National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Originally Posted by patclairesmom
The buffalo are truely an awesome sight to see. We saw 2, both sitting close to the road. Has there been more fires in Yellowstone? I had thought that most of the fire evidence was from the fire in 1988.
There have been numerous fires - both natural and man made. The Park Service only controls fires that threaten man-made structures now, since fire is a natural part of the ecosystem.
So your minivan was equipped for off-road driving?! Just kidding. (we did a lot of that in Arizona this summer too. eh, it's a rental) Aren't those buffalo interesting? They still do that - just sit by the road. My parents have some photos from our trip in 1982 where they were sitting in the road. Litearlly. Caused a bit of a traffic jam too. But made for some great pictures!!
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
You're really in the right place at the right time on this trip... great weather, and the native wildlife greeting you along the way. Seems like an odd spot for him to settle for a rest. He must have known you were coming!
I think he must've heard me, because literally just before we saw him, I was complaining that we hadn't seen much wildlife!
The buffalo are truely an awesome sight to see. We saw 2, both sitting close to the road. Has there been more fires in Yellowstone? I had thought that most of the fire evidence was from the fire in 1988.
That was the big one, but I think, to be honest, there are fires every year. While we were there, there was a list of fires burning - and there was a huge one to the southeast of Yellowstone Lake. We were told it had been burning for (I think) three weeks by the time we got there. Generally, they let them burn themselves out, unless it's endangering humans/wildlife.
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There have been numerous fires - both natural and man made. The Park Service only controls fires that threaten man-made structures now, since fire is a natural part of the ecosystem.
Aaaah... Terri got there first with an answer - glad to know I was right!
So your minivan was equipped for off-road driving?! Just kidding. (we did a lot of that in Arizona this summer too. eh, it's a rental) Aren't those buffalo interesting? They still do that - just sit by the road. My parents have some photos from our trip in 1982 where they were sitting in the road. Litearlly. Caused a bit of a traffic jam too. But made for some great pictures!!
Well, it seemed to do fine... I was fascinated by the buffalo - another animal I now love!
You wait - there's going to be something similar to what you described coming up over the next few days....
Friday 9 September – part three: more beautiful scenes
We found our way briefly back on to the main road, once we finished with that drive, then went to see the Petrified Tree, but it was a bit of a hike, so we just took photos from the car park area. Already, it was hot and Mark in particular was struggling, as the whole park appears to be at altitude and was leaving him pretty breathless. We were both drinking a lot, as every time we got out of the car, we felt parched.
As you can see, the car didn’t exactly emerge unscathed from our foray down the dirt road...
We carried on past Tower-Roosevelt, as sadly everything there was now closed for the season. They had only started to close things this past week, which was ironic, as the area was certainly feeling the heat today!
Our next stop was for the Calcite Springs overlook and this was just stunning. The water beneath us was such beautiful colours.
We stopped again a little further down the road at the Tower Falls Overlook. It was getting very hard to move very far, very fast, as either we’d see stunning scenery and stop to view it or we’d spot another overlook and get out to explore. As you can see, this one had a few more facilities....
On the way down to Canyon Village, we stopped in this valley, which according to the sign is the preserve of bears. Thankfully, we didn’t see any, but I think Mark was a bit disappointed by that. Me? I was perfectly happy with my bear up a tree sighting in Alaska
Next: this just gives me something else to worry about!
So many different kinds of scenery in the area! I'm impressed with how much you can see from the roads and overlooks and without hiking a trail. Too bad some areas were already closed, but I guess you trade that for the lower crowd levels.
So many different kinds of scenery in the area! I'm impressed with how much you can see from the roads and overlooks and without hiking a trail. Too bad some areas were already closed, but I guess you trade that for the lower crowd levels.
I was delighted with how much we could see with very little effort. I'm sure if you make the effort, the scenery is even more stunning, but we just didn't have the energy. And you're right about the lower crowd levels being a trade-off. I would hate to visit Yellowstone in the peak season.
Friday 9 September – part four: this just gives me something else to worry about!
We drove up Mount Washburn, with the scenery changing as we climbed up...
Another stopping point showed us the heart of the caldera, where the massive eruption took place millions of years ago. We would be learning more about this in a moment...
We headed into Canyon Village and to their Visitor Centre.
In here, you learnt all about Yellowstone’s history with both volcanoes and earthquakes. As I said to Mark, I’m not sure this is something I should see – it just gives me another thing to worry about... It was fascinating reading and I really enjoyed the video about all the studying that they do here to predict earthquakes and eruptions. I bet this is one amazing place to study!
We drove over to Canyon Lodge, looking for something to eat, as it was nearly 2:00pm already. We looked at the cafeteria, but there wasn’t much on the menu for me. We tried the deli next door, but again, nothing grabbed me. Finally, we looked at the menu for the dining room and that looked good to me.
In we went and what a beautiful setting this was:
We both ended up going for the soup and salad buffet, where you could have as much as you like of either. It was very good and just what we needed to keep us going, as after all, our dinner would be in five hours’ time!
We headed out through the gift shop, where I found a T-shirt I liked. If I thought I was getting away lightly, I was wrong. I spotted a Christmas ornament for $5, so had to have that as well, then Mark informed me that there was a Yellowstone 12x12 scrapbook. Ok, then – sold! I also found some stickers and a die-cut, but as I spent over $50, at least I got a reusable bag free of charge...
All full again, we hit the road for the best section of today’s trip. We set off on the North Rim Drive, visiting the various lookout points on the way. They all offered stunning views of the Yellowstone River, hurtling on its high speed journey far below us. It was amazing to hear its roar, often way before you could actually see anything. We started at Lookout Point...
Next: I like seeing animals, but not that close! :
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Just kidding. (we did a lot of that in Arizona this summer too. 
eh, it's a rental) Aren't those buffalo interesting? They still do that - just sit by the road. My parents have some photos from our trip in 1982 where they were sitting in the road. Litearlly. Caused a bit of a traffic jam too. But made for some great pictures!! 
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I was fascinated by the buffalo - another animal I now love! 
Thankfully, we didn’t see any, but I think Mark was a bit disappointed by that. Me? I was perfectly happy with my bear up a tree sighting in Alaska 
And you're right about the lower crowd levels being a trade-off. I would hate to visit Yellowstone in the peak season. 
We looked at the cafeteria, but there wasn’t much on the menu for me. We tried the deli next door, but again, nothing grabbed me. Finally, we looked at the menu for the dining room and that looked good to me. 
I spotted a Christmas ornament for $5, so had to have that as well, then Mark informed me that there was a Yellowstone 12x12 scrapbook. Ok, then – sold! 
: 
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