A day in the life...

Today, I got to go out with the Archaeology folks and look at a couple of sites. It was pretty darn cold out in Hayden Valley. Somebody said that it was 27 degrees. It was higher than that when we got there, but still not much past 50. When we arrived at the site we were verifying, there was a long line of cars signaling a bison-jam. However, it stopped right at the pull-out we needed to park at so it all worked out for the best.
The site was supposed to be on a hill above the river, about half a kilometer from the road. Now, half a kilometer is usually not that far. Really, it's only about .3105 miles or some such number. However, this is Yellowstone and the distance from A to B is never "as the crow flies." No, this was more like straight up, little dip then up and back down again. The written description we had said that it was supposed to be somewhere near an old telephone line so we were pretty excited to find pole remnants.
Once we determined the approximate location of the site ("we" being everyone but me), John asked if I knew what we were looking for. Nope. We were looking for flakes and points. Ooookaaaay. he asked if I knew what those were. Nope. Apparently, flakes are thin slivers of obsidian (shiny black rock) or chert (red, white or some other color (brown? Kendra, your husband does this for a job, what's the other color, or even better, what's a better definition?) rock that is fairly dense, aka, wouldn't break easily if chipped down to be a weapon or point (example of some flakes to the left. Bonus points if you can actually see the darn things.))
John, by the way, is completely awesome. Just in general. He has the patience of a saint and the greatest funny-bone ever. Just one flaw... he roots for Kentucky. Really, John, really? I've included a picture of John in a bison wallow (or as I would say, "waller"). When bison get itchy or bored or just feel too clean, they tend to flop around in these things and kick up a lot of dust. Apparently these are great places to look for artifacts 'cause the bison have pretty much killed the vegetation.
After Hayden Valley we went out to another site in Swan Lake Flats. That's when the wind kicked up and we didn't know exactly where the site was and Ally was not wearing a very thick jacket so it got a little less fun. But what do I know? I was pretty much just there as bear bait.
All in all, a pretty fun excursion. It was damn cold for most of the trip but I got to get out of the office. And I got to use the facilities in the new Canyon Visitor Center. They are very clean and very nice and there are lots of stalls in the ladies restroom. The last, of course, being the most important thing in a ladies restroom. No line.