September 2015: Hot Water with Friends

The Hot Chick with our Boise State Friends at Firehole Falls

When I was in College, the guys in the apartment next to mine were my buddies.  We were all a little older than my roommates, so we hung out.  My roommates were all pretty juvenile, and that's a lot coming from me.

Somewhere along the line, my friends hooked up with an apartment of girls across the way and they started dating a couple of the girls in that group.  In a long and convoluted story that belongs on a different blog, I hooked up with the Hot Chick who was also one of the girls in that apartment.

The Hot Chick and I were married and our Grant and Cheryl were married.  We moved on to BYU and Grant and Cheryl moved on to Boise State.  We both became great football fans of our respective teams.  Time and distance being what they are, we lost contact for many years.  But then, because of social media, we found each other again on Facebook.

It just so happened that their son is attending the University I teach at, so they came from Boise over to East Idaho to drop him off.  We got together and did the most natural thing in the world.  We went to Yellowstone.  The Hot Chick and I love to take friends to Yellowstone.  It's my favorite place to be.

In the old days, we'd plan ahead for what we wanted to go see on a particular day.  When we lived in West Yellowstone, our work schedule didn't allow for long, protracted days in the park, so when we'd drive by a trailhead, or some feature you had to work a bit to get to, we'd always say, "Someday we'll go there."  We moved away for about twelve years, then I got a job teaching in a university in southeastern Idaho and we moved back.  About ten years ago, we headed up to the park without an agenda.  As we were passing Seven Mile Bridge, The Hot Chick said to me, "I think it's someday."  I told her I thought she was right and we just stopped at things we'd always talked about but never had done.  It was so enjoyable that it has been 'someday' ever since.

Our friends picked us up and we headed up to Yellowstone.  We found out Grant had only been to Yellowstone once and Cheryl had never been.  We decided to take them up on the scenic route.  We love to drive through Bear Gulch and see upper and lower Mesa Falls, so we took them there.  We stopped at Warm River and fed the fish.  We had just been that way a week earlier so I didn't get the camera out at the fish feeding spot and Mesa Falls.  Big mistake.  There was a brilliant double rainbow at Upper Mesa Falls.  Conditions were just right for the brightest rainbow I'd ever seen there.  So now I just have to remember it.

As we headed up, we asked our friends what they wanted to see.  They both said, "Waterfalls."  The only condition on our Yellowstone trip on that day was that we had to be back home in time to watch Boise State play BYU in football.  We took them to Upper and Lower Mesa Falls, then we took them on the Firehole River Drive and saw Firehole Falls.  Our original plan was to hike either to Mystic Falls or Fairy Falls to show them those ones, but when the Hot Chick found out that Cheryl had never been to Yellowstone, she insisted on showing them the hot water.  You have to see Old Faithful at least once, right?

So our first stop was Fountain Paint Pots.  I like the trail at Fountain Paint Pots, but I have been on it about a hundred times in my life.  I find it very cool to take people who have never experienced the park on these boardwalk trails through the geyser basins.  I get to see the park for the first time, vicariously through their eyes.

Silex Spring at Fountain Paint Pots

Sinter edge of pool

Bacterial mats

More sinter, even cooler

Fountain Paint Pots, the mud pots for which it is named.  In the spring, this will be far more active

Leather Pool

I believe this is either Twig Geyser or Fountain Geyser

I believe this to be Spasm Geyser and Clepsydra Geyser erupting simultaneously

Celestine Pool

Tree branches and other obstacles get in the way and create terracing in the geyser basins.  I've been watching this terrace form for a few years.

We headed next to Old Faithful to see the most famous geyser in the world erupt.  We were waylaid, however by a herd of bison.  They think they own the place.  They walked leisurely across the road, oblivious to the fact that we had places to be.

We took Grant and Cheryl to Old Faithful, where we got the obligatory ice cream, then we went out to Old Faithful.  For the second time in my life, while we were watching Old Faithful erupt, we looked across the Upper Geyser Basin and witnessed Beehive erupt.  Simultaneous eruptions of Old Faithful and Beehive are uncommon and I have witnessed it twice now.

After the eruptions, we headed back into the Inn and showed them around.  I always try to see something I have never seen before when I go to Yellowstone.  It doesn't matter if it's big or small, I just want to see or do something unique each time.  So far, on this particular day, I hadn't seen anything new.  While we were in the Inn, I looked up at a lighting fixture I had never looked at before and lo, there was a bat.  Not a real one, mind you (although I'm sure there are plenty of bats living in the inn) but a lighting fixture of cast iron formed in the shape of a bat.  Too cool.

