Just_Steve
Well-known member
Run that plan as hard as you can and don't leave unspoken words for people you care about.
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium
- Thread starter Bob Heine
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
madison069
Well-known member
Just a thought, most of the time we don't plant trees to benefit from them, usually trees gets planted and it's the future generations that gets to benefit from a full grown tree.
My trees get harvested in Oct Nov it is called trim season.
Coolabah
Well-known member
Hmmm... Well, all I can say is- IMHO- just buy the seeds, plant them and see what happens. I seriously believe in "hope" - if you truly want to see those seeds grow, then you absolutely will.
But- not if you don't plant them in the first place.
Mate, thinking all my positive thoughts in your direction. I do not claim to have a single clue as to what you are currently going through, but , well, if you don't keep trying I swear I'll fly over to you house and spray Drop Bear attractant all over your house ! So there !
Craptain
Well-known member
This!
We don't have Bears on Long Island. So next idea?
I would rather not waste the money and the time. To be honest there are other things to keep me busy. My current crop of trees are getting close to 5 feet tall. Just gave a 4 foot tall Vietnam Black to my dearest friend it smells like Chinese food.
No you don't really have a clue as it is spread all over my bones lung and brain. So I must be rational with the choices I make from now till the the end. Gonna boogie till I drop is the game plan. I should get enough from this harvest to last me till the end.
It is a tough call I have some hope but I can't live in a fantasy. I have an amount of time to get things in order where many don't get that chance. I told my son he has a bunch of time to ask me things, where my aunt who raised me just dropped dead I had many questions to ask her but never had the chance.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
I'm with @Coolabah . My systems are failing, too. With no uptick in sight. I'm still doing **** for the future, like I'm going to live forever, even if I'm not going to be there to play.
I only noticed last year that in the Killer Rabbit scene, King Arthur exclaims, "That rabbit's dynamite!" Which is a completely anachronistic term for somebody in his historical era. Then again, so are peasants living in an anarcho-syndicalist commune and taking turns to act as a sort of executive-officer-for-the-week but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority, in the case of purely internal affairs but by a two-thirds majority, in the case of more major....
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scooterbum46
Well-known member
"anarcho-syndicalist" ?
You are spending too much time reading and not enough time changing oil on the van or assessing German strut design..
CNC_Rick, I'll be writing up a European travel itinerary for you some other day (semi-joking) but have you been to Yellowstone National Park? A mere 1,300 mile drive from your state, perhaps.
Good idea, Bob! But I went back further. This weekend I wrote a post this weekend about a 1957 book he needs to read, about the history of machine tools. (Long before CNC.)
Squankum, our family went to Oregon and Washington State to visit relatives on Mom's side. That was in 1977, so that would put me at about the age of 11. We went to Mount Rainier, one day. Mom's uncle took Dad and I to Puget Sound, to do some fishing. The only thing we caught was foot long sharks. On our way back we stopped for the night in Cody, Wyoming. Dad took us to see a rodeo, and after the rodeo ended, I was able to get a few autographs from some of the "cowboys". Chance of a lifetime, I'll tell ya. The whole town stunk of sulfur... Even our water from the motel faucet tasted like sulfur. Then we went on to Yellowstone Nat'l Park. We saw Old Faithful, some paint pots in the ground and whatever else was bubbling. Neat experience. Then on to Mount Rushmore. That was cool. But that trip was 49 years ago... Maybe I'm due to go back and see Yellowstone again. We went through the Badlands at about midnight. We missed Wall Drug, they were closed. We did see the Badlands with moonlight. Mom was reading the map that day and took us on a "shortcut" ha. Dad drove us out to the West Coast in a 1966 Chevy Caprice. The 283 engine was showing its age at that point, so we had to stop at every Kmart and buy a case of oil. We had to stop every 150 miles to put another quart in.
I'd like to see many of those places! I wind up seeing Yellowstone with some regularity. What's changed since you've been there? Geologically, nothing. Well, there was the big flood a few years ago, that destroyed some roads and bridges and they're still re-engineering some things. Biscuit Basin blew up unexpectedly a year or two ago and is closed. (Steam, not volanic.) Still more geologic things to see there than you can do in a trip! And waterfalls. There's a 300 foot waterfall and a gorge 800 -1,200 ft. deep for 20 miles after it! That waterfall would be the thing the park is most famous for if it weren't for Old Faithful.
