Old Faithful

April, 2006, From Central Texas, it is 2222 (or so) miles to the banks of Puget Sound.
As most know, Texas is called the Lone Star State, I suppose it gets that nickname from the single/Lone Star in it's flag. Tejas could be called the Lone Wolf State because of the famous Chuck Norris role. ( "In the eyes of a ranger, the unsuspecting stranger had better know the truth of wrong from right. 'Cause the eyes of a ranger are upon you. Any wrong you do, he's gonna see. When you're in Texas, look behind you. 'Cause that's where the ranger's gonna be. ... oops that is another great Texas Ranger role http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/). (Sorry Bub, I know he is your favorite actor) Then again the best and apply named state nickname is " The Green Mountain State ". Translate that into Francias and you will see what I mean. They call Washington the Evergreen State and trust me....it is. I had hoped to see the Space Needle and Mt. Rainier but damn it was raining...a lot. My time in the Seattle area was pretty much uneventful except I found to my amazement that there were tons of Mexican Restaurants (and whores) and the food was very good. Who would have thunk! Now that I think of it, who really does pick all of those apples? The week we were there El Presidente Vicente Fox was visiting the Governor of Washington. I recall the last day we were there I finally got a glimpse of the mountain, I would have to wait a while to see the needle. We decided to take the long way on the return trip home and make a pass through Yellowstone National Park. Once again I found myself wondering/wandering into a beer aisle at some roadside store. (where we stopped for fuel). We were somewhere in Western Montana and I happened once again at new brands of beer. One stood out above all of the rest. I purchased a six pack and tossed it in the back end of the company truck we were driving. Let me state here that I am not an advocate of driving while drunk or while drinking. It is stupid and irresponsible. I admit beer does have alcohol in it and of course, there have been times when I drank way more than I should have. But you know I think I am finally learning to know when to say when. In future writings I will address more on this subject, but I felt now was a good time to broach the subject. When I got home a few days later, ( at about 6:00 AM and much to my spouse's displeasure -since she was getting ready to go to work.) I tasted a few of the beers. My Rating: VERY GOOD. I find this beer in the Western States but I have found in the St. Paul Mn. area and I have purchased some in Oklahoma as well. The brewery makes other beers which I shall review later but I must say they are all good. http://bigskybrew.com/index.aspx
So on we went. We arrived at the North entrance ( the Roosevelt Arch)of the park at around midnight or a little after. There were no clouds in the sky neither was the moon shining, so it was pitch dark. Plus to our dismay we found that the speed limit in the park in 35 mph. By this time, we had been on the road for about 12 hours. Sight seeing was not big on our agenda. I do remember Mark slamming on the brakes about an hour into the park and exclaiming "Holy Shit". There in front of us and in the middle of the road were three of

the largest buffaloes I had ever see. Later we arrived at this large parking area with signs indicating we had arrived to the Old Faithful area. I noted it was 9 degrees outside and I was wearing shorts and sandals. I had to go to the bathroom and found I could run a lot faster than I had realized I could. I attempted to convince my travel mate to stay there in the parking lot until the sun came up so we could witness one of the greatest natural phenomenon on earth. But he was ready to go so I rolled the window down hoping I could at least I could here the geyser. No luck there either. Well at least I had my Moose Drool. Cool pic on the label. This started a new hobby of mine, collecting tee shirts, caps, pint glasses and bottle openers. More on that later.....




Happy Birthday tomorrow, Bub,


The Third