Yellowstone National Park

Our second park was Yellowstone. A much different park that the Tetons. Sarah and I were both very much impressed with the Tetons grandeur. Yellowstone is equally as impressive, but in different ways. It is full of strange phenomenons like Old Faithful and bubbling sulfur pots. Randomly steam will come out of holes in the ground or mud will be boiling. We even saw a lake of acid, worse than any battery acid we could come in contact with. UGH. Plus Yellowstone is full of wildlife. Which we were lucky enough to see a lot of.

FIRST STOP: OLD FAITHFUL, BLOWS EVERY 93 MINUTES OR SO, GIVE OR TAKE SOME. 

I THINK SARAH AND I WERE BOTH AMAZED BY THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WATCHING THIS EVENT. EASILY 500 PEOPLE SITTING ON THE "SIDELINES" WATCHING OLD FAITHFUL BLOW!

THE GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING, A VERY DEEP BLUE COLOR WITH BRIGHT ORANGE SURROUNDING IT. 

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS

YELLOWSTONE CANYON. BEAUTIFUL COLORS!

SARAH THOUGHT ABOUT DIVING OVER, BUT I HELD HER BACK.

WALKING DOWN UNCLE TOM'S TRAIL TO GET A VIEW OF THE LOWER FALLS. THIS TRAIL IS ABOUT 340 STEPS DOWN, QUITE A CLIMB BACK UP. 

SARAH AND I REALLY ENJOYED SEEING THE WILDLIFE. WE ESPECIALLY GOT EXCITED WITH THE GRIZZLIES. HERE IS ONE IN A FIELD OF FLOWERS. 

PRONGHORN DEER

BLACK BEAR VERY CLOSE TO OUR CAR!

AND ONE OF THE COOLEST WAS ONE OF TWO WOLVES WE SAW. IT WAS GETTING PRETTY DARK AND HE WAS QUITE FAR AWAY, SO PICTURES ARE LIMITED. 

The funny thing with Yellowstone is you know there is an animal ahead if there are cars lining the roads or even stopped on the road with people jumping out with their cameras. I think both Sarah and I felt a little touristy and silly as we did the same things, but oh well, might as well join the crowd in this situation right? We had fun and saw some amazing wildlife that we don't see on a regular basis. 

Teton National Park-Road Trip Part 1

Sarah and I headed off on another road trip. We always seem to choose a national park to visit. This time we headed to the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. We didn't plan a ton for the trip, just were hoping to do a two or three night backpacking trip up in the mountains. We didn't plan for a summer of "colder than normal" weather and tons of snow leftover, so we weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into. As you can tell by the pictures, the weather was great for the first few days. At the ranger's suggestion we planned for one day hike and two nights in the back-country. 

OUR 13 MILE DAY HIKE TO SURPRISE LAKE

TRULY MAGNIFICENT MOUNTAINS

SECOND DAY OF HIKING: OUR HIKE INTO OUR CAMPSITE, HERE I AM RELAXING!!

DAY THREE: HIKE UP TO LAKE SPLENDOR FROM OUR CAMPSITE IN THE CASCADE CANYON NORTH FORK

OF COURSE WE DECIDED TO HIKE A LITTLE FURTHER UP TO PAINTBRUSH DIVIDE

WE MADE IT UP AND SARAH CLIMBED EVEN MORE!! IT WAS A TOUGH HIKE, BUT THE WAY DOWN WAS MUCH EASIER SLIDING AND RUNNING ON THE SNOW. 

UNFORTUNATELY ON THE WAY DOWN THAT DAY, THE CLOUDS ROLLED IN AND BY THE TIME WE GOT TO OUR SECOND CAMPSITE, IT HAD STARTED RAINING. UGH

SO, WE STARTED HIKING OUT LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.

STOPPED ALONG THE WAY TO HAVE SOME DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI! SARAH DOES A GREAT JOB DEHYDRATING FOOD FOR THESE TRIPS.

So, it was a very long day of hiking for us. 17 or so miles...and the last few were pretty exhausting. We were very happy to see our car and take our shoes off. The next day we headed to Yellowstone! More pictures to come!

Swimming at the Hotel

Some of the local boys in our neighborhood invited me to go swimming at the hotel in Snegiri. Their names were Алёша, Максим, и Денис (Alyosh, Maxim, and Denise).

THIS IS ALYOSHA AND DENNIS TAKING A BREAK FROM OUR GAME OF "DIVE IN AND FIND THE WEIGHTS"  THEY ARE COOL KIDS.

The pool was really refreshing because the temperature was almost 36 degrees (95 farenheight) We found three weights and threw them into the pool and then whoever found 2 out of the 3 won. We played for awhile and then got kicked out because one of the main ladies that worked at the hotel doesn't like Maxim ( I think they had some type of history, so it was her turn to get him) but oh well. It was still fun while it lasted.

HERE IS A GOOD PICTURE OF THE POOL. I SLID THE SLIDE ONCE. 

The boys out here in the neighborhood are lots of fun to hang out with and I feel like I can make a good impact in their lives. Truthfully in my understanding these boys don't really have good role models. That is one thing Russia is lacking is (good honorable men) and I think they would tell you the same thing. I feel like the boys out here get a sort of rotten deal because there isn't really that many men for them to learn from. I see very honest and honorable men at the church but outside of this place it seems most men drink, smoke and don't seem to kind in heart. But that doesn't mean I can't try to show them that a better way to live exists. So anyway that is one thing I have been learning out here.

