Quote of the week

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.


~~Robert Frost


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Pioneer Beginnings:)



It's been awhile since I have been able to post anything. I know what you are thinking......busy busy busy with working Yellowstone. Well, my fellow travelers and wannabes, that couldn't be further from the truth. First let me say the the drive out here was awesome.....once we got off the highway for the last 2 hour stretch of Nebraska. Earlier in the drive, we lost the newest member of the family, Lilith our Ball Python, to the scorching dry heat of the Nebraska plains, everyone was upset. So let me say that for the most part, Nebraska is best driven at night. Once we got off the highway, we checked out Chimney Rock and Scottsbluff and spent the whole day in that corner of the country. When we finally made it to Yellowstone, we were greeted by 5 buffalo sleeping on the side of the road. We spent 3 hours driving through the park just to get to our campsite, did we see everything on that first drive?......not even close:) But I was able to give my son Marshall what he wanted for his birthday....Snow!! On June 9th there was 6 feet of snow on the sides of the mountain we were transversing as well as a heavy snow fall! He was in heaven:) We arrived at the campground, unloaded and began to unwind. I started work the next day working for as cashier for one of the gift shops. I loved it, this appeared to be a dream job, we were able to tour the park on my off days and get discounts to boot. About 3 weeks into it, I was awaken by a knock on the door from my manager and informed that I was laid off, unfortunately, with the current over all sales being in the red, and dispite cutting everyones hours to 26 a week, they had to start laying off the newest employees,(me being the first) but not to worry, when they picked back up, they would call(yeah right). You have 3 hours to be out....Ok where do we go??? With my next check a few days away, and our finances still not recovered from the 1000 hit it took to get there, we decided to temporarily boondock until we could figure something out. We ended up at a wonderful spot right on the Yellowstone river where we had our own private access to our own swim area . Talk about roughing it in style:) We stayed there for a few weeks, feeling very much like pioneers! River water for all our water needs, including laundry and cooking with only a campfire. I had the best lasagna in that fire pit! Yes it can be done, you can eat more than just hot dogs and eggs, but thats another blog:) After 2 weeks of pioneer life, I concocted our plans. We decided to store our wonderful home and truck and  head west. We loaded up the Metro with out tent, pillows, blankets, food storage, and all other necessities I could cram between the kids and headed off to a new adventure and new chapter. To Be Continued...... Next up. 5 people 1 tent 2 months