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June 27, 2009

Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Trip Day 6 - Old Faithful

Filed under: Grand Tetons/Yellowstone — Gary @ 5:32 am

This day the plan was to see the thermal active sites with Old Faithful being the pinnacle.So we had a great breakfast prepared and made to order by our hosts, Tom and Judy, at A River Runs By It Bed and Breakfast lodge. Their home is magnificent. I have mentioned this before but it can’t be stated enough. It is very enjoyable to being staying here.

We got under way and just a few miles into the park we spotted a cow elk laying next to the Madison river.  So we stopped to check her out. She was very close and wasn’t alone. She had the company of a duck and a beaver as well. The duck and beaver seemed to be friends, it was very strange but they seemed as though they were hanging out with each other. The beaver was making trips back and forth with grass it was ripping from the river bottom and building a lodge. I got some pictures as did Nik and Michelle took video, since we were stopped along the road others looked to see what the commotion was about and some stopped as well. We caused our first elk jam!

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After we got saddled back up, just a few more miles down the road we came across another traffic jam, what kind would it be? An elk jam again! But this time it was a herd of elk. So we stopped and admired the lady elk resting, eating and posing next to the river……more pictures, happiness.

Once we got back under way, our next big excitement was more than big, it was gargantuan! We didn’t know how big till later, it was yet another traffic jam. This one we soon realized was a bison jam! And were these fellas huge! They were walking down the road and people were slowly driving by, taking pictures and video. We finally got up to the bison and one decided he wanted to cross the road in front of us…….I let him! The other was just walking along next to us but as I would try to pass him by, he would start galloping, he did not want me to pass him. It was awesome. Got some decent pictures through the bug splatted wind shield and video.

We visited many thermally active sites. From geysers and hot springs to boiling mud pits. It was all very cool……I mean hot, it that stuff is really really hot. It’s boiling mud for crying out loud! Some of the hot springs bubble up into pools with awesome colors. These colors range from blues to greens to reds and yellows. It is amazing, what is even more amazing is the colors are made from living creatures in the boiling hot water! Depending on the temperature of the water determines where this bacteria thrives…..amazing. Yellowstone nation park not only contributes to the world in amazing beauty but it has helped scientists learn how to to tests by using the bacteria that lives in the super heated water to help do things, real life things like DNA tests………look it up, amazing I tell ya!

Finally to our featured destination, Old Faithful. This place was packed, it was like going to a ball game, only better parking. There were people everywhere! We got Nik’s junior ranger workbook at the visitor center and took some pictures in front of the Old Faithful sign and then went to see her erupt. She was to erupt at 1:40pm give or take 10 minutes. Ummmmm, i thought she was called Old Faithful cause she faithfully blew every 91 minutes!!!? NOPE! I think this geyser was named way wrong. Not only did “Old Faithful not erupt between 1:30 and 1:50, she didn’t go until 1:56! This is unacceptable to me and in noway can this name stand, plus, don’t set your watch by it either……I am sticking with the United States Navy’s nuclear clock for that. I like to have my time accurate to the 1/1000 of a second so Old Faithful just can’t cut it. But she did put on quite a show once she finally decided to show off her prowess.

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We continued to work our way back to the west entrance to leave the park and head back to our home base at the B&B in Island Park Idaho. We stopped at a junior ranger station where we took part in a ranger lead talk on trees within the park, this help satisfy one of the requirements in Nik’s Junior Ranger workbook, very interesting stuff was thought to us by ranger Jay. Like do you know a grizzly bears favorite food? Other than idiots walking up close for a picture? White bark pine cones…….yes, pine cones. A pound of white bark pine cones has more protein than a pound of elk meat, crazy!

As we traveled down the road we spotted a guy fly fishing amongst bison, thought it might make an interesting picture so we stopped and Nik and I went down to the river to talk to him. Turns out this fella from Ohio had been chased out of there just last night by a bull bison that came charging across the river! He was keeping a watchful eye on the herd as they grazed towards us and he finally said it was time to go. We took his advice and went back up the hill to the truck.
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Also, on the way home I pulled over to take pictures of these to fellas fly fishing in the Madison river, they had matched the hatch and found the fish. Every other cast one was hooking up, they were giggling like a couple school girls. They were having a blast! I was so jealous, look like great fun.

It was a long day but we saw so much and it was only a small portion of the park, more to come in the coming days. To see more pictures, find the link at the left of the home page listed as Grand Tetons/Yellowstone trip day 5- Old Faithful under photosets.


