Golden

Last night we had a golden sunset. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Still Standing

You've seen this ... a barn or shed that is defying gravity. The wind blows, the rain falls, and yet the shed stands. I've always wondered about the stories this shed could tell. If only I could read between the planks and decipher why?

Wildflower Log for July

The wildflowers are blooming like crazy. My front yard is a delightful mix of colors ranging from white to pink to lavender to yellow. Where to begin.

 The asters arrived on the 10th of July, so fall will arrive on time this year. Last year the asters appeared the last day of June, and we had an early fall.

The Indian Paintbrush are still blooming. As the summer progresses, the burnt orange bloom gets longer. As an aside, for several years, the flower was renamed "Wyoming Paintbrush" but last year, the name was changed back to the original. 

The lupines are going to seed. If you look at the picture, you will see tiny pods, which will burst open in a couple of weeks and spread their tiny pea-type seeds for next year.

The 3 spot lily just appeared. It's a delicate shade of lavender with 3 dark purple spots. I love this little flower.

The tiny harebells are "ringing" in the background looking ever so graceful and delicate.

While the salsify is making a bold statement getting ready to parachute seeds for next year. 

RV Steps

Last year I bought a set of RV steps from a couple who were leaving our park. They were only $15, and I thought it was going to be a good deal. The steps sat outside during the winter and by the time we started to work on them this summer, they were a little worse for wear. Winter in Wyoming is not easy.

That's when I discovered that the steps needed to be modified to fit our trailer. We modified the steps to fit our RV. We scraped off a ton of flaking and peeling paint, primed it, and painted it to match the trailer.

It's a good addition to the trailer. 

Natural Lattice

At first glance, this looks like a bunch of trees by a fence...but look closely

The trees are entwined with the fence slats, making a natural lattice. 

Bambi

Finally — I saw a fawn today...the first one of the season for me. The other DrC saw one the other day. This little critter was in the backyard where the young bucks have been hanging out. Today the bucks were gone but Bambi showed up. Bambi is a welcome visitor.

Hiding

Can you see one of “my boys” hiding in the woods? This picture is the closest I’ve been able to get to any of the 4 bucks that are visiting my home this summer. From what I can see, the four of them are not doing much during the day but laying around the outside of my house. They have several places they go to and as soon as they think there is any danger from one of them,  they move to another one. It’s been interesting to watch their antlers grow a bit more each day.

Classic

We saw this beauty on the 4th of July...a classic Thunderbird of the early years. I was convinced it was a 1956 but Eddie thought it was a 1955. We inspected it and came to the conclusion that indeed it was a 1956. Then we looked in the back window and saw a sign resting on the catch-all...it’s a 1957. This car is 62 years old and she is still wonderful. Our only concern was the color...neither of us remember celery and white Thunderbirds. I’m guessing Ford did not make a lot of this color.

Morning Dew

Sometimes when there are low level clouds in the valley

we’ll have a major dewfall. The daisies were incredible

along with the sticky geraniums.

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This geranium is a close relative to the houseplant, unlike the Bicknell geranium I posted the other day.

Independence Day Idaho Falls Style

Yesterday we marked a milestone...the 51st anniversary of our first date. And to celebrate we drove to Idaho Falls to view the 3rd largest fireworks display in the nation. What an event! Folks from the Rocky Mountain states flood into town to watch the spectacle. IF (as it’s called) is ready for the crowds and while it a good party, it’s very orderly.

Every year, Idaho Falls tries to create a better display than they created the year before. This year was no exception. The colors, the booms, the whole atmosphere was a celebration of America. It was a special treat. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

I took over 150 pictures, but I will not display them all. Here are 2 collages showing how we celebrated our anniversary and the 243rd birthday of the United States of America!

Of Flax, Poppies and Wild Geraniums

There are 3 beautiful blooms out right now; two are wild and one is not. Two are quiet and one is loud. The first is flax. The delicate bluish-purple petals of this wildflower always gaze at the sun, When the flax is blooming, summer has definitely arrived.

