Home, sweet igloo

© 2011 Lydia Hinshaw

That's our window, just to the left of the "No Parking" sign

The front door of our dorm

 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WY -- We arrived at our summer home Tuesday evening after a long day of paperwork and orientation in Gardiner, MT.

 We will be in bunker mode for a while.  The first-floor windows in our dorm were boarded up for the winter, and the snow is still too deep to allow whoever does these things to get to the windows and remove the shutters.  We must check our watches to see if it's day or night.

 The snow is piled high in many parking areas.  We lucked into a space when we arrived, and have resolved not to move the Magic Bus for a while.  It deserves a rest, after getting us here.

 No rest for us, however.  We spent Tuesday learning to drive 1970s vintage buses that require double-clutching and considerable muscle to get them into gear.

 I was driving this afternoon when we came across a buffalo cow who had just given birth in the edge of the road.  She was cleaning up the little one.  I could not stop to join the throng of onlookers, and I had to keep my eyes on the road,  but the two co-workers on the bus with me were able to see the calf stand for the first time as we passed by.

 What a moment to be stuck with no way to take a picture.