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June 23, 2009

Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 5 - Leaving The Grand Tetons for Yellowstone

Filed under: Grand Tetons/Yellowstone — Gary @ 10:11 pm

The rain has gone and the sky is blue…….not many clouds and those are moving by quickly. Finally, non Washington weather! Today we trek to Yellowstone. Our travels will take us back through Grand Teton national park, along the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway and into and through Yellowstone national park all the way north to the west entrance at West Yellowstone Montana taking highway 20 to Island Park Idaho where we will be staying at A river Runs By It bed and breakfast for 7 nights.

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Our plan was to have the Cowboy Cadillac, our 2007 Chevrolet Suburban, all loaded up and ready to go. So after breakfast, all we have to do is get in and go. Right before breakfast Nik didn’t feel so good. He has had some bouts with being cold and then fever a few times over the trip, the biggest bout was the night before we left as mentioned in a previous post. He didn’t eat much and the breakfasts were incredible at The Sassy Moose bed and breakfast in Wilson, Wyoming near Jackson Hole. The sausages were some of the bestest I have ever had and as many of you know, I am a sausage guy! Nik too loves sausage and he didn’t really want any……not a good sign.

As always we left a bit later than we wanted to but you always meet interesting people while at breakfast of a B&B. We still left earlier than the day before though so all was not lost…………but the day is still young. We took the back road into the park again in hopes to see some game but not much showed it’s self to us. Stopped at the ranger station in Moose, awesome place. Nik earned his Junior Ranger badge here. Really nice visitor center. As we traveled along I got some pictures of the mountains with pretty blue sky rather than the clouds from the previous day that prevailed.

At one stop where you can see the Cathedral Group, Teewinot, Grand Teton and Mt. Owen, very well. Got some nice pictures but on arriving back to the truck, Nik was not good at all. He was cold, but had a fever and his heart was racing. Called the ranger station to find out where we should go to see a doctor and they said to bring him to the ranger station.  Luckily it was just a few miles down the road, when we got there the dumb ass ranger says we need to get him to a doctor and he is only trained in first aid! Michelle explained the situation over the phone, we weren’t talking about a hang nail here!

The closest doctor was in Jackson Lake about 15 miles up the road. Speed limit 45 through the park, Nik is not good. Elk, bison and deer jumping out in front of you at any moment, windy roads, people taking pictures of trees everywhere in my way…………Love the power of that rig! When I passed people and stomped on it, it felt like a 787 taking off there is so much power. Okay, I can only imagine what that feels like, nobody can really tell us from experience but those are some powerful engines. Anyway, I blew by people and those folks were probably cursing the crazy bastage from Washington driving 75 MPH through these windy roads. I was concentrating very hard on the sides of the road looking for wildlife and it is a good thing I was. A mule deer jumped out right in front of me but I had plenty of room to slow down and not break my bug shield and turn that deer into venison. Kinda freaked my passengers out cause the brakes slammed on but we made it to the clinic in one piece.

The doctor was really cool and good with Nik. Turns out he has bronchial pneumonia. He has had it for sometime and this was the time it finally showed it’s self…….Vacation time, of course. Doc said the night he had the 103 temp that almost canceled our trip and the other times of fever and feeling cold is all part of the deal. We had been giving him some Tylenol stuff and doc upped that dosage and prescribed some antibiotics. In addition he said no more drinking coffee, beer, whiskey, no smoking and under no circumstances…..no dairy. He was a nice fella and it turns out his daughter is going to school at Western Washington University.

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So our fears were vanquished and Nik was feeling better already while in the doctor’s office, so we got back on the road and it was as if nothing traumatic had happened at all…..We just weren’t as far along as we had hoped to be at this point. Also saw a really large coyote while racing along. No pictures of the wolf or the scared out of it’s mind mule deer, just to busy at the time. Sorry, lol.

We had one more ranger station to visit in the Grand Tetons up north before leaving the park and then it was all cruising time from there on out. The southern entrance of Yellowstone follows the Lewis river and it is incredible. The river, the canyons, the beauty……….great sites to see. Then we drove by all the thermal areas where Old faithful is located……..crazy stuff, can’t wait to visit these locations but at the moment we are just passing through trying to get to our bed and breakfast in Island Park Idaho.

Almost to West Yellowstone I spotted an elk laying next to the Madison river with a fly fisherman across from her fishing, I couldn’t help myself. I stopped and took pictures. Such pretty sites. Also, there was a whole bunch of cars stopped along the highway, we stopped too. Thought there was a herd of bison or a pack of wolves or something……nope, a lone bald eagle. We are so spoiled we just kinda said, “oh, it’s an eagle” and drove away. We are lucky to have so many of them in Washington, their natural winter home and feeding grounds.

