There!

There is a pizza hut in Cody, Wy where they have wifi. Thank god for small miracles. This is where I can buy groceries and do stuff of that nature and it's only 56 miles away from Yellowstone! Whoohoo! Yeah, I have to get gas every time I come into town, crazy.

but anyway... I have the story here for your enjoyment:
Thursday, September 4, 2008 23:34 MST

I have just gotten out of the bath and it felt fine. I washed my feet first since they were quite dirty after two days of constant travel. And oh boy did the hot water feel good! It’s always nice to soak in a bath, even more so when you’ve been on the road for two days.

I have an apartment all to myself. I have a neighbor named Genevieve, love the name. There is also an LE ranger upstairs to me and more LE just up the road. I live really close the east entrance and so it’ll be a short walk to work everyday. When you come in through the east entrance you hook the first right and there is a road. It says no entry but then, it’s supposed to be a private road. There is a set of apartments and then further down the lane is another one, I live in the second one. My apartment is off to the side, just down the slope from the driveway. Mine is the first door and Gen is the second.

I got most of my stuff into the apartment tonight but there are a few things I left in the trunk, I’ll get them out in the morning, though I intend on sleeping myself out. Cooper is confused and she is being skittish and shy. I am sorry. Mom said that she will be happy to come home when we leave here and I think she is right. I have her pillow and her toy but I don’t think coops thinks it’s the same thing. For one she doesn’t recognize any of the scents. She is sitting in the dark on my Mexican blanket staring at the wall. I think she is in shock and not quite sure what is going on. I am sure she will adjust. I think she’s gonna miss Mom but had she stayed in Sac, I know she would have been pining for me almost as much as I’d be missing her.

So, as to my trip I left Sac about two PST (or around there) and drove straight on through Nevada. At one point I stopped to get some gas in Mill City (edit the right name later). It was one of those trucker stops and I was highly amused to see a casino inside. I was going to ignore it then I saw the nickel slots. Whoohoo! I decided to blow five bucks. I figured it’d take me about 5 minutes to go through it.

It didn’t. I’d win 5 credits here, 10 there, an occasional 20. Oye, how and I supposed to leave if I keep getting this? I had more fun looking for older coins than I did plunking in the nickels. I have several 1964 nickels. Not even paying attention, I drop in a nickel (yes I was doing it one at a time) and next thing I know I won 800 credits. Whoohoo! So I left having made $35 bucks. I was excited. I had used a 5 dollar bill I didn’t even know I had had in the car so it was really cool all around. I had dinner which I couldn’t finish. Cooper did however and she was starving.

At this point I was tired but eh, I could go further on. So we drove and drove and drove. I kept looking at signs for hotels thinking should I? Should I stop now? But I was fine, at least I felt fine, so I continued to drive. Until I hit absolute zero. Cooper and I stopped at a rest stop in Beowaw (edit correct spelling) in Nevada. I went pee but Coops abstained. So about midnight we settled down to sleep. I had even taken off her harness.

I had set the iPod to play for 15 minutes and I must have fallen off to sleep in that fifteen minutes because it had stopped and Cooper was growling lowly. She was being a good guard dog. There were a few men who had pulled up one slot over from me and they were standing outside talking loudly. Cooper began to make noise when she thought they were getting too close to the car. I would like to make a note here, had I not had my Coops, I would have hit a hotel. But I had a locked door, pepper spray and a dog. I was ready.

And I remember at one point I shot up out of a mostly sound sleep when a truck moved past the car. It sounded like the side of the highway they rib so your car shudders and makes that horrible noise to wake you up. My first thought was I had fallen asleep while driving. Then I remembered where I was and then I tried to get some sleep. As I was unable to scoot or lean the seat back, it was not very comfortable. Had I known how uncomfortable, I would have stayed in a hotel. I didn’t sleep very well.

I had set the alarm for 7 AM PST. I was awake and gone by 6:30. I stopped at a gas station that had a burger king and I got two chicken biscuits. Cooper and I shared it. Mostly the chicken though she did have some the buiscy feet first since they were quite dirty after two days of constant travel. And oh boy did the hot water feel good! It’s always nice to soak in a bath, even more so when you’ve been on the road for two days.

I have an apartment all to myself. I have a neighbor named Genevieve, love the name. There is also an LE ranger upstairs to me and more LE just up the road. I live really close the east entrance and so it’ll be a short walk to work everyday. When you come in through the east entrance you hook the first right and there is a road. It says no entry but then, it’s supposed to be a private road. There is a set of apartments and then further down the lane is another one, I live in the second one. My apartment is off to the side, just down the slope from the driveway. Mine is the first door and Gen is the second.

