester and i, we drank 14 mimosas. daniel came and picked up abigail :(  chris is cocktailing over there at the bear pit.  he's from hawaii and he is AWESOME.  a nap was required after bear pit trip and on our way to nap we stopped by the edr to get some grub--which we got to go b/c we were not public-appropriate.  napped for an hour and a half then helped wendy pile up wood for a fire at the deer tracks fire pit.  the fire was a ton of fun, but it has to end at midnight and with it not getting dark til after 9pm, there's not much time to spend out there.  it was 25 degrees while we were out there and that used to be cold in my mind.  after being out here a month, it's not so cold anymore, it's not warm by any means but it isn't cold like it used to be.  we ate smores and chatted until we had to put the fire out, which you do buy dipping a big bucket in the firehole river--took three times to get it, kester and wendy went to get the first one and wendy almost knocked her in the river.  then some folks headed to the pub.  kester and i headed to bed an slept for about 10 hours.  i did get up at one point to go eat vegan burritos for breakfast with wendy, but then i went straight back to bed and had weird dreams.

we are headed to bozeman here in about 30 minutes.  i have a list of things to get about a mile long.  the first thing we're getting is mexican food...i also want thai and indian as well.  OH, so i'm going to see MGMT in SLC June 4th--next friday, and July 4th I'm going to Driggs, ID to see widespread panic.  I've never been to see either of these bands so i'm super-stoked. 

yesterday, after work, we (blake the stray canadian, carolyn the suitemate, kester the roommate, and I) went to lonestar and as we approached, i thought i was hearing a jet engine but realized it was the geyser going off so we booked it the last few hundred yards b/c lonestar only goes off every few hours...AMAZING!!!

rachel moan called me bout we got back to old faithful village and wanted to do a cookout so we rode into west and got lots of foods to cook and came back to throw a small hipster bbq. rachel had hot dogs with cheese inside them and i made veggie burger sliders. then we went up to the lodge to deliver colin a dog and we went to the inn for a drinky poo.  then we went to the firehole to see what was going on there and ended up closing it down.  sweet rachel bought everyone's drinks???!!!  and then wendy and i fell asleep watching flight of the conchords.

i was gonna try to weasel out of work this morning and go use my new snowshoes on a hike with wendy and rachel but we were down a man so i had to stay and wendy got to break in my new snowshoes, dang it.  i talked to mom during my break and she told me little cousin isaac is graduating from kindergarten thursday so i mailed off a package to him and sam after work today.  i can't wait for them to get WHO POOPED IN THE PARK?  when i stopped off to mail my package, i got my absentee ballot registration!

i grabbed up kester and blake and wesley and headed to Lake to visit abigail. Lake is so different from Old Faithful--there is no cell phone service there so we had to coordinate our visit via facebook.  having no cell phone service makes me aware of the dependency i have on my cell phone--it made me feel antsy to be that far removed from civilization.  abigail said writing notes to dorm mates is fun the first two weeks but gets kinda old after that, but she said the good thing is, if you don't have to be found if you don't want.  we sat in the sun room of the lake hotel and had a few cocktails (a headstrong pale ale, a mandarin gimlet, a coffee bomb and a glass of wine) before chowing down on some apps in the dining room.  we filled up on apps and convinced abigail to come back to old faithful with us.  i wrote something while i was sitting in the sun room:

"RECYCLED JOY"

A new-found Joy of mine

Resides in your Laughter

Which I can hear down the Hall,

Well before I see your Face

Forcing a Smile up from my Gut,

Past where my Tonsils used to be--

It bursts by my Teeth,

Pushing my Lips apart

Like that one Spot

In the soft-frozen Lake,

Widening every Second,

An Indication of growing Warmth--

Inside and Out.

i took wendy to supper at the snow lodge last night.  claire bear was our server and i had ten pounds of scallops after some corn and potato chowder. wendy had salmon.  look, those scallops were awesome but that salmon was only so-so, even though it LOOKED amazing!

After the snow lodge, we ended up at the mezzanine bar at the inn, grabbed a glass of wine and watched old faithful go off from the second floor deck--awesome, better view than on the boardwalk AND you can have a cocktail while you watch it!  Wendy and this dude discuss things to do in the area and then we run into this dude when we go back to the fire hole.  his name is blake and he is from canada and he stayed with us last night.  i'm notorious for picking up strays, get it completely honest from my mimi.  it scares the dookie out of my mom but if she thinks i'm bad about it, wait'll she gets a load of wendy medina...anyway, i have good instinct with people.  if someone's an "end of the trail sam," (aka, a creeper) as my friends dan huntley and henry gilbert call them, then i GTFA.  blake is a sweet heart canadian and he is still asleep.  i have to go back to work now.  xoxoxo

Last night b/c i paid off my mortgage in its entirety, I found it necessary to celebrate by drinking copious quantities of alcohol.  So I took Wendy and Carolyn to the Firehole to throw down, as much as you can throw down at the Firehole.  Rachel Moan bartended and Jill joined us when she got done with work.  I bought a bunch of food to go for us to eat while watching FLIGHT PLAN in the Obsidian lobby but we were late and so I got Wendy and Jill just to take the food to the folks watching the movie then we went back to the Firehole to swap out a bad bottle of Gewurtztraminer and the girls made fancy coasters for themselves from napkins and left them in my room.  I went to bed and these crazy girls all went to the pub.  I don't even remember them coming in last night but apparently they woke me up and got me out of bed and everything.  no recollection of that. 

