Wednesday, June 23, 2010

:)

So, I just realized that you all have been leaving comments on my blog. I’m sorry for not responding to them. I’ll do that as soon as possible. The internet is best at the crack of dawn, so I’ll get up tomorrow and do that. Unless, of course, I inadvertently turn off my alarm again tomorrow morning and sleep in like I did this morning. I’m proud (actually I’m not at all) to say that I got up and got to work today in 6 minutes! I woke up at 7:57 and clocked in at 8:03. That won’t be happening again. But, I’ll blame my sleepiness on the tiring day I had yesterday.

I went white water rafting on the Snake River yesterday afternoon near Jackson, Wyoming! It was a great trip. We traveled 8 miles (took about 1.5 hours) and the rapids were class 3 and below so it wasn’t the most challenging ride, but it was still fun. The water was super cold, but I got in for a second anyway. Don’t worry, we all rented wet suits and booties (shoes) so as to not get hypothermia. I rode in a raft with a family from northern Italy and they speak German, Italian, and their native language which I don’t remember the name of. Apparently, only a couple thousand people in the world speak their language. By the way, Jackson is beautiful. It’s a very small town with a western theme and a lot of antlers artistically placed around. It’s situated just south of the Tetons—which are breath taking in their own right. I thought the Absarokas (the mountains at Lake) were incredible, but the Tetons put them to shame. Photo opportunities were sparse so I only got a few pictures of the Tetons from the car window. Jillian and I are spending the weekend in Jackson in two weeks, so I’ll get some more pictures at that time. The evening after rafting, we ate Mexican food at an excellent local restaurant and then headed back to Yellowstone.

Last Monday (June 14th), I and some friends went on a 14 mile hike at a place called Agate Creek. It was a good hike. It was about 6 miles to the top of the grand canyon of Yellowstone and then we climbed down the edge of the canyon and ate dinner at the Yellowstone River. We saw plenty of bison and antelope along the way. At one point on the trail, there was a very young antelope curled up and completely still, except for its flaring nostrils, just 2 feet off the trail. It’s mother was visible half a mile up the hill watching us. On the way back to the trail head, our group of 10 ended up splitting into two groups of 5 because some people wanted to get back earlier while others wanted to take more time on the trail. I was one who didn’t mind either way, so I ended up with the last 5. We were about an hour behind the other group and we decided to relax and watch the sun set over the mountains near the end of the hike. It was such a vivid sunset that it turned the mountains pink! On the drive home, I saw my first Yellowstone fox. There was hardly any daylight left over and he was sprinting across the road. Fortunately, he made it safely because the drivers saw him and all the cars stopped to let him pass

On Saturday evening (6/19), my friend Gretchen invited me to join her in going to see the annual powwow in Cody, WY. The powwow ended up being a sort of competition, but I don’t understand powwows at all, so I can’t say what exactly was going on. Basically, all the Native Americans were decked out in their feathers, bells, head dresses, and bright colors and they danced to live drum/vocal music in the arena. There were quite a few spectators sitting and watching everything. Additionally, there were several tents set up with Native American jewelry and things being sold. I bought a pair of red, beaded, hoop earrings. By the way, on the way to Cody we saw two bears! One was a black bear (even though he was very brown) and the other was a grizzly. According to a park ranger I spoke with yesterday, this is a big year for bears. Usually the grizzly population hangs between 350 and 650 and the park is holding 650 right now. This is reason #48 why I don’t hike alone.

3 comments:

  1. I'm guessing that family spoke Ladin. Cool!! When we would drive up to the are around Cortina (Misurina, my favorite place ever) the signs would have Ladin on them. It's a neat language, looks totally unlike Italian or German. Did they speak English too?

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  2. That's what it was! Thanks Martha. Yes, they spoke a little English but the father knew the most and did pretty much all the talking. His two little girls (who were absolutely adorable) and his wife were fairly quiet.

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  3. How do these rare and exotic European peoples get along so well in the world? You'd think it would be difficult to be so rarefied but it actually seems like they have the easier time of international travel...

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