I got most of my stuff into the apartment tonight but there are a few things I left in the trunk, I’ll get them out in the morning, though I intend on sleeping myself out. Cooper is confused and she is being skittish and shy. I am sorry. Mom said that she will be happy to come home when we leave here and I think she is right. I have her pillow and her toy but I don’t think coops thinks it’s the same thing. For one she doesn’t recognize any of the scents. She is sitting in the dark on my Mexican blanket staring at the wall. I think she is in shock and not quite sure what is going on. I am sure she will adjust. I think she’s gonna miss Mom but had she stayed in Sac, I know she would have been pining for me almost as much as I’d be missing her.

So, as to my trip I left Sac about two PST (or around there) and drove straight on through Nevada. At one point I stopped to get some gas in Mill City (edit the right name later). It was one of those trucker stops and I was highly amused to see a casino inside. I was going to ignore it then I saw the nickel slots. Whoohoo! I decided to blow five bucks. I figured it’d take me about 5 minutes to go through it.

It didn’t. I’d win 5 credits here, 10 there, an occasional 20. Oye, how and I supposed to leave if I keep getting this? I had more fun looking for older coins than I did plunking in the nickels. I have several 1964 nickels. Not even paying attention, I drop in a nickel (yes I was doing it one at a time) and next thing I know I won 800 credits. Whoohoo! So I left having made $35 bucks. I was excited. I had used a 5 dollar bill I didn’t even know I had had in the car so it was really cool all around. I had dinner which I couldn’t finish. Cooper did however and she was starving.

At this point I was tired but eh, I could go further on. So we drove and drove and drove. I kept looking at signs for hotels thinking should I? Should I stop now? But I was fine, at least I felt fine, so I continued to drive. Until I hit absolute zero. Cooper and I stopped at a rest stop in Beowaw (edit correct spelling) in Nevada. I went pee but Coops abstained. So about midnight we settled down to sleep. I had even taken off her harness.

I had set the iPod to play for 15 minutes and I must have fallen off to sleep in that fifteen minutes because it had stopped and Cooper was growling lowly. She was being a good guard dog. There were a few men who had pulled up one slot over from me and they were standing outside talking loudly. Cooper began to make noise when she thought they were getting too close to the car. I would like to make a note here, had I not had my Coops, I would have hit a hotel. But I had a locked door, pepper spray and a dog. I was ready.

And I remember at one point I shot up out of a mostly sound sleep when a truck moved past the car. It sounded like the side of the highway they rib so your car shudders and makes that horrible noise to wake you up. My first thought was I had fallen asleep while driving. Then I remembered where I was and then I tried to get some sleep. As I was unable to scoot or lean the seat back, it was not very comfortable. Had I known how uncomfortable, I would have stayed in a hotel. I didn’t sleep very well.

I had set the alarm for 7 AM PST. I was awake and gone by 6:30. I stopped at a gas station that had a burger king and I got two chicken biscuits. Cooper and I shared it. Mostly the chicken though she did have some the biscuits and then we were on the road. We hit Salt Lake City about lunch time. I had planned on heading north at Wells but it was odd so I decided to go for the safer route. We had Carl’s Jr. for lunch. I think I was hungrier than she was but she did like our sandwich (#16 no ranch)-yes, I share my food with her. But now that we are in our temporary home she has a bowl of her real food.

I had originally planned on stopping for the night in Pocatello ID. I was tired and I could get to bed early and then get a really early start and get into Yellowstone during the day. But when I hit Pocatellow, Idaho Falls wasn’t that far off. So I figured I’d stop there. I was told that Idaho Falls was only about an hour and a half from the west entrance of Yellowstone. It was slightly more than that. But I figured I could do that. And I thought I’d be able to get to the east entrance before the sun went down.

That was interesting. Unlike Yosemite, the roads are not as clearly marked as I would like so I had to stop, pull over, check the map and my surroundings to make sure I was on the right road. I looked at the map and realized I needed to go to West Thumb. Ok. So I saw a sign that said West Thumb, this way. So I went that way. But I am still paranoid so I had to check the map yet again. Finally I get to a sign that says East Enrance 28 miles. I figure, oh thank God, I should be there in about half hour 45 minutes. Yeah, right. Not when you have to go 25 MPH just to be safe. Did I mention by this time the only light was the light from my headlights? Although I did figure, at one point, I had to be going east because the lighter color sky was in my rearview window. I was right.

