Baby with Blanket

When we were on the Tahiti cruise earlier this year, I made a number of baby blankets. Today I received a picture of one of the babies

I think it fits her well! 

 

In Canada

We've been in Canada for two days. 

The border crossing was easy. We needed to show our passports, take off our sunglasses, and answer some questions. The guard never looked inside the RV, but we were not expecting that to happen either.   

The first official visitors center is at Milk River and there's a life-sized dinosaur greeting you. This is in the heart of dinosaur alley...lots of big bones have been found in Alberta.

Our first night we stayed in Lethbridge in a nice shady spot. We sorely missed our iPhone map program. Lethbridge is difficult to drive in, and we needed a good set of maps. We used the navigation program on the truck, but it's not nearly as good as the one on the smartphone.

Along the way to Banff, where are now, we saw this neat barn. It's been painted this way for years, and each time I see it, I smile.   

We also like to see the Canadian grain elevators. This one is in the town of Nanton. 

To Great Falls

We drove a little over 200 miles today from Dillon to Great Falls, crossing the Continental Divide several times, each at a higher elevation. As we were crossing one of those Continental Divides near Butte, Montana, we saw a huge white statue atop a mountain.

Tonight I looked it up, and it's a statue of Mary called "Our Lady of the Rockies." The statue was erected 31 years ago. it's non-denominational and dedicated to women and mothers. 

Once in Great Falls, the Missouri River dominates the scenery.     

The river is wide and calm right here. In the days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, that was not the case. In 1805, there were five great cascades here creating a noise that could be heard for days. When Lewis and Clark reached the cascades, they scouted the area and discovered 18 miles of waterfalls that were not easy to cross. 

It took them 31 days to portage their goods "up" the Great Falls. Click here read an account of the "The Great Portage."

The Great Falls were dammed in 1898 and no one in living memory can remember them. However, if you go here you can see some pictures of what the cascades looks like now.

 

Dillon, Montana

We are on a short road trip and our first stop is Dillon, Montana. Dillon is a railroad town that was founded in the 1860s after gold was discovered in nearby Grasshopper Creek. We have not seen Grasshopper Creek, but we did see the old Union Pacific railway station. 

The town has less than 4500 inhabitants, but it seems to have a fair amount of Victorian houses. When the gold was running, a few folks struck it rich and built fancy homes to prove it.

Dillon is the county seat for Beaverhead County. The Court House was built when the town was in it's "hay day" and it's absolutely beautiful.

We are not here long, but it's a town that just calls to my camera. There's lot of charm to be found...maybe next time I'll be able to capture some of it.

 

PS...all the street lights have yellow ribbons on them with the name of a soldier who has served. 

 

Trucks Never Die

In 1983 we bought our first pick up truck. It was a 3/4 ton Cheverolet Scottsdale with a Diesel engine. It was a fairly reliable truck (albeit it had a 6.2 liter Diesel engine that was not very powerful and very noisy). We drove that truck for 175.000 miles all around the United States and Canada pulling a fifth wheel trailer. During the fourteen years we had that truck, we saw pick up trucks of all ages and varieties...some in good repair and others held together with bailing wire...but no matter their "shape" they kept on moving. We came to the conclusion that trucks never die, they seem to last forever. 

Here's a picture of an 83 Scottsdale I found on the web...the truck is still going strong 33 years later. 

 

Given that, here's another truck I see around the valley. It's even older        

It's a 1948 International Harvester truck. It's only 68 years old and it still looks good. I'm now on the look out for even older trucks!        

 

 

1/11702

Let's test your car memory? Are you ready for a little quiz?

Yesterday I saw this wonderful RED car parked at a restaurant. It was ZOOMY. Here's a shot of a front bumper. 

Now...take a look at the radiator and fierce-looking headlight. Any clues as to the car?

How about another view of the headlight and this time, take a look at the exposed front wheel struts on 17 inch wheels.  Definitely not your normal car?

Moving down the driver's side of the car, see the sleek driver's side mirror, and the back wheels with just a glimpse of shiny chrome ...is there a running board? Or a trace of a running board? The 20 inch rear wheels gave this car a rakish look. 

Any guess as to what this car is? 

How about another clue...the rear, including a tail light. Don't you love how the light is integrated into the design?

The next picture is a give away...so this is your last chance to guess the name of the car? 

Any ideas before moving on?

it's a Plymouth! And we all know that Plymouths are no longer being made...so this shiny red car was in production while other Plymouths were still being manufactured. 

Do you give up? Do you know what it is?

It's a Plymouth Prowler. Only 8,532 of these cars were made by Plymouth in 1997, 1999 and 2000. When Plymouth stopped production, the 2001 and 2002 models were made by Chrysler. The model was not made in 1998. This car is a 97, 99, or 2000...I don't know which as they all looked about the same. 11,702 Prowlers were made by Plymouth and Chrysler. They came in a limited number of colors including Inca Gold, Purple Mettalic, Black Metallic, and of course Red. (In my opinion, the best color is red). Chrysler even made a little matching trailer for the car as there was not very much trunk space. 

This is one sexy ragtop and a relatively rare one too. When it was new, a 1997 model sold for under $40,000. It could go 0-62 mph in 7.2 seconds and it's top speed was only 118 mph. Later models went faster!  If you look online you will see a number of these beauties for sale, including one with only 4 miles on it! 

I love beautiful cars, rare cars, and interesting cars...The Plymouth Prowler fits these categories well.

 

Flip-Flops

NO! I'm not talking about politics...I'm talking about baby shoes. Remember I made several pairs of flip-flops last month? Today I received this picture:

To give some perspective, the shoes are 4 inches long! I think they are cute.