The second is a domesticated poppy. It is a huge flower with brilliant red petals and a vibrant black center. 

 The poppies fill our little world with bright raucous color. Over the years, this hearty garden flower has spread it’s seeds to decorate all aspects of the landscape.

The last flower of the week is the Bicknell or wild geranium. It’s a soft pink flower that blooms only at the beginning of summer. There is rarely more than one flower on the bush. It is not the geranium you see in window flower boxes. It’s pale, not loud, and rare.

I’ve seen only 3 wild geraniums this summer. Unlike flax and poppies, these are illusive blooms.

Toy Story 4

If you get a chance to see the latest edition of Toy Story, take it. The movie has a cute plot. The characters are charming. The animation is wonderful. The attention to detail is remarkable. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) teaches yet another lesson in a heartwarming and humorous way. To make the experience even better, our “usual” theater had brand new seats. The “dead” seats of the past have been replaced with comfy leather-like recliners with cup holders and lots of space. The Sunday matinee was a winner.

Bachelor Pad

This morning when I came home from my walk, my house looked like a rest home for the deer. I counted 4 in the front yard, 3 in the back and 2 on the side. As soon as they saw me, most fled, but a few did stay back.

This afternoon we have 2 young bucks resting in the shade on the side of the house. They are completely at ease as they are very protected with forest on three sides, the house to their backs.

Two Flowers

There are two flowers blooming right now: lupine and Shasta daisy

I also saw some wild geranium 

Paintbrush and coneflower. I’ll take pictures of them next.

Visitor

We have a shy visitor in our backyard—a young buck. When all is quiet he’s out back munching on the greenery or resting in the shade. His antlers are still growing, and each day I see him they are a little bigger. Only problem is, as soon as he sees me, he flees.

Yesterday, I was able to sneak a picture of him before he saw me. I was “hiding” behind the screen on the porch, and he sauntered up to the “salad bar” when I took a quick picture. The fun part about a screened porch is it’s also an animal blind. So as long as I was quiet, I could enjoy watching him. Suddenly, I made a sound, and off he fled into the woods. 

I wonder if he was born here? I know from past experience that we have a family of deer that hang out in our little patch of the woods. If they stay in the woods they are safe from cars and hunters when the season comes.

Home

After a great vacation with the family, we are home. There’s still snow on the mountains while the valley floor is lush and green.

Which is a stark contrast to the last park we visited. Zion was a 100 degree basin of red rocks and people. I was surprised at the number of folks visiting that national park.

Everyone had a grand time exploring the wonders of this fairyland of rocks. We even saw mountain goats scampering on the steep slick rocks. What a treat.

Now everyone is home. What a treat to spend two weeks with the people we love most. Folks, if you can, carve some time from your busy schedules and get everyone that you can together for a few days. Renew your family bond and enjoy each other. Our next family adventure will be a cruise. I hope we can get a few more to join us for high jinx on the sea.

Bryce National Park

We visited Bryce National Park before the Grand Canyon, but I forgot to post it. My iPhone did a funny thing...it quit taking pictures...and this is the only picture I have. I’ll need to “steal” from the others. Each of the parks we are visiting this year are beautiful examples of what Mother Nature can do when she’s “feeling frivolous.” We certainly live in a beautiful country.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

This year, the Grand Canyon is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary of being National Park. Of course, the “big ditch” is much older than a mere 100 years, and I think it takes at least 100 years to understand the enormity of the it too. Today we tried to wrap our heads around the layers and layers of red and brown and beige rocks that make up the canyon. It takes a leap of faith to realize that a mere river carved the landscape for hundreds of miles into a canyon as immense as the Grand.

Belted Galloways

It isn’t often that you see cows that look like Oreos. I’ve only seen them once before. They are “Belted Galloways” and originally they are a Scottish breed. In 2005 most of the European herd was wiped out with hoof and mouth disease and they were put on the endangered species list. They are slowly making a comeback. They thrive in areas with poor weather and soil, and this area of Utah certainly fills that requirement.

