Ride Idaho 2011

While I continue to wade through our trip pictures, I wanted to share this...

(thank you uncle John for sharing these pictures)

Hurray to Dad, Uncle John, Duane and Janette! Today they complete the last day of Ride Idaho bicycling tour! I hear Mom and Auntie Ellen make good volunteer crew/cheer-leaders!

The ride is around 400 miles and takes them over several mountain passes in beautiful Southern Idaho. You can read more about it here.

Can't wait to hear more about it and see all your pictures!
Alison

P.S. Dad, you're our hero. :)

Date Night!

The other evening Randy and I went on our first date since Melita was born.

We didn't get all dressed up, or make any special reservations.

He didn't even open the door for me.

Our date included one four-wheeler, two windbreakers, some iced tea and a few chocolate chip cookies...

We dropped the kids off at Mom and Dad's for a couple hours and then headed out back in the mountains behind our house.

This beautiful overlook is about 12 miles from our house. The kids and Randy have been telling me about it for a while. It was so fun to finally see it.

It was pretty much the best date ever!
Thank You My Love,
Alison

Yellowstone Park: Day One

We left Gardiner the next morning, July 12th, and headed into Yellowstone Park. I didn't get a picture of Roosevelt's Arch as we entered the Park but this is what it said...

"For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People"

Just driving by Mammoth (above). We didn't stop on account of the rain and the crammed parking areas but maybe next time. Our day consisted of driving to our next camping location, The Fishing Bridge RV Park, with beautiful views all along the way. Below is a view of the Yellowstone running very high...

After we got settled in to our new camping area, we headed out to the nearest attraction... The Mud Volcano area. See the hillside in the picture below scattered with dead trees? It used to be a densely forested area but in 1978, a swarm of earthquakes shook the area. Soil temperatures skyrocketed, killing many of the trees...
Here we are checking out the Dragons Caldron. It's a mudpot that roared into existence in 1948, blowing trees out by their roots and forever changing a once forested, quiet hillside. For several decades it erupted in explosive 10-20 foot bursts of black mud. Over the years it has moved 200 feet to the southeast and become relatively quiet...

Have you ever stood only a few feet from a boiling, bubbling lake and wondered just how it is possible? Here is a video I took of it...

In 1870, explorers stood in awe as this mud volcano spewed mud into the treetops, shaking the ground with each eruption. Two years later, it was a pool of bubbling, muddy water. Mud Volcano had blown itself up! Here it sits today...

Back at the campground, after supper, we headed out on a walk to the nearest store...
Playing tourist...
It was a beautiful evening at the end of a very good day...


Benefit... enjoyment...Yes! Amazing...completely awesome...YES!!!
Thank you Mr. Roosevelt!

I couldn't wait to see what "Day Two" would bring,
Alison

The Lamar Valley

On our way from Cooke City to Gardener we drove through the beautiful Lamar Valley in Yellowstone Park. It was our first little glimpse of The Park...


It was rainy and the valley was full of bison...


I must say now that the last and only time I had been to Yellowstone was as a little girl. I could remember bits and pieces of it. I have wanted to go back for a long, long time. I was not prepared for it at all! Just beyond amazing!!! As I go back through the pictures now, this quote comes to mind...

It is a place where the center of the earth finds an exit and gives us a glimpse of it's soul.
~ Anne Coe (painter 1998)

Enjoying another glimpse,
Alison

P.S. I am including these posts in my "More About Montana" posts because although most of Yellowstone park is in Wyoming, a sliver of it runs through Montana and Idaho!

The Beartooth Highway

the most beautiful drive in America ~ Charles Kuralt

It's been on Randy's "to-do" list for a long time... driving The Beartooth Highway.

When he told our neighbor, who grew up in Red Lodge, Montana that it was in our trip plans to drive our 27 foot long trailor over the scenic pass, he looked at Randy and said... "haha, HAHAHA, haha.....haha...ha ha...... oh, your serious arent' you?" When he saw that Randy was indeed serious, he offered some kind advise... "make sure your trailor breaks are working and buy a good life insurance policy.

Up to this point, I had been looking forward to the adventure but as the day approached I began having second thoughts, and third and fourth... What were we thinking!?

So, Sunday afternoon we headed out from the family reunion and headed south. We stopped at Cooney Reservoir where we spent Sunday night. The picture below shows us eating breakfast the next morning at the little campground. You can see the Absaroka or the Beartooth Mountains beyond us in the picture (not sure which)...