I woke up this morning with bloody snot all over my face and hand--gross.  My nose has been weird and bleeding since I got here.  I'm currently fighting another sinus infection too, ugh.  Today was my first day with new boss Deb. I really like Jenn so I've been slightly apprehensive about working with her replacement, but Deb is cool.  She is very different from Jenn but easy to work with, just like Jenn.  We had someone in pantry call in so it was kind of a clusterfuck. That and I'm still learning eggs so it's kinda hectic when we get busy.  I called mama and Grandma Fred on my lunch break.  Tried to convince both of them to come visit but don't think that's gonna happen. 

After work, six of us went out to Monument Geyser basin.  It's called Monument because of the siliceous sinter spires that are scattered around.  Supposedly, these same type of spires are found at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake too.  On the hike in and out, I got worst case scenario syndrome.  I get this a lot where I think of the worst possible thing that could happen at that moment.  This time, it was me falling face-first and catching myself on a fallen tree limb with my eye socket and having one of my companions say Justin Kalweit-style, "I'm not carryin' 'er out."  But I didn't fall and no one got eaten by a bear. 

so, as of around 330pm, EDTtoday, I will own my house free and clear!  w00t!!!  I'm super-excited about this and it's such a huge amount of stress off my shoulders b/c the egg-flippin, while oh-so fun, was not gonna cut it, as far as paying the bills. 

yesterday, wendy and i went to specimen ridge in spite of the crap-ass weather.  like my buddy and mentor dan huntley said, you can't wait around for good weather.  one of the many times he and i headed up crowder's, the weather was TERRIBLE, but by the time we finished, it was beautiful.  I can't say the same for yesterday, the weather pretty much just sucked, but i had a great time.  on our way back down the hill, we ran into some school kids and their teachers who told us that we had just unknowingly walked past a grizz sow and cub.  yikes!  AND on our way back we saw....a MOOSE!!!  slam on breaks, jump out, takes pictures, back on the road.  we took the long way home through canyon and lake.  SO friggin beautiful!!!  i just know lauren and thomas are gonna come visit and not wanna leave...EVER. 

I watched RENT for the first time last night.  how's a queer of my age never seen this movie?!  then went to the pub for a couple then crashed out like a light.  

called the election's office this morning for my absentee ballot.  apparently it's a two-part process so i hope everything gets filed on time.  i'm rootin for nikki haley like hell...i was told there is definitely gonna be a runoff election b/c there are so many republican candidates.  

kester and i are fixin to go hike...i'll post pics later of yesterday and today.

xoxoxo 

ok, so yesterday on the way out the door to the inn tour steve annaliese and i took, i was like "i don't have my keys," and kester was like, "i have mine," and we were in a tearing rush so i agreed to go sans keys (so i thought). so we take this awesome tour of the inn from this sweet, neat lady named Lucy. right before that i have sarah make me a latte at the upstairs coffee bar.  the inn is an INNcredible place. it is the beginning of and the most famous example of Parkitecture.  Charles Adams said, "there's one manmade structure in the park that looks like it grew there and that is old faithful inn. all i can say is what the greatest travelers in the world say: there is nothing in the world like it or to compare with old faithful inn."  so then we go to the bear pit for a minute, have a couple of cocktails and i absent-mindedly leave my camelback in the bear pit on the back of my chair which unbeknownst to me i absent-mindedly threw my keys into while i was going, "i can't find my keys," earlier.  so that sets off a whole chain of i can't find my keys events over the next 12 hours.  i managed to lose kester's key this morning while i was trying to find mine, but then i found hers at the end of the ordeal, thank ceiling kitteh!

last night i bet wendy medina $20 she can't go all night without drinking (she won, btw).  i drink enough for both of us and wake up this morning at 530am like gah, why am i awake this early???????  so i called east coast folks, mama and katie didn't answer but i got a hold of justin and found out he is having back surgery tomorrow, finally.  maxine kitteh is taking good care of him, i hear :)

i ate breakfast at in the snow lodge this morning--vegan burrito!  steve waited on me--i love this guy, and if you york girls want a good man, this is your dream dude.  come out and visit and hope he's still single when you get here!!!  i'm gonna bring him to york at some point so y'all may have a shot even if you don't make it out here...