(As I try to explain it to people, this park has at least 20 things that would justify a state or national park all by themselves.)
The Grand Prismatic Spring became a social media celebrity a few years ago, so now that parking lot is jammed. The "pro tip" is to drive a mile down the road and park in another parking lot and hike on a wide cinder trail to an overlook that gives you a better view of it anyway. Alas, that's a busy trail and overlook now, too! (Fear not, there are plenty of other peace-and-quiet places in the park. I always recommend Slough Creek and then Lamar Valley for lower numbers of people, scenery, animals.)
Lots of big fires in 1988, you can still see some tree trunks standing and the new growth filling in. Moose took a hit from that loss of habitat but are now rebounding to something under 100 total, and are something you can, with luck and effort, see. (Pro: they're very large. Con: they often stand in deep creek beds.)
A lot more bison than in the old days! 4-6,000. Lots of elk now, too, but their huge numbers aren't always visible from where we can drive. A small herd has adopted park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs.
Since 1970, the bears have been taught to not hang around human areas or beg for food from cars. They're generally something you see at a distance.
The biggest change? Wolves! There are now eight wolf packs in the park. Reintroduction began 30 years ago. Seeing these can take more time and effort and optics -- but there are always wolf nerds out there every morning and late afternoon in the right spots who often can show you a wolf or five* at a distance and are happy to let you peek through their telescope.
Here's a handy bar graph about which months are busiest. Winter's nice, for lighter crowds and animals standing out against the white snow. But as you might guess, potentially very cold, but it's a dry cold.
Things used to slack off right after Labor Day weekend, but people are now catching on that it's not getting so cold so fast, and mid-September is moderately popular. Late September, bears are are really thinking about putting on the pounds for hibernation and are very busy.
Camping in a tent is a fairly priced campground site just like a state campground, but you have to book well in advance or get lucky with canceled reservations. Air B&B's are now a common option in the towns outside the park boundary. Hotel options galore outside and inside the park. Many campgrounds in the park take RV's.
__________
* My record: 22! In a long line, headed out to hunt in winter at sundown.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
@Bob Heine , we haven't heard from you in 3 weeks. Even if you're not feeling up to a long post, just raise your hand. Hope things are going OK.
Craptain
Well-known member
Bob hasn't been posting but he was around last Thursday.
kitdoctor
Well-known member
I'm hoping Bob is doing okay.
I'm more worried about Kay! She's too tough to die! I pity the hospital!
This will teach me not to disappear for weeks.
In the summer of 1965 I was doing great and my only worries were financial (IBM salary was well below my USPS pay). Blessed days with my wife and two small children and enjoying my first summer working for IBM. Took that life and my left arm for granted.
Two months later I woke up in the hospital with several unexpected adjustments (the shaved patch on my head where they sewed a baseball flap back on was the least but still noticeable one). Another two months and I'm alive and happy to have disappointed several of my surgeons and all of the local funeral homes.
Having survived riding under a train, I figured smoking wasn't that big a risk I am smoking the last of the carton of cigarettes my father gifted me on my 21st birthday in the hospital.
I usually ask my doctors if investing in green bananas is wise. I thought removing the whole prostate, including the tumors was the end but it turns out mine metastasized an found its way into my bones. Hormone treatment before and after radiation of the bone tumor has the side effect of menopause and osteoporosis.
My current weakness has Liane more worried than me so I suspect I'll be signing up for one of the cancer blood tests.
Our daughter is a year older and has two boys. Technically they are no longer 'boys at 27 and 29 but both are still in school and live at home when they aren't on campus.
I'm on a roll. My father died at 55, his father died at 53 and his grandfather died at 50. I turn 82 in 95 days.
A Vietnam Black is a pretty valuable gift.
As a professional procrastinator I still don't have my things in order. It has been 61 years so I guess my plan is to let someone else get my things in order after I'm gone.