We finally made to our B&B, A River Runs By It…….INCREDIBLE HOME! It is huge and all log. Absolutely gorgeous, gorgeous. Just gorgeous!  We have the whole down stairs. Private bedroom and bathroom, hot tub, TV, loads of movies, microwave, fridge, 4 more beds, fire place, couches, easy chairs, a pool table and huge checkers table. Plus it has a beach and dock with boats we can use. It is just like being at home, it is a shame we don’t have the time to utilize all these amenities. We just won’t be here that much. I think Tom and Judy are gonna be excellent hosts just by looking at their place……..incredible.

For additional pictures from this day, check out the link on the left of the home page under photo sets labeled Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 5 - Leaving The Grand Tetons for Yellowstone

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June 22, 2009

Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 4 - Grand Tetons

Filed under: Grand Tetons/Yellowstone — Gary @ 9:04 pm

Our fourth day on the Gusinsky family vacation was spent driving around The Grand Tetons national park, but not before a fantastic breakfast of Spanish egg, ham, spuds and fruit prepared by the Sassy Moose B&B owner Craig. We started out by driving the back road into the park. Part of it is unpaved but it was better than some of the roads I take when going steelheading or when we go camping back in the mountains.
The sites were beautiful. The streams and landscapes with the aspen trees and sage brush mixed in, fantastic!As we traveled along at elevations of upwards of 6200 feet, we stopped at pullout to view the mountains. These mountains are bit different than the ones at home due to the fact they are kinda small. When I say small I mean small in diameter. Grand Tetons national park is generally at the 6000 foot level for the driving portion and the peaks rise into the sky from there.

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We didn’t see a lot of wildlife. Some elk, bison and squirrels including the 3 that live under the hot tub deck. Hoping to see some more in the coming days. Nik also has been working on his workbook to get his Junior National Park Ranger badge for The Grand Tetons. Got a lil rain before we got back to our home base at The Sassy Moose.

For supper we went down the road to a place called the Bar J. It is a cattle ranch that  has a dinner and a show in a very large hall on the ranch. Now this place was a highlight. You pick out a meal of chicken, sliced beef, pork ribs or rib eye steak ranging from $20-$30. You get all the fixins including baked potato, beans, chunky apple sauce, corn bread and spicey cake and to drink you get coffee or lemonade. The mel is to mirror a chuck wagon meal back in the day the best they can when cooking for 750 people. Included in the price is a show where these cowboys get up on stage and sing western songs and throw in some comedy. I have to say, it was worth every penny and the steak wasn’t to bad. Not as good as mine but i ain’t cookin for 700 plus folks either.

They also have a wagonette you can get a ride on and get a bit of a history lesson plus they have a real chuck wagon set up where they are cooking biscuits in a Dutch oven. I suggest anyone that is in that part of the world to look this place up. Good food, good entertainment and the people are really happy you are there. Good times. After supper we sat in the hot tub in the shadow of Grand Teton, even got a few sprinkles on us which is kinda fun in a hot tub.

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To see some pictures of this day of ours in the park and the Bar J, click on Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 4 - Grand Tetons to the left on the home page under photosets.

June 20, 2009

Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 3 - Jackson

Filed under: Grand Tetons/Yellowstone — Gary @ 9:50 pm

Woke up to a good Washington rain……..In south central Idaho! We stayed at the Hagerman Inn in the metropolis of Hagerman Idaho, population 657 on the banks of the Snake River. After getting ready for the day we went back to the Ranger station so Nik could get his national park junior ranger badge for successfully completing his tasks at the Hagerman Fossil Beds and then it was back on the not so dusty trail heading towards Jackson Wyoming.

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We have long dropped south of the 45th parallel so we are now closer to the Equator than the north pole, we are northerners so we have begun moving north for this part of our journey, but first we wanted to jump off the freeway and visit the Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls Idaho. If ever near this part of the universe, you must visit. The fall is longer than Niagra and is gorgeous. These falls were not written about by settlers until 1847 which means many folks passed right by without even knowing they were there! Which when driving along, you can understand exactly why…….it’s a must see.The wind was up a bit so it was whipping the mist from the falls around like rain, not a great picture taking opportunity but made do the best I could.

After leaving the falls we hit the road for Jackson, 318 miles later, we arrived at The Sassy Moose bed and breakfast. The drive through the Snake River range was fantastic. We got up to quite an elevation but never saw any signs on exactly how high. When we came out into the town of Wilson we were still at over 6100 feet. We must have been up there cause the grade of the road at times was 10% both going up and coming down. The Gusinsky cowboy cadillac had no problems, love that Chevrolet suburban.

