Glacier National Park

This labor day weekend Grady and I are enjoying a drive to Glacier National Park. Today was a very big day with lots of miles, scenery, laughter, and sheer terror as we drove the narrow road through the park, looking over the edge that often had no safety walls. We could not adequately capture such magnificence on film. But here are some photos anyway. We saw no wildlife except for some little mountain goats and by the time I photographed them, they were scampering and I got only their behinds!

Sheilah my friend

Every week I visit my friend Sheilah Hackford, who is from Cornwall, originally. She used to be a nurse in the British army during WW II and she worked as a nurse when she came to America in the 1950's. She has so many wonderful stories to tell. Yesterday I took her to the cemetery to see the graves of 2 of her grandchildren who have passed away. She is one of my best friends.

Garden Spot

I have been thoroughly enjoying a garden this year. I planted beets, pole beans around corn stalks, bush beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. It has been so fun to see things grow again. So far I have only harvested 4 cherry tomatoes (yummy, though!) and 1 cucumber. It is so worth it!!!

Flu Bug

Well, I am one of the 1,000,000 people in the USA who have contracted the swine flu. It is horrible and lives up to its reputation. I have been off work all week since catching it last Saturday the 20th. Hopefully the doctor will release me to go back to work tomorrow. 10 people in Utah have died from this influenza. I have been at home in bed all week except for a trip to the doctor on Wednesday, where he diagnosed it. It is awful using up all my vacation days to just lay around and sleep! I did read an English novel that my English friend Sheilah Hackford loanded me, "My Sons, My England". That was fun. And Grady has been constantly trying to cheer me up (and trying not to catch the disease himself--with good luck so far). We have been watching "The Lord of the Rings" 9 hours of DVD's together, in bits and pieces. And Karen, my good friend brought me homemade chicken soup. And Maxine, my visiting teacher, brought me spaghetti (she is such a dear elderly woman who has a husband who is very, very sick himself). All in all, I am surviving.

Sweet Cats

Somehow this photo made my day. Our stray cat looks a lot like this. Someone sent me this picture

Tribute to Andrew

Andrew was a wonderful nephew. His death was so sad, on June 2, 2005. We all miss him so much. Here is a silly picture of him with Beth sitting on his back. They had so much fun together--Pawley's Island, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, holidays with grandpa and grandma, and even as little kids, Beth would spend a week each summer with Andrew while Sara took care of her for a little vacation.

Beautiful Waterfalls, Scenery near Sheridan, Wyoming

Today we really enjoyed driving around Sheridan, Wyoming, voted the #1 Western City in America. It is a beautiful little town and has so many wonderful art pieces everywhere--in hotel lobbies, restaurants, etc. We figured this was because the atmosphere is so conducive for painting. The light is beautiful here, there are so many amazing vistas, flowers, wildlife--everywhere one is immersed in nature. We were in snow that was 4-5 feet deep, in a rainstorm, in the middle of fluffy white clouds high up in the Big Horn Mountains--then we saw the Shell Waterfalls, the Big Horn River, lakes, rock formations, deer crossing the road. Down near our Super 8 we were in 70 degree weather. All in one day. It was lovely and we also watched the new Terminator movie at an old movie theater in Sheridan, then went to dinner at a Country Kitchen. Tomorrow we head for home, after a 12 hr. drive. It was a wonderful 4-day weekend!

Prairie Dog Village

That was a prairie dog in the picture posted below. A huge village of them exists outside of Devils Tower (really called Bear Lodge by the Indians). Devils Tower was one of the most special spots we have ever visited. There is a feeling of sacredness there. It was always considered sacred by the Indian tribes, and a white explorer named it "Devils Tower" which definately does not fit. Legend has it that a family of children were out playing in the woods one day, and one of them turned into a bear. The others ran off trying to escape and came to a huge flat rock. The rock lifted them up towards heaven creating this huge monolith. The bear tried to catch them and his claws scraped the walls of the tower. The children lept into the sky and became the Pleides system (the big dipper) with the bear still chasing them.

Hello South Dakota and Montana

We are on a long-awaited vacation to two states I have never seen. We left Thursday night right after work in a rental car that is birds-egg blue and oohhh so nice, a 2009 Toyota Camary. We have had great adventures--a huge rock was thrown up from a truck and struck our windshield, but we suffered no damage and we don't know how because it was a really loud "thud". We were pulled over by a Wyoming highway patrolman for speeding (we were desperately looking for a bathroom--there was absolutely no place to stop and we were in the middle of nowhere and it had been over 4 hours of nothingness!). When he asked us were we were headed we said, "to any bathroom" and he just gave us a warning, not a ticket. (whew!). Then, yesterday we were in the middle of the Big Horn Mountains on a really remote dirt road, up in high altitudes and ran into horrible road conditions with snow and muck and ice and we had to turn around and come back down. But the views up there were amazing and even though we were practically biting our fingernails (how ARE we going to turn around on THIS road???) we made it and it was well worth the journey. We have driven over 1000 miles already and plan to double that by the time we get home, but we love driving. It is not the destination that is important to Grady and me--although that is always nice--it is really the pleasure of the journey itself. We have such a good time laughing and talking and seeing the prong-horns and deer and scenery along the way.