This isn’t a New Year’s resolution post–there are lots of those.  This is a a realization post.  I’ve tried blogging repeatedly over the past few years, but always a blog with a specific focus.  This blog was specifically supposed to be about our travel.  I’ve realized however, that the title, “Wanderings”, can apply to so many other things–all of the passions and concerns that I have;  things I want to share. With that said, from today forth, this blog is not only about travels, but also about the way my mind wanders–from topic to topic and goal to goal(that’s frightening).  Will there be travel?  Of course.  We are off for Yellowstone again in April and will be staying  until September.  Will there be photography–what’s life with my camera?   It will also,  however, be a place for me to talk about education..I may be retired, but I still am opinionated about that field.  It will be a place for politics, and weather and, of course, handworks.  Whether knitting or bookbinding or whatever other creative impulse strikes me.   So, with that said, may you have the power to spin your own dreams this year.

It’s been “car time” since we left the park….too much time in the car and too  little exploring…but that changed today.

Tuesday night we spent in this wonderful hotel in Three Forks (the Sacagawea–Lewis & Clark is BIG out here)…and we spent almost all day on Wednesday driving across the Rockies (lots of knitting time.)

Tim managed to find us a great hotel at the end of the drive,  however, it was right on the Clearwater River….we had breakfast out on the patio–one of the most pleasant hotel continental breakfasts that I have ever had.  Since then it’s been “Super 8” mode–but they are typically clean and the beds are firm….and the price is right.

Today was Columbia River Gorge day–and all I can say is that the beauty of this country is amazing.  The Cascade Mountains appear to be  younger (and taller) than the Rockies–and there are several beautiful waterfalls within a .5 mile hike of the road.  Here’s just a taste.  Tomorrow we’re off to Mt. St. Helens—it will be a day filled with geology and awe.

Please think twice (or 3or 4 times) before bringing your beloved pet with you to Yellowstone. The Park Service rules prohibit pets on trails, in the backcountry or on boardwalks.  You are also, of course, prohibited from leaving your pet locked in the car.  If you stay in one of the hotel cabins or campgrounds you may not leave your pet unattended.  All of these rules together mean that you pretty much can’t go anywhere in the park with other humans in your party.  Somebody always has to stay with the dog (cat, iguana, whatever).  This means you take the same walk at different times, go to dinner at different times and pretty much never have your entire party together.  This may seem harsh–but it’s all for your pet’s protection.

Hot springs don’t look hot to a dog–and a dog that decides to jump in any one of the hot springs will not survive…and owners can’t rescue their dogs from a hot spring and survive.  (Just read Death In Yellowstone for all the details).  Even the most well-behaved dog will bark or whimper or something when surrounded by a herd of rutting bison in a bison jam….90% of the time the bison won’t react–but the other 10% of the time the bison will take their annoyance out either on your car or a car nearby.  And then, of course, there are the 20 folks by the side of the road enjoying a bear (or a wolf, or an elk) and the SUV pulls up with 2 large barking dogs–and the critter takes off…and, trust me, EVERY dog barks at a bear.

No critters in the hotels or on the bus tours, either.  We actually had a lady try to bring her cat (in her purse) on a bus tour…..human allergies abound–and she had no constraint for the cat.   We also had a small “ragmop-type” dog attacked by a coyote last year–and that dog was on a leash!

So, please, leave your dog (or other critter) at home, in the care of friends, at a great kennel, or at a friends house.  You wouldn’t bring a person to a place where they can’t participate in 90% of the available activities–why do that to your best friend?

I’ve finally figured out that Wordperfect 3.1 didn’t go with the theme I was using–but got things working again today–YEAH!

There’s a song we used to sing in Girl Scouts (a million years ago) that goes “make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold.”  That song has run through my mind on several occasions this week.  The folks we met last year and have returned to the park (a surprising number) have greeted us so warmly that it was sometimes a little overwhelming…but we are both looking forward to a great season.  There are lots of new staff as well and it’s a new adventure as you get to know them.  You are immediately thrust into the fairly intimate situation of  a shared bathroom….which really helps you get to know people.  I also want to introduce Wolfie.  Wolfie is our travel companion this year and you will see him pop up in photos from time to time.  He has also become my facebook avatar.

The park has indeed been both an “old” and “new” friend.  Last year the snow pack was way below normal and when we got here–all the animals had already returned to the park.  This year the snow pack is at 30% above normal–most of the park is still covered in white (there’s 6+ feet at the southern end of the park) and many of the migratory animals are just now moving back into the park.

