The Washburn Expedition

Hilary and I had Wednesday and Thursday off this week.  When I told her that it was supposed to rain both days and that it was supposed to freeze at night, she told me she wanted to skip backpacking this time.  Secretly relieved at her resolve to stay in, I told her that if she didn’t want to go, I suppose I wouldn’t mind sitting this one out.

For whatever reason (but probably because of several early morning shifts), Hilary wanted to begin her weekend by sleeping in.  I decided to carpe the diem and fill in for a tired coworker, so I got up early to serve breakfast in the cafeteria.  I don’t know why I like it so much, but I particularly enjoy serving breakfast.  Getting to serve it with my Michigan friends was a bonus and a pleasant surprise.

Afterward, Hilary and I ate lunch, did laundry, and watched The Italian Job (which I thoroughly enjoyed) while it rained outside.

We get to ride on tour buses for free as employees, so we decided to go on "The Washburn Expedition" today, named after the Washburn Expedition.  We rode in the same nifty type of bus we took to get here on day one, making a loop around much of the northern half of Yellowstone.  We saw a bighorn sheep, a distant black bear, several pronghorns, and many bison, along with three waterfalls and many beautiful hills, mountains, and meadows.  Along the way, we visited Mammoth Hot Springs, which make attractive terraces by depositing bits of limestone as the water flows.

In other news:

I have posted photographs from our first hike and from today's bus tour.

Hilary has her “Greetings from Texas” postcard from Erin proudly displayed on her wall.

We have both recently decided that English muffins are one of the best foods on the planet and have been eating them at every meal.

Hilary was yawning as I was writing this entry and apologized for being “so yawny.”

I just bought a wonderful National Geographic topographic map of Yellowstone that has all of the backcountry trails.  I love it and have already spent about an hour studying it.