The first day started with the fabrication of a freebee work light.
Removal of the intake manifold went well...
...as did the removal of the valve cover.
Cleaned up the valve cover...
... and managed to re-install it before it all went sideways.
Michael, I went through the death thing when I was 20 so I try to treat each day as a gift. Since getting off the hormone treatments my days have been pretty crappy gifts.The strange part is I am best looking dead guy you will ever see. Every friend says how good I look. I don't feel really bad my leg hurts when I lay down other than that no balance or strength issues. Today's doctor was surprised about the strength in my legs.
The whole thing is weird Sloan is known not to give up but they seem to with me. So the thought of me being on my deadbed is depressing and not letting me get things done. Even my regular form of motivation is not working. Spent most of my life figuring it would just happen not be sitting at the end waiting for it.
In the summer of 1965 I was doing great and my only worries were financial (IBM salary was well below my USPS pay). Blessed days with my wife and two small children and enjoying my first summer working for IBM. Took that life and my left arm for granted.
Two months later I woke up in the hospital with several unexpected adjustments (the shaved patch on my head where they sewed a baseball flap back on was the least but still noticeable one). Another two months and I'm alive and happy to have disappointed several of my surgeons and all of the local funeral homes.
Having survived riding under a train, I figured smoking wasn't that big a risk I am smoking the last of the carton of cigarettes my father gifted me on my 21st birthday in the hospital.
I'm jealous of your leg strength. My knees are acting up so I have difficulty rising from the floor to a standing position and my shoulder complains when I use my arm to assist my legs. On the bright side, I've lost 30 pounds. Had the knees x-rayed and there's some degeneration in both. Orthopedic surgeon doesn't think I need surgery yet but he added 200 mg Celecoxib (brand name Celebrex) to my current 50 mg tramadol. Googai says the two drugs work well together.
I usually ask my doctors if investing in green bananas is wise. I thought removing the whole prostate, including the tumors was the end but it turns out mine metastasized an found its way into my bones. Hormone treatment before and after radiation of the bone tumor has the side effect of menopause and osteoporosis.
My current weakness has Liane more worried than me so I suspect I'll be signing up for one of the cancer blood tests.
@gman007 is right. You have to keep a positive attitude. I got to see that little guy in the blue hat turn 62 last November. Also got to see his seven children grow up. His youngest turned 22 three days later. The best of all is being there to see six great grandchildren growing up.
Our daughter is a year older and has two boys. Technically they are no longer 'boys at 27 and 29 but both are still in school and live at home when they aren't on campus.
Michael, my addictive personality defect has kept me from trying to grow anything but bananas, My "tent" would be big enough to hide my house.
The best any of us can do is keep on boogieing.
Steve, I try not to be morbid so all my family ever hears is that I love them. That and the occasional story -- which Liane tells me I have to set them to "Random Play" rather than "Rinse and Repeat."
I'm on a roll. My father died at 55, his father died at 53 and his grandfather died at 50. I turn 82 in 95 days.
Cody, not if you live in Florida.
Michael, does Bonsai pruning improve the potency?
Greg, be careful about spreading that stuff around.
I'm with you Andrew
Michael, carnivorous Koalas that hide in wait up in the gum trees are native to Australia and the gentle kind are only found in Ohio, Florida or Southern California. I think you're safe.
A Vietnam Black is a pretty valuable gift.
As a professional procrastinator I still don't have my things in order. It has been 61 years so I guess my plan is to let someone else get my things in order after I'm gone.
Kay, my toilet paper life seems to have a few more turns but boy are they spinning off faster every year.
@Squankum, most movies have a 'continuity' person on set. Sometimes they screw up and in a single scene a glass of wine goes down and then up regardless of how many sips are taken. Not sure Monty Python invested in a 'historical accuracy' person.
Gerry, it's another defective cell in my brain. I had to go back and watch more of the movie.
@Squankum, this is why I have to disappear every once in a while.
Seems like Rick's travel plans don't require a passport.
At least you pointed him to a somewhat familiar rabbit hole.
