Overall, my first week has been great. The learning curve is steep and, already, I have learned much. Here are a few of the most important lessons so far:

Bison are rude

Every few days, 3 bull bison wander into my campsite. I call them Larry, Curly, and Mo. They are simply grazing, but they have absolutely no respect for personal space. Yesterday I was reading and heard a loud chewing sound, like a horse eating. I looked up and Mo was right next to my window, chewing loudly. His mother would be disgusted. After the bison trio finishes gnawing around my campsite, they lick the picnic table and then poop.

Mice like ramen noodles

First, let me explain the ramen noodles. I don’t like the seasoning, which I throw away. I do like the noodle and the 3 min cooking time, so I often make dinner from the noodles, and I add veggies and canned salmon. It is a balanced meal if I sprinkle on cheese.

Now then, I arrived here with a dozen packs of ramen noodles. I have three left. The mice chew on them during the night. They also pooped in the pancake mix. Hopefully, they will be gone soon, because next to the noodles is a mice bait box.

Yellowstone is an animal paradise

I love Lamar Valley in Northeast Yellowstone. I have been there several times before, and it is the first place I visited on my day off!

Lamar Valley is sometimes called the “America’s Serengeti” because the amount and variety of wildlife there is stunning. Lamar is also famous because wolf biologists released the 1995 wolves there. From those beginnings, the largest Yellowstone pack- Druid Peak pack- took over the valley. However, packs eventually die off and new ones move in, as is the case today.

Without much effort, I saw the following in a few hours

• wolf napping near den  (through a spotting scope)
• black bear sow with two cubs napping up in a pine tree!
• Black bear without cubs in view
• 6 big horn sheep (4 males)
• half-dozen or more antelope
• nesting Sandhill Crane
• nesting geese
• deer

Yellowstone is a hiking paradise

I have a map of trails in Yellowstone. A maze of paths connect all corners of the park and/or leads up to high, snowy peaks.

Rv problems come in threes

….and I shall be more discerning about who works on the camper

I am a pushover

The 15-site campground fills every night. When sad-faced young adults come in and ask if they can find a place to just pull over for the night, I cave. Why not? We have so much open space around the campground. Furthermore, I allow RVs to use the corral area for overflow.

People do the darndest things

Three Minnie Winnie RVs pulled into a campsite that was already taken–another RV was even parked there. They formed a U around the picnic table, got out, and started having a dinner picnic. This was on my day off, but I came out to redirect them to an overflow area.

Another camper, as I previously reported, took off hiking on his own in the heat of the day. He was 80+ years old, certainly old enough to never hike into wild lands by himself. Search and rescue found him alive.

Yellowstone is a giant nursery in May

I see cute baby animals everywhere! Bear cubs, baby bison, goslings, etc. All these animal mamas are lucky to have been pregnant during the winter rather than the suffer through the hot summer, like me : )

Restaurants are expensive.

A simple breakfast with coffee costs me $11.00. Yikes. How can a family afford this place?

I can go longer than I thought without a shower or bath

The cool temps (low 30s at night, 70s during the day) allow me to stretch out the time between showers. In a related matter, I can wear the same clothes up to 3 days. Tango has not complained so far. 

I miss Kerry and Meghan.

So close yet so far away. I will see them next week, though. I will also feel my grandbaby moving in utero! So excited. We find out the sex in a few weeks. I already bought a small Yellowstone present for the baby.

Ron and I can carry on despite the distance

My new friend Ron is about 1200 miles south of Yellowstone. However, we talk on the phone and email every day, as if we were in the same room. This gives me a new perspective on long distance dating.

 

 

So, I am a happy camper and happy camp host. Yellowstone National Park ROCKS.

 

 

Maze