The Sassy Moose is very nice and you are welcomed by a friendly hound dog named Cher, she loves to play fetch with her favorite rock and to have you pet her all over. Nik took a liking to her right away. In fact, Nik attracts dogs. Last night in Hagerman Nik befriended a dog there. He was extremely worried it was all alone but I assured him he was owned by the folks at the motel, not good enough so he inquired at the front desk. Turns out her name is Frank and she is the owners dog, nice doggie too.
Hope the rain lets up soon so we can see the sights better. As Mossbacks, rain doesn’t bother us but we really wanna see these beatuiful mountains, streams, lakes and rivers and maybe some wildlife too. Tomorrow will tell. For a peak at some pictures from the day, click Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Trip Day 3 in the photoset area on the left of the home page.

June 19, 2009

Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 2 - Hagerman

Filed under: Uncategorized — Gary @ 9:26 pm

After a 357 mile trek from Walla Walla, through Oregon and down into Idaho to a small town called Hagerman. Located here is a national monument dedicated to the fossils found in the area from 3.5 million years ago. Many fossils found here are in such fantastic condition they are now on display at the Smithsonian.

In addition to this, the Minidoka Internment Camp national historic site is near by as well. This was one of the prison camps Japanese American citizens were put into shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States government was fearful these people could be agents of the Imperial forces and rounded them up to live in these camps through out the war.

We got to our motel in Hagerman and settled in and then went out to supper at the Snake River grill where we dined on grilled cheese, top sirloin, rib eye steak sandwich with an appetizer of Idaho alligator………you try to guess who had what, not that difficult of a task really.

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Many neat sites were seen along the way but the next stop is one of the most looked forward to events of the journey, The Grand Tetons national park. We will be staying at The Sassy Moose bed and breakfast in Wilson Wyoming. With world renowned breakfasts, I am looking forward to this. Along the way is a stop that could be a great photo op in the form of The Shoshone Falls. Interesting stuff is upon us.

For a few pictures click Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Trip Day 2 on the left margin under photo sets.

June 18, 2009

Grand Tetons/Yellowstone Day 1- Walla Walla

Filed under: Grand Tetons/Yellowstone — Gary @ 10:04 pm

So the long awaited trip centering around The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone national parks has begun. When I planned out the trip during Christmas break, I knew there would be a snag or two. What trip doesn’t have one? But this trip has been coming together like as smoothly as a Boeing 787………wait. Let me modify that. This trip has been coming together as smoothly as a Boeing 777, everything has fallen into place perfectly. Until about 11 hours before we were to hit the road.

Nik came down with 103 temperature and was not feeling well at all. The trip was now in question and may have to be canceled. Michelle was up at various times of the night with him. When I got up a little before 5am, Nik was hot to the touch and covered in sweat but he felt cold. His sheets and blankets were drenched. At this point I had accepted the trip was off. I would start making phone calls later in the morning to cancel reservations.

062 But a miracle appeared. Nik, with great intestinal fortitude, refused to be sick and sweated out his fever. He was fine and bouncing off the walls with excitement to go! This was crazy, just hours before he was in terrible shape and thought a doctor trip and cancelation of the big trek was all but written in stone. After showers, we started to pack the rig up and make sure we had everything needed. We left the house about 90 minutes later than I had wanted but we were leaving, I could deal with it very easily.

Our trip took us east on highway 2, same as last year but this time we turned south on US 97 through the mountains to Ellensburg where we caught I-82 through Yakima and Tri-City.  Once we intersected with US 12 we followed that the entire way to Walla-Walla. We arrived to Whitman Mission national historic site with a couple hours before they shut down, perfect.

Whitman Mission national historic site was the first destination of our trip that involves national park sites along our way. We parked and started to dig out Nik’s Junior Ranger hat and his vest with all his badges on when out walks a national park ranger. He was so impressed with Nik’s array of badges from parks around the country he had to get a picture.

So off we went inside the ranger station to get our national park passport stamped and to learn about this place in history. It was very interesting and they have many artifacts from the site. Nik was able to earn a junior ranger badge for his collection and a good time was had. We even found a snake skin, no rattles though. One of the rangers thought it was really cool so we told him where to find it and he took off to check it out.