Rick, our first trip out west, when I was 10, took us to the west coast and up into Canada so we saw the California National Parks, Crater Lake and Mount Rainier. The Canadian parks included Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. Second trip covered the parks east of the Rockies so we saw Bryce and Zion, the Great Salt Lake, Yellowstone and Wind Cave. I was 12 when we drove to Alaska and made it a point to be in Calgary for the Stampede. Stayed home for a summer and the year I turned 14 we drove to Mexico.
@Squankum, in the mid-1950s we could visit the national parks without any reservations and always had a nice campsite for the week or so we stayed in the big ones (Yosemite, Grand Teton and Yellowstone) and as you say it takes more than a day to see more than the roads in those parks.I'd like to see many of those places! I wind up seeing Yellowstone with some regularity. What's changed since you've been there? Geologically, nothing. Well, there was the big flood a few years ago, that destroyed some roads and bridges and they're still re-engineering some things. Biscuit Basin blew up unexpectedly a year or two ago and is closed. (Steam, not volanic.) Still more geologic things to see there than you can do in a trip! And waterfalls. There's a 300 foot waterfall and a gorge 800 -1,200 ft. deep for 20 miles after it! That waterfall would be the thing the park is most famous for if it weren't for Old Faithful.
(As I try to explain it to people, this park has at least 20 things that would justify a state or national park all by themselves.)
The Grand Prismatic Spring became a social media celebrity a few years ago, so now that parking lot is jammed. The "pro tip" is to drive a mile down the road and park in another parking lot and hike on a wide cinder trail to an overlook that gives you a better view of it anyway. Alas, that's a busy trail and overlook now, too! (Fear not, there are plenty of other peace-and-quiet places in the park. I always recommend Slough Creek and then Lamar Valley for lower numbers of people, scenery, animals.)
Lots of big fires in 1988, you can still see some tree trunks standing and the new growth filling in. Moose took a hit from that loss of habitat but are now rebounding to something under 100 total, and are something you can, with luck and effort, see. (Pro: they're very large. Con: they often stand in deep creek beds.)
A lot more bison than in the old days! 4-6,000. Lots of elk now, too, but their huge numbers aren't always visible from where we can drive. A small herd has adopted park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs.
Since 1970, the bears have been taught to not hang around human areas or beg for food from cars. They're generally something you see at a distance.
The biggest change? Wolves! There are now eight wolf packs in the park. Reintroduction began 30 years ago. Seeing these can take more time and effort and optics -- but there are always wolf nerds out there every morning and late afternoon in the right spots who often can show you a wolf or five* at a distance and are happy to let you peek through their telescope.
Here's a handy bar graph about which months are busiest. Winter's nice, for lighter crowds and animals standing out against the white snow. But as you might guess, potentially very cold, but it's a dry cold.
Things used to slack off right after Labor Day weekend, but people are now catching on that it's not getting so cold so fast, and mid-September is moderately popular. Late September, bears are are really thinking about putting on the pounds for hibernation and are very busy.
Camping in a tent is a fairly priced campground site just like a state campground, but you have to book well in advance or get lucky with canceled reservations. Air B&B's are now a common option in the towns outside the park boundary. Hotel options galore outside and inside the park. Many campgrounds in the park take RV's.
__________
* My record: 22! In a long line, headed out to hunt in winter at sundown.
Kay, sorry for my absence. I have been feeling very weak lately so I can only spend a couple of hours at a time working on the PT Cruiser.
The first day started with the fabrication of a freebee work light.
Removal of the intake manifold went well...
...as did the removal of the valve cover.
Cleaned up the valve cover...
... and managed to re-install it before it all went sideways.
Andrew, Every once in a while I take a break and come here to escape.
Joel, I'm okay but feeling awfully weak lately. As long as I'm standing up things are fine but getting under the car and then getting back up is a trial. So many crunching noises from my knees and shoulder...
A one-day job turns into a one-week job quickly. When I find a problem it's another week and that always leads to another problem. Let's see:
- Turbo adapter disintegrates (order part and wait).
- Radiator petcock breaks and screws up the lower tank (order parts and wait).
- Fuel injector connectors disintegrate (order parts and wait).