Rachel Kiel and I decided last night that we were gonna hike today and we got on the purple mountain trail at 1025 (would been 830 but i had that key ordeal) and got done around 1255.  Almost to the top, Rachel, completely unbeknownst to me, sees some rangers up the trail.  I'm talkin and completely unaware ANDi startle easily AND i'm on edge for the bears, bear spray in hand, ready to use. so when we start back up, i see these things and do my flip-out startle deal (if you've ever snuck up on me, you're aware of the intensity and the hilarity of my flip-out startle), thinking they are bears or psycho killers.  the rangers are like, "did we scare you?" and i'm like, "hell, yeah, you scared the dookie outta me--I was thinkin omg, green bears!" they thought that was funny.  these were really cute rangers, one had a crazy beard so give me a little credit for thinking for one second it was a bear.  they had on gaiters and warned us of knee deep snow we were getting ready to come across.  per usual, yours truly is in shorts.  so rachel goes ahead in their tracks and following her, i do good not to get cold from the snow against my legs.  we reach the top but it's fairly cloudy so we don't have any kind of view, really. we were gonna book it back to the EDR for lunch but got stuck in a traffic jam of folks looking at bison. 

mama got a prius!  exciting!  i talked to her for a good little while this afternoon.  i miss my mama.  the other day, i called the house and daddy joe answered the phone which is rare.  he says, "i don't know why your mama didn't answer the phone, she's around here somewhere..." and later, mary said my mom was in ATL...so i was like OMG, daddy joe has lost his mind, he thought my mom was in the house when she was in atlanta, what should i do???  but mom and mary meant mom would be in ATL at the point in time mary was wanting to hang out with her. relief. 

INN-emies are people who work at the inn and steal your bike to go to work.  this hasn't happened to me personally BUT it has happened to the hottes human on earth (wendy m medina, in case anyone was wondering).  so..not cool to take someone's bike without askin'.  some guy volunteered to clothesline the person who had taken wendy's bike.  she found it without incident...i think.

anyway, yesterday,i  smart off BACK to claire bear at work and she says, "dropsy deadsy."  and i say, "huh?" then she repeats it and oh, yeah, i get it...that's funny.  also at work yesterday i hear this great business idea (another one, bc i have heard a LOT of them while i've been here the lastfew weeks...) which will put york on the map quicker than mine and millie's breakfast adventure...

yesterday, wendy and rachel and carolyn go on a hike and kester and i need hiking shoes so we meet them in west after we work and they finish their hike.  we get awesome boots at eagles and awesome drinks at bullwinkles and then we all go home to eat at the edr which is terrible for npc eaters but fine for vegan/vegetarians.  rice or rice?  anyway...then i gothef2bed after doing my laundry AND wendy's whites which i volunteered to do bc she said she was gonna mail them to the mothership in tennessee.  gah, this dirty hippy was gonna send half a load of whites to TN instead of throwing them in a washer...dorty and inn-efficient hippy...get it?  if not, GTFO 

today, exhausted body does not wanna get up but does bc it"s a responsible body.  go to work and we are busy (i think). hope its this busy all the time bc time flies!!! and i talk to dishwasher roy who is only 7 years older than my momand he is funny because he laughs at everything.  he told me today he was having a flash back to 1970--that would be when he was in 'NAM...yeah, so, if he's laughing it's eaither really good or really bad, ya know...laugh to keep from crying... so work drives me up the wall til almost 130 then i go to home, change and then to OFI (old faithful inn) with steve-o and kester for a guided tour.  OFI is amazing...look up parkitecture and Charles Adams.  Lucy was our tour guide, and she was great.

so there is a talent show coming up.  kester and i are gonna collaborate and WIN.  no worries, we got itin the bag, y'all.  can't wait to post the video of our performance! 

ps, my boss got a promotion and is leaving my location friday.  jenn is awesome.  she saw me struggling the other day with the wicked witch bike up the hills toward west thumb. she was like what dumbass...OH, gah, that is JESS.  and she laughed her ass off...so did i. 

after the tour today we started drinkin cuz its muh friday...days don't matter here--only work day or not work day.  i love it...i really feel like it is friday but it is only monday...happy birthday marie russell!!!  22, right??? xoxoxo

so, we went to west the other day--wendy,mikey jane, steve and i--and bought steve some boots so he can hike in wet terrain. i bought myself a ridiculous moose shirt and.  let me just say i have never spent that much money on clothing in my entire life, but it's totally worth it--you'll see when i roll up in york wearing it.  pizza at wild west pizzeria/bar is GREAT, btw--go there and play pool and hang out with david T foulger--the "T" is for "trouble."  k so then we go back home.  i get mikey jane, steve-o and jill jill to surprise wendy with the shirt i bought her at the same place where i got my moose shirt.  her shirt is more ridiculous than mine but she is cute enough to pull it off.  anyway...

so that was friday evening.  on saturday, i worked and then took a nappy nap and then bike ride with kester just before supper. i talked to brian lowry and that boy has made me so proud.  I hired brian last summer and totally psyched him up to work on the floor.  he was scared and said he wanted to stay in the kitchen but with his personality, i knew he would be a great server. he has not diappointed me and 2 days ago he worked his first friday night, did a great job i hear and made a lot of money. brian is a beautiful soul--if you see him at the cy, give him the biggest hug for me and tell him i love him.  back to yellowstone: the employee pub sponsored a beach party which was AWESOME. everyone totally dressed the part and threw down--i even wore EYE MAKEUP, wtf?! people here are so fun. there was definitely some handcuffin goin on though.  i had to get up early for work sunday so i left around midnight which was adequate sleep but totally wanted more. 