After we left the Whitman Mission we continued on to Walla-Walla to find our motel, of course we had no idea where it was so we called On-Star. Took us right to the place with no problem at all and after checking in and having a Subway sandwich for supper, we are resting up for our trek down through Oregon and into Idaho tomorrow to get to the Haggerman Fossil Beds national monument.

For pictures of todays events, look to the left one the home page and click on Grand Tetones/Yellowstone Day1.

January 20, 2009

Skating with the Silvertips

Filed under: Family Outings — Gary @ 11:56 am

One of the benefits of being an Everett Silvertips season ticket holder is the team events that are put on for you. One that is greatly looked forward to is the skating session with the players after a home game. Sunday January 18 was just that day, skating with the Tips!

Alaska talk with Zack Dailey Zack Dailey

Although the boys ended up losing in a shootout to the Kamloops Blazers they were in realitvely good spirts after a tough loss and the loss of one of our players. Jordan Mistelbacher past away in Winnipeg Manitoba Tuesday January 13. It has had great effect on the players and fans but they have continued in Jordan’s honor. Bill Yuill, the owner of the Silvertips, used his private jet to fly all the players on the team from Manitoba and assistant captain Graham Potuer to Winnipeg for the funeral so they were not at the event along with injured Shayne Brown and Daniel Bartek who have had recent surgeries.

Michelle and Nik strapped on the skates and took to the ice to skate with the players, to take pictures, tell stories and for Nik to get his jersey autographed by each player. Michelle had some interesting conversations with some of the guys and of course spent a lot of time with her newest player she has taken a liking to, Cameron Abney. She got her Abney jersey autographed……..twice!

Mike Alexander Skating with the Tips Skating with the Tips Cameron Abney

She spoke a lot with the Captain, Zack Dailey, about Alaska and his home town of Healy near Denali national park. Kellan Tochkin, Tyler Maxwell and Mike Alexander took some extra time for conversation. Michelle let our newest goalie know we enjoy his play and his dancing warm ups between periods in the tunnel. Thomas Heemskerk really dances to the music while getting stretched out before taking the ice, very entertaining and good to see personalities coming out. Let our young and sure to be superstar goalie, Kent Simpson, know that we are getting his jersey this year and we sat in front of his billet at the Seattle game down in Kent. He is going to be a great WHL goalie and an NHL draft pick without a doubt.

Check out the link to the left that reads Skating with the Tips to check out lots of pictures on the ice. GO TIPS!

January 17, 2009

Nik lights the lamp……twice!

Filed under: Nik — Gary @ 2:19 pm

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In Nik’s game today, skating for the mighty Glacier Bears of Everett Youth Hockey, the young forward was skating with a bit of a cold. But he was pumped up to take the ice in hopes for a good skate. Nik showed off many of his skills he has been working on, including more speed, backwards skating and skating with the puck.

Also, on game day, he is trying to crash the net more to be there for passes and juicy rebounds. Today those attributes have paid off with two more goals giving the 6 year old rookie a total of 9 goals on the season. The Tips are short handed at forward and i am just waiting for the call, we’ll sign an education contract right now, LOL.

Fun game for all but it is always great to score a goal………totally awesome to score two. Stay tuned when the Glacier bears face cross locker room rivals…….The Polar Bears for bragging rights of the week.

January 3, 2009

Skating with Grandma and Mom

Filed under: Family — Gary @ 5:29 pm

Skating with grandma and mom Went to the open skate at the Everett Community Rink so Nik could skate with his grandma, who hasn’t skated in many many years, and his mom. Nik was out showing off on the ice while grandma and mom were just cruising around. Lots of fun. Check out the pictures via a link in the photo set section that is labeled Skating with grandma and mom.

December 30, 2008

Chilliwack British Columbia to see the Silvertips

Filed under: Family Outings — Gary @ 1:04 pm

December 28 we cruised up to Chilliwack British Columbia just across the border in Canada to see the Silvertips take on the Chilliwack Bruins. Chilliwack is only about 110 miles from our house so it is an easy trip to make in a day and since it was a Sunday game it started at 5pm, that makes it even nicer.

The Tips had over 100 fans make the trip up, I bought 22 for my group alone, and we lived up to our reputation as loud fans for our boys. We even had a couple from Southern Illinios, look in the picture towards the center to the right, recognize those people?

We had a late lunch; early dinner at my favorite Canadian pit stop, Earl’s. Love that place. The folks in Chilliwack are very nice and happy we make the trip up for a game. It really is a pleasure to visit their barn for a game. Making it even nicer for the trip home was the fact that we won the game. Even with nearly 3 feet of snow fall the roads were perfect and had no issues on the drive. Good times in Chilliwack.