Good Bye Tourists

Many businesses, here in my small town, depend upon the money they make during the summer tourist season, to survive the rest of the year. We can't avoid it, it is a necessary part of life living so close to Yellowstone National Park. We enjoy watching the tourists as they oooh and ahhh at the local scenery and "wild-livestock" (deer, moose, bison, wolves, etc...) that we have in abundance here. We see, through their eyes, what we get to take for granted.

Some of the tourists get so enthralled that they pack up and move here from their various Suburbias! Gasp!! But alas, they don't stay long, as our mild and beautiful summer turns into a nasty, harsh, dangerous and brutal winter --- that lasts 9 long months. My husband says that "our weather here, keeps the riff-raff out." Some of our tourists buy a summer home and stay for just the summer.

The tourists are so funny. They take pictures of the craziest things. I once saw a tour bus full of Japanese, get out, line up and everyone took pictures of the McDonald's semi-truck unloading hamburgers and drink cups into the back of a McDonalds.

These are tourists taking pictures of a moose....

It is the typical scene on the road sides all through Yellowstone Park. The tourists get out, clog up the roads, and get extremely close to the wildlife. The Park Rangers try to direct traffic and yell at picture-snapping nuts who want to touch the bison. check out the link.This area really is a wonderful playground for fishing, boating, water skiing, hiking, geocaching, camping, and river-rafting. We are selling our boat this week and will be looking for a river-raft to buy instead. The rivers here are closer to us than the lakes. Victor took two of his kids on a two day float trip this past weekend. They fished and relaxed and found a small island to camp on over night. They had a blast!

This is a picture of the Yellowstone River as it runs through the Paradise Valley 5 miles from my home.

Other visitors to our fair town are Harley Davidson riders who come from all over the country to attend their annual convention in Sturgis, North Dakota. I'm not sure what goes on there, but many ride right through our town. They come singly, in pairs or in convoys! I have found them to be respectful and loud!

I'll tell you what I won't miss, is the endless parade of campers and mobile homes. Our town is small; we only have 3 stop lights and most of the year we don't need them. The campers/mohos clog up the streets and they get lost all the time.

Soon, my blog will begin complaining about the wind, snow and frigid temperatures and I will be reminiscing about the wonderful summer months. But for now.... I am looking forward to September, when most of the tourists will be home and we can enjoy the land we live in --- by ourselves. Am I wrong to not want to share?