today, sunday (caturday), i worked until noon and we were pretty busy but it was handled.  i'm pretty sure i'm gonna come back and start up cy breakfast with millie hagins.  have to talk to kalweit about some necessary equipment.  we'll see!!!  speaking of mill, i talked to her this morning.  sounds like all is good in york county, status quo being SNAFU :)  took nap to catch up on some sleep and had to buy some sunglasses--lost mine at some point in the last 2 days--that's 2 pairs since i got here, ugh.  anyway, after my nap i went on an intense up hill bike ride toward west thumb for 30 minutes on the wicked witch cruiser.  what goes up must come down, you know it--intense downhill ride that only took 7 minutes.  fixin to shower and supper.  ttyl. xoxoxo

Steve and I headed down to the tetons this morning around 945.  we crossed the continental divide 3 times and there was a lot of snow up at those elevations.  we went to the ranger station at colter bay to look up a nice day hike and grab some bear spray.  also, we go to the convenience store to grab some snacky snacks and jim keegan who rings us up says he is the food police and that he has to approve our purchases for hiking worthiness. 

 it's ok for steve to have chicken salad sandwich but my chocolate covered peanuts don't fly?  silly  so, we head out on an 8 point something mile hike (hermitage point) and 16 minutes into it, we both have soaking wet feet.  didn't bring the waterproof boots.  dumb.  so we decide steve needs some anyway and i like going to west so we stop and come back here so we can go to west and get steve some boots.  off to west--ciao! xoxoxo 

I'm writing out some more letters today--I'm going in order that they are written down on the yellow legal pad so if you haven't gotten one, be patient, it'll come.  No one wanted to hike yesterday. Well, Courtney did at first then an hour later wanted to ride around instead.  The only hiking that everyone agreed to was hiking to the Old Faithful Inn to have a mid-day cocktail.  Thursday was recovery for Wednesday.  Wednesday night I got a call from Nancy, Lewis, Steve, Butch and Butch.  Scott Miller called me yesterday.  I love hearing from everybody so if you're thinking you wanna call me--DO IT!  I got a package from the parental unit yesterday of tampons, soap, chapstick, a calendar, bandaids, pepto-bismol, and woolite.  thanks, mama and daddy joe!  I'm still missing some mail b/c the personnel office gave mary gourley erroneous mailing information.  I've gotten about half of what i should is what i've figured out.  my mail is MIA.  I dreamed i came home last night.  I'm not sure what that's about but i've already eaten my breakfast so it's not gonna come true.i saw john mccain in my dream which was weird. i shook his hand back in 2000 when he came through charleston campaigning.  there was a lot of SC talk yesterday and I met some MORE folks from SC last night so i think b/w the Nikki Haley campaign in SC and the SC campaign in YNP, i just had home on the brain.  I'lll be home for election day to vote for Nikki Haley.  Although I'm excited about JEnny Sanford's endorsement of her, i'm less than thrilled with sarah palin's endorsement.  anyone who's foolish enough to finance abstinence only programs shouldn't be allowed in public, much less the political arena.  it just doesn't work.  like dan savage says, "you know what you get with abstinence only programs?  a lot of bristol palins."  anyway, i think nikki haley is friggin awesome so check her out. 

What am I gonna do when I leave here (YNP)?  I got that question posed to me many times from folks at home.  I know I'm coming home to vote and spend the holidays with my folks, going to france to see tif and fab since i missed them in april, help out at the cy if needed, get ready for a new year's trip to MALAYSIA to visit ross and sarah. then i'm going to tanzania to climb kilimanjaro with mark, j-man, maybe mama, and whomever else ends up going with us.  I'm gonna figure out what i want a graduate degree in and figure out where/when/if i want to go to school and start studyin for the GRE.  the school thing probably won't be for a couple of years...gotta get this travel bug under control first and two years seems like an awful long time to be in one place right now. 

we watched the second boondock saints last night.  suckfest, don't bother..AND they set it up for a third.  before the movie we went to the shakedown at the old faithful lodge.  better than the EDR i guess, but i really don't mind the EDR so whatever.  shakedown is where employees new skills are given a test run on other employees before they are turned over to the general public.

I'm writing letters right this second and i know a bunch of people put their names and addresses down that thought i would never send them a thing.  i do what i say i'm gonna do!  is that so uncommon these days?  cynicism is an unfortunate result of life experience...I'm glad i'm at a point in my life where i have realistic expectations and when those aren't met, I'm still too forgetful to hold a grudge against anybody for not doing what they say they will.  I still take people at their word and expect the same in return.  Of course I get burned by that occasionally but the payoffs have far outweighed the losses so far.  xoxoxo

