On the Football Field

I drive past the Roosevelt Arch every day to drop Tuck off at school. One of the hardest things to get used to up here is the grey cloudy days of winter.

 

 

Then you see this.

 

 

Where else do you see these guys on the football field? It reminds me of a funny, true story from this summer. Tuck's scout troop won the service award in Montana. They picked up over 5 tons of bison poop off of the school campus. Only in Gardiner.

 

A River of Elk

Living in a National Park, I am used to seeing wildlife. I do always try to stop, take a moment, and just enjoy the animals. They are immensely beautiful and I hope I never get to the point when I forget to take time to really see my surroundings.

 

Every once in a while even I see something that makes me stop dead in my tracks.

 

We were on our way up to snowboard and I looked over and slammed the brakes on the car. I yelled at the boys to look!

 

To the left:

 

 

In front:

 

 

and to the right:

 

 

I have never seen so many elk running in a long herd together ever!

 

I have posted pictures of Tuck snowboarding but never of myself. Here is proof of the madness! I was told by my instructor "older people" don't usually take up snowboarding. Great! I really love being reminded of my age!

 

 

Basketball & Snowboarding

Tuck is playing basketball for the first time. He was really bummed when he didn't make his free throws at his game. I keep telling him to keep practicing and he will get better. Tuck is having a blast playing with all of his friends from school.

Tuck is teaching me to snowboard. I took him and a friend up to Bridger last week for a day on the mountain. The boys went on lots of different runs, I didn't make it off of the bunny hill. I am sporting some pretty large bruises from falling constantly. Snowboarding is a lot harder than it looks!

I really want to learn so Tuck and I can go together, so I am taking another stab at it. Hopefully day two will go a little better than day one!

Tuck makes it look so easy!

I went to Tucks school to drop off his basketball uniform and these guys were hanging out on the football field. It still makes me smile to see bison in town!

Old Faithful in the winter

This week I took a short trip for work at Old Faithful. It is very interesting getting into the interior of the park in the winter. The roads are closed to cars. In fact, they have about four feet of snow packed on them. You have to go by snow coach or snowmobile. I happened to take the "business shuttle" and it looked like this;

This is the "road" headed to Old Faithful;

I love the view out the window of the snow coach;

Old Faithful erupting;

While I was watching Old Faithful, Beehive geyser erupted as well;

I sneaked in some cross country skiing in the geyser basin. I am getting much better!

Rats!

Tuck had a friend over. His friend brought his pet rat to "scare" me. It worked. Below, Tuck is still smiling at his little trick. He was very pleased with himself for this one!

Tuck biked over 26 miles with his friend yesterday.Yes I did say mountain biking in January. They were tracking the distance with a GPS. Tuck is very proud of his mileage. I still can't believe they rode bikes in the snow. I think he believes it is still summer. The boys went down the old Gardner road, and they passed a couple of groups cross country skiing. I am sure everyone thought they were nuts. 

Today we are taking the holiday off. Snowboarding up at Bridger Resort for the day. I have not been on the slopes in over 10 years. I hope I make it back in one piece! I figure it cannot be any worse than my attempts at cross country skiing. 

My machinist tool box, now a jewelry box:

My grandfather passed away a couple of months ago. I am very grateful to have spent time with him in recent years. I remember one long road trip in particular. He and I drove from Utah to Missouri together, and he told me stories from his past the whole way. Lots of great memories. My Aunt had asked him what his wishes were in the weeks prior to his death. I am forever grateful to my Aunt for taking the time to write everything down, and executing his plans so beautifully.  He said he was not a rich man, but he wanted the mechanics and builders in the family to pick some tools to remember him by. He went on to name all of the men and then added, and Aimee. He went on to say, if there is any disagreement Aimee has the final say, she can handle it.

It makes me smile. 

