YA class History of Yellowstone's Winter Explorers -- Day Two

I had said that I wasn't going on the morning trip but woke up even without my tiny baby golden girl panting in my face and was rewarded with four moose. That's right. Four. Moose. Many much moosen. 
Then it was back to the Buffalo Ranch for morning classes. Found out I knew a lot more about winter explorers than I thought. A short snowshoe (~2 miles) in the afternoon made for a great day.

Yellowstone Association Snowshoeing the history of Yellowstone

View from my cabin

On a lunchtime run

Running pays off!

It was a little cold out. I was pretty much like this the whole time

Yeah. We totally saw four moose.

YA class History of Yellowstone's Winter Explorers -- Day One

Lots of interesting things to learn on the first day of Yellowstone's Winter Explorers. Jim Garry is a fantastic speaker and has such great stories, it's fun to have a class where I can learn a bit more about the park's history. I learned why Lamar is part of the winter range (less than two feet of accumulated snow so mamas and calves can still get to food.)
Also got to go for a awesome 20 minute run in Lamar Valley. The snow pole guides are perfect for sprint makers and I got to dance and sing and sprint to my heart's content with no one around to see or hear. Though having "Kokomo" playing while running with snow is a bit odd. And -- I found 60 cents! Who says running doesn't pay?
After class in the afternoon, we went out animal watching. At first, we only saw two ravens, which was pretty cool watching them hang out and start their mating dance. But then Rick McIntyre stopped by and said, "follow me" and we got to see some wolves. I saw two of them for about two seconds but they sure counted! That, along with a coyote gaming by the road made for a two dog day.
Also got to do 45 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of meditation. Was pretty awesome. The yoga was hard to get into but I actually felt really great except for the last minute or so. Couldn't believe it!

Family Christmas

Spent the last weekend in Indiana celebrating a belated Christmas. I love my family. It's just all so much fun!

Merry Christmas!

Carol Crawl on the 19th

How we spent Christmas Day

Mel Tillis at Music Ranch

What a gorgeous evening! I had never been to Music Ranch and am regretting the lack. While the music may not have been to my taste and I only knew one song, it was a lovely evening with two great friends and an awesome chance to see some live music.

Some good food

a toast to the evening

View behind us

Me and the band

Groovin'

A day on the river

Today, I got to spend an awesome day on the river paddleboarding with some friends. There were supposed to be nine of us but one person got called away for a fire and one got called out in a Search and Rescue. So seven of us hit the river at noon from Emigrant and quite thoroughly enjoyed the day. We alternated paddling, hanging out on the boards, and falling into the river. The weather prediction was a high of 77 with a 40% chance of rain so we set out with some trepidation. The weather guys were once again wrong since it was beautiful all day, only getting chilly when we hit the last stretch.
The ultimate plan was to paddle right up to the shore of he Yellowstone Valley Grill. It's a swanky place but it's Montana swanky, meaning that they won't turn you away if you turn up in your waders. However, we landed two hours before our reservation, even being super leisurely an stopping for beer at Grey Owl and lounging on the unnamed beach for awhile. So Trudy, Leigh Ann and I headed back onto the river and Heidi and Stefanie did a car drop for us at Mallard's Rest. We ended up getting off the river (which was running a about 3 miles/hr) around 4:20 which gave us time to change, return the boards to Livingston, and get back to the Grill for dinner.
And it was Really, Really good food. Expensive but totally worth it. I got the Chocolate Soufflé as an appetizer (what? I like dessert!) and ordered all of the sides. The kale was okay, the asparagus fabulous, and the whipped potatoes well worth experiencing. I even enjoyed the sweet potatoes side (I keep trying them... They're growing on me).
An all-around fun day!