Not having the time quite yet to post my pictures and reactions to the wonderful winter tour I took last week [mid January 2012], today I’ll just essentially quote what I wrote to Brenda and Randy, the leaders of my Tauck tour.
What I liked about the Tauck Winter in Yellowstone Event
1. Being treated like royalty. All the Tauck leaders had no other thought than to make our trip enjoyable, comfortable, informative, and memorable.
Paul Schullery and Marsha Karle
- Paul Schullery and Marsha Karle (Yellowstone author and artist, respectively)
- Chico Hot Springs Resort convention center manager Andrew Doolittle
- Bob Landis (foremost wildlife cinematographer)
- Jim Halfpenny—who taught us about cold, although his specialty is wildlife ecology
- Ken Burns (in his short but very moving video of apology for not being there—he is suffering from kidney stones)
- Dayton Duncan—“Mr. Waterworks” (his children call him this, because he tears up so readily)
- Chuck Tauck—who escorted me on his arm across the icy path to the Snow Lodge
- Superintendent Dan Wenk—who graciously listened and agreed with my spiel about the need for shuttle service on Yellowstone’s west side
- George Bumann, an outstanding Yellowstone Institute instructor and artist, who was our Lamar Valley guide
- Gerard Baker—whose incredible talents both as speaker and as spokesperson for the rights of Native American Indians had me in tears throughout his talk
- The young and enthusiastic directors at the Murie Center, Jon Mobeck and Crista Valentino, whom I met in Jackson’s Wildlife Museum.
I could not have arranged to meet all these interesting people on my own.
3. Spending a glorious winter week in “my” park, with all logistics and expenses taken care of in advance.
What I did not like
Leaving.