Friday, May 14, 2010

I believe we have seen the last of the snow for this year. It has warmed up considerably and the snow melt is flowing down the Yellowstone River. As we were coming home last night we saw many guys out in the river in boats and in waders fly fishing. Daddy is going to pick up our mail today, buy bait and try some fishing. I'm going to start packing things .
Tomorrow afternoon is the professional rodeo at 6PM in Big Timbers. That is at least a 50 minute drive. Tonight we want to go to Chicos again to get in the hot springs and listen to some music. According to their schedule, it's supposed to be some sort of swing. Chicos Saloon is quite old, rather small, all wooden and draws in a diverse mix of patrons. There are young adults with children using the hot tubs, retired couples like us, groups coming from far away cities to meet friends halfway between , young locals, especially when there is a country band, and of course, the security guards who sit at the tables with the rest of us. They even will pinch hit and help bus tables when it gets really crowded. We have been there so often the waiters and waitresses remember us and say hello. They aren't that friendly at the restaurants we frequent in Jacksonville. And the canned beer is just a buck!
I apoligize for being out of pocket to everybody these past 2 weeks. The first week was VERY BUSY with the kids here and we went into the park everyday. Daddy feels like he could take a job as a guide in Yellowstone. He's been talking to the retired couples that work the general stores amd cafes in the park. Some of them have been doing it for 11 years! They drive their RVs here, park in the employees RV lot for the whole season and work the stores and cafes for 5 days a week. The park makes sure the couples have the same 2 days off. Daddy is thinking of doing that for next year or the year after. They receive a free RV spot with full hook-ups, and a job that pays well, but with no benefits. But most retired people who are traveling already have health benefits anyway. So it looks like I'll be able to stay cool in the summer!
After the kids left we just "vegged-out" on Mothers Day and then left for Billings and Buffalo, WY and then the park. That all took the entire week. You can't imagine how spread out everything is here. Forget running to the store for 1 thing you'd like. They're all so far away and so are the towns; but the landscape is gorgeous. When you head out you have a long list of things to buy. We have used so much gas out here; but in some places the gas is cheaper than at home. The sky at night has SO many stars! It is just incredible. The rest of this week will be pretty full again. This rental is so comfortable that when we were gone for 4 days sight seeing, we felt we were coming back home again. We're going to miss this house and the people around it. In the RV I won't have a bath tub for a couple months and it'll be much closer quarters. But our RV is really comfy.
I fed the horses last night Sofia! She has asked about that everyday now. We fed the horses a bag of carrots a day while she was here. Feeding them carrots is okay with these people, they're not like the people that owned the lone horse at the RV park. In fact, the horse at the RV park did not look as healthy as these 6 are. She also wasn't groomed very often. But the 6 here have huge fields full of new grass. I'll keep that up as long as we are here. Daddy took pictures of it last night. That was the first time he had even walked down to see them.
Sofia, they shaved the alpacas and the Llama earlier this week. You should see them! They are SO skinny now with these big fluffy heads. All of the girl alpacas are pregnant and 1 was due any day. I need to go visit them and see if there is a baby one since we were gone. I'll take a picture for you. I'll ask Herb for their mailing address or email to be able to stay in touch. I would love to stay here at the house again and this time of year was perfect.
Gotta go to pack some things up. I'll try to add to the blog as soon as we do something interesting- maybe the rodeo.