Another beautiful day!

Hi there everyone, We have had a couple more lovely days in Yellowstone. Yesterday we drove all the way down to Old Faithful and got there 5 minutes before it went off! Saw lots of other amazing thermal features in the area. It really makes you wonder about the stability of the ground you are standing on. But it was quite a long drive from the north entrance. Today we returned to the Lamar River valley for some fishing and bison watching. Still working on photos. Love you all. Wendy Okay lots of photos again So Above are pics from the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. Look at the color on the canyon sides! These are photos of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River and Uncle Tom's Trail to an overlook by the falls. Michael made that hike without me. As you see on the sign it is 328 steps at 8000 feet above sea level! The first pic is Old Faithful followed by other thermal features in the area. The colorful photo with green and gold shows the thermophilic bacteria that live in the hot water, the gold bacteria live in the hotter water and others that live in cooler water make the green color. And there I am standing in the middle of the Biscuit Basin area. And one last one of a bison who was rolling in the soda near one of the feature just off the Firehole River.

Slough Creek

Hi ya'll Yesterday Michael and I hiked a couple miles in and over a ridge to Slough Creek. There were these beautiful open meadows along the creek and we hiked across the marsh grass to a spot for Michael to fish. I sat nearby and kept a watch out for bears. We saw lots of bison, some common mergansers (diving ducks) and a bunch of super cute chipmunks. It was a moderately difficult hike but well worth the effort. Hope this finds you all well. And a big HAPPT BIRTHDAY !!! To Alison in the Pacific Ocean on Trevoning. Wendy Okay there was a lot in the last couple of days since I posted so here come a bunch of photos from the first day we drove into Yellowstone National Park and we drove through Mammoth Hot Springs area and saw the thermal features there, along with the resident elk herd, and then drove into the Lamar Valley and out the other side up to Beartooth Pass. Please note the photo Michael took (you can see him in the mirror) as he made me drive down from Beartooth Pass, the curviest road anywhere! And if you want to see the goPro video of the descent just ask Michael! And here are the pics from Beartooth Pass Now here are the photos from our hike to Slough Creek along with lots of bison pics and big horn sheep. Click on the photo above the bison on the road and you will see lots of black specs on the plain-those are all bison. it was like seeing animals in Africa there were some many out on the savanna.

Waiting for the crack of dawn

Hi all, Michael and I relocated yesterday from the Glacier area to just north of Yellowstone. It was a great scenic drive as we stayed off the interstate and went thru little towns and various national forests. We are staying in a lovely guest house on Laura and Vern Smith's horse ranch. Yesterday Vern mentioned a place nearby that bears come out into a pasture to dig caraway roots. We came up and saw bears last night and saw five bears. So this morning we are back in the same spot and Michael sees a mama grizzly with one cub and we are waiting on more! How awesome is this! Gotta go look at bears.... Wendy Okay here are the photos from the drive to Yellowstone from Glacier and one picture of a bear with cubs (you are gong to have to trust me on this as she was far away and the photo is tough to see, click on the photo and the bear and the cubs are in the lower left corner).

Dear Deer

Hi everyone! Yesterday we were back in Glacier and hiked along the west side of Lake MacDonald. Glad to report that I made it over the fallen log we used as a bridge over the creek and then back again on the return. Good for a girl with no natural grace. The walk along the beach was nice and then we went up on a point over the lake for lunch. Didn't see any big mammals but lots of cute red squirrels and chipmunks. Then we headed back into Columbia Falls to hit the grocery store. We have been mainly cooking our meals at the cabin. But yesterday Michael took me to dinner at the Three Forks Grille and the food was excellent. Today we drove up to the tiny town (pop. 90) of Polebridge Montana. We were about 20 miles from the border with Canada. It has a cafe and a mercantile and bakery. While we were there the post lady came through and I got to meet her wolf-dog who was a sweetie! She just loved everybody and was funny as she was so vocal. From there we drove up the North Fork of the Flathead River and saw plenty of deer both mule deer and whitetail-bucks, does and even fawns. Michael did a little fishing and I got lots of photos (to be posted eventually). This is very beautiful country. Love and blessing to you all. Wendy This is a little mixed up with text and pics, hope you can follow the simple thoughts. W

Rain, snow and beauty

Well we had plenty of precipitation here today! It rained last night and was still raining as we headed into Glacier NP today. We drove the main park road as far as we could but it was closed due to snow at Logan Pass. Of course,being the two Florida kids that we are, we just marveled at the snow, on September 10th! Even the locals are surprised according to a local news reporter who was up near the pass getting video. He bemoaned "Yeah only nine more months of winter!" Despite the rain and the snow the park was truly beautiful. I will post photos at some point I promise but the connection here at the Serene Lakefront Cottage isn't going to allow it today. We stopped at a lodge in the park for late lunch and then decided to take the less travelled road back to the cottage. That route followed the North Fork of the Flathead River and the vistas just kept coming. There were lots of fishing access point along the way and I am sure we will go make use of them in the next couple of days. No bear sightings yet. Yesterday we saw plenty of deer and chipmunks, none today but I think the weather had them hunkering down. TTFN, Wendy So just some great vista photos from this day. do you feel the chill?

Figuring out photos

Here are a couple pics of my favorite guy. I promise more as I get this worked out. W

A crisp Monday morning!

We got to Montana with no worries. It was a very early day and by last evening we were debating how early we could go to sleep. The drive from Missuola was lovely. The cabin is cozy and tidy with Pebble Creek running just below the porch. Michael tried out the creek for fishing yesterday and caught a little trout (not big enough for supper). This morning the temperature was 39 degrees when we got up.that made the gas fireplace very welcome! It is still chilly out there so I am taking it easy for a bit longer while Michael is out doing an exploratory walk. When it is a little warmer and I have finished my tea we are planning to walk to the Swan River for sightseeing and fishing. Just wanted to let you know how things are in Big Sky Country. I have to figure out the posting photos again and will share as soon as I can. Love, Wendy Okay I am adding photos to the previous blogs. Here are pics of the cabin on Piper Creek, Michael fishing the creek and the neighbor dog Tika who seemed to own that chair on our porch.