Names Causing one to Question Reality.

Other uniquely named guests who have stayed at our hotels include: Davey Clapdorp, Ravikiran Vemulaspalli, Tilagavady Marius, and Worrarat Thiansathit.

Ghost Towns, Ghost Stories and Jean

This trip was inspired by staring at a map of Montana and noticing four slanted looking black house symbols that the key designated as ghost Towns.  The images conjured up in our heads pivoted around barren landscapes and gray wood water rotted buildings from the 1800s; a tumble weed rolling down the way.  The usual expectations that might come to the unexperienced traveler hoping to prove that everything westerns taught us were true and could be rediscovered in our present day.  We set out for Virginia City, Nevada City, Alder, and Laurin.    

When we arrived, Virgina City was a thriving county seat, Nevada City resembled This is the Place Heritage Park in SLC (meaning that half of the buildings were taken from other parts of the state and full of reenactments by actors dressed in period clothing with an admission price) with a few abandoned trains and a really cool old saloon and music hall open to the public, Alder looked like a ghost town from 1994 full of people for a car show, and Laurin was on old church and a long gravel road into sprawling fields of hay.  The whole experience raised a lot of questions concerning the qualifications required for a community to claim ghost town status.

 

While driving back from Laurin we stopped by a place where people can dig up buckets of gravel and screen out little red gems called Garnets.  Steven Cox, the owner, lives on site in a little house surrounded by various beds of fruits and vegetables.  We know this because at one point he gave us a tour of his property and fed us strawberries from his personal strawberry patch.  He is looking for ways to expand business beyond the scope of his front yard.

 

Our visit to a saloon in Nevada City.

 

The town of Virginia City was very fond of displays for tourists.  This one depicts what a town hanging would have looked like over a hundred years ago. 

Surprisingly, some of the most impressive and unsettling displays in town can be found in the local T-Shirt shop which carried collections of old guns, deformed lambs, and a complete human skeleton hanging on the back wall.  The deformed lamb featured in these two pictures has 7 legs, 4 ears and 2 butts. 

 

We were convinced there was something Biblical about this creature.

 

After we had taken in all that our "ghost towns" had to offer we headed back to West Yellowstone to meet up with our friends there and then to Island Park to visit Ben Rock and his parents at their cabin for some pizza and then smores around a camp fire.

 

 

 

Ben Rock (pictured sitting next to Ben Nelson) told us an American style scary story around the fire for our friends Anar from Azerbaijan and Enes from Turkey. 

 

Enes returned the favor by telling us about a demon named Jean that is considered to be very frighting in the Muslim world.  He described Jean as being 2 Seans tall and very fat.  Jean has claws where his finger nails would be which he uses to slash person's throat and has backward feet but he walks forward like normal; jean is covered in ruddy red hair.

 

"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike."

 Cycling, a common form of recreation enjoyed whenever we're able.

 

Enjoyment & Employment

During the hot summer months of July & August,  many are hard pressed to find a room in West Yellowstone without having made a reservation multiple weeks in advance.  Tuesdays tend to be among the busiest of nights due to the swarm of Asian tour buses in town.  Vacancies are sparse, and often travelers must venture over an hour in either direction to locate a spare room.

With the tension of no available rooms, the wrath of weary worn tourists, and the pressure of being the only available guest services provider on sight, it is nice to occasionally escape the "stress of the desk" at our numerous other jobs.

When not behind the front desk at the Yellowstone Country Inn, Sean can frequently be seen sorting various texts and memoirs at the BookWorm.  Here also is a rare photographed sighting of the owner Scott (in the background), whose credentials and life story rival those of Butch Cassidy, Ghandi, and Oprah Winfrey.

Aside from front desk work, Jake, Chase, and Drew enjoy work at Bear Country Bakery.

Pictured below are some of their coworkers:

Alsatia & Taylor, whose ages combined barely reach 30.

Lanette, Char, and Phyllis: Pastry bakers, goodie makers, and heart takers.

Harley.

  The end.

"Party in the City where the Heat is on"

"All ages and races. Real sweet faces. Every different nation. Spanish, Haitian, Indian, Jamaican.  Black, White, Cuban and Asian."

Due to the unique natural phenomena of Yellowstone National Park, people from all over the globe flock to the small city of West Yellowstone to work and play during summer months. This makes for endless biological and cultural diversity.  Within a couple of hours, you can see 1 grizzly bear, 30 buffalo, 2 Jamaican servers, 1 moose, 3 Ukrainian housekeepers, 1 Israeli business owner, families of elk, families of Latinos, and a couple of maintenance men from Azerbaijan.

It has been a real pleasure living here as we have been able to befriend these visitors.  Whether it be barbecuing with the baptists from Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, or celebrating America's Independece with a group from Eastern Europe, the city has endless opportunities for good ole foreign fun.

 Rachel enjoying a large soda and a display at the Artisan Fair during Independence Day weekend.

There is something enticing about foreigners.  Many of our female comrades from Utah are enthralled with Enes from Istanbul, pictured above and below.  

Though we know not her name, many of us lads are equally enticed by an exotic Tijuanan temptress who cleans rooms at the Yellowstone Park Inn & Suites.

The not so infamous West Yellowstone Fourth of July Parade.

Sitting atop the balcony of the Geyser Grill enjoying fireworks, or as our friend Romina from Romania mistakenly calls them - "firefolks."

Celebrating Chase's 22nd amidst our growing West Yellowstone Family.

 

Unacceptable hair.

We have encountered many characters up here in West Yellowstone, some of which we have attempted to describe.  Well, here's another.  We don't really know her, but she works at the bank.  Her hair resembles a water fountain gone awry.  Ever heard the phrase "rat's nest" to describe hair? Having seen this 5-inch high, scrappy hair-do, you will know where the nickname originated.  That's really the only thing interesting about this lady (that we know of at least).  These pictures hardly do it justice.

We pretended as if we were taking a picture of Jake in the bank. So, Here's the first attempt:

And the cropped image:

The second attempt:

And the cropped image (and this one will help you appreciate it's greatness):

Yes, it's real.  Or so we think.