Halley Park

I am just not very good at geocaching! This cache is on the way home a block from the house. I parked, ran across a busy street and started looking. I swear that per my GPS I was standing on top of it but couldn't find it. I know from the website that it's a very small cache, just a piece of paper. I opened several water shut offs and an electrical box and didn't find anything.

Peony from my yard

I can't take any credit for these flowers. They are courtesy of a previous owner. They have a beautiful aroma also. And lots of ants

Art Alley

Just tried and failed at my first attempt at geocaching. There are a lot of caches near my office and I thought I'd start with the closest which is in Art Alley. I'm sure you can figure out from the photo how it got it's name. I think I would have had a better chance if I'd been wearing jeans instead of light tan dress slacks. In the future I will confine my downtown geocaching to casual days.

Daily Life in the Grand Tetons

Life at the Coulter Bay RV park for employees was simple and fun. I would get up at 6:30 am and take Lucy for a walk. A very cold walk. Then go across the street to shower and dress. Back to the RV for makeup and to pack my lunch. You could drive to work at the Lodge but it was much more fun to ride the bus and visit with everyone. We would all clock in and start to work. Carmen and I worked in the warehouse where all the inventory stored. As you can tell from the pictures it was a scarey room! Lots of flammables. The two college girls are folding tshirts which was a never ending job. I wored as a clerk inputting sales orders and logging all merchandise receipts. At lunch we were off to the cafeteria which had probably the dirtiest floor in the world. In the 5 months I lived there it was NEVER mopped. I usually brought a lunch but would often get Irene, the paymaster and everyone's favorite person, to sneak me a lunch or a piece of pie. After we ate Irene would round up me and Sandra and we would walk until time to go back to work. At 5 we headed out to the bus for a ride home. Then I would walk Lucy to Coulter Bay and back, approximately 1 mile. Sometimes we walked further depending on what was planned for the evening. Once the weather was warm enough we kayaked at least once a week on the Snake River. We had potlucks once a month. Sometimes we hiked or went into Jackson. And on Friday nights we played Mexican Train and drank lots of Corona with lime. Sandra and I eventually got thrown out of the game for having too much fun!

Michelle

From: Michelle

Date: Jun 21, 2009 8:14 AM

Subject: Hi from Joyce

To: Joyce

Hi!Yes I am back got here 10 April for pre receiving, then started driving on the 4th of May. We have been reduced to only 5 driver's. Congratulations to your brother. My daughter is the assist-manager at the marine 2nd year and has worked in HR this winter and hoping to work full time for the lodge.Mom is doing good, she is still going through anxiety attacks at times. How is your Mother? We have had so much rain, and still colod that still haven't gotten the water yet. I'm in Rock Springs this weekend for an all school clsass reunion. Am heading back to GTLC this afternoon. Well will talk later, still verizon cell. What is you number? Take care. Would love to see you.

Michelle

From: Joyce

Subject: Hi from Joyce

To: Michelle

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 12:15 AM

Just wanted to say Hi! Guess> you are back in the Tetons by now. Wish I was too but retirement is only a couple of years off? How's your daughter, your mother? My daughter will be here in a couple of weeks. My brother is getting married and she is coming for that. Would love to hear from you.

JOyce

Sent from my iPhone

Vore Buffalo Jump

On the way back from Cook Lake, WY I took an impulsive turn in response to a sign that read "Vore Buffalo Jump". And I'm glad I did. The Buffalo Jump is a sinkhole that was used by Indians from the time of Columbus until Lewis & Clark to kill buffalo each fall. The Indians didn't have horses to use for hunting so they would gather in the fall and herd the buffalo into the sinkhole. Then they would climb into the hole (approximately 75' deep in the beginning) and butcher the animals. All skulls found had the top of the head bashed in so they could get the brains which were used for tanning hides. The majority of the bones in the sinkhole are small because the meat had to be in small packets to be carried to the surface. After the Indians got horses they didn't have to kill as many animals at a time and the sinkhole fell into disuse.

Cook Lake, WY

This is my first walk of the 2009 season. When I got to the checkin station I was offered a choice between 5k and 11k. I chose 5k. But ended up walking closer to 6 or 7k because when I got to the turnaround point I was still feeling good so decided instead of taking the same route back, I would lengthen it a little by walking around the lake. Turns out about 3/4's of the way around the trail was closed becaused of a landside. So I had to turn around and go back the way I came. The whole thing took me about 2 hours.

Grand Teton National Park

In 2004 I took a sabbatical, bought a 5th wheel RV and drove to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to work as an $8/hour clerk at the Jackson Lake Lodge. THE Best 5 Momths of My Life!

It was me, Lucy (the dog) and Pumpkin (the cat) when we left Grapevine, TX headed for the Tetons. The animals were great travelers. We spent one rainy, stormy, windy night in an RV park in Kansas. I ended up being sorry that there was cable for the TV because the weather was bad enough but the tornado alerts nearly scared me to death! Our last night was spent in a park in Jackson and I was so excited I could barely sleep. Got up early the next day and headed for the Lodge. Paper work done I headed to my RV spot. It was a great spot, across from the laundry room/showers. The husband of a lady in the laundry backed my 5th wheel into my spot and I settled into my new life.

Presidential Visit

President Obama stopped in Rapid City for an overnight visit on his way to Presidential Park in Lead, SD.

Love is in the air

This was a decent day at work in Rapid City. And I can't say that very often. I think I am in a mellow mood this week because I just had a five day weekend with my daughter, granddaughter and two nephews in town for my brother's wedding June 12th. It was family only. On my brother's side there was his mother, sister (me), two sons, niece (my daughter) and grandniece (my granddaughter). On the bride's side there was her two daughters, one son-in-law, one future son-in-law, two grandchildren, her mother, her sister and her brother-in-law!

The bride and groom aren't kids but know what they are doing this second time around. I love seeing my brother this happy!

Let's start with family

The Eagles said it best "I know my life would look alright if I could see it on the silver screen". I don't know that my life has been interesting enough for the silver screen but maybe I can make some sense of it with a blog.

I was born in Houston, Texas on August 6, 1946, first child of Jessie and Wanda. My only sibling, Curtis, followed 3 and a half years later. We don't have any crazy people in the attic but do have some quirks in the family tree.

• My father's brother Travis and my mother's sister Bea married


• Another of my mother's sisters Jo married Fred. Fred's sister was the ex-wife of Travis


• Another sister Babe married Bob. Both Babe and Bob had the same Uncle Red and Aunt Stella. Red was Babe's father's brother. Stella was Bob's father's sister


• My father's sister Sarah was married to Cliff. My father's brother Eugene was married to Dorothy. Cliff and Dorothy were cousins
  

I grew up in Houston in a small community with relatives nearby and in school with me. My cousin Micki was a year younger than me and was my mother's sister's daughter. My cousins Butch and Doris were a year older and a year younger and were my dad's brother's children. Butch and Doris had relatives from their mother's side of the family in high school with us.