It’s amazing how fond one can be of bison–even though they still make me very nervous…and the Uniatas ground squirrels just started poking their heads up out of the ground yesterday.  Because the bison are confined to the few grassy areas that are open, you need to be VERY careful where you walk.  Bison pies are HUGE–and they are concentrated in a very limited area.

The bluebirds are back in force–but never more than that quick flash of blue as you drive the road.
The wolves have been a little hard to find—we’ve seen 4 so far, but 3 of them were at quite a distance.

The coyotes, however, seem to be making up for it.Two days ago I finally got a chance to watch a coyote “mouse” and took an entire series of shots–including this one with 4 feet off the ground.
and today I got quite close (about 15 feet) to a coyote who was finishing off an elk carcass. The wolves are really feasting on the winter kill–you don’t go very far down any trail or road without seeing evidence of predation.

With all of that said–today was a fabulous day for just driving–the sky isn’t North Carolina blue–it’s Montana blue–and it was  a perfect “Big Sky” day.  Tomorrow we’re off to take the “Yellowstone in a Day” tour…..and will post the highlights of that.  I’m committed to posting something at least once a week.  Let me know if there’s something you’d like to know more about  (and I apologize–WP is being very weird with the blog).

As a teacher we were typically subjected to “unannounced observations”…..they were  usually viewed with some trepidation as they were snapshots that lasted only a brief period of time and yet could become a significant portion of our evaluation.

To some degree, I feel like our trip across the country is just like an unannounced observation.  We didn’t plan or read up on where we were going to stop and what we might find of interest there.  As such,  did we really get a view of what America is truly like or is it just as invalid as some of those unannounced observations?

Our first stop was just outside Toledo—I remember looking at Tim and saying “rust belt” as we passed a few shuttered factories; strip malls with empty stores and generally not prosperous looking communities—but how do you define prosperous looking?  By Arlington standards?  By Midwest standards?  Is this glimpse a reflection or an aberration with regard to middle America?

Madison Wisconsin was another story—a university town, with many of the universal aspects of a university town.  The central shopping strip was a little dog-eared and it was hard to tell whether it was on the upswing from down times or falling apart.   The interesting thing, though, was the continual presence of gubernatorial recall signs—and the constant speaker on the steps of the state capital.  Clearly this is a community with many divisive issues ahead of it.  Is this a reflection of what the entire country is facing?

Sioux Falls was not unlike Toledo—but since we stayed much closer to the center of town, you got more of a sense of civic pride.  They have a fabulous art program—where sculptors donate their outdoor sculptures to the city for a year—so there’s an ever-changing streetscape.  How I wish the arts were more important in our governmental budget decisions.

The last few days were spent in the Badlands, Custer State Park, and New Hope, Montana.  New Hope is a tiny town—but is does have three banks!  Again, it appears to be struggling to survive as most of the local businesses appear to make all of their income from a very limited tourist season.

So..what does it say about the state of our country?  I’m not sure

(sorry for the lack of images…WP 3.1.1 and I are not getting along)

Set, go….   Nope, not even “ready” and we’re out of here quite soon.  Folks keep asking me if I’m packed, what route we’re taking, where we’re stopping and, the bottom line is–no and I don’t know.

A lesson learned last year is that we took WAY TOO MUCH STUFF….so this year we’re limiting things a lot….one can get by with just a few pairs of jeans and a t-shirt.  As far as the route is concerned–we will decide from day to day, depending on weather and our mood.

The only thing that is anywhere close to ready are the knitting decisions–what projects will I take? what will hibernate while I’m gone? and, of course, I have to leave room for new purchases along the way.  At some point this summer are we going to visit the Mountain Colors shop in Corvallis–this is probably my favorite yarn manufacturer–I love their colors and the combinations.  I’m currently stitching a Brandywine Shawl out of Mountain Goat–and it’s beautiful.

I’m also looking forward to using my new lens out in the park–it’s a 500mm prime and sharp as a tack–I’ve been testing it out on the lions at the zoo…but I can’t wait for the wolves.  The snow pack in the park is running 128% of normal–so the wolves should be MUCH easier to see than they were last year.  The wolf situation in the Montana/Wyoming/Idaho area is not good, as the local governments and the eco-organizations struggle to find a compromise that allows the wolves to continue to survive outside the park while not inflicting overwhelming damage to the local cattle industry.  The reality is that wolves, unless stressed, will usually avoid cattle farms–they are too close to humans.  If you’d like to keep up to date on the wolf situation I can recommend the Defenders of Wildlife site.  If you’d just like to know more about the Yellowstone Wolf Project (an amazing, on-going experiment in what happens when you reintroduce a top predator to an ecosystem, please read the Wolf Project reports http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm.