- Radiator hoses are bulging at age 23 (order parts and wait).
- Radiator air seals disintegrate (parts no longer available so order rubber mat and wait).
- Power antenna needs to be replaced and I have the replacement in stock. Still need to solder wires and reassemble dash.
@Squankum, we all worry about Kay!
RickP
Well-known member
Hi Bob,
I'm glad to hear you're finished with the hormone treatments.
And here's hoping the next phase of your recovery goes quicker!
Was it always like that, or am I just not remembering?
When all our car repairs had to get finished by Monday morning, we just got 'em done!
I'm glad to hear you're finished with the hormone treatments.
And here's hoping the next phase of your recovery goes quicker!
That sounds all too familiar lately...
Was it always like that, or am I just not remembering?
When all our car repairs had to get finished by Monday morning, we just got 'em done!
Geoff289
Well-known member
Bob's back, all is right with the world.
Bob, I'm a notable fraction of a century late with this idea for a joke, but did you ever tell your sons when they were young that yes, you have one arm, they have two, and maybe someday they'll have sons with three arms, that's how it works? You've got to keep little children on their toes! Well, that was my dad's philosophy.
ajohno
Well-known member
Good your back Bob.
bugnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Bob, thanks for dropping by. We all will take what we can get! Thanks
OutlawDrifter
Well-known member
Keep at it Bob, plenty of prayers headed your way from KS!
madison069
Well-known member
Bob, all you can do is take it one day at a time. I got a bathroom project that keeps lagging behind due to something else popping up that needs imediate attention. This bathroom project was started 5 years ago.
y'sguy
Well-known member
We are all glad to see your thoughts typed out on the screen! We are all counting on you. With your thoughts and advice, it has become a better world for many of us, Bob.
Again, I am stunned that you have taken on the project of the repairs to the PT cruiser. I think of myself as a decent mechanic, but newer era cars like this, I stay away from. And apparently, from your list of defective parts, my theory may be correct. Parts are not meant to last long and break and or fail while you are working on other, more intended stuff. As mentioned in an earlier post, luckily we don't have to use that car to get to work on Monday.
I commend you on an optimistic outlook to repair the Cruiser.
Again, I am stunned that you have taken on the project of the repairs to the PT cruiser. I think of myself as a decent mechanic, but newer era cars like this, I stay away from. And apparently, from your list of defective parts, my theory may be correct. Parts are not meant to last long and break and or fail while you are working on other, more intended stuff. As mentioned in an earlier post, luckily we don't have to use that car to get to work on Monday.
I commend you on an optimistic outlook to repair the Cruiser.
driftpin
Well-known member
Bob said:
The best any of us can do is keep on boogieing.
I say:
To quote Bob 'Bear' Hite:
"AND DON'T FORGET TO BOOGIE!"
Canned Heat
Glad to see you back putting us who are younger, to shame, with your work ethic.
P.S. That's the basic, easy joke! Extra credit if you get elaborate! If the kid asks why he isn't seeing any three-armed children, tell him that people hide them in the countryside. That's when you arrange a situation with somebody in the countryside to have a boy with a fake third arm attached to his sweatshirt, running around in the front yard as you drive by. (Cell phones would make that chance encounter much easier to coordinate with the rural residents.)
Now for some actual pranks by my dad:
1. To me and other siblings, after we had been out for a family outing, he pulled into the driveway of a small bungalow in the woods, turned to us in the back seat and said we could get out now, our real parents lived here.
I only realized a few years ago that maybe we had been whiny and petulant all day and this was his revenge. He was purely deadpan but mom was not playing along with his joke at all so our hurt and confusion was fairly minor.
2. To children in his first marriage, he shot Santa Claus. They were up late on Christmas Eve, would not go to sleep, so he climbed out a dormer window and stomped around on the roof above their bedroom and dormer window making Santa-like ho ho hos. They tried to see Santa but couldn't crane their necks enough. Then he snuck back in his window and downstairs and ran out in the yard. "YOU! HEY YOU! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE FAT MAN, GET THOSE REINDEER OFF MY ROOF!" Then, the shotgun blasts. This, of course, convinced the boys that dad had murdered Santa Claus.
