"Stir" takes to the road again!

[Stir Young]

Hey, its me, Gary Young! You know, the smart alecky guy who was gonna go out west??? I thought I might try doing one of these blog thingies about my trip to Yellowstone Park and back.

So who is Stir? Well, that's been my nickname since I was in high school. I was originally called "Youngster" by one of my friends, I guess because I only looked about 12 years old when I was a Junior. As time went on, "Youngster" got shortened to "Ster", or "Stir", as I prefer to spell it, and people just ASSUMED that the shortened variety came about because I "stirred" up trouble. Why, nothing could be further from the truth....c'mon, you know me....I'm a peacemaker!

Well, anyway, about 2 years ago, I embarked on a quest to find people whom I'd worked with in Yellowstone Park in the summer of 1969. It became a cooperative project as I found others, and they started looking too. Along the way, we've been able to account for about 12 people, and the idea for an employee reunion came about. That reunion took place on August 14th and 15th 2009, in Gardiner, Montana, and the story that follows will hopefully tell a little about the summer of 1969 in Yellowstone Park, and my journey back there 40 years later.

And just who is that mischieveous looking guy up above? Why that's me, in the summer of 1969, of course.

[Stir Young]

I hopped back in my real 1 to 1 scale car, and drove up to the Rangers' Entry Station. I whipped out my newly acquired "Senior Pass", but the ranger also wanted to see my driver's license. I handed that over as well, and she actually did compare the signatures of both credentials. From then on, I always just handed both items over to the rangers when I came into the park. I can understand the Park Service not wanting people passing around the senior card to their family and friends. At $10 for life, the Senior Pass is one of the best buys a senior who plans on visiting National Parks can make.

As I headed up the road into Mammoth, I passed a monument identifying the 45th parallel. My home in Michigan is located about 10 miles north of the 45th. I also passed a directional sign to the hot pots on the Yellowstone River. I noted that in 1969, we just pulled of the side of the road there, and took a narrow trail down to the hot pots. We went after dark and went in the water in the nude. Yep, it was co-ed, too.

As I got almost to Mammoth, I passed the entrance to a campground. It still looked familiar....Nake, and I, and the other two people we left the park with in 1969, camped here the night before we left after our work contracts were fulfilled.

I decided to check out some of these things at a later time. Today I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the East entrance to the park, and perhaps the south entrance.

I made my way through Mammoth, it was early enough that it wasn't jammed with cars and people yet. I headed up past the Mammoth Terraces, and soon passed through the Hoodoos and golden Gate. These were also all areas I was going to check out at a later time. i remembered all of these places after my 40 year absence.

I came onto a plateau, quite flat. It would be an easy run to Norris Junction, and again, I remembered this stretch after 40 years. I remembered this to be a good area to see wildlife, but this morning there were yet to be lines of cars pulled off to the shoulder. I just kept going.....eventually I came to the twin lakes, and there I saw one sole buffalo standing near the water.

At Norris Junction, I saw a sign for a museum and campground, so I pulled in to use the facilities. The museum was quite small....it was housed in one of the old ranger cabins, and was dedicated to Park Rangers. it was quite interesting, a retiree was there to answer questions and explain things.

[Stir Young]

What's that??? Who put the VW bus by the door? I hope I wasn't in violation of any federal law for defacing a monument!!

[Stir Young]

This is an impressive sight to me....although this is the backside. I remember it very clearly from 1969.

[Stir Young]

I woke in the morning and decided to head into Yellowstone National Park again. It was Tuesday, August 11. It looked to be another beautiful day.

I drove through the Roosevelt Arch entrance and quickly pulled off the side of the road. This is one of the most photographed attractions in the park, and I wanted a picture too.

[Stir Young]

Back at the motel, I lapsed into one of those food induced naps, like one does after a big Thanksgiving meal. Upon awakening, I was still groggy, but I read some, and then sat out on the balcony and watched the sun go down behind the mountains. I sat out there until well after dark, just looking at the lights of Gardiner and listening to the Yellowstone River roar below . The weather was downright balmy for the mountains.....I was only wearing shorts and a T shirt. I never got cold in the least bit.

I slept fitfully that night, probably due to that huge breakfast I ate for supper, but just maybe I was a little bit excited. I had been in Yellowstone National Park for the first time in 40 years, but I only had been looking around for a half of a day. Tomorrow would be the first of five more full days to see the park and surrounding area, and of course, to see some of my former co-workers again.

[Stir Young]

Here's the "Town Cafe"! This place looked to be right up my alley. It smelled like deep fried food as soon as I walked in. The front portion of the building was a typical tourist gift shop. It wasn't too well lit, but seemed to have the usual...T shirts, post cards, chintzy souvenirs and the like. I was in seventh heaven in this place. I wondered, though, how all those T shirts would smell after a summer of hanging in there near the deep frying.

I went into the back room, where the restaurant was, and sat down at a table. A waitress quickly appeared with water and a menu, and I reviewed the fare.

A heading advertising "all day breakfast" being available caught my eye. I love a good, old fashioned breakfast, and I hadn't had one in several days. Without hesitation, I ordered the farmer's omlette, with potatoes and toast, when the waitress came back.

When the waitress brought out my breakfast, I couldn't believe it...It had a large omlette, filled with ham, onions, cheese and potatoes. The rest of the plate was filled with even more hash brown potatoes. High praises to above! I had found potato heaven!

I worked and worked on that meal, but I ended up leaving some of the hash browns. I hated to do that, but I just couldn't hold any more. I left a nice tip, paid my bill, and waddled back to the Absoraka Lodge.

[Stir Young]

I found one restaurant that looked promising, located in an old wooden false front building. As I went up to the door, I saw it had a closed sign. That seemed odd to me, being that it was the middle of August. Perhaps it was a sign of the times....maybe the placed had been foreclosed on. About a block further, though, I found an open place called the "Town Cafe". I went right in....it was about 5:30PM Michigan time, and I was famished. It was only 3:30PM in Gardiner, so this place wasn't busy at all.

[Stir Young]

As it was the late afternoon, and my paste chili dog at Tar was long since eaten, I decided to walk around town a bit, and find someplace to eat at. I had made several trips to Gardiner back in 1969, and now it was still somewhat familiar. I made my way to the main street fronting the park, and moseyed up and down the street. As might be imagined, it seemed that the businesses had upscaled a bit since I was here last. there were two or three cappaccino places, and signs here and there proclaiming wi fi availability. Of course, there were a few people yakking on cell phones, but service being what it is in the mountains, perhaps others had to use land lines somewhere.

[Stir Young]

This is looking out from my balcony, over the Yellowstone River and brige carrying Route 89. Beyond is Gardiner, and beyond that is Yellowstone National Park.

[Stir Young]

Here's the entrance to the Absaroka Lodge.