Of course, everyone behaved themselves. Not a whisper of discord in the whole group. I picked out an old saw that we used to cut the Christmas tree this year. My Uncle told me he fabricated it himself. It worked like a charm. I also selected this toolbox. It was filthy and the green felt-lined drawers had deteriorated. One night of  taking it apart, scrubbing and re-lining the drawers and I have a jewelry box that reminds me of my grandfather.

Tuck and CC pulling the Christmas tree out of the woods saw still in hand

Mitch and Tuck hiking in Arizona

Mitch is still wearing the high school football shirts! I really wish he lived closer, there never seems to be enough time. It is hard just seeing him on quick visits here and there. 

Arctic North

We just returned from a weekend in Arizona.

Although it was colder than usual (a brisk 45 in the day instead of 70) it felt like summer compared to what we came home to.

-11 at 2pm...

We returned home to a frigid house (the power had gone out on Saturday and blown circuits in the house. No furnace or hot water. Only one lonely space heater was working.

Why did I come back?

The weekend in photos hiking in Arizona.

Tuck and I hiked to the top of Silly Mountain two days in a row.

What an amazing view!

The view of the Superstition Mountains from Oma and Poppa's back yard.

Skiing in Mammoth

Tucker and I Cross Country Skiing on Terrace Drive in Upper Mammoth

Tuck by a thermal feature

Today, Tucker, CC and I went Skiing in Mammoth. I have not skied in YEARS and it showed. I definitely won the award for the most spectacular wipe out.  I had the honor of doing a face plant on a short downhill run. Hat and sunglasses went flying. My sister was very sad that she did not catch it on video. I have come to the conclusion that I am clumsy and need tons of practice time before I ski with anyone other than family. We had a blast regardless, I had forgotten how much I love to do winter sports. I am in trouble with one minor detail, I also got a snowboard yesterday. I had better buy a helmet before heading up to Bridger with Tucker for the real hills.

It was a beautiful day, not too cold and snow was lightly falling while we were on the trail. Just what you hope to experience when you are in Yellowstone.

Remembering...

Bison in the snow

Yellowstone National Park 2012

This morning I remembered New Year's Day in Louisiana. I always drove with the top down on my convertible. It was always in the 70's for at least that day. I love driving with the top down and the sun shining on my face. I love being warm. This morning the temperature in Mammoth is 15 degrees. I am not holding out any hope of a miracle weather pattern before tomorrow!

Another Christmas Day...

Christmas in the park is magical. We had snow falling Christmas Eve and it was so quiet you could hear it hit the ground. 

Santa was good to Tuck. He had a very firearms Christmas. Getting everything from rubber band  and air soft guns to a crossbow from his dad.  If only I knew how and liked to hunt. Then we would be in business.

Tuck and the new cross bow

Tuck and his very soft new hat (being very silly as usual)

 Tuck trying out his new -20 degree sleeping bag (he has a winter camp out in a                                                 couple weeks for Boy Scouts)

 Tuck and his dad on Christmas morning

Chris putting together Tuck's new sled that came in tons of pieces. I really owe you for this one!

I should mention that Chris happens to be one of the hardest working and kindest men I have ever known. The day after Christmas he changed the oil and put brakes on my car for me. I had been neglecting to put the brake pads on (too busy) for months and I shredded the rotors. I haven't seen rotors that thin in years. I was horrified. Add that to running my car 2 quarts low on oil that was black as tar. Hmm. He was very nice about it, only teasing me a little, but really I should not be allowed to own tools after this vehicle neglect.

Winter in Wyoming

It's very cold, some snow. I was spoiled from spending time over Christmas in Arizona. It was two weeks in the sun hiking in the Superstition mountains with Tuck. Very enjoyable. Oh well. Back to the Arctic north! On a happy note Tuck and I have been ice skating here in Mammoth. I am very clumsy on skates but we are having lots of fun.

Between that and sledding and events like book club and chili cook offs coming up quickly we are very busy. I just wish it was a little warmer here.