Yellowstone

In October I took some vacation time and headed to the family cabin in Island Park, ID. I have spent most of my summers up at the cabin and it is as close to camping as I ever want to get. Why sleep on the ground when you can sleep in a bed? Why cook on a camp stove when you can use an oven? Why tell stories and relate to people when you can watch satellite television? Ahh, the sweet cabin life.

When I was at Utah State, I would spend every Thursday to Monday at the cabin with my mom until about mid-October. The weather there is very unpredictable, I have seen it snow like crazy in October and I have also seen great sunny weather. Luckily, the weather was in my favor most of the time. I am not a snow person – as the front left fender of my car will testify.

The vacation got off to a rocky start as I was leaving just two days after returning from Moldova. While I made it back from Moldova in great shape, my luggage decided to stay in Frankfort, Germany. I harassed United Airlines and finally got my luggage a mere 5 hours before I had to leave for the airport to fly to Bozeman, MT. While I generally like flying United, they have lost my luggage a couple of times and when that happens the wrath of Jen is swift and fierce.

While there were many highlights to the trip, chopping wood is not one of them. Did you know that spiders live in wood piles? I threw several panicky fits because the spiders surrounded and even crawled on me. Yuck – I get freaked out just thinking about it. I try not to be a wussy girl, but when it comes to spiders all bets are off.

Roger and Diedra Mahaffey were there for part of the time and it was wonderful to see them. Roger makes awesome waffles and Diedra really likes bacon – so what is not to love about the Mahaffeys? It was good to see my dad go fishing with Roger, and they even caught (and released) a few fish this year – a new record!

I love to ride ATV’s and Island Park is awesome because there are several courses and trials to explore. Sadly, I only got to ride a few times as it hurt the scar on my leg too much. I am hoping that as time passes, I will be able to get back to where I was before and rock the countryside with my awesome moves. (This is pure bravado as I am a mediocre rider, but I think it is an activity that requires super high levels of confidence).

I decided that I needed to visit Yellowstone National Park while I was there. It had been years since I had seen the north loop of the park. Most people want to tour the south loop as there are more geysers, animals and Old Faithful. My parents were helpless against my whining and decided to come with me. We had a great time and the weather, aside from the freezing cold wind, was beautiful. At Mammoth there were about a zillion elk just lying around. Since they were in heat (I don’t know what the technical term is) we kept a good distance. They really are lovely animals. We almost saw a bear; missing him (or her) by just a matter of minutes. Poor Dad, he never gets to see bears.
We always go through West Yellowstone to enter the park. There are a lot of crappy places to eat, but in my vast experience there are two establishments that are definitely worth a visit: Ernie’s and Beartooth BBQ. Ernie’s has great sandwiches and I always stop there before I go into Yellowstone. Their “Fisherman’s Box Lunch” has everything that you need for a picnic and is reasonably priced. Beartooth started out as a summer place operating out of a small kiosk. Due to the popularity of the place, it is now a year-round restaurant. They have amazing pulled pork sandwiches. For sides I would recommend the french fries or the baked beans.

Overall, it was a great vacation. I hope to make it back next year maybe a bit earlier in the season so I can enjoy the outdoors without having to bundle up so much.

Next trip – Simsbury, CT