A Little Bit of Heaven Our family took a much needed break on the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains recently ~ read Part I here if you missed it! We started our trip with 8 days at the headwaters of the Green River in the northern part of the Wind River Range of WY. Bridger Wilderness was a stone's throw away, just on the other side of the river. We learned that this area was "home" to the earliest trappers and the Shoshone Indians (Sacajewea, who led Lewis & Clark through the mountains, was Shoshone). The Mountain Man Fur Trade Rendezvous was held 4 times in the 1830's along the Green River near this spot. As it was then, it is still a grizzly and black bear habitat area and visitors must be extremely cautious. Grizzlies or not, this was THE best primitive campsite we've ever had in … [Read more...] about Heading West Part II
Landscapes
Heading West Part I
Curve balls My apologies to readers of this blog for being absentee the last 3 months. I never envisioned having to lay this new venture of blogging aside so soon, albeit temporarily. Yet life brings the unexpected curve ball on occasion and more urgent needs do take priority. We've had 2 immediate family members with serious but not life-threatening injuries involving many doctor visits, PT appts, MRI's and an upcoming surgery in August, multiple trips out of state (one to sit by the hospital bed of a beloved mother/mother-in-law for 4 days), conference calls, out of state real estate problems, and the pressing task of used truck shopping under a time crunch. As it would turn out, we bought a "new" used truck the day before our current truck's transmission gave out. We call that a God-thing. "Normal … [Read more...] about Heading West Part I
It’s Snow Wonder!
Storm #2 In seven days we've had 2 snowstorms. The first brought us 8 inches and the second brought 4 more inches. In between we had a little melting and settling, so the total right now is about 7 - 8 inches. It's been a rather fun and exciting time! We have to watch the barn gutters in heavy snowfalls like this. The snow tends to slide down the metal roof and gets hung up on the gutters before falling off in large chunks. Several years ago, the gutters on the back of the barn came completely off due to the heavy snow. Then The Wind Blew . . . You can see some drifting starting in this area. At the end of the second storm, we had 30- 40mph winds. Our hilltop didn't suffer the worst because of the trees breaking the wind but in the wide, open farmland nearby, the drifting was bad. Many … [Read more...] about It’s Snow Wonder!
1300 miles of snow!
OK, I confess. Our storm wasn't as good as this, but . . . I'd give it an 8/10. It was the perfect time, the perfect amount! In the wee hours of Friday night while we slept, light snow began to fall. It quickly picked up intensity and snowflake size as Saturday rolled in. Throughout the day we had that picturesque scene from every Hallmark Christmas movie. Big white flakes falling thickly outside while we gathered by the windows inside. There were no worries; we were safe at home, warm and together. We could enjoy it without the stress of driving in it or getting to work or school on time. It hit at the perfect time. This particular snowstorm system was one of the largest I could remember in a long time. It stretched 1300 miles west to east, snowing from Colorado to Pennsylvania, all at the same time. … [Read more...] about 1300 miles of snow!