OMG, so the other day, i went to the boiling river and it was amazing. then, the next day, i work and after work we go to norris geyser basin, steve, rachel and i.  norris is AMAZING!  GO THERE!!! It's about twice the size of midway and takes about an hour to walk the loop.  i was gonna take a nap when i got back to get ready to party for sharon's birthday in west yellowstone but when i get back to my dorm, there are manyawesome people there and i didn't really have time for a nap anyway so i jump in the shower to wake myself up and pick up wendy then head OUT.  we check into the stage coach inn (same place we stayed when we were stranded a couple of weeks ago).  bill and doug from last time are there and bill is bringing in a smoked turkey and even though i don't eat meat, i'm not anti-social about it so when bill sliced off a piece and handed it to me, i ate it.  that was the best smoked turkey EVER, and it's hard to beat my uncle david's smoked turkey. anyway, we have great sushi at this place called high altitude, where sharon and bob know the owner.  i get to meet a couple of fellow park employees--ivan, amanda, ron,and john--at supper  very interesting combinations by chef and owner julie steinbach--i had basil in sushi for the first time and also one roll was garnished with lemon slices.  west yellowstone reminds me of york, because everything is laid back, the workers and customers in restaurants are all friends.  the owner's mom (she said to call her, "mom," so i say, ok, i mean, it's easy to remember) sat with us at high altitude, she was funny, downright hilarious.  she was in the marines and so she liked the fact that i said "yes, MA'AM."  we went to the stage coach afterwards where the carcass of smoked turkey is still sittin out with some ez cheez and crackers.  i put way way way too much money in the jukebox, ian and amanda whom i met last time show up and we stay at the stage coach until stacy tells us to GTFO at 2am.  wake up around 930, feel like "UGH." but not too bad b/c i drank atleast one glass of water for every adult beverage i had.  so we are meeting bob and sharon for breakfast but en route wendy and i stop and get a bloody at wild west and instantly feel great.  running bear cafe is where we have breakfast and oh, boy, it is GREAT breakfast, and not just because i was hungry and hungover but because it was just REALLY good.  i had 2 eggs, sunny side up, hashbrowns with peppers and onions, and a chocolate chip pancake.  pancakes aren't normally good, i mean, most pancakes suck but i risked it and with great reward--this place's pancakes were phenomenal.  then we go to wild west again and order bloody mary again.  and then ashlie the awesome bartender (i mean, great salesmanship, great sense of humor, doesn't miss a beat, sassy too) mentions the chuck norris shot.  well, of course i'm like wth is a chuck norris, give us 4.  and she's like, ya hear that boss? sellin some merch.  chuck norris is cherry schnapps and liquid ice.  tasty and peps you up too. anyway, wendy and i shop all day in west yellowstone, bob and sharon head back to old faithful.  west yellowstone is such a great town.  i bought handcrafted jewelry, huckleberry chapstick and coffee at a sporting goods/bike shop. there'sawesome t-shirt deals. there's a local book store where owner scott makes notes on the books and makes great recommendations. i bought WAY too many books but books are kind of a passion so i justify it like that.  i spent almost as much on books in west as i did alcohol.  i guess i should write a book about booze.  eh, i'll just read a book about booze.  read and write both?  i have the time now--yea!  it's so strange to go from intense responsibility to zero responsibility. all i have to do here is make sure i show up for work, clean.  for those of you who are not aware, i owned a restaurant (The Coal Yard Restaurant and Lounge) in York, SC for a few years.  I bought it from my Daddy Joe who opened it in July of 1981.  i ran it for him starting in 2004 and learned the ropes for a little while then bought it in 2006 the year before i graduated from winthrop.  i was completely married to the coal yard and loved doing it, but i spent so much energy on it that i kinda lost myself in the process.  bad romance.  anyway, so between being burned out and an ever intensifying wanderlust, i applied to yellowstone, got the job, sold my restaurant to one of my best friends, and GTFO ov York and now i am here.  the trip out with my daddy joe was amazing, it's all documented so check out the earlier blogs.  justin set my blog up for me so make sure to tell him thanks for me if and when you see him at the cy.  you canalso bitch slap him for me right after you thank him b/c he's probably done something to deserve it.  anyway, back to wyoming...i bought lots of books and stuff yesterday.  then we comes back to park, see.  and we eats supper, go to firehole, and oh, yeah, it's sharon's actual burfday so we haz to re-celebrate and so i take nappy nap and then at 10pm, we go party with sharon and everyone else who works here.  i love all these cats, everyone here is amazing and fun and sincere and nice and totally dtf.  buddy steve and i, we are stuck on the coors original.  so then pubtenders throw us out so such a smart idea we have to all come back to the quiet dorm together and continue partying.  geniuses.  lucky geniuses.  or quietly partying geniuses.  gah, i thought for sure we were gonna get SCOLDED.  never heard nuffin from sekurrity, thank ya, jesus.  roomie is STILL sleepin...i got up at 730ish cuz gah, workin at 5am, 730 is friggin sleepin IN.  anyway, missed two days of blogging so i'm makin up for it now. mgmt tickets are too expensive but i'm gonna get em regardless-june 4th, SLC!!! LUNCH TIME!!! xoxoxo

PS--going to the TETONS tomorrow!!!!!!!11!!11!!!!!

