home, again

While we were on our road trip, we were repeatedly asked where we were from. A simple question, but Steve and I would look at each other with raised eyebrows, not sure what the other person was going to say. People probably thought we were Bonnie and Clyde, two shifty strangers on the run...

But what to say?

Boston: where we last had a permanent address, and where Steve was born?

Chicago: where I'm from, where we spent our break, and where a lot of our mail now goes?

Connecticut: where Steve's from, and where the rest of our mail goes?

Wyoming: where we have a PO Box, and where we'll be until at least October?

And if the answer is anything other than Boston, how to explain the Massachusetts plates???

I'm writing this from our new home in Mammoth Hot Springs. Yesterday we moved into our place here in the YCC, known around these parts as the Yak Camp (not sure why, but it's fun to say "oh, we live in the Yak.") We're tucked away in a small cluster of park service housing, the entrance road on the wide curve just below the upper terraces, near the base of Bunsen Peak.


I realize we've skipped over the Utah leg of our trip, and we'll get back to that this weekend, promise (once I sort through our over 300 photos, eek.) Tuesday morning we took off from Idaho Falls. The day before we'd been in 80 degree weather in Utah; this is what we were met with in Idaho:


Mountain roads + snow = very, very slow going. No plows, lots of nail biting. We finally left Idaho behind and made it to Montana


and were relieved when we made the last turn south towards Gardiner and the park.


Our neighbors were waiting for us.


This morning we woke up to sunny skies and an afternoon high of 50-something. What a difference a day makes. Here's the view from our kitchen window


and from our bedroom window.


It's good to be home.

PS While we're working in the park, this question is much easier to answer. When someone here asks where you're from, what they really want to know is where you were born. Phew, we got that.