We Love Bridge Bay Campground!!!

We have been here for almost a week now and what a week it has been!  We’ve had rain, snow, hail, sleet and sunshine.  Sometimes all in the same day!  The campground is at 7735 ft plus and when the weather gets loud, it gets VERY loud!

I am a Campground Attendant and as such I clean bathrooms, get firewood from the woodshed ( so far only 10 – 20 boxes at a time and we all work together at it, passing fire brigade style.  Soon we will get 100 boxes at a time!  Off-Da!) pick up branches, dig out campsites,(yes, there is still a lot of snow.  Two loops are not open yet because of it.) and do maintenance.  We also deliver messages for the guests and sometimes deliver mail to them also.  I am enjoying it immensely!  I can hardly believe   how much!  I am the only woman with all the guys, hence, when we go in the truck I sit in the middle because my legs are the shortest!

We have had two bears in the campground this week.  I saw one, a big grizzly who stayed in the meadow where later on in the summer tent campers will be.  The other was in the C loop which has campers in tents and hard sided RV’s.  He was a younger fella and the rangers got him to head for the hills with their air horns.

Meanwhile, Rick has been doing training every day for his job as a Guest Service Agent.  When he comes home his eyes are glassy and his head is going in circles!  I am soooo glad I am NOT going to do his job!  He is almost finished with the training and will begin his on the job training on Wed.  All the other GSA’s are very encouraging and are quick to tell him that it will go better when he is actually doing the job.

Today we went on a Photo Safari.  One of the perks of our jobs is that when there are spaces available we can fill them.  So we could go for free!  The weather was really poor, cloudy, grey and raining off and on.  Our guide usually finds great spots for bears (they were all hiding today) and other critters.  Today was the exception  and the sun wouldn’t even show it’s face for us to get the rainbow at the Lower Falls.  Still, it was a good trip.  We had fun and I learned more about my camera from our guide.  He is a professional photographer who started working at the park 23 years ago as a waiter.  He had his degree, but it didn’t satisfy his need to be creative.  After several years of doing lots of different things at the park he was approached about doing photography tours, hence the Photo Safari’s came to be.  He was excellent.  We hope to go again another day.

I am going to attempt to post a few pictures from today and from last week.  We hope you enjoy them!

Our “home” for the next 3 months!

This is just inside the park on the East Entrance.

Elk

Here I am.  All ready for work.

Yellowstone LakeThe ice is still working it’s way off the lake.

The Upper Falls in Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon.

The bears taken through a spotting telescope.  We were a long ways away!

Pancake ice in one of Yellowstone Lake.  Did I mention that it was cold here?

Rolling on Down the Highway at Last!

Finally, we are on the road to Yellowstone.  We have had a series of adventures in automotive repair!  First we were stranded on a busy interstate with the Jeep!  Just picture it… after 10 at night, pitch dark with cars zipping past, and we are just off the road in a car that has, without warning, stopped!  Now what???  Who do we know that can help us.  We are about 40 min from our motor home.  Light bulb!  Brother-in-law, Paul becomes our Angel and rescues us, returning us to the motor home so that we can go back and hook up to the Jeep. 

We tow it to our daughters where our son helps by towing it to a mechanic who diagnosis the problem as a bad coil.  A few days later ( Memorial Day weekend got in the way) we have our Jeep back and another day later we are stranded again!  Evidently there was more than a coil problem.  This time it is found to also have a bad fuel pump.  What a pit.  We were supposed to leave this morning for Moorhead to have a visit with another son and his family before heading to points further West.

Well, now it is 10:30 PM and we are about half-way to Moorhead.  The plan is now to have an early breakfast with the family and hopefully make it to Rapid City, SD before night fall tomorrow. 

Ah, adventures!  Life would be so dull without a few challenges along the way!

A NEW ADVENTURE AWAITS!!!!!

We are preparing to begin our new adventure!  In just a few short days we will head West to work at…..can you guess?…..do you feel the anticipation?…….Yellowstone National Park!  Just think, a whole summer in a fantastic park!  The hiking, the biking, the wildlife and ….the campground!

Bridge Bay Campground to be precise!  While Rick is taking your reservation, guiding you to your campsite and giving directions to the features you want to fill your day with, I will make sure your bathrooms are clean, the showers are ready to go, the firewood is ready for purchase and the campground is spiffy!

We don’t have our campsite number yet, but if you are in the neighborhood, look us up!  We are anticipating a wonderful summer in the mountains and valleys of Yellowstone NP!

Just one of the locals hanging about!

Lots of Changes!

There have been a lot of changes since my last post.  

These are two of them!  On the right is Janessa Annalise Wallin, born to Jonny and Jody on Dec. 20 ,2011.  She joins her big sister, Jadelyn.  Next, born on Dec. 30 is Charlotte Rose Wallin, born to Jeremy and Danielle.  These two delightful little girls are so much fun!  They have just turned three months and their personalties are starting to really show!  They both love to coo and smile and are a real joy to everyone.

 Janessa is 10 days old and Charlotte is about 1 hour old.

 This is Charlotte Rose with the dark hair and brown eyes.

 I got to give Charlotte her first bath in the hospital!

 This little one is Janessa Annalise.  She is a couple of weeks old here.

 In these two pictures Janessa is about 36 hours old.  They didn't load in order.

 Charlotte is a couple of weeks old here in her pink dress and socks.

 And this is Janessa at three months.
 I couldn't resist getting Jade into the pictures too.  She is two years old and is BUSY!

 Janessa is such a sweetheart at three months old.

Charlotte is trying out her angel wings!!!  Grandma loves to take pictures!

I will try to update some of the other grandkids as well, later.

In the words of Christopher Robin and Pooh...TTFN!

New Baby Boy! Micah Edwin Kibwaa!

I have yet to share our newest addition to the family!  How could I be so lax!  He is already a month old and has gained a lot of weight!  At one month he is 14 pounds!  Very healthy young man!
Micah Edwin Kibwaa was born on July 9, 2010, joining his sisters and brother.  He is greatly admired by all and we love to cuddle him!

I am going to try to add pictures from his birth-day and from his one month photo shoot which took place today.  He wasn't very pleased to pose and so we will have to try again in a day or so.  Some days it just doesn't work out.
Ok, I got this messed up somehow and the pictures are all over the place!  The last three were taken today.  I need to post more often so that I do a better job!

Northern Minnesota is a great place to be in the summertime! The mosquito's are rampant, the weather is great and the Roseau County fair has just completed it's four day run! The fair was a lot more fun this year as two of our granddaughters had projects displayed ( 4-H Cloverbuds ) and our daughter won a Grand Champion, an Award of Merit and a Blue ribbon with a decorated cake! Woo Hoo! Great job to all of you! Now I feel compelled to enter some of my photos in the Crow Wing Co Fair in Brainerd! Who knows!!!???

I am going to attempt to upload a picture of the cake. It is wonderful! Wish me luck.

So long.....

It has been forever since we have updated this blog!

We are in Louisiana and making our way to spend Easter with the Salut family near Galveston, TX at an RV resort. We are hoping and praying for better weather than is forecast.
We spent most of the winter -since early November- in Florida. We were at Janet and Shawns for Christmas and back to Rally Park in Tampa for New Years with friends.
Spending 5 weeks in Key West was nice although the weather, for the most part, was not so great.
There was a problem with the motor home which required the roof to be replaced and and so we were either at the Perryman's ( Rick's cousin in DeLand, FL) or in a hotel/park model for a month. Now all is repaired and we have no leaks! Whoopee!
I can hardly wait to get to the grandkids again!