When I got out of work today just before noon, the last thing I wanted to do was drive to Mammoth to climb in a cave and jump in a river.  I was beat, had been up since 4am (get inspired at inconvenient times, oh, well...). BUT I knew Annaliese, Abigail and Kayle were excited and getting cabin fever so we headed out after lunch.  The cave in the hoo doos was slick with ice and we wouldn't have been able to get back out of it if we had gone in so we made plans to come back in a few weeks.  Then we headed on down to the Boiling River which Emmy Ann had told me about a few weeks ago on my way into the park initially.  I am so glad I decided to come with these crazy chics today.  Getting into the Boiling River in 40 degree weather is among my top life experiences to-date.  I am also srsly glad to have a waterproof camera because i was able to take a lot of neat pictures IN the river. 

YNP just keeps getting better everyday.  It is amazing.  As Mary Anna Richbourg pointed out today--I am SOOOOOO in my element.  Don't get me wrong, I miss everyone at home and really wish all my friends could share in this experience.  If anyone gets the chance, you MUST come visit!!! xoxoxo

Yesterday, probably because i woke up at 3am, I was pretty lazy after work.  I finished watching THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS with steve, and i tried to take a nap but couldn't manage it.  I got super jealous of wendy, colin, and rachel getting to go off on a hiking excursion.  speaking of TMWSAG, i got so upset b/c the writer of that movie has already used my line about being a hobbit out of the shire.  Annaliese's friend Abigail is here fixin to check into work(she's from SC too) and hanging out with us.  she's funny.  and her friend kayla that she rode in with is a riot as well. they work at lake but if y'all come to visit, y'all will meet them and love them, just like everybody else here because everyone here is AWESOME (for the most part) and could easily pass for yorkies. 

i have to take my watch off to work and i'm supposed to tke my ring off to but i don't because i'm scared i will lose it. my tan line from my watch is a glaring white spot so my arm looks like a jigsaw puzzle that's missing a piece while i'm at work. 

i'm pretty introverted, despite how y'all see me act--it takes a lot outta me to be sociable.  don't get me wrong, i love interacting with other humans, it's just that doing so drains my energy--fast ad hard--so i need alone time to recharge to avoid being a nasty bitch.  yesterday, the only alone time i could get was a drive close to sunset which was amazing and i got some good pictures too.  anyway, i'm all recharged and ready to be muh bestest.  xo

I am awake at 330am, here in YNP, listening to Schumann and  trying to figure out the weird dreams that woke me up--not too hard to figure out, really.  Anyway, when i wake up to music, it seems to inspire some thoughts and I have to come write them down or i will forget them...

"Head Over Heels," is a phrase meaning you've fallen hard for somebody, I reckon because if you are tumbling down, let's say, a mountain, and you are head over heels into a fall, you have no control over yourself or the situation.  I never really thought about it until 3am this morning when i woke up and tried to figure out if i was gonna lie there and forget what i was thinking about or get my lazy butt up and write it down for posterity.  Glad I got up finally. I'm looking up "head over heels," on the net also but i hate using the net as a sole resource for stuff like this because I was taught that the internet is not a substitute for a library during my time at Winthrop University.  Anyway, i don't have a library at my disposal here in YNP so this link does a pretty good job i believe of describing "head over heels:" http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/head-over-heels.html

I texted Tif and Fab when i woke up alittle while ago (they're 8 hours ahead) and Tif called me back so I got to talk to her.  I didn't get to see them at all during their time here because of that volcano in Iceland which, according to the news, is still causing issues.

Yesterday I worked until 1230 then after lunch we tried to go to some hiking spots that were closed due to bear activity.  Kester and I came back and cleaned the room which needed it.  Then we went on a hikey hike with Danny and Tony.  They are two very nice dudes. Tony is from California and Danny is from Georgia. Danny and I both know the Rabun County area, he vacationed on Lake Burton as a kid too. 

When ceiling cat maded teh skiez an da Erfs n stuffs, he made me a person who gets instant and intense crushes on people.  Yup, they last about 2.3 seconds, generally, but sometimes transform into full-blown relationships.  My infatuations are like ocean waves--they either wash over me, gently levitating me off the ocean floor for a second, before heading back out to sea or they crash over me and knock me down leaving me waking up on the beach going, "wtf?!"  It's a blessing and a curse, simultaneously.  Crushin real hard right now...we'll see where it goes--i may be coming-to face-planted, confused and with sand in every orifice after this one. 

 Anyway, yesterday we headed out toward canyon and went to artist point where a guy fromt he billings gazette was like, "where are your SHOES?!" and i'm like,"shoes?! shoes are for people who are not cool enough to wear chacos."  I went to solitary geyser with Stevie Baby and then we celebrated Jeremy's birthday.  Jeremy is one of the pubtenders at the employee pub. he is from knoxville and very cool guy. then we watched a movie that everyone talked through so have i no clue what is goin on so stopped the movie and just visited with wendy.  had to get up super early and had weird dreams all night. whenever i have to get up at 5am, i always stress about waking up and don't sleep well.  so work was fine...slow at the snow lodge for breakfast.  then went to to see if mallard lake trail was open but it wasn't and fairy falls wasn't either.  both closed for bear management. cleaned room and bathroom then went on walk with kester, tony and danny and came back to chill before supper then visited rachel, now watching the men who stare at goats...xoxoxo  happy mother's day!!! 

