It all began as friends Jeff & Celia's scheme to gather a bunch of friends for a weekend in a rental house at Chico. The group was to include Don & Andrea, JeffJ & Lori, and Frank & Hwe. Though my deep working class roots rebel at the thought of such profligacy, I was swayed by the thought of such pleasant company. It was a nice group: Jeff works tirelessly for sustainable agriculture, Celia heads the computer science department, Don teaches chemistry, Andrea discovers new cures for cancer, JeffJ does info technology for the local hospital, Lori is a clinical social worker, Frank teaches computer science, and Hwe is the most inquisitive and most traveled person I know.
Better yet (sorry, dear friends), the weekend included an opportunity to ski in nearby Yellowstone Park amid the wolves, buffalo, elk, etc.--something I had never done even though we live so close (I make no excuses for my Buttish provincialism, which is a topic for another blog entry...).
Sadly, Jeff's father died unexpectedly and he & Celia hurried back to Wisconsin for the funeral. We missed them.
The Chico house proved comfortable with its fully equipped kitchen and big gas (?) fireplace. Jeff & Celia's eldest daughter came in from college with three friends. After supper we had a soothing after-supper soak in the hot springs, where one of the friends was cited on a Minor-In-Possession charge after being spotted with alcohol at the pool and sassing the security guard. Later that night the kids partied hard, were a little loud, drank a lot (of the adults' wine), and made trips out to the porch to puke. They were sleeping next morning as we left for the park.
At the park entrance at Gardiner, there were the usual herds of antelope, mule deer, buffalo, and elk. We drove up to Crystal Springs near Mammoth--an awesome site with icicles on the trees...
Water bubbling through the terrace pots...
And mist heavy in the air...
We drove up the Yellowstone and skied the Tower Falls Trail...
The next morning we packed and checked out of Chico, drove into the park again for a soak at the Boiling River site in the Gardiner River, and then headed for home. Here's to good friends, cross country skiing, and living in Montana (and near Yellowstone).
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