Summer So Far

Amongst the mountains, rivers, wildlife and people, Kevin and I find ourselves in the midst of a bustling summer life. It's been truly wonderful. It hasn't rained in 4 weeks, so every morning we wake up to the not so distant Rocky Mountains set against a bright blue sky. With hardly any humidity, a light breeze floating through the air, and the amazing background of the Park, we feel like we're in Paradise. Then, every night, around 7pm or so, 4 large coaches come charging through town to let out 1/10th of the Asian population and we're smacked back down to reality.

Tourists. We surely appreciate their business, but boy do they make 'living the easy life' hard. Kevin has had to learn to be patient with their apparent lack of common sense. We assume they forget to pack that sort of thing. I have a more open-minded approach. I realize that they're here to enjoy themselves. They've worked hard for their vacation, and they expect to see and do certain things when visiting Yellowstone. I get that. And Kevin, to his credit, is getting that as well. I understand his frustrations, however, and can admit to 'going off' on a certain woman. We were driving in the park on a day off, enjoying the weather and our new set of binoculars. Cars began to go slower and slower until eventually we had come to a complete standstill. Never an uncommon thing (locals call them 'Buffalo Jams' or 'Moose Jams' etc..), Kevin got increasingly annoyed by the situation and I got increasingly annoyed by his annoyance. After 10 minutes and countless folks walking past our car on foot, I decided to see what the fuss was about since we were at least 100 cars or so behind around the bend. Before I even got to the scene of the crime, word of mouth had traveled that there were 2 baby coyotes 200 or so yards off the road. Of course, once I got to the front of the line, they were but mere dots in the field, undistinguishable by even my fancy new binoculars. What WAS apparent - the car that was causing the enormous traffic jam: A red van, parked ON THE ROAD, all four doors open, all passengers gazing out at the field on the bank. I calmly approached one of the guilty, a seemingly nice old lady, and politely told her that "it was actually illegal to park on a federal road, so if [they] could please keep driving or pull off." WELL... That B!^$% looked at me with every foul bone in her body and smartly said, "Um... Aaaand you are!?" Wooooo... There went all my patience for people enjoying the park. I yelled at the woman that I was from the state of Montana where I know it's ILLEGAL to park on any road maintained within park boundaries and that if she didn't move her vehicle RIGHT THEN I would report her license plate number to the nearest park official I came across. She continued to foul mouth me back saying I was being ridiculous, and as I walked away (still yelling), people inside their cars who had heard the whole argument began to clap their support for me. Sooo... I got back into the truck, relayed the story to Kev, who was ever so proud, and within seconds traffic began to go forward again.

Fortunately, we haven't had a run-in since then. At least, not one bad enough to rile us up too much. Either we're becoming more adept at accepting asinine people, or more adept at avoiding them. Anyway... I digress... :)

We've really found a niche here, and have already made plans to return for another summer. Kevin's ultimate goals of becoming a fly fishing guide mean at least one more grunt year as a shop boy before any promotion. I have learned that full-time retail is not my thing. Although highly proficient at it ("Why, yes, let me show you which fly to throw on the Madison..."), previous employment as a cruise ship singer has spoiled me. In that life, working 3 hours was a lot. And the pay isn't even comparable. So, while the summer season is in the early stages of wrapping up, I plan to contact the local radio station for possible voiceover work (which has been a side job of mine for quite sometime now... In fact, those in the Florida network of grocer Piggly Wiggly have heard my 'weekly specials' a few weeks at a time). There ARE two local theatres in town. However, one is heavily Mormon influenced, and the other dress in red cowboy shirts, jeans, boots, and hats prance around town every night at 6:30 singing "Home on the Range." I wouldn't want to be a diva by saying there's no way in Hell I'd do that. So, hopefully with a lighter schedule next year, I'll be able to express my art by writing more music and performing the local venues here. To be honest, Kevin makes me happier than anyone or anything I've ever done, so any silly thing to pay our modest bills will suffice.

On that note, I am excited to say I have a short 2 month contract on the ships this fall. I will be replacing the soprano that actually replaced ME back in January (she's been on for a LONG time!). I'll be heading out October 9th flying to Rome (one of my favorite European cities - or cities in general!). For the first month, I'll see welcomed familiar sites in the Mediterranean (Greek food and Turkish hookahs here I come), but then head to the unfamiliar with a trip through the Suez Canal to Egypt, India, and the Seychelles finally flying back December 2nd out of Cape Town, South Africa. I am certainly looking forward to my spoiled lifestyle AND the traveling. I have been blessed with the bug, and I'm just itching to get around the world some more. Kevin plans to finish the month of October here, then move us back to NC so he can start at REI in Asheville again. We originally planned to go to Colorado for the winter, but for multiple reasons decided it best to head towards home for the Holidays. I couldn't be happier being closer to family for Christmas and it'll give Kevin and I a chance to visit with everyone we love.

So as we enjoy the rest of our blissful summer, I hope those reading are finding joy in their summers as well!

p.s. I love how many of my friends have started blogs! As if Facebook stalking weren't enough, now I get the inside scoop! Keep it up my blogging buds!