Mary Bay in May 2014

Mary Bay is 11 miles round trip from Park Housing. It was the closest place to get cell service last season. But NOW...Verizon has built a TOWER at Fishing Bridge and it is FUNCTIONAL! This will be a blessing this season. Still, we had to go check on our Mary Bay and it was beautiful! The ice on Yellowstone Lake is starting to melt a bit. Just a bit.

All Fixed Up!

TR has to sign a paper that says we won't put anything on the walls or alter the place in any way...so that's about all we can do in terms of space and decor. We fired up the ol' Sunray and made a nice dinner. Then we went outside to play!

What We Hauled

When you live 80 miles or 1.5 hours from a grocery store and other services, you plan carefully when packing. We hauled everything into the apartment from our vehicles, wondering where we would put it all. TR did all of his own shopping and most of his own packing. One of our new neighbors mentioned a couple of times how lucky we are to be on the end and closest to the parking lot. Sounds like he walked back and forth many, many times to unload his vehicle (he lives at the end of the row).

707A

So we were assigned an "efficiency apartment" this year. It is clean and furnished. It has hot and cold running water, a gas stove, and electricity. We are lucky to be on the end because it's just a tad bigger and we get an extra window for more light! The picture of the snow is what you see when you open the front door from the inside. Home Sweet Home!

Moving TR (The Ranger)

We moved TR back to YELL this weekend and had a pretty good time doing it. We left Friday morning driving separate vehicles--I stopped at the post office to pick up a package he ordered and he stopped to get an oil change. We met up at the park and ride in Corinne. If you've never been...you really should check it out! :) TR jumped in my car and we drove out to Golden Spike to say "hello" to some ranger friends. Of course we had to visit the girls (the locomotives). After that, we headed into Brigham to meet up with Nate for lunch. Then we aimed for Idaho Falls where we went to dinner with Suzette.

On Saturday we went to Yellowstone, but before we made it to Fishing Bridge we stopped at Artist Point for a picnic and a visit to that iconic waterfall. Many visitors had made many snowmen in the area and I actually photographed only one! All you need is a pine needle to make someone smile. Leaving Canyon, there was a coyote walking/jogging down the road. From the looks of it, he was doing everything in his power to use his right blinker in order to cross the road, but people weren't cooperating, so he took off up an animal trail on the hillside. There's a lot of snow in YELL (more than this time last year) and the snow removal/snow-going equipment is parked around the area. It was GREAT to get back to YELL!!!

Looks Like She's Stopping at Three...

Robina seems to think three eggs is just perfect. She's a good little Mother.

In other news, my patriot colonists went to a lot of trouble to make fake hall passes in order to dump tea into the harbor...cheeky little students.
And in still other news, I love my husband very much. Yesterday, I was tearing up on the way to school just thinking about him. I got a bit emotional later in the day as I reflected on his goodness, kindness, and humor. That is all.

Was Not Meant for the Cave Today...

Today is Opening Day at the cave and I am missing it. I was dressed by 6:15 a.m. I have attended 9 hours of seasonal and volunteer training. I have my volunteer uniform, name badge, and ball cap. I have water! However, the Day had other plans for me.

My husband was headed to work early this morning and could not leave. Our front door would not unlock. The deadbolt wouldn't turn. He finally used his multi-tool to escape, leaving me feeling less than secure. No one wants to come running to fix your lock at 6:15 a.m.

Anticipating a repair person coming to our home, I began to tidy up. I was saving Saturday housework for later, but alas, it got done early today. After chores, I decided to go ahead and bathe. Like housework, I was saving my shower for later-- after a perspiration-inducing hike, but decided I would need to stick around home for the repair. I pulled the knob on the drain to let the water out and...oops! It broke off in my hand! Another repair! And a full tub of bath water with no way to drain. Great.

And then there was one more unexpected turn of events. My husband was supposed to be home at 5:00 p.m. He called at 10:00 a.m. to let me know that work was super slow today and they were sending him home early! In my continual attempts to keep my chin up and see the glass half-full, I thought, "WONDERFUL! More time with K!!! We can either team up to accomplish lots of stuff or we can run away together and play the day away!"

As I type, he is napping. Poor guy. He's been working two jobs and putting in some long days. He mumbled something about catching a few z's "so I can function. I don't want to sleep the whole day away so we can go do something."

Nope. I'm not gonna make it to the cave today. It just wasn't meant to be. However, I got to have lunch (soup and grilled cheese) with my favorite person today, our home is now in good repair and secure, everything has been tidied up, and all is peaceful in my world.

Other miracles are taking place all around. Once again, Robina is sitting on eggs. Two today...three tomorrow? She is filling the measure of her creation right on cue with Mother's Day. A rental bird in a rented tree, but I can't get over the wonder of it all.