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The first day started with the fabrication of a freebee work light.
Removal of the intake manifold went well...
...as did the removal of the valve cover.
Cleaned up the valve cover...
Bob, the nice thing about these modern LED underhood lights...
Is that they're also just portable light bars! Should you wind up in the attic on another wiring job, for example. I've used mine for a variety of things, including shop photography, yard work at night. (I have the previous, non-folding version, and have no qualms about whatever it was I spent.)
Just a week or two ago, I was thinking about valve cover gaskets. "In the old days, they were made out of cork and rubber! And they weren't so great, but we had to remove our valve cover anyway to check our valve clearances! Or we had an engine in our car that was evolved from a previously-adjustable valvetrain but now had hydraulic lash followers but still had that cork rubber valve cover gasket but that was okay, they were so easy to change! Nowadays, they last ten years, but you still dread getting to them."
Miss the Pontiacs
Well-known member
You’re still slugging, but I didn’t expect anything less. It appears you appreciate your PT Cruiser as you’re doing your own repairs. My wife’s daily driver is a 03 Montana, I use the daily part sparingly as it is fairly low mileage for its age. But one day it will likely just give up.
It is good to have a project or two, but you already know this as it seems you’re always up to something. Have a great summer and will catch up with you later.
Oh ya @Squankum you are truly a maniac. Keeping doing you.
It is good to have a project or two, but you already know this as it seems you’re always up to something. Have a great summer and will catch up with you later.
Oh ya @Squankum you are truly a maniac. Keeping doing you.
Nicely done, my friend... I know that I missed out on a lot on that trip. Especially Yellowstone. We didn't do any amount of hiking, or anything like it, especially going further than a couple hundred feet from our car. Yellowstone is huge, in my mind. I'd like to do better, give it the justice it deserves. Same with South Dakota Badlands, where I only saw that in the moonlight, at about midnight, from the back seat of a moving car.... We could've done so much better, had we stopped for the night, found another $20 per night motel, whether it had a kitchenette or not. Mom had plenty of bread and Spam with, we could've done something with that. To this day, Spam is still my sandwich of choice. Don't heat Spam on a bbq, or anything. Just fresh out of the can. I've never even wanted to try Spam any other way, I actually refuse to try it any other way. Mom always had bacon and eggs on that trip. If we didn't stay in a motel with a kitchenette, we'd get going down the road until we could find a rest area. Mom had a Coleman white gas cooking stove. She'd cook breakfast for all of us, clean her pans up in the rest area bathroom, and away we went. What a cool trip. A chance of a lifetime. It's something Dad was not famous for... Taking us on a trip like that. Dad was a lot like me. A ******** hermit. Or, more properly, I was just like my Dad. More than I'd like to admit. I never took my son on a trip of a lifetime like that... But we had plenty of chances to take him on a trip through our work, Cheryl and I, so Travis got around to a few places. California, Detroit (Ford Museum and Greenfield Village) through my work.I'd like to see many of those places! I wind up seeing Yellowstone with some regularity. What's changed since you've been there? Geologically, nothing. Well, there was the big flood a few years ago, that destroyed some roads and bridges and they're still re-engineering some things. Biscuit Basin blew up unexpectedly a year or two ago and is closed. (Steam, not volanic.) Still more geologic things to see there than you can do in a trip! And waterfalls. There's a 300 foot waterfall and a gorge 800 -1,200 ft. deep for 20 miles after it! That waterfall would be the thing the park is most famous for if it weren't for Old Faithful.
(As I try to explain it to people, this park has at least 20 things that would justify a state or national park all by themselves.)
The Grand Prismatic Spring became a social media celebrity a few years ago, so now that parking lot is jammed. The "pro tip" is to drive a mile down the road and park in another parking lot and hike on a wide cinder trail to an overlook that gives you a better view of it anyway. Alas, that's a busy trail and overlook now, too! (Fear not, there are plenty of other peace-and-quiet places in the park. I always recommend Slough Creek and then Lamar Valley for lower numbers of people, scenery, animals.)
