Sept 12: Jen and Ken Day 3

Coke Machines in Yellowstone....

Me and Jen attemping to catch a hi five pic, more attempts below....

Today I had to wake up early and work at the warehouse for a couple hours. I requested off, had my weekend switched around, so I would be off while Jen was here. Didn’t happen. Had to switch out of shifts and work part of a warehouse shift on Sunday. It actually worked out perfect. I worked and laughed with all the warehouse guys as usual for about 2 hrs, Jen slept in and was able to get ready by the time I was done working. We ate some breakfast and decided to do a hike over by Lake, eat lunch at the Lake Hotel, then go to Teton and Colter Bay and hang out before we had dinner at Jackson Lake Lodge. Lame. The hike over by Lake was a hike and had done before, Elephant Back trail. Its short, relatively easy, and the views from the top are some of the best views of any body of water I have ever seen, even in pictures. Right up Jen’s alley. Again, we packed a couple bags and were on the road about 10am. We started on the trail around 11 after taking some funny pictures along the way to Lake. Jen has those, hopefully I get those soon. In the first 100 yds of the trail, there was some slightly fresh bear shit right on the trail. Probably about a day old. How do I know so much about shit you ask? It helps to know what shit is what out here and how old it is, so I did a little reading and talked to some of the outdoor fanatics here about it. I didn’t want to tell Jen what it was…. I mean, obviously she knew it was poop, I didn’t need to explain that, but I didn’t want to tell her it was bear turds. They mostly active at night, and for the most part stay away from trails, especially busier ones like elephant back. So I lied and told her it was elk doo doo. She was none the wiser, so we continued on worry free. The weather…. There literally was not ONE cloud in the sky all day long. Not even one of those little ones that make you say, “ That cloud is weak. Look how small it is. What a stupid cloud.” Not even one of those. The hike was awesome. The views from the top were even better than this time around, and we met a guy who grew up at the Lake hotel. His father was the winter keeper for the Lake Hotel. He knew the names of all the mountains and coves, well, everything. He had so much to share, I just sat and listened to him talk about the park, how its changed, how his father got there, so interesting. He wrote a book called “Growing up in Yellowstone” that should be out in December. I will be buying it. If you met him, you would be buying it too. The pic above is of him and his wife with me and Jen at the top of the trail. Time was starting to get away from us, so we ran down part of the trail and made record time back to the car to get lunch at Lake Hotel. We ate and had a couple local Montana beers before we headed to Teton. The drive to Teton was awesome. 70 degrees, no clouds, so awesome. We made up some time, so I decided to show Jen Moose Falls on the way out of the park. We got down there, and the water was actually warm. Hot springs. Crazy shit yall! I had a towel in my car and we packed some shorts so we decided we should take a swim. Im always down to swim in Moose Falls bc its awesome. I am used to the cooler water, the cooler air, I love it. Jen on the other hand wanted to do it bc it seemed like a good idea at the time, a cool thing to do. I don’t blame her, it’s the tops. It was a little chilly getting in, the water around the edges are always a little colder than the deeper parts in hot springs. Once I was in all the way, it felt great. Now, Jen, she couldn’t stop shivering. I think that Carolina weather may have had something to do with it. Perhaps my polar albino skin played a role as well. Thank Dad. I could have stayed in there for hours, I think Jen was on the brink of hypothermia, so we only swam for a few minutes and got out. We got back on the road and headed south towards Teton again. We stopped at a gift shop at Colter Bay for some souvies. The gift shop was awesome, so we stayed for almost an hour. It was honestly perfect timing. We drove the rest of the way to Jackson Lake Lodge and got to watch the sunset over the Tetons on the patio with drinks in hand while waiting to be called to our reserved table for dinner. Dinner was fancier than I thought it was going to be, but it was a nice way to send Jen off. This time we only had about an hour in the car back to OF. We got back at a decent hour which was a blessing. I had to work the next day and Jen had to drive to Salt Lake City (6 hrs) by 2pm. Great weekend. Thanks for coming Jen, terrible time as usual!

