Monday & Tuesday: My Weekend

Monday and Tuesday are my two days off this week, which I think is a pretty great way to start the week.

Yesterday, I went into the park for the second day. Kim decided to go with me because she hates sitting around in her cabin. She's funny...she says I speak so "properly"...I'm guessing just because I don't use slang on a regular basis. That means I need to start talking in jive 24/7...word. So we headed to Mammoth Springs located in the northwest part of the park. First we went to the visitor center where we saw lots of cool stuffed animals, I got to hold a set of moose antlers, and then we watched a video about Yellowstone. It had some sweet clips of animals charging at cars...I just hope they stay away from my new Honda! We then saw some beautiful stone terraces created by the hot springs (I'll post some new pictures tomorrow). We also drove up to the north entrance to the park and stood under the Roosevelt Tower which is a stone archway over the entrance of the park that Teddy Roosevelt dedicated himself. I got to touch the cornerstone of the tower which he placed himself...I've been where Teddy has been! The scenery up north, like everywhere in the park, is amazing. We even saw some mountain goats and calves standing up on one of the rock ledges.

Monday evening I took Natalia, the girl from Moldova into town to get groceries. I feel so bad for her since she can hardly speak English and she was completely out of food...she was probably starving. It was funny to watch her shop: she walked slowly up and down every aisle examining all the different products. I remember what it's like shopping for food in a foreign country...she must have been a little overwhelmed. She kept holding up different types of food asking me if "it taste good?" She also smelled almost everything...including her package of jumbo franks.

Today Kim and I went into West Yellowstone. She went to visit a friend that lives there and I went to the National Park Ranger Station and talked to someone about jobs with the NPS. I would love to be a park ranger for a summer...those wide-brimmed hats and green pants would look GOOD on me. I then went to the library and finished writing all of my graduation thank you's. That was a relief. I was a little bummed though when the library Nazi there refused to let me sign up for a short-term library card because I do not have a permanent post office box. Now where am I going to rent movies from for free?

This afternoon I soaked in the hot tub and then went out into the horse pasture next to my cabin and read for awhile while overlooking the mountains to the west of us. I then came back to my cabin and took a nice nap. I also went and introduced myself to the new girl from Moldova...I'm happy for Natalia now that she has someone she can talk to...and this new girl speaks better English so she will be able to translate for Natalia. Anyways, I've really enjoyed by first "weekend" here...it's been a relaxing last couple of days.