I think we are both surprised by how anxious we are to return to the park.  It almost feels as if we’ve been spinning our wheels since we got home–and that real life will begin again once we hit the road.  Keep in touch, let us know what you want information about, and enjoy the show!

The Christmas season arrived in full force this week.  It started last Friday night as we began our annual cookie baking weekend.  I started by myself, with a very special cookie.  Nutmeg logs were one of my mom’s favorites.  I remember, as an adult, coming home one day when it wasn’t Christmas and mom had made herself a quick batch–just because she felt like having one.   We made these cookies at home every Christmas and, as I roll out the dough, I can feel mom’s hands helping me learn to shape those long tubes of dough and I can hear her voice with her suggestions as to how to get it right.  And, when I got tired or frustrated she was there to finish the job, with absolutely no admonition that I needed to finish.  Mom always had your back.  She also always let us go a little crazy with the decorations, but also always managed to get a few decorated with just nutmeg (which is what the recipe called for–mostly for her to nibble on).

Somehow, this tradition of cookie baking we do in mom’s honor.  She always baked for the neighbors at Christmas time.  Her pecan rolls were famous;  I don’t know what the priests up at the rectory would have done without their infusion of pecan rolls.  Something has to get you through midnight mass (of course, back then, it really started at midnight).  I’m not sure what mom would think of the number of cookies we bake.  This year the number was down a little bit.  We  (David, Michael & I, with Tim and Brandy as quality control agents)  baked just under 1,000  cookies of 18 different types.  I know that mom would probably shake her head and then would offer to help.  Mom’s been gone for 12  years now; but I know she never really left.  I see her in my boys and in the things we do that keep her memory alive.  There’s a new cranberry cookie in the mix this year.  Mom loved anything cranberry.

I know that we are also making new memories for ourselves.  Our trials and tribulations with finding a good mouse cookie may finally have been solved this year.  Mice are a challenge in many ways;  a big one is the temptation of boys (and men) who get tired of making normal mice and decide to create 3-headed mice; tattered mice or other mutant mice.  We didn’t run into that this year–but one mouse was turned into a hedgehog as a small gift for a friend of one of the boys.  Our mice tales (and tails) will live in infamy, at least in our memories  (It’s a little frightening to think that we all devote valuable brain space to mouse cookies).

May your holidays be full of warm memories and traditions, both old and new, that will carry you safely into the new year.

Karen

The fall is definitely the season of the elk.  They are everywhere.  Unfortunately, every time I say “season of the elk” to myself the very old Donovan song “Season of the Witch” comes to mind–and I end up rewriting the lyrics with elk words….very strange.  It could be worse, however, we were in the car the other day, drove past a spot were there were no elk, and both Michael and I said “no elk” together.  5 minutes later Michael is humming a Christmas tune–when I asked him about it–he said it was “No-Elk, no-elk, no-elk, no-elk”–Ouch!  Clearly the elk in this picture felt the same way.

It was highly appropriate that I spent my last shooting trip in the park with elk;  we had the same experience last year…elk, cows, calves, bugles, flirting, rejection, disgusting gestures–watching the elk is like reading a cheap romance novel.  Big bad guys, big good guys, damsels trying to escape, and big guys trying to have their way with them.  These two cows were reacting to a far-off bugle rather than paying attention to the bull right next to them.  (or maybe they were just perusing the bank of photographers, all with huge lenses, that were checking them out)…maybe for an issue of PlayElk?

With all that said, it’s with a very hollow feeling that I leave the park.  I have so many unposted blog posts and so many thoughts going through my head. I think that, even though we are no longer in the park, park-inspired postings will continue for a while.   For my ed friends, I do know that I am now more convinced than ever that DSRP is critical to student thinking–especially the systems part–and we need to do everything we can to ensure that ever student understand how all life is interconnected.  Let me know if you want to here more.

So, as we continue this adventure, we’re off to Arches National Park, then to the Rockies, then home, I’d like to leave you with on thought.

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.-Miriam Beard.

Oh it snowed last night, snowed last night
The skybears had a pillow fight
They tore up every cloud in sight
and tossed down all the feathers white.
Oh it snowed last night, snowed last night

…at least up another 500 feet, but fall is all around us. This bull elk with antlers that are no longer covered in velvet means that the wonderful sounds of elk bugling are not too far off…..and with a little luck we’ll get to see a couple of bulls challenge each other for dominance in the herd.
Fall is definitely here. (and for all you East Coasters, the low tonight is forecast at 27, with a high tomorrow of 55)