Lots of big fires in 1988, you can still see some tree trunks standing and the new growth filling in. Moose took a hit from that loss of habitat but are now rebounding to something under 100 total, and are something you can, with luck and effort, see. (Pro: they're very large. Con: they often stand in deep creek beds.)
A lot more bison than in the old days! 4-6,000. Lots of elk now, too, but their huge numbers aren't always visible from where we can drive. A small herd has adopted park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs.
Since 1970, the bears have been taught to not hang around human areas or beg for food from cars. They're generally something you see at a distance.
The biggest change? Wolves! There are now eight wolf packs in the park. Reintroduction began 30 years ago. Seeing these can take more time and effort and optics -- but there are always wolf nerds out there every morning and late afternoon in the right spots who often can show you a wolf or five* at a distance and are happy to let you peek through their telescope.
Here's a handy bar graph about which months are busiest. Winter's nice, for lighter crowds and animals standing out against the white snow. But as you might guess, potentially very cold, but it's a dry cold.
Things used to slack off right after Labor Day weekend, but people are now catching on that it's not getting so cold so fast, and mid-September is moderately popular. Late September, bears are are really thinking about putting on the pounds for hibernation and are very busy.
Camping in a tent is a fairly priced campground site just like a state campground, but you have to book well in advance or get lucky with canceled reservations. Air B&B's are now a common option in the towns outside the park boundary. Hotel options galore outside and inside the park. Many campgrounds in the park take RV's.
__________
* My record: 22! In a long line, headed out to hunt in winter at sundown.
Where did Mom keep the eggs and bacon on our trip, out West?? In the styrofoam cooler, of course, in the back seat of our Caprice, between the three of us kids... Drove me nuts... Hated that squeak, for many thousand miles... But breakfast and lunch was worth it, in every case. Hated that darned cooler............
It wasn't supposed to be that way, with the styrofoam cooler, for our trip. See, Dad made his own trailer for this trip. A homemade trailer. Since we were a musical family, and once the accordions, guitars, amplifiers were loaded into the trailer, and then Mom started loading cardboard boxes filled with cans of soup and things, Dad's trailer was kind of on its knees, with all of the weight involved. Dad had to add a couple more leaves to the springs to make this work. So we had a late start. I spent all of my much anticipated small change in my piggy bank at the first stop on our trip, at Paul Bunyan, in Minnesota!! There goes my money for the rest of the two week trip... But it sure was a fun trip. I guess we're not really accomplished world travelers, but we all made things work.
Ha! My best friend's family went on a cross-country road trip when his dad was reassigned to a new job. They crossed the USA, and went through Yellowstone, in dad's new Thunderbird. My friend has told me of his frustration, parents saying "Look at that, kids!" and their struggling to see anything through those damned opera windows.
Oh, looky! Wikipedia has just the picture:
Luckily, he has been back since as an adult. I confess that my east coast brain, even though a fairly outdoorsy fellow, had been conflating Yellowstone and Yosemite my whole life until Ms. Squankum decided to drag me there.
My parents took us lots of places and I can't complain, but they didn't like things they considered "touristy." Which can be dumb. Some things are popular because they're awesome!
Oh, it really is big! The early history of the park involved stagecoach travel, which was slow, hard to cover 20 miles in a day, with more hotels inside the park to accomodate that pace. It was a many-day effort to take the stagecoach tour through throughout the interior of the park. Automobiles revolutionized the experience, attendance soared, and stagecoaches were over soon after:
Yellowstone Park Transportation C. | Geyserbob.com
The Yellowstone Park Transportation Co. operated stagecoach lines in Yellowstone from 1892 to 1916. They operated out of the northern entrance, using the Northern Pacific RR depot at Cinnabar, and the Gardiner. They were an all-important element of transportation in Yellowstone's varied history.
www.geyserbob.com
(Geyser Bob's website is loaded with park history.)
You can see a whole lot just by driving around the park, getting out and looking from parking areas or paved walkways! No doubt. There is so much to see just that way.
But if you walk half a mile down a hiking trail, it's like you're alone and you sometimes get an entirely different view of it all. There are busy places (Old Faithful) and very quiet, remote places.
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