Well, It Makes Me Giggle

So I have a strange talent.  It all started in the second grade.  I was in Mrs. Ahern's class at Stillwater Elementary in Stillwater, Oklahoma.  My teacher had four kids to each "desk" which created oodles of time to chat.  I became friends with William, and he taught me how to burp on command.  He said you have to swallow really hard, which causes a bunch of air to get in your tummy and then, alakazam, *burp*!  I practiced all day and was so excited to show my sisters and parents.  Everyone laughed, and then my dad remarked that it wasn't very ladylike.  This piece of advice did not stick.

Although I do have tact, and know when it is completely inappropriate to belch, I cannot resist the occasional perfect opportunity.  Who would have thunk, but I find it much easier to unleash my gargantuan burp in front of boys.  Boys always find this talent hilarious, and egg me on with their own burps, but I always put them to shame.  Case in point, my sister's husband knew me as the sister who could pop your eardrums with her burps.  Now this should embarrass me immensely, but once again, I find it funny; so much so, I had to prove my talent.  And I did.  While my mom hemmed and hawed.  Life is too short to allow windows of laughter to pass us by; don't be ashamed of your small idiosyncrasies, because someone will always get a kick out of it.

Yellowstone, Day 4

The final leg of our journey.  We were disciplined and got up and out of our hotel by 6 am.  Since we both have to work tomorrow, we decided to forego YNP and head straight out through Old Faithful and go through the Tetons.  We left so early determined to find some moose.  We were completely unlucky.  No animals through the last part of Yellowstone, and nothing but osprey through the Tetons.  We stopped at my lake and took several reflection pictures.  We then drove to Teton Village to take the aerial tram.  However, the tram does not open until this Saturday!  So the lesson learned?  Stop changing our traditions.  If you want to see wolves, definitely go to Yellowstone now.  But if you'd like to see lots of other wildlife, wait until late May.  Now our timing was messed up.  We always go to Bubba's (a bbq pit) for dinner, and were hoping to hit it at lunch time.  We got into Jackson Hole at 10 am, so went for an adventure drive and came back at 10:30, thinking the lunch menu would be served.  Nope, still breakfast time.  So we had 2nd breakfast.  It was pretty good.  My pancakes were some of the best I've had.  We got home with no mishaps, but some disappointment.  We will definitely continue our trip at the end of May, and never change it again (at least until we'd like to see some wolves).  :)

Yellowstone, Day 3

Our final full day in Yellowstone we spent entirely on the northern stretch.  We planned on being up at 5 am to get in early, but when the alarm went off, we moaned and decided to keep sleeping.  We ended up waking around 7:30 and headed off at 9 am.  We arrived in Tower about 10:30 to immediately see two black bears; one on the east slope, the other just a few yards south on the west slope.  As we drove by in the truck, the male to the east stopped and gave us the evil eye.  After taking several pictures of both, we headed out to Lamar Valley.  Just around the corner, less than 2 miles away was another black bear!  We were the first to spot her, and were so excited to get some 'alone' time before the crazy crowds showed up.  We thought we were in for a great day, as we spotted 3 black bears in less than 10 minutes.  But alas, we saw no more bears in the northern end.  We did see a couple coyotes, but that was it.  How disappointing.  We finally gave up about 7 pm and made our way to West Yellowstone.  Just past the Sheepeater Cliffs, we spotted what I thought was another coyote, then I realized, it was a WOLF!  He was gargantuan compared to a coyote, and didn't have the pointy ears.  And his paws were massive.  We hurriedly pulled off the road and got a few pictures.  The crowd that began to collect was ridiculous, and the wolf ran off south towards a closed campground.  We were already in the truck, and so hurried to head him off and see if we couldn't get more pictures.  We didn't as he had already circled around.  While we waited, an elderly gentleman told us about a grizzly bear that was further south.  We headed off, as we were craving more wildlife sightings.  This grizzly was hanging out in the meadow, nursing a hurt paw from a porcupine encounter.  We then slowly headed to the hotel.  No more wildlife was seen, but we were finally satisfied with our day.

Yellowstone, She Wrote, Day 2

Ahhh, Yellowstone.  Every year I look forward to this vacation, but none more than this year.  Our original plans were to be here from Thursday to Tuesday, but this was changed when my boss wanted my help with the PTA convention.  He has this new idea, and said he needed someone 'charismatic'.  I was flattered that he thought of me, but didn't think ahead to my vacation plans, or the fact that I am extremely shy.  I convinced Bryan that 4 days would be plenty.  The convention went well enough, but I came home so tired and my neck was stiff with stress.  I pulled into the driveway to see Bryan by the trailer, with camera in hand waiting for me.  I didn't even notice the dumpster in our driveway.  I then found out that our upstairs bathroom toilet had sprung a leak when we had to replace the valve, and it had become Bryan's 2 day marathon to finish a bathroom.  He was able to complete all the tear out, put in the new toilet, new subfloor, and new tiled floor.  We still have quite a bit to finish, but I was shocked at how much was accomplished.  I then worried that my longed for trip would be lost; but Bryan was adament that we go.  We mosied out of Logan on Saturday, getting our usual bagels for breakfast and taking the long way through the Tetons.  We arrived in Yellowstone around 3 pm and drove around the lake and through the canyon loop.  When we got to the junction that takes you to Madison or Mammoth, we decided to be adventurous and head up to Mammoth and out to Tower.  We found ourselves in the middle of a wolf pack's hunt.  And it was amazing.  My only addition to Bryan's thoughts; my heart broke when the elk went down.  I had the duty of taping the event.  About 30 seconds from the final stroke of death, I was shaking so badly from the cold and my emotional heartstrings, that I passed the camera over and watched from the corner of my tear filled eyes.  I know it's the cycle of life, but I wanted to be her savior, and I knew I wasn't able to do anything.  Today, we once again took our time getting up and going.  We usually enter the park between 5 and 6 am, but today it wasn't until 9 am.  We passed through the site of the wolf hunt (which was packed with tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of something), and headed on up to tower.  We saw 2 black bears up in a tree, a grizzly up by Lamar Valley, and a 3rd black bear by petrified tree.  We also were lucky enough to see a moose up towards the northeast entrance, a nursery of 4 Bighorn Sheep near the canyon, and a coyote pouncing on the snow after a mouse.  After viewing the wolves, today's 'catch' didn't seem as wonderful.  Maybe tomorrow will be more fruitful.

Yellowstone Day 1

Today was not our typical day in Yellowstone, it was even better.  We did not see any bears on our first day :(  What we did see was flat out amazing.  We happened upon an elk standing in the middle of a small lake, in addition to the people watching so were three wolves.  We watched as the wolves plotted and stalked, waiting for the elk to drop her guard.  Then the black wolf circled around the lake right in front of us and charged.  Once he had her on the run the two gray wolves came from behind.  It only lasted about two minutes, it was sad and yet exciting.  It is rare to see wolves this close and even more rare to watch them hunt and kill. Here are some pics, they are from about 100 yards away so they aren't the best but better than any wolf shots I have ever shot before.