Road Trip: Day 1

On our way out.

Me fooling around.

We were looking at two cars trying to leave the park and we insisted on this selfie before anything.

       Another season has passed me by in Yellowstone. I started off as a server and ended with the title of Assistant Dining Room Manager. Many came and went and a select few toughed it out. Out of the three summers I’ve had in Mammoth, this ranks number two. My first summer was the least favorite, and last summer I was way more active and there was little to no stress. I do add that the season ending by its self, rather than a government shutdown, makes “goodbyes” more joyous rather than sad or depressing.

        So what’s next? Ramen and a hotdog diet for starters and a week-long stay in Missoula MT. We have to make a stop there for a wedding that Sam got invited to by his girlfriend. Missoula MT is like Madison WI with mountains around it and I think someday I’ll live there for quite some time but until I choose when to quit being a park bum, Yellowstone is my home.

       

       So for the next month or so I will be on the road for most of it traveling to the far corners of Utah, (pronounced, OOOOT-AH), and then from there, no one really knows. We’ll be heading that way in 8 or 9 days picking three friends, Brad, Craig and Rob, up in Gardiner and head south to Provo to pick up our friend Spencer and make our way to Zion. From there we will hit up other parks up to and including Bryce Canyon, Arches, Goblin Valley, and Moab.

        

       I forgot to mention that I have come down with a cold. So hopefully that won't take me out of any fun. I currently have a sore throat and the fun that comes with that. I am currently on Musinex which seems to help with the cough but we'll see.

       Also, this road trip is also going to be the start of my quitting of cigarrettes. Today is the last day for them and then I start on the path on the 12th.  One thing that will help is Sam being a non-smoker along with Brad and Craig. Rob smokes occasionally and Spencer is a smoker, but those four are not with Sam, John and I until the 19th or 20th.

        

        Currently we are driving through Butte. Not much to say other than they have a gian "M" lit up on their hillside. We were delayed in Bozeman to grab some items from Walmart. We have a the Gus Bus filled up with stuff that we were going to put in storage but Brad and Craig forgot to tell us where the storage unit is and the pin. So we have a lot less room in the gus bus for the next 10 days but we'll work with it.