 

Goldenrod

Another new bloom in my garden and this one I'm not too pleased about.

It's lush and yellow and full of pollen. The goldenrod is blooming...and now I know why my allergies are acting up. 

 

Hidden Places

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are two of the prettiest places I have ever been. Most folks go to the "standard" places, but I like to visit some of the more out of the way locations. Take a look!

This is Sublime Point about a mile from Artist Point. Almost everyone visits Artist Point, yet few folks walk the extra mile to this more relmote location.

This is a little known staircase at the Old Faithful Inn. Again, most folks see the huge central lobby of the old hotel, but if you walk down the hallway from the giftshop this little gem is on view. The huge railing is natural timber as is the burled post. When the Inn was built over 100 years ago, the architect had folks scour the local forest looking for specially shaped timber. Can you imagine combing the woods for burls of a certain size or trees bent at 45 degree angles?

This picture of the Tetons was taken about 3 miles off the main road. Again, few folks drive this well maintained gravel road deadends at a small parking lot where hikers can go into the "back country." This is a quiet spot where you can get close to the heart and soul of the mountains.

Every so often the sunsets paint the mountains and the lakes pink. It does not happen all the time, but when it does, it's very special. Lake Yellowstone at sunset is magical.

Bachelor Buttons

 

These bright purply-blue flowers appeared today. They are Bachelor Buttons. They look like they are related to carnations...look at the stems and leaves...the flower is not as full, but it is a wild flower not the showy domestic variety.

 

PS....my "big" ugly plant is probably a mullien.

The Beat Goes On...

The wildflowers are maturing quickly. Summer is short in the Rockies, so they need to grow fast, spread their seeds and die before the snow falls. 

Remember that tall weed that I commented on a few days back? It's grown even more and now it has a long stem of flowerets.  

While the bloom is not pretty, it must be sweet as it's covered with ants. The perfect plant for a wildflower garden!

The coneflower is almost at full bloom. There are a few more rows that need to blossom, but you can see where it has already bloomed.   

The asters are having a grand time. They are all over the garden showing off their pretty lavender and yellow faces.   

But the lupine is starting to go to seed. See the tiny pea pods. Each is filled with 3 or 4 tiny seeds that insure there is another generation of lupine in the garden.

 

They Are Gone

 

Just 2 weeks after the robins hatched, they have left the nest. 

I saw one of the birds this morning standing on the edge of the nest. It's about 3 inches tall, without a tail, and of course a speckled breast. The bird looked at me, I looked at it...and then it flew away. I hope it comes back, but for all intents and purposes, the nest is empty. In less than a month, Mama Robin laid 3 eggs, watched them hatch, nurtured them and showed them how to fly away. That's quite a feat!

 

Three Days in Yellowstone

I've been camping with friends in Yellowstone. It's always a treat to take folks to the Parks and see their reactions. This time was no different. The first stop was Old Faithful and she did her thing!

Then we went on the "big game" hunt. We were somewhat successful, but we really had to hunt to find the game. The Hayden Valley which is always filled with bison and other animals, was completely empty. I don't think I've ever seen it devoid of critters in 40+ years of going to Yellowstone. We finally found some bison in the Lamar Valley.      

We also saw two bears in the Lamar Valley. Both were black bears...one was so far up in the tree line we could only see it thru a spotting scope. The other walked right in front of our car.      

We saw our share of elk including this young buck in Mammoth Hot Springs.      

We saw pronghorn in several places in the Lamar, but the best viewing happened in the Grand Tetons where we saw a large herd of about 30-40 individuals. Sadly, we did not get their picture.

We tried to find the one of the wolf packs in the Lamar Valley, but all we saw was their den. Look at the center of the picture and you will see a grayish lump...that's the den. Since wolves are nighttime critters, we did not stay around long enough to see them emerge.

To make up for that, we cheated and went to the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Park in West Yellowstone and saw some wolves and grizzly bears.       

The critters in the GBWDP were rescued from the wild and are unable to return due to injury or age or bad habits (they became used to eating human food and became nuisances). They are well cared for and amazing to watch. So, while we did not see "wild" grizzlies or wolves, we saw the next best thing.

The grizzlies were huge...one Alaskan Grizzly named "Sam" weighed in at 1100 pounds...the others were between 600-800 pounds... A marked difference.

Other critters roam the park, such as Picket Pens (Uinta Ground Squirrels) 

Pelicans      

And other birds. I never get tired of watching for furry and feathered friends and my friends felt the same.

 

Moose

Today we drove the back way into the Grand Teton Park and we saw 2 moose. What a treat. Moose are usually very illusive

Yet here is a mama and her baby. 

Intermittent Springs

Today I took my company to a place I had not been before--the Periodic or Intermittent Spring in Afton, WY. Along the way we saw plinths like this jutting into the sky.

Mountains are not supposed to stand straight up like this...but these boulders don't know they are unusual.

The springs are less than 10 miles out of town...the road starts out as a nicely paved road...then you pass a gate and the pavement leads to a well maintained gravel road that is only open four months a year. After 4.1 miles (if the sign is to be believed) the gravel road ends in a parking lot. After parking the car, we walked about a mile to the headwaters of the spring.    

The stream flows swiflty...and then it will "turn off" for 12-15 minutes, then burst forth again. We never saw the stream "turn off" but we were on the lookout for it to occur.    

The sign tells the whole story. We tested the water, and it was COLD.    

The beauty of the place was amazing.    

I felt like we were walking in a natural cathedral. A beautiful place!