And just when I thought I’d never get there, I saw a sign that said, East Entrance. Oh thank god. I found the first set of apartments and Dennis (more about who he is later) showed me where I was living, helped me bring in some stuff, lent me his flashlight then went home to go to bed.

I am going to go and get the sticker for my car tomorrow and, since I have no food (only diet coke) I need to ask him where I can buy groceries.

One thing I noticed is that the gas in Idaho is expensive. More even than at home! And the gas in Wyoming? Even worse (at least from what I saw of it). Hopefully the town where I will be doing my shopping isn’t going to be charging me 4.15 for a gallon of gas. At prices like that, there is no way I’m going to be able to actually enjoy this marvelous place!

Anyway, it is 20 past midnight and I am tired, not a little hungry and my lips are severely chapped. I will have pictures to add once the batteries charge. Yeah, bed time.

Edit: We stopped at the Bonneville rest stop and cooper had fun running around on the salt. She was thirsty and at one point she tried to drink some of the water. Then she tried to spat it back out. A minute later she tried to drink it again. And she spat it right back out. I gave her some water when we got back into the car.

Oh, and on our way in we saw bison and moose. Exciting. I didn’t stop to take pictures though, I didn’t want to make any stops until I got here.

Edit: I had forgotten when I was in Idado a truck with what appeared to be O2 tanks in the back pulled up behind me, saw that I was from CA, moved into the passing lane and the old man (well, daddy’s age maybe) smiled and waved. I waved back. Ok. Either they’re really friendly in ID or they just thought it was cool I was from CA or they’re just a couple of Ychromosomes who saw a girl in a car from CA.

And this from today:

Friday, September 5, 2008 9:34 MST

Woke up when the phone rang for Gen about 7 this morning. Groan. I tried to go back to sleep but I have so many things to do. Took Coops out to go pee and she seemed really excited to be out in wilderness. Then we came back in, I put a few things away then I tried to go back to sleep. But there are so many things to do and I am so tired.

We just came back from a very short walk to get some pictures. We went across the road and I got a cramp in my leg, sonofabitch but those things hurt. So we just sat looking at a river and enjoyed the view. When my leg started to cooperate again Cooper and I came back, she peed again and now I am waiting for the pictures to upload. I think I am going to try and get some more sleep before I head up to the visitor’s center and talk to Dennis.

I have to admit though, as tired as I am, I am sure glad I decided to drive on through the night to get here. It was nice waking up in my own bed! At least for the time being. But still, it’s all mine! Ah, if only I had someone to share that bed with, it’s a full and it’s much larger than I am used to.

I read the housing information today and had I been living in a dorm or with a roommate I would not have been able to have her. But, because I have an apartment and I am flying solo I can have up to two pets. So if I suddenly adopt another dog (not something I am planning on doing) then I am still ok. But they have to be up on their shots for just about everything. I think she’s all up to date since she got everything in 2007, including parvo.

I think she likes it here and if I weren’t so tired and still in my jammies (yes, walking around in my jammies, we’d still be out there. Plenty of time to run amuck in the great outdoors.

11:18

Just finished loading pictures and making comments. Gen came over and we had a nice chat about stuff. I am still tired. I need to get over to the service station, talk to Dennis and head to Cody, Wy where I can buy gas and groceries. I have been told it only takes about an hour to get there and that it is a speed trap. I need to get the rest of the stuff from my car though.

Coops loves Gen so she must be a good person. :D


Not calculating 2 gas receipts, I spent $131.79 coming out here. Some of that was in cash. I think I started out with $120 in cash and right now I have $110. Nice, having won that $40 huh? That paid for 2 meals for coops and me. Now I need to get the rest of the stuff out of the car and make a list of things I need to buy. Groceries are important.

Have I mentioned that it’s cold? Hehe, quite chilly in fact.

13:56 MST

Just got my work keys, my schedule for this week and two badges (badges? We don’t need no stinking badges). I am probably going to be heading up to mammoth (where I was supposed to be working) to pick up my uniform, get my picture taken and do paper work. Hopefully Gen will have had her background check completed. Dennis (my boss) doesn’t want to send us up alone but wants to do it in go. And when we go, whoohoo! Government rig baby!

Here is my mailing address:
1 North Fork Highway
Cody, WY 82414

The phone to the entrance station:
1-307-587-2682

My number at home (which is shared by Gen and a third seasonal)
1-307-587-9875

I can’t call out unless I have a calling card, I am further in the park or in Cody, which is the closest town so please call me! I miss you and love you all.

So make sure and keep in touch. That phone is a party line so don't be surprised if someone answers it, just make sure to ask for me. Oh, now you want some pictures, doncha?? :D