Capitol Reef National Park

One of the little known national parks is Capital Reef. It’s a red rock wonderland of domes and castles and strangely shaped rocks.

We have taken a couple of walks gazing (staring) at the color. We’ve seen ancient petroglyphs and enjoyed fresh baked pies at the pioneer cottage in the tiny old town of Fruita, which is in the park. Capitol Reef is a “dark sky park” and last night we took out our telescope and found Jupiter and 5 moons shining brightly in the nighttime sky. We’re having a grand time.

Ogden

I took this picture outside of Soda Springs on our way to Ogden. The sky looked like it was getting reading to rain, but it just sprinkled. We drove all the way to Ogden, still no rain...then the rain came. A great thunderstorm that was deafening in the RV. The hail clattered on the roof and the thunder growled and then it was over. We plan to leave early tomorrow to avoid driving in afternoon storms. 

Traveling in June

We are “on the road” slowly wending our way to Capital Reef National Park where we’ll meet up with our family. We will be a group of 3 RVs traveling to 4 national parks in the western USA. It’s going to be some trip.

We are more or less recovered from bronchitis and now our only problems are getting used to the elevation —and recovering from a sprained ankle (I fell off a step today). Life goes on and we’re going to have fun despite the challenges that we are bringing upon ourselves.

Memorial Day

I’m remembering a Memorial Day when I was a youngster. Our family always held a backyard barbecue on Memorial Day. This time we were at my uncle’s new home. We had red, white and blue decorations and plans for grilled steaks, potatoes baked on the coals, and the rest of the fixings. There were plans for a game of croquet in the backyard and lots of ice cream for dessert. It was going to be a great day with all the family.

The only thing we could not plan was the weather. The day dawned cold and gray and then the rain came. The coals were started several times but it rained and somehow they would not stay lit. Finally, my uncle put the grill inside a covered hallway between the backyard and the basement. The potatoes were put in the coals, the steaks were started on time, the decorations were put up and all the time we were hoping the weather would change. Instead it got colder and wetter. The picnic tables that were set up in the backyard were abandoned to the warmth of the house. The croquet game was never played. Even with the bad weather, we had a great family afternoon in the house and for dessert we had ice cream. It was a memorable Memorial Day for all the wrong reasons. 

Alive and Almost Well

The last cruise really took a toll on us. Somewhere during the relaxing voyage we caught colds...and those colds escalated into bronchitis. Bronchitis is not any fun...and really not any fun when you’re over 25 (which we both are). We came home and we’ve been coughing and hacking.

The trip home was eventful. Airports are not friendly places with folks serving you smiles and short lines. The modern international airport is wonderful for all that it does; and it’s a nightmare for all that it does not do. We flew from Amsterdam to Seattle in a beautiful plane with a comfy seat that turned into a bed; it had a bunch of great movies for entertainment; and believe it or not the food quite good. The plane was the best part of international travel. The airports are the nightmare.

Getting to distant gates means navigating a maze of shops with people who are as frazzled and lost as the next person. Tensions are always high. Customs/immigration is a hurdle that has to be crossed. This time we had a young man, Joey, pushing the other DrC in a wheelchair through the busy airport.  He was wonderful since we had a small dilemma at passport control. That got settled, giving us time to walk over a mile to our gate. Joey was there the whole time.

Joey was beyond helpful. I asked him if he had was married, and he said he was and he had a 3 year old daughter. I asked him if she would like a blanket and I showed him a pink teddy bear blanket. His face lit up. We gave him a nice tip too. He did a lot of troubleshooting for us as he wheeled us through Schipol Airport.