ME AND DENISE TAKING A BREAK WITH OUR SCUBA MASKS.

Training and Sleeping

These are pictures of last Saturday when I went to a karate training session with my buddy Anton. I was just a spectator but it was still a lot of fun. They just use a playground in the middle of these huge high rise apartments. I really liked the grass roots approach their trainer takes to training. He doesn't have all the new and cool tools  (or even safety equipment for that matter) for teaching karate.

THIS IS THE WARM UP EXERCISES FOR ANTON'S KARATE CLASS. I'M PRETTY SURE I WOULD GET KILLED PARTICIPATING... JUST ABOUT EVERYONE WAS REALLY BIG!!!

I also wanted to just mention how people here in Moscow have this awesome ability to sleep on Метро-metro. This metro is so noisy and it rocks back and forth sometimes quite violently all the while it's passengers sleep soundly like little babies. And then somehow they always wake up in time for their stop. This is one thing that puzzles me. I watched one lady as she sat there deep in sleep for 4 stops, not waking up once. Then all of a sudden the lady on the intercom said " Следушая Остановка: Сухинская" (sledooshaya ostanovka: sooxinskaya) and the lady magically woke up and walked right off the metro. I chuckled to myself. I just wonder if every once in awhile someone misses their stop? I mean it has to happen every once in awhile, right?

A LITTLE BLURRY BUT IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY ALL 4 PEOPLE SITTING ARE SLEEPING. I ALSO HAD A Дедушка/grandpa LAY HIS HEAD ON MY SHOULDER AND SLEPT... I JUST WENT WITH THE FLOW AND ANTON LAUGHED AT ME.

Ёжeг

Last night I was standing on the balcony of our building and I saw something move in the grass across the street. I zoomed in on it with my eagle vision and lo and behold it was a Ёжeг (yozheg- hedgehog) Apparently these things are everywhere in the Russian villages. They come out at night and try to eat things in your garden. I had it on my list of things to do to catch one and then I forgot that it was on my list until I saw him last night.

When I tried to catch him at first he poked me and it actually hurt. He had a good little defense system. But not good enough... I caught him and picked him up. If he wasn't so darned prickly I would have set him on my chest and snuggle with him!!! So anyway I am proud to say that I caught my first Ёжег.

IF YOU WANT THIS IS A FUN CARTOON ABOUT RUSSIAN HEDGEHOGS BEING FRIENDS WITH RUSSIAN BEARS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moIxGjCV4CY

Grandmas and Grandpas

I wanted to dedicate today's blog to Бабушки и Дедушки (babooshki i dedooshki / grandmas and grandpas) They aren't my real grandma an grandpa, but out here in Russia that is what you call them as a show of respect. If you want to clarify that is your specific grandma you say Моя Бабушка ( moya babooshka) I forgot to take my camera to church today but next week I'll put some cool pictures of babooshkas that go to my church. They are so nice and they always make me drink tea with them and tell me stories (I think they like me because I will listen to them go on and on about stuff)

 I SAW THIS Дедушка ON THE METRO AND THOUGHT HE LOOKED REALLY COOL. OFTEN GRANDPAS WHERE MEDALS TO SHOW THEY WERE IN WWII. IT MEANS A LOT FOR RUSSIANS TO SAY THEY WERE AROUND DURING WWII. 

THIS BABOOSHKA SAT NEXT TO US ON THE ELECTRICHKA, SHE HAD GONE INTO MOSCOW TO BUY FOOD. WHEN SHE WAS GETTING READY TO GET OFF SHE HURLED ON THIS BACKPACK THAT WAS BIGGER THAN HER WHOLE TORSO. I ASKED IF SHE WANTED ME TO CARRY IT AND SHE SAID I WAS NICE BUY THERE WAS NO NEED. I COULDN'T BELEIVE THIS 100 POUND WOMAN WAS CARRYING AT LEAST A 45 POUND PACK.

Going to the Store

My camera has been with my friend Natasha for the last two weeks in Chebeksari,Russia so this is why I haven't had as many new photos to bring. However I have it back now so you can expect some good new stuff in the near future.

NATASHA TOOK MY CAMERA TO CHEIBEKSARI, RUSSIA AND SHE TOOK SOME REALLY GOOD PICTURES OF A REALLY BEAUTIFUL PLACE.

 Today I went Ice Skating at the Mega Mall. Natasha wanted to go shopping so I sat down at a table and read a book and took a little cat nap. After she was done looking for a shirt under 3000 rubles (105 Dollars) which she found a few but not many, we went to АШАН (Ashan). This is basically Russia's answer to Wal-Mart. It has everything you could ever want and it is ALWAYS packed with people. Other than everyone speaking Russian, it seemed like I had been transported back to America into a crowded Wal-Mart or Fred Meyers (west coast).

                               

THE AISLES WERE VERY CROWDED AND THIS WAS ON A WORK DAY. EVERYONE TELLS ME YOU CAN HARDLY MOVE ANYWHERE ON THE WEEKENDS.

THIS WAS THE BIGGEST DAIRY AISLE I HAD EVER SEEN AND THIS WAS ONLY 50% RUSSIANS LOVE THEIR "МОЛОЧНЫЕ ПРОДУКТЫ" (Molochniye prodookti/ dairy products)

THIS IS THEIR LABEL. A LITTLE RED BIRD SAYING " Идите суда и дайте мне всё деньги" 

(eedeetye ee daitye mne vsyo dengee/  Come and give me all your money)