Sept 11: Jen and Ken Day 2

Waking up today was only hard for about 10 seconds. We were both really tired, but when I opened the blinds and it was sunny and almost no clouds, we were both wide awake in a hurry. We packed some warm and cool weather clothes in backpacks and went to the Inn for a quick buffet breakfast. After breakfast, we hit the road heading north to Mammoth. The plan was to do the entire Yellowstone loop, drive through Grand Teton NP to Jackson for dinner. On first leg north to Mammoth, we stopped at Grand Prismatic spring, Firehole Canyon, a couple beautiful views, and obviously Mammoth Hot Springs. The weather could not have been much better. It started at about 50 and sunny and just kept getting warmer all day. We didn’t see a whole lot of animals but the weather and the views more than made up for it. Once we stopped in Mammoth for some coffee and souvenirs, we continued on the loop to Canyon. Jen is a freak about water… bodies of water, rivers, waterfalls, hell even a glass of water will get you an eye bulge… so I didn’t want to tell her anything about Canyon or Lake. For me, they are the most beautiful parts of the park. The views at Canyon can have the same shock value as the Sistine Chapel. I judge this by people’s reaction seeing it for the first time. In the Sistine Chapel, people lost most of their senses except sight. People who work there would yell at them to keep moving and they wouldn’t hear them. It happened to me. It has that effect on you. Canyon in Yellowstone has a similar effect. Its seems to be more outward at Canyon, I assume bc its outdoors and not in a quiet church. Anyway, we had brought some bagged lunches along and canyon was a good stopping point to eat some lunch and relax for few with a view. Rhyme time!!! After we ate we cruised through the lake area and I think Jen’s head was close to exploding. We stopped a couple places for pics and to look around. We saw a massive bull elk along the lake road, he was heading right for us when we stopped. I didn’t want to expose Lola to any harm, so we continued on our way to Grand Teton NP. We didn’t really get to do a whole lot in Teton except drive through a little bit, get caught in the finish line of a 200 mile bike race, but we did see a moose. We got to Jackson around 8 and had some dinner. By the time the food was served, Jen and I were zombies. We couldn’t get enough coke or coffee, and yes we ordered both. We ate and got back on the road with 2 hrs in front of us to Old Faithful. It sounds like a lot, but the drive breaks up nice with great views, even at night. The worst part about that drive is the last 17 miles to old faithful. Hills, windy roads, and deer. Horrible combo. We took it slow and did in fact see a few deer on the way home, lucky Lola made it home without any harm. I think Jen and I were coma asleep that night within 12 seconds of walking in the door. 


Oh yeah... And check out the guy totally copying my sexy pose! Who the hell does this guy think he is?! It looks like his friend is asking the same question about me for taking their picture.....

Sept 10: Jen and Ken Day 1... Elton takes over...

So I have been working like crazy since I have been back, mostly bc I was in STL for a week, but also bc I took Sat and Sun off bc my friend Jen was coming to Yellowstone. Jen and I met in Italy when we both attended a class in Italy and Greece. This class was offered to Central MO State and SEMO students. I went to CMSU and Jen went to SEMO. We met the first night, which was in Rome, along with my roommate and great friend Herman, and one of Jen’s best friends, Ashleigh. We all became really close right away and were amazing travel companions. Jen and I keep the travel tradition alive whenever possible. She had a free flight from Southwest so she decided coming to Yellowstone was a good way to spend it. I agree. She got in to Old Faithful around 6pm and we got reservations for dinner at the Inn, walked around the geyser basin, caught up, and laughed. A lot. We watched Old Faithful go off then went to the Inn for dinner. After dinner, there was a Halloween party at the employee pub. I got Jen a pass for the employee pub so she could attend. My friend Lola studied costume design in college and has lots of costumes, so we went over to her place to get outfitted for the party. My roommate Mena came along as well. I was originally going to be spongebob squarepants, but once I saw a leisure suit, I wanted to be a used car salesman. The used car salesmen was only a couple pinky rings, glittery platform shoes, a fancy scarf, a couple chains and a fur coat away from being Elton John, so I went with Elton instead since Lola and her roommate had all those items. Jen went as an M&M bc that was really all Lola had left. Trooper. Mena didn’t dress as anything, still not sure what happened there. We went to the pub and it was a blast. Well, I can only speak for myself, I had a blast. The costume was a big hit and I made the most of it by dancing like an idiot all night and causing a scene doing anything. It was getting pretty late, and I was pretty sweaty from my 100% polyester attire, it was time for bed. Jen had been up for almost 24 hrs at that point. Trooper. We went back to the dorm for a few hours of sleep before a long day of travel, amazing views, and laughs. 

Aug 29 - Sept 6: STL

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Its so nice to come home, around familiar/familial surroundings. I got to spend a lot of time with people I love including the newest addition to our family, little Gwen. I was able to attend my dad’s retirement luncheon at the STL police dept., go to story time at the library with the entire fam for Donovan (even if there wasn’t a story this time, it was still amazing to see him interact with everyone), play golf with my bro, Mooseport, and Nicoli Khabibulan, just enjoy some down time, and see some people I haven’t seen in a while. It was great. If we didn’t get to see each other this time around, no worries, we will see each other soon. My travels were smooth and I really enjoyed myself at home. Now back to the grind in paradise.

