Our RV Adventures

Jan’s still up at Brandi’s in Katy, Landon-sitting, Jack-sitting, Baxter-sitting, and probably lounging around the pool, too.

I’ll meet up with them on Thursday and get her back. Until then, it’s just me and Karma.

Another in our Where We Were 7 Years Ago Today series.

June 22, 2013

Yellowstone & Supermoon, Almost . . .

We left the rig at Yellowstone Valley Inn & RV Park about 9am, heading for the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone National Park, but this time I got to sightsee a little more since I wasn’t driving the rig this time.

And it was a lot of really spectacular views.

Our road paralleled the Shoshone River for a good while, with a lot of whitewater and kayakers enjoying the water.

And as we got closer to the park, we started our climb up the highest point on our trip, Sylvan Pass at 8530 feet.

We were surprised to see how much snow was still around up there.

We knew we were getting close when we took the curve and looked out on Yellowstone Lake. When we left the rig it was bright and sunny, but as we got deeper into the park the overcast rolled in and stay with us most of the rest of the day.

A few miles before the Fishing Bridge we had our first animal sighting, this female elk out in a field. There was a small herd of more off in the trees.

Getting to the Old Faithful area about 11:30, we got parked and headed over to the Old Faithful Inn for lunch. I remember eating here with my family in 1964 when we did a two month trip out west.

We both had the lunch buffet with such items as Sautéed Trout, Wild Rice, Chipotle BBQ Chicken, and our favorite, the Bison Chili.

BTW When did buffalo become bison. We don’t sing “where the bison roam”. We don’t read about “Bison Bill Cody, and Nick Russell’s contribution, we don’t sing “Bison gals won’t you come out tonight”

So who decided we needed a new name for buffalo, and why wasn’t I consulted?

Finishing up lunch, we walked over to the Old Faithful Geyser to wait for the next eruption.

Luckily for us we only had to wait about 20 minutes, since the sun had disappeared in the clouds and the wind had picked, making it pretty chilly.

After watching the Big Blow, we made the obligatory visits to a couple of gift shops before getting back on the road and heading north on the Grand Loop Road.

Passing Madison Junction, the west entrance to the park, we headed over to Norris, and then Canyon Junction. Along the way, we came across this gray wolf running across the field.

And this pair of swans.

Next was this group of adult buffalos and a couple of calves.

And a little later, this big guy was just glaring at the traffic going by.

Coming on around the Grand Loop we came back to our turn at the Fishing Bridge, and after making a pit stop at the General Store there, we headed home.

Just as we were leaving the Yellowstone Lake area, we once again came across this one-lane stoplight system.

It’s there because of this washed-out section of roadway. The only problem is that this same section was washed out two years ago, and protected by the same automated stoplight system.

So either this section of pavement washes out regularly, or they just haven’t gotten around to fixing it yet.

Personally I think it’s the second reason.

We finally got back to the rig about 5:45pm and settled in. Since we had a big lunch, I made coffee and then we popped some Orville Redenbacher’s Kettle Corn.

All in all, a very nice day.

I thought tomorrow night was supposed to be the SuperMoon, but this one will do in a pinch.

Thought for the Day:

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” – Steve Jobs

First off, Happy Father’s Day to all  the fathers out there.

My father had several different careers during his life, starting as 22+ year Police Detective, 4 times decorated for Valor, twice under fire. He was also the state’s police pistol champion for 5 years in a row, until he was asked to stop competing to give someone else a chance.

During WWII he was in the Navy Shore Patrol. Though he tried repeatedly to get a shipboard assignment, he spent the war guarding the Navy Pier in Chicago. He always said that he figured he did his part since ‘No Japs (is that racist now?) ever got past Chicago.”

He was a private pilot, a large motel owner, owned a fleet of shrimp boats in Alabama and South America, and worked for Boeing in Huntsville doing computer support on the Apollo Project. 

And yes, that’s me in the winter of 1950.

Jan’s father was in the Army during WWII and landed at Normandy on D-Day, though Jan and her mother didn’t find out about this until he died in 1993. He told everyone he spent the war working in a hanger.

After the war, he went back to college to get a teaching degree, and then reenlisted, this time in the Air Force where he retired as a Senior Master Sergeant in 1967.

As far as our weekend up in Katy at our daughter Brandi’s, we spent most of Saturday in the pool, only interrupted by a passing thunderstorm.

You can see the storm coming in below.

So everyone gathered under the pavilion to wait it out, assisted by various alcoholic beverages.

Even Jack the dog joins in. In fact Jack loves swimming so much he will often jump in the pool for a couple of laps when he’s in the backyard by himself.

Hope everyone had as great a weekend as we did.

Another in our Where We Were 10 Years Ago Today series.

June 21, 2010

Here comes the Bride…

Well, today was the big day!

Our daughter Brandi Leigh White has officially become Brandi White Morrison.

Except for running about 15 minutes late, everything came off perfectly.

The wedding took place in the Chapel Dulcinea, overlooking the Texas Hill County near Austin.

And the view was spectacular.

There were over 40 family and friends in attendance, including a lot of Lowell’s family who came in from Oklahoma, where he’s from.

And here’s the happy couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Morrison.

As soon as the wedding was over, everyone headed down the road about 5 miles to The Salt Lick BBQ Restaurant for a great meal of Brisket, Ribs, Sausage, and Chicken, complete with all the trimmin’s

And of course, a beautiful wedding cake, too.

And, yes, the bride statuette means just what you think it does.

Everyone had a great time getting to know all the new family members.

Here our granddaughter Piper (in the middle) has a toast with her new cousins, Sabey and Grace, who are Lowell’s nieces.

Finally, about 9:30 pm, everyone said their goodbyes and started home.

I’ll post more pics and info in the next few days.

Thought For The Day:

I got kicked out of ballet class because I pulled a groin muscle. It wasn’t mine. – Rita Rudner