Yellowstone

Yellowstone

quickly adopted the attitude
of seeing what was in front of me
the park is so big
not going to see everything so
not going worry about it
just see what was in front of me

which happened to be buffalo
right along the road
which was cool
later in the day traffic stopped
as one walked down the middle of the road
video taped it
he walked right past
could have touched him

did not worry about names of places
could not stop every turn off
sometimes it was packed
people pulled over hanging over the side pointing
but without binoculars skipped those

saw plains
drove up and down a mountain
saw rivers and falls
remains of burnt forest
something different constantly

this one place
my new limitations bothered me a bit
as a writer
can still pull off game stories
because it happens
i take notes
and can capture it quickly

since didnt stop to write yesterday
a lot is lost
my short term is toast

cant tell you how many times
stopped went to my trunk
got started back up and realized
forgot to get what was wanted

kept meaning to recheck oil
and kept forgetting
finally did and it was slightly short
added a little more
hours later when finally remembered
it seemed a little over

midway realized
needed to get to old faithful
just so when people asked
it would be like going to dc
and not seeing the washington momumnet
might be more impressive things to see
what you need to see it

got there around 6
and just missed it
people were clapping and then everyone left
sat to wait for 90 min
when overheard someone say
a big one was erupting that only happened three times a year

a nice old lady who worked for the park
seemed to think a hike there was possible
to get back for faithful

turned out it wasnt long at all
would have walked right past it
if it wasnt for a nice couple
at bench with a video camera
you could actually see old faithful behind it

they reminded me of my parents
they were nice
there was young couple headed to uc santa barbara there was well
thought maybe i jinxed it
because it would not blow

it was call giantess
my phone blew up at this point
as it finally worked
all the messages sent all day finally sent
and i heard from a lot of people in reply

so facebook a bunch but not all of my photos
this will turn out to be important

finally the young couple left
and instantly it launced
it was awesome
got great video

then walked around park
geysers everywhere

got back to old faithful
to watch the one in the dark
the young couple was there
and we talked for a while
waiting
thought maybe we broke old faithful
because it was late

the young couple was driving at night
they were taking turns sleeping
headed to salt lake then vegas before school
personally i was afraid to drive in the park at night
who knows where there is a buffalo in the road
and some of the turns were scary in daylight

one interesting thing about the couple
they were hauling a lawn mower from minnesota to cali
for an uncle for something

and i thought colin wilson was the only person
crazy enough to haul a lawn mower across state lines
on a vacation

one disappointment was it was cloudy
so the stars were on par with cleveland
really want to see a lot of stars

there were no hotels or camps ground available
in the park or hour outside of it

decided to sleep in old faithful hotel parking
and if they didnt send me away
would try not to drive the car for 24 hours
it has been taking a beating
would explore the geysers around faithful
maybe find a place to sit

can see joe boyle and mancinis need to explore
if i ever came back
i would come back in shape
and with friends

yet at the same time
i love how they have dumbed down yellowstone
sure you daring souls can risk your life with grizzlies
climb things and jump over things
whatever

but everyone else can see the highlights
mostly safe
you stop when everyone else stops
take pictures and move on at your own pace

that is america