Ok, so the other day we went out to lonestar geyser, only three of us and had been warned of bears out there then got out there, saw bear tracks and decided to head back.  Yesterday (5/6/10) we took a group of 5 out for safety and made it out to lonestar.  The only wildlife we saw was a bison on our walk to the trail.  After snowshoing 5 miles, i came back and crashed for 2.5 hours following lunch (which was really good btw).  Then i went for a ride on the cruiser, ate some supper with buddy steve and we watched 2012, you know, that movie where yellowstone blows up the world.  Then Rachel says she got her position she'd been interviewing for so we have a couple glasses of wine and play darts at the pub to celebrate. 

I'm hoping society is moving away from this, but anyway, speaking from my own experience as being brought up a white southern Christian female, we are innundated from friggin BIRTH to believe that our life's purpose is to find a mate and put that person and ourselves on lock down called marriage. It's not necessarily parents' pressure but wholly society from stories we're read at bedtime to commercials on TV to Burt Bacharach songs, etc.  It took me until just a couple of months ago to realize that my purpose is a little bit bigger than pickng up after someone or expecting them to pick up after me (even though i don't know what it is is, I know what it is not) and marriage or anything akin to it would completely hamper my unknown mission in life.  I've had a few people tell me that I'll die alone, and that makes me stop and think, but as much as I have thought about it, dying alone doesn't bother me.  I think dying alone is kinda how it's supposed to happen--what do dogs do?  They walk off and die alone--not that dogs and humans are a good comparison, but that example is the first that comes to mind.  Someone else said, "well, if you dont have kids where will your immortality come from?"  I guess I'm not so sorried about imortality either, but if it were to come it would come from, HOPEFULLY, writing and people will come visit my grave at that famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.  I never could find Edith Piaf's grave even though Fabienne and I looked all over for it...IN THE RAIN.  If I'm gonna be a famous writer...I have to start writing, seriously writing, notjust like oh, that's a good idea, let me write it down later.  nope, gotta start writing it as it comes to mind, otherwise, it goes away--with a QUICKNESS!!!

I mean, who is gonna marry THIS, anyway?!

check this out, i cry every time i watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRol4ByOh6g

So there has never been a bear attack on a group of four or more in the park; therefore, we are going to take a group of 5 and return to Lonestar Geyser around 8:30 this morning. 

so we played apples to apples last night and have a great time...i won, btw.  i love that game.  then we go to the pub for a miunte and rachel and wendy plan this intense hike for the next day.  i'm talking about monday night which is equivalent to my friday night. anyway, i get up pretty early, eat some breakfast and talk to millie hagins.  then i realize it is FREEZING cold and that any hike is gonna require warmer clothes than what i own so john and i go to west yellowstone to pick up some thermals.  then lunchy lunch with awesome buds that i work and live with.  then nappy nap. then bikey bike to the hikey hike place, lonestar geyser.  the bike ride is not long but it is intense, uphill.  we get our snow shoes on and start out but don't get too far before we see tracks....bear tracks, which the guy i rented the snow shoes from had said he had seen some of when he was cc skiing up there recently. 

rachel is a bear magnet apparently and the tracks are visible on the trail as far as we can see down it so we decide to abort this plan and go to mystic falls.  turns out, mystic falls is closed b/c of trail repair stuff AND bear activity, but we did see a bald eagle there...then we are tired and hungry kittehs so we go to EDR and chow down.  watching 2012 tonight with some dormies. snow forecasted for the next 10 days, gah.

ok, so i learned a new phrase last night...SEXiled...that is when you have been exiled from your dorm b/c your roommate is bangin somebody in there.  i have not been sexiled and have sexiled no one, cuz annaliese and i discussed this issue early on and we both agreed--RUDE.  don't sexile your roommate.  bad form, that is some freshman college BS. 

o, hai, snow...again!  it's may 3rd, also justin kalweit's, personal holiday..aka...he is 29 years old today.  he will always be a smidge older than i am--yea!  anyway, halfway through spring time and snow is everywhere here.  i like it though.  we don't get this at home and it is SO beautiful. 

yesterday, we went up to observation point and the snow was far off blowing our way so i freaked out b/c i was not in snow gear and when the wind is whipping snow against your unprotected face, it is not fun, DO NOT WANT so i say, guys, the snow is coming, DO NOT WANT, and they say, oh just one more minute and i remember previous day and see snow coming in faster so i just start running down the mt  back towards the dorms like i am in fear for my life.  and the guys steve and alan are like wtf is wrong with this girl and they mosey on down...well, the snow blows off to the south instead of on top of us so they are like, gah, we missed watching old faithful from  observation point, you crazy girl. 

oh, so we have movie night last night.  steve brings his computer and we watch crazy heart. 

so, i fell back into lolcatspeak todai...english version follws if you need the translation:

OMG, SO I FINKZ ALL TEH TIEM BOUT LIFE AN DEATH AN FILOSOFIZE BOUT THEM 2 MYSELF CONSTANTLY AN OUT LOUD IF ANYONE IZ WILLIN 2 LISTEN.  SOMETIMEZ I FINKZ BOUT IT 2 MUTCH AN I GIT SLIGHTLY DETACHD FRUM REALITY AN HAS 2 REIGN MAH THOUGHTS IN AN GIV MAH HEAD SHAEK.  MAYBE DAT IZ WHEN MAH CONTROLLR IZ AFK?  OR MAYBE DAT IZ TEH POINT DAT IM SUPR-IN-TOUCH WIF MAH HIGHR POWR, LIEK NIRVANA-TYPE STATE?  HOO KNOWS...I FINKZ 2 MUTCH THOUGH, I DOEZ KNOE DAT.

