Spending a significant time in the West is one of our family's favorite summer traditions. We've been doing it for 39 years and it goes back even further if you count my husband's childhood. Over the last few weeks, I've been chronicling our 2019 trip to the Wind River Range of Wyoming and the stops we made afterwards. You can read Part I here, Part II here, and Part III here. America's Favorite National Park After 8 days, we left our primitive camp in the Wind River Range to head north. Our two youngest had never seen Yellowstone which seemed unacceptable since they were practically adults now. So we pulled into a Yellowstone campground to spend 2 nights and a full day hitting the typical highlights of this unique park. One day is not near enough to see it all, but we had the perfect weather and made … [Read more...] about Heading West Part IV
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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!
Christmas in Tennessee
Spending Christmas 2018 away from home was both a risk and an adventure. We weren't sure if giving up a tree, exchanging presents, baking cookies and the cold weather up north would also leave the Christmas spirit behind. Our AirBnB house, however, had a beautifully decorated tree and being together was gift enough to make the time extra special. Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose We woke on our first morning to a magical scene with frost on all the trees and fog settling in like a cloud. This male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was visiting one of the trees on the property. I have seen one at my winter feeder for a month or so but I believe he must be passing through. Kentucky on south to Panama is their normal wintering home. Can you see the Yellow? Not much is it! Land of Cedars We … [Read more...] about Christmas in Tennessee