Bison think they own the place

Then there was this guy

Old chrome

I miss the old style.  Wouldn't trade the modern ride though

This is the only evidence I was on the trip

Beehive

This is either the largest geyser in the world or it's a forest fire.  (fire)

Old Faithful

Die Fledermaus

Again

We had time for one more thing before we had to head back.  We chose Black Sands Basin.  It's a shorty and the Hot Chick and I haven't stopped at it much.  It's not a particularly flashy geyser basin, but there are a few very active but small geysers there as well as some nice pools.  As I looked around, I noticed a small horsetail waterfall coming down from the Madison Plateau.  I had never noticed it before.  I got to add another notch to my waterfall book!  Life is good.

Cliff Geyser

This might be Handkerchief Pool.  Not sure.  It's been renamed to keep people from throwing handkerchiefs in.  In the early days of the park, you could throw a handkerchief in the pool and it would be sucked in and ejected in an adjacent pool a few moments later.  We don't do that anymore.  Vandalism may have destroyed that feature.

Cool texture

You know I like texture

I always love seeing the hot water empty into the Firehole River.  Some of my favorite places to skinnydip (in my youth) were where the hot water from a geyser emptied into the Firehole.

A couple of small fellers erupting simultaneously

I believe this to be Emerald Pool

And lo, there's a small waterfall

Might be Handkerchief, I just don't know

Rainbow Pool

It was a fun day to hang out with old friends.  You know you have a true friend when you haven't seen each other for twenty or thirty years and when you get together it's as if no time had passed.  It was like that for me, seeing Grant and Cheryl again.

We made it back home in time to watch the BYU/Boise State football game at the local movie theatre.  They show BYU games on a big movie screen.  They can't exactly charge admission, but they do require you to purchase a slice of pizza and a soda if you want to hang out in their theatre during the game.

BYU won!

2012 Washington--Chimene's Class Reunion

Chimene, the Hot Chick and friends at her 30th class reunion

Chimene had never been to any of her class reunions.  Since the advent of the internet and things like Facebook and other social networking sites, it has become increasingly easy to connect with old friends.  Some of Chimene's high school friends contacted her and she expressed her desire to attend her 30th class reunion.  She planned and saved for it for months and had things worked out so she could carpool up to Seattle with a friend who was also attending, but at the last minute the friend backed out and she had no way to go.  I decided to drive up with her because I didn't want her to drive up alone for that long of a trip.  I'm glad I did.

We lived in western Washington for about six years in the mid to late 90's and we loved it up there.  We had a lot of friends and a lot of favorite places to go while we lived there.  Chimene had been back a time or two since we moved to Idaho in 2000 but I never had.  It was high time I went.

Day 1
We were in quite a hurry to get up to Washington and so on the way up we didn't stop for any photo ops.  We just drove straight through.  It's about a fourteen hour drive to get to where we were going,  We just had to soldier on.  I will say that the scenery on the northern route is much prettier than it is on the southern route.  The northern route goes through Montana and across eastern Washington whereas the southern route goes through the desert of Idaho, then up through Oregon and the Tri Cities area of Washington.  The northern route is about two hours shorter as well.  That was how we opted to go this time.

Chimene had already made contact with her brother Bryan to stay at his home while we were there, and on the way up I made contact with one of my very best friends, Tom, and told him we were going to be up and wanted to see him and Kris, his wife.  We arranged to meet up for lunch the next day.

We arrived at Bryan's house late in the evening on Thursday and visited for a short time and then went to sleep.

Day 2
We got up the next morning and drove around the area for a little while, then we made our way up to Lake Stevens, Washington to meet up with Tom and Kris.  While we were waiting for Tom, Chimene shouted for me to stop the car and pull over.  I did and she jumped out and ran over to a wild blackberry bramble and started picking the berries.  I got out and had to start eating them too.  I'd forgotten how well everything grows in Washington.  I used to tell her when we lived up there that it wasn't fair that in Washington, even the weeds looked good.  We told Tom where we were and he came and guided us to his home.

Wild blackberry--They are everywhere up there

More blackberries

The Hot Chick at the blackberry bramble

The line of plants just above her head is a single blackberry bramble

Some of our very best friends, Tom and Kris

When he found out that we were coming up, Tom called in and took the day off work.  He can do that, he's the boss.  We went to lunch on the waterfront in Everett, Washington with Tom and Kris.  Chimene had to go to her reunion dinner down in Seattle, and Tom said he needed to take me out on his boat.  Chimene didn't figure she'd be gone long.  She said she'd stay until everyone started drinking, then she'd come back for me.  Not much fun being a non-drinker at a drinking function.

Tom and I went out on the Puget Sound on his boat and planned to catch a salmon or two while we were there.  We went out to the marina, boarded the boat and headed off into the sound.  For some reason, everything conspired against us catching fish that day.  It didn't matter though because I had a great time with my friend.

