You Know You're In Montana When...

The ski wax report airs on the radio before the winter road advisory.

Elk #6 is a regular visitor to your house (and everyone else's).

20 degrees Farenheit is truly warm weather.

You have multiple recipes for elk.

It seems like owning a Subaru outback is a rite of passage.

Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled in with snow.

The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freezer.

You own more than four pairs of gloves.

The elevation exceeds the population of your town.

Bison jam is not a food product but a traffic phenomenon.

An Arctic Front

We arrived on Monday, January 8th (because only truly sane people move to Montana in the dead of winter) and I parked my car to be unloaded. And that is the last time my car has started without the assistance of some jumper cables. The locals told us that they were expecting an "arctic front." Now, I'm from Pennsylvania; I'm not unfamiliar with the concept of winter. However, arctic fronts, these are new to me.

My first true artic front experience happened at about 6:35 am (no I don't normally go to work this early--it was a special occasion) Friday, December 10th. Fortunately, I was getting to go to Old Faithful but we
had to take a snowcoach (in the winter there is no over the road travel in the park--everyone takes either a snowcoach--a van on snowmobile wheels, or a snowmobile everywhere) to sit in on a training class. I was truly estatic to be getting into the park so soon after my arrival. I was told that normally when we (my boss, Peggy, and I) go to Old Faithful for training in the winter we take snowmobiles (they arrive quicker). However, the weather was too cold (frostbite was too much of an inherent danger). So, we had only one other option: the employee "express" (nothing that takes 2 hours should be deemed "express) snow coach that departed at 7am. Determined from the get go that I would be walking to work (as it is no more than 4 blocks away), I checked the thermometer at the house, which read about -20 F and thought that it must be off. I bundled up and walked my four blocks. In that time the few hairs sticking out from under my hat had frosted over and each of my eyelashes had gathered a dense layer of ice. Absolutely phenomenal. Perhaps the thermometer was not as off as I had thought.

After a majestic 2 hour ride in the snow coach we arrived at Old Faithful. Where I had my second true arctic fornt experience. It was now 9 am and the sun had been up for over an hour. The temperature at Old Faithful (deep in the park and at a much higher elevation than my home): -30 F. But that was warm compared to the -43 F it had been earlier that morning. Despite the temperature the day was beautiful. Crisp, clear, gorgeous January weather.

Moving to Montana

So after a long love affair with Yellowstone National Park, (and a short lived experiment with corporate America) I've finally decided to attempt to commit. I've moved back to Yellowstone(again). But this time I plan on being here for awhile. I've got a lovely house on the river and a view of Electric Peak from my window. I can walk to work, the post office,the grocery store and any one of four bars. Life seems pretty idyllic right now. Never mind the fact that they're calling for an "arctic front."

In any case, I thought you might enjoy a taste of Montana and all this beautiful (albeit, quirky) state has to offer.