The first pic is Bozeman MT airport.

Aug 27: Happy Birthday Celeste!!!

Happy Birthday Celeste!!!! It was great seeing you a couple weeks ago. I will see you around thanksgiving...

Oh, and some young fella wants to wish you a great bday as well….

Aug 24: The New Visitor's Center Grand Opening

Last night I went to Jackson (slopes in the background of the main intersection in Jackson above) just to get out of Yellowstone on my one day off, got some Mexican food, relaxed, walked around, then drove back on the prettiest night I can recall in my entire life. It was a full moon, so low and as bright as I have ever seen it. When I drove through stretches of thick forest, the moonlight would flicker through the evergreen trees. It was literally so bright in contrast to how dark the night was, I thought I was getting pulled over the first couple times it happened. It was casting distinct shadows in my car, bizarre.

On the 24^th I had to work the baller function at the new visitors center at old faithful. This function was being held for all the company big wigs, senators, and private pimps who donated ungodly amounts of money for this new monstrosity to be built. The CEO of Coca Cola, Toyota, Conoco Phillips, some senators, Nat Park Service head honcos, and you know the company I work for had their top brass on display as well. It was an hor derve event, so I just walked around with a goofy grin on my face offering rack of lamb. Needless to say, they had some great food going around for these people. I didn’t really think about how the people attended treated the staff until after they went into the auditorium for a special presentation. I took some chocolate covered strawberries outside to the rangers on duty, and to some US Army soldiers in uniform for the grand opening festivites the following day. I got more thank yous and just plain manners out of 10 public servants than 220 snots. It doesn’t bother me, if I were at that function I probably would have crushed 40 lamb racks and not said much else to the server other than “How are you? Where are you from? How many more of these do you have in the back?” I just thought it was strange and pretty funny how different people are. I served the CEO of Xanterra (the company I work for) a piece of cake. He’s a tool. No question. No story, he was just kind of a douche. The pic above is almost all of us who worked the function in the new visitors center. Brett, kneeling in the front, wins for best pose. He and his wife Brittany who is right behind him are about to finish their contract here, road trip for a month or two, then move to California. Sounds terrible. We were out by 9pm or so. It was just really neat to be a part of such a great building that will be there for a long long time.

Aug 21: Moose Falls

In the past few days I have waited on an Amish couple, the heaviest accent of French I have ever heard, and more kids who are parents to their parents. The Amish couple were interesting in the level of discomfort present during our exchanges. I would ask complex questions like, “What would you like to eat?” Silent stare. I thought to myself, “I must have mumbled. I’ll ask again.” I repeat, same response. “Would you like me to come back in a few minutes?... By your silence I will assume your answer is yes.” Walk away laughing, not at them, just how people can be. I tried to connect with them as best I could, I think they just don’t like us sinners. The French couple was really funny too bc I really didn’t assume anything when I approached their table. I introduced myself and asked them what they would like, they blankly stared at each other. The guy turned to me and said, “ I will hef dee beesawn beergiare.” Bison burger. I almost hi fived him right there. I spoke slowly and talked with them for a while, they were from Paris and were in the US for 3 months. I think they really had a good time, or maybe they just smiled a lot out of confusion, not really sure.

Today I worked a breakfast and a lunch shift in the restaurant. A lot of good people that I work with had the same schedule, so all day we debated the best way to spend the rest of day after work. We all agreed that swimming in Moose Falls would be the tops. After work, we all scrambled to our dorm rooms to pack a bag and a towel so we could get there while it was still warm. The drive to Moose Falls is about 45 minutes – 1 hr and we left around 430 so we were in a bit of a hurry. Myself, Lola, Matt, Robbie, and Lawrence all piled in Lawrence’s Volvo wagon, laughed the whole way with Erik and his wife Lana following behind us. When we arrived at Moose Falls, our friends Antonio, Wendy, Patrick and Chelsea were already there. We all jumped in and after a few minutes, about 4 more people from the restaurant showed up. We had a nice big group of awesome people. We hung out there for a couple hrs. We didn’t swim long, the water wasn’t that cold but the weather was getting a little chilly so we ended up just hanging by the water for quite a while. The sun started set, so we decided to head back and get a decent meal at the diner in the general store. Good day.