We navigated through the slough, to the Sound, but the drawbridge was down and we had to wait for a very long time for a train to pass.  When it passed, the sun was already on it's downward arc as we headed out for deep water.  As we were approaching the fishing grounds, the boat started acting up.  Tom had just had it serviced and the mechanic assured him it was good to go.  I don't know what the problem was, but it seemed like a fuel pump issue to me.  We got to cast into the water a few times, but didn't get a bite.  The boat issue was vexing to Tom and he tried and tried to get it resolved.

The issue kept getting worse and we were stranded out on the Puget Sound for a long time.  He could get the boat going for a short time and we'd go for as far as we could but eventually it would stall and we'd drift back out to sea.  We were going two steps forward and one step back.  Finally we called Vessel Assist and at eleven o'clock at night, we were towed back to the marina.  It was vexing to Tom, but I didn't mind.  I got to spend some time with my buddy whom I hadn't seen for ten or so years.  Even though there was the boat problems, we had a very nice visit.

When we finally got back to Tom's place, Chimene still wasn't back.  She had been having such a nice time with her friends that she opted to stay longer.  Seems like everyone had grown up a bit and no one was getting drunk.  She texted me several times during the evening asking if it was okay for her to stay.  I told her the reason we came up was for her to go to her reunion and to stay as long as she liked.  Besides, Tom and I were stranded on the Sound.

When we finally were rescued, Tom took me to a garage where he showed me his hobby cars.  Have to say I was a little bit jealous.  Chimene finally came to pick me up at about one o'clock in the morning and we drove back to Bryan's home where we slept.

Tom's boat

Waiting for the train

Finally getting out on the Sound

The sunset over the water

The wake from the boat

More sunset action

More sunset action

Attempting to fish

Vessel Assist

Day 3
We spent the morning with Bryan and Kara and his family.  They have a good strong family and their children are bright and cute.  Great kids, well mannered and well behaved.  They are doing a very good job with them.  Of all Chimene's family, I have bonded with Bryan and D'Lynn the most.  We are very good friends, and we love to talk politics and smack.  We're hopeful that Bryan and Kara will bring their family to Idaho for a vacation so we can show them around Yellowstone.

Chimene became the favorite auntie to the little girls because she had cool shoes and let them wear them.  She also fixed their hair and I think put a little make-up on them.

The nieces in Chimene's shoes.  They were an instant hit

Well behaved kids (take after their mother)

The nieces

Ring around the rosie

A good family

Zombie kids.  No wonder I liked them so much

Chimene, Bryan and Kara

We drove down to Kirlkand where the second day of the reunion was going to take place.  It was in one of the waterfront parks on Lake Washington, a favorite place of some of her classmates who used to go and get inebriated there.  Seemed like a good sentimental choice to me.

Chimene spent a great deal of time getting reacquainted with her friends and I visited some, but spent some time in the park taking pictures of the flora and fauna.  I figured this event was about Chimene and not me, and I didn't want to get in the way.  I also didn't want to hurry her because this was her trip, this was what we came for.  She had a great time and I'm glad we could do this for her.

Chimene's friends

Table full of friends

Chimene in her element.  As you can see, this party went on until dusk

More friends

The parks in and around the Seattle area are always beautiful, and this one was no different.  At the time of this posting, I can't remember which park we were at, but it really doesn't matter because they are all spectacular.  I spent a great deal of time enjoying the nature of it.  Some of her friends thought I was daft because I was taking close-ups of tree bark.  I've been called daft before, so it didn't bother me.  As a designer, I love texture.  Always have.

Footbridge.  Idyllic

Lichen

 

Tree bark and moss

Someone's home

Juxtaposition

Living and dead together

 

Contrast

 

Light and shadow

Translucence

 

Sunset over Lake Washington

Mount Ranier

Day 4
After breakfast, we thanked Bryan and Kara and their children for sharing their home with us and Chimene and I left for home.  We did stop in Seattle for a short time because we wanted to see Pike Place Market.  I hadn't been there for a long time.  We kicked around Seattle for a couple of hours and went to a waterfront park to take some photos.  While we were there, all these people wearing pink were walking along the parkway.  There was a walkathon for Breast Cancer awareness going on.  We talked to a few of the ladies who were all survivors.  They were delightful and so very optimistic.

The nephew

Bryan and Me

Pike Place Market

Big fish

Flying fish--what Pike Place Market is famous for

The Hot Chick on the boulder beach

Me at the same location

The ferry on the Sound

Survivors

Then came the grueling drive home.  We stayed in Seattle too long, and we drove most of the way home in the dark.  It was tough, but I wouldn't change it.  We made it home safe and we had a wonderful time.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped at a Carls Jr. for a burger.  Since I am allergic to everything good in the world except meat, I ordered a special sandwich.  The meat was bacon and the buns were two hamburger patties.  The guy at the counter got a kick out of making it for me.  It was well tasty.

My sandwich

I am glad we got to do this for Chimene.  I had been away from Seattle for far too long.  I was glad to see some old friends.  I didn't realize how much I missed it there until I went back.  I hope it won't be so long next time.