Getting A Charge Out of Yellowstone

While in Montana, all of us took a trip down to Yellowstone for a snowmobile tour through the park and three of us returned to drive out and back on the 53-mile stretch of road open on the north side of the park.  Both adventures are highly recommended.  We saw some great spots in the park and a ton of wildlife including bison, elk, bighorn sheep, wolves, bald eagles, and coyotes.

It was all pretty exhilarating, but a near charge brought about the most heart-pounding moment.  Our group of 12 snowmobiles had stopped for a break along with a number of other snowmobile tour groups.  As we stretched our legs, a herd of bison approached the rest area and began to congregate on the only road out.  The herd included calves.

Our guide, Turtle, decided we'd be the first group out after a large bus on snowmobile tracks edged it's way through to encourage the bison off the road.  We moved by the herd slowly in a twelve sled train.  Then Turtle took a right turn .... going right back through the herd.  I realized we were splitting the herd and had some reservations, but this guy Turtle, he navigates this park everyday and wouldn't be putting his tour group in any real danger.  We progressed in tight formation at a snails pace.  Two thousand pound horned bison are literally 15 feet from us looking everyone of us dead in the eye.  Then two bison start moving at an uncomfortable pace (towards us) and start jumping around.  I immediately begin assessing my options of getting the heck out of there.  Ditch, wooded hill, and bison to the right, slow moving snowmobile train in front of me, herd of bison very close and jumpy to the left.  I held my breathe and tried to keep it together as we passed the remainder of the herd.  We made it through without incident.

Back to Turtle doing this everyday, I thought perhaps I was overreacting and surely this wasn't too out of the ordinary for him.  Then he says "Man, that was pretty intense huh?".  That made the rest of the bison passings much more unsettling despite being far less "intense".  At some point we asked him how fast a bison could run.  He said "about thirty-five miles per hour".  How did he know that?  "That's what our sleds used to be governed at.  We couldn't outrun them."

All kind of buses, vans, and whatever that thing is on
snowmobile tracks doing tours through the park.

Entering Yellowstone

Elk

One of the bison entering the rest area.

The bison blocking our exit.

You think this is close?  Unfortunately I don't
 have a picture of how close we really got.

Old Faithful.  More hmm-inspiring than awe-inspiring.

Grand Prismatic under the steam.

Two coyotes near the center of the picture just in front of the river.

Bald eagle.  One of four we saw on this trip.

Big elk.

North entrance to Yellowstone.

A grey wolf amongst the branches near the center of the picture.  He was
 accompanied by a white wolf which may or may not be in the picture.

Bighorn Sheep on the rock ledge near the center of
the picture just under the tree leaning to the right.

Bighorn sheep on the road at the Yellowstone River

Yellowstone River

Bison on the road.  It's easier then walking through the snow.

Big Sky

While LT went back to Australia to work and pack up the rest of our belongings (not much fun), I joined friends and family in Big Sky, Montana for some skiing (a lot of fun).

Montana made quite the impression for my first visit.  Incredibly scenic and pristine landscapes, very nice people, an air quality slightly better than Shanghai, good food, and great skiing.  Let's keep that last bit between us.

Big Sky claims to be the "Biggest Skiing in America" having more skiable acres than any other resort in America.  Though it may be technically true, this claim is bunk.  Without getting into too many details, let's just say they use the term "skiable" loosely and have boosted their acreage on trails 99.9% of visitors will never see.  But that's my only beef.  It is a great mountain.  There is good terrain for skiers of all levels, the scenery is incredible, the snow was ideal, and there was nobody there.  We may have had to wait for three or four chairs a few times.  It was as though we had the mountain to ourselves for four days of skiing.  Selfishly wanting to preserve this for any future visits, please refrain from spreading the word ... cause it was really, really, really cold!  Yep, so cold!  Nobody in their right mind would ski in weather that cold.  Seriously.  Very cold.

If you do happen to make the visit despite my overtures, beware the Challenger lift.  Though some people may not see it (me), there is a sign at the bottom that says "Experts Only".  This may not please everyone in your skiing party as they aren't kidding.  Every run off this lift is steep and deep.  I think our group of seven outnumbered how many people we saw come off that lift the rest of the four days.

Bozeman, Montana.  Home to the Montana State University Bobcats.

Somehow these two knuckleheads always end up with matching coats.  Uncanny.

Baldy keeping Sammy T. Ciabatta warm.

Sammy T. Ciabatta getting a bit out of hand at dinner.

The old man after the brutal run off Challenger lift.  I didn't know
the resort had asked him to groom the run with that stachecicle.

Matt pretty exhausted after "enjoying" the same run.

The mountain from our lodging.  Pretty convenient.

Taking the Lone Peak Tram to the summit.

At the summit.

Brian, Baldy, and Matt at the summit.  It is "Experts Only" only off the tram as well ....
enticing two in this photo to confirm that you can in fact take the tram round trip.

The bowl below Lone Peak

Three of four days skiing in 4"-6" of dry, fluffy powder.

The old man and I.

Big Sky

We saw a moose!

Home Sweet Home

About a week ago, we moved into our apartment in Shanghai, and so far we are liking it.  The inside is MUCH better than the outside, so perhaps I'll save the building for another post.

We live on the 28th floor.  I thought we were on the 6th.  The bonus is that our view is much better from the 28th floor.

We ended up getting a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath apartment, so there is room for visitors :)



Entry-way

Dining Room



Living Room

Our Kitchen.  I'll do a separate post on the room
off the kitchen.

Office and See-Through Closets

Master Bedroom

Master Bath.  It is beautiful...but the marble tiles in the shower and whatever
stone is on the floor and countertop STAIN with water.  Yes, in a bathroom.

 

We have see-through closets in our Master Bedroom.  I couldn't be trusted
to keep everything neat and tidy, so Jeffie is now the proud tenant of the
see-through closets!

If you know us well, you know that we are not ornate people, and there are some things in the apartment that are a bit over the top (like padded walls with sequins stitched into them), but the apartment was the model apartment, so it has all of the bells and whistles.  And, there are some beautiful finishes.