Our next stop was Seattle and we had 2 wheelchairs pushers navigating the vagaries of the airport, and there were many. The passport control room was filled and a second line had formed outside of it. Lucky for us, we have Global Entry which by-passed passport control. From there we collected luggage; had it inspected; sent luggage back; then went thru a TSA line which was long and crowded. After the TSA agent broke one of my costume jewelry bags during her “inspection” we were free to find the gate for our next flight. Our two “pushers” wheeled us as fast they could to the train, then to the gate. I kept looking at the time as we were supposed to board our next flight by 1:08 and at 1:08 we were still making our way to the gate. We got there to hear an announcement that the flight had been delayed. We boarded about 20 minutes later only to wait some more as the runways were overcrowded.

By the time we left Seattle both of us were frazzled and thankful we had help navigating that really dirty airport. We finally landed in Sacramento and things became a bit easier. We got our luggage, went to the rental car area and started the drive home. 

Needless to say, there was a traffic jam on the freeway, so we took an alternate/ route. By now, we were exhausted. The 2 hour drive home was extra long and something I got to do.we stopped for fast food for dinner, and got home in one piece. We were beyond tired but we went to bed. That’s when we knew we had two problems: jet lag and a cold. We saw a doctor 2 days later and discovered bronchitis and we’ve been trying to recover since then. We are close to being well. A new adventure will start soon.

Oslofjord

Travel is always full of surprises. You never know what you are going to get. You can make plans, and they work as long as reality does not set it. Reality set in on this trip about 4 days ago when the other DrC came down with an “ugly’ and 3 days ago I got it. While we are coughing and sputtering beautiful Norway is floating past our balcony window. To add to the problem is the weather (another “thing’ that cannot be planned).  Yes,  it’s cold,  drippy and wet too. The skies are foggy and gray giving the phrase  “scenic cruising” a whole new meaning. We have seen beautiful Oslofjord in the sunshine, and it is a sight to behold. Today it has an “impressionist” feel. We are staying onboard our ship, in the comforts of our cabin with room service a call away. Not what we planned. When I teach photography courses, I tell my students to take the weather you get, not wish for something else. We are doing that today.

Hearts

As you know, I like to make Teddy Bear blankets, but sometimes I just have to mix things up. This time I made a Heart blanket. I’ve only made this blanket once before ...but that time I made it in a 4 x 4 pattern...this time I crocheted 5 rows with 3 hearts per row. Silky is giving the blanket his hug of approval. I’m giving this blanket to my acupuncturist on the ship as she has worked some serious magic on back. 

Amsterdam

We’ve been onboard the Nieuw Statendam for 2 weeks. During that time we’ve sailed 4,507 miles in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship has 993 crew members from 39 nationalities. While we do not travel quickly, we have an average speed of 15.6 knots per hour, hour after hour. We made landfall at 2 islands in the Azores, Cherbourg, Zeebrugge, and Amsterdam. For the next leg of the journey, we will have 3 stops in Norway. 

On a personal note, the farther north we go, the colder it gets. Today it was 38 degrees, with rain and wind. Yesterday we had rain, hail and wind. Of course I did not pack for super cold weather as I brought one jacket of the “not cold weather” variety. Life and learn. We did not plan to take many shore excursions as we’ve been to every port of call several times. We planned to enjoy the cruise, and to that end, we’ve had a good time. 

Today we landed in Amsterdam. Since we’ve been here several times before, it was the perfect day to use the sauna, mineral hot tub, horizontal shower, and the heated lounge chairs. I had a great time in the spa. Come to think of it, I’ve been enjoying the spa a lot on this cruise. Since I don’t have a warm coat with me, I might as well enjoy the spa. At the end of the day, I want to bring the spa back home. Sadly, I don’t think I can. 

We have another week on the ship as we the sail the North Atlantic in the spring. So far, it’s been a good cruise. 

One More Blanket

This cruise has a had it’s share of sea days. We had 6 days to get to the Azores, and another 3 to get to France. We are in the last day of that set for France. So aside from acupuncture and the thermal mineral spa, I’ve been crocheting. This time, I made a pink teddy bear blanket and I don’t know who I’m going to give it to.

Until then, Silky, our resident travel bear, has laid claim to it. Since this is a pink blanket, it’s perfect for a little girl.