SO LAST NITE, NEW FREND RACHEL INTRODUCEZ ME 2 NEWR FREND WENDY (WIF TEH LONG BLACK DREADZ), AN DOUCHE BAG DAVID FRUM WASHINGTON ASKZ ME MAH NAYM...I TALKD 2 DIS TOOL TWICE DURIN  EMPLOYEE CHECK IN AN HE ACTS LIEK HIS POO AINT SMELLY SO I FINKZ, WHATEVR, SCREW HIM, NO TIEM 4 A-HOLEZ...DEN FIND OUT MOAR DOUCHE BAG THINGS BOUT HIM OVAR TEH WEEK SO...WHEN HE ASKZ ME MAH NAYM I SAY, DOOD, I TALKD 2 U TWICE AT LEAST DURIN ORIENTASHUN AN HE SEZ OH,I  DOAN REMEMBR AN I SAY YA, CUZ URE FULL OV YOURSELF.  ANNALIEES KNOWS HE IZ DOUCHE AN ALMOST SPITS HER WINE EVRYWHERE.  DEN LATR I ACCIDENTALLY SPILLS BER ON HIM AN HE GETS SO MAD...AN NO WAN CAREZ.  MAYBE HE WILL BE NICR BUT PROBABLY NOT...HIS CONTROLLR LIKEZ PLAYIN DOUCHE BAG CHARACTR DIS GO ROUND. 

4 DA MOST PART HER EVRYONE IZ NICE.  D-BAG DAVID FRUM WASHINGTON IZ TEH EXCEPSHUN.  NOT JUS KINDA NICE BUT EXTREMELY NICE, EVRYONE.  IZ SUPPOSD 2 SNOW AGAIN IN BIT, DUMP TRUCKZ FULL

OH TEH BROCCOLI LEFT BY TEH NITE CREW IN DA STAR BURNERS LOOKZ LIEK LIL TREEZ, EVEN MOAR SO THAN BROCCOLI NORMALLY DOEZ!!!1!!11!!!! 

omg, so i think all the time about life and death and philosophize about them to myself constantly and out loud if anyone is willing to listen.  sometimes i think about it too much and i get slightly detached from reality and have to reign my thoughts in and give my head a shake.  maybe that is when my controller is AFK?  or maybe that is the point that i'm super-in-touch with my higher power, like a nirvana-type state?  who knows...i think too much though, i do know that.

so last night, new friend rachel introduces me to newer friend wendy (with the long black dreads), and douche bag david from washington asks me my name...i talked to this tool twice during  employee check in and he acts like his poo aint smelly so i think, whatever, screw him, no time for a-holes...then find out more douche bag things about him over the week so...when he asks me my name i say, dude, i talked to you twice at least during orientation and he says oh,i  don't remember and i say yeah, cuz you're full of yourself.  annaliese knows he is douche and almost spits her wine everywhere.  then later i accidentally spills beer on him and he gets SO mad...and no one cares.  maybe he will be nicer but probably not...his controller likes playing douche bag character this go round. 

for the most part here everyone is nice.  d-bag david from washington is the exception.  not just kinda nice but EXTREMELY nice, everyone.  it's supposed to snow again in a bit, dump trucks full

oh the broccoli left by the night crew in the star burners looks like little trees, even more so than broccoli normally does.  a different

so last night we went to the firehole lounge to annoy some co-workers then tried to get the thai girls to come out with us to the pub (they were having a party in their dorm).  so a couple of them go with us but i could only stay for a little bit b/c i had to get up at 4:45am for work.  speaking of work, ok, so, i missed the breakfast crew shakedown b/c i was stuck in west--well, granted we only had 10 tables today but bill and i did a good job with getting the breakfast tickets out in a timely fashion and i was REALLY impressed with my own egg flippin skills.  it will get busier and busier with each passing day so we will be ready when the peak of the season hits.  my immediate boss jenn is super cool--she is great at motivating us, explaining things and gettin' 'er  done.  after work, i jumped in the shower then went to lunch with some folks i live and work with and we picked out a hiking spot.  it was faily nice when  we got out of lunch, but by the time we got all the cats herded up, the weather was pretty miserable.  we went anyway to black sand basin (I fell in love with a beauftiful boy on the black sand...oh, jenny lewis) and the weather was alternately good to bad every few feet.  one minute you would see blue sky, the next you wouldn't be able to see from the snow.  it was a little over two hours, round-trip and we saw some neat features, my favorite being the punch bowl spring. punch bowl is neat because it is the quintessential hot spring, looking just like a natural hot tub out in the middle of nowhere--you would never imagine that you'd be human soup if you jumped into it.  annaliese and i just got a suitemate i am fixin to go meet...