We got on the road soon after breakfast. It was a beautiful drive toward the mountains. When we started heading up the pass, it reminded us a lot of Going to the Sun in Glacier. It was a slow, narrow, switchback road up the mountain...
Here is the relaxed, confident driver at the wheel. You can see the high mountain meadows beyond him out the window. We were getting quite high by this point...
The Beartooth Highway is the section of Highway 212 between Red Lodge, Montana and Cooke City, Montana. It traces a series of steep zigzags and switchbacks, along the border to the 10,947 ft high Beartooth Pass. The approximate elevation rise is from 5,200 ft to 8,000 ft in 12 miles in the most daring landscapes.*

Here we are stopped for a little break at almost 10,000 feet elevation!
To many beautiful views!
Higher, higher and higher! Here we stopped at almost 11,000 feet to eat our lunch. Sure glad for that trailer behind us. No restaurants up here...
Headed down the other side. It's easy to see that we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for some pretty high powered snow blowing machines...
In the center of the picture below you can see "the bear tooth"...
Heralded as one of the most scenic drives in the United States, the Beartooth Highway, a National Scenic Byways All-American Road, features breathtaking views of the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains, and open high alpine plateaus dotted with countless glacial lakes, forested valleys, waterfalls and wildlife. **

There were SO MANY beautiful things along the way-NO WAY to capture them all on camera. It is a MUST SEE for all of you who READ THIS BLOG! ;)

A shot of Colter going over "Colter Pass"...

Here we are finally coming into Cooke City...

Here in Cooke City, we stopped to take a break. We saw our first buffalo of the trip here roaming through town. No good pictures of that. Randy took the kids out for a look around while Lita and I rested. I have to admit, I had a bit of a headache... maybe from my unfounded worry and tension of the day, or the lack of sleep the night before, or both... I don't know. But the nap was awesome and I was ready to go again!
Would I recommend taking a trailer over the Beartooth? My honest answer is that I WOULD NEVER DO IT MYSELF...but, that's not saying much since I refuse to parallel park my car, even if it's the very last parking space left.

Randy drove it fine and was totally at ease with it. That's what I have him around for right? But seriously, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who isn't used to driving in the mountains. Driving the highway in a car would be no problem though, so... I highly recommend it!!!

Back on the road again, we headed toward Gardiner, Montana to get settled in for the night. We did laundry, ate supper and crawled in bed.

To be continued,
Alison

*this information comes from wikipedia
**this information comes from beartoothhighway.com

Satisfaction

When I was sorting through my picture the other day, I saw this picture and was drawn to it immediately. There was something about it that was just stunning. I think it was the lighting in the picture that I really liked. But still... I wasn't completely satisfied with the picture...

I often slap pictures up on here and am not satisfied with them but I couldn't do that with this picture, so I opened it up in Photoshop and adjusted a few things until I was satisfied.

Can anyone guess where this picture was taken? You'll see it someday on post of our trip. Not today though... we're getting ready for special company this weekend and a special wedding!

A couple days ago when we got a call that we were going to have company for the weekend, Kyla said, "Wow, are we special or something?!"



So the kids are running around here helping me get ready for our company today...

Me: time to go clean up your rooms, do your best job!

(about five minutes later Colter and Maya come running downstairs where Kyla and I are cleaning the bathroom)

Me: did you get your rooms clean?

Colter and Maya: yep!

Me: so, did you make your beds and pick up your socks? did you pick up garbage off the floor?

Colter: yep!

Maya: um, can I go check?

Me: yes, you better go check! Colter, you have your closet cleaned up?

Colter: I better go check!

(and off they run. this is repeated a few times this morning until mommy is satisfied!)



Later today after Colter vacuumed the living room floor for me he says, "Mommy, this house is going to be very welcoming!" There is nothing so satisfying as a job well done! Even if it didn't sound very fun to do in the first place!



So now we are waiting for Melita to wake up from her nap so we can run to Costco.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I'm pretty sure we will!
Satisfaction guaranteed.
love, Alison

Melita Update

Here's a little update on Melita...

She screeches and squeals and laughs and giggles. She slobbers and drools and chews and chews! Both of her bottom front teeth are in. The first one came in on July 13th and the second on came in on July 15th. She turned 5 months old on July 14th! When I took the picture above, I was trying to get a picture of her 2 teeth but do you think she would let me? "No way!" she said! So as her teeth get bigger, I will get a better picture...

5 Months Old!

She's been such a busy little girl running along with her brother and sisters to swimming lessons every morning and keeping up with all the other goings on in our life. Here is a picture of her I took when we got back from swimming lessons this morning. So tired...

So far, she continues to sleep through the night with a night feeding only once and a while.
I haven't started her on food yet but she is very interested when we eat. The very interesting thing is that she is so fond of her Bumbo. I wish, wish, WISH I had had one for my other kids! She sits in it and loves to watch life go by!

I know that I haven't been doing my Memory Lane Monday posts lately but am hopeing to start doing them again when the kids are back in school and when I get caught up with our trip pictures and post. My old pictures aren't going anywhere so... look for more of those posts to come someday...

Hope all are well!
Have a great week,
Alison

Nine is Fine!

We got to celebrate Colter's Birthday (July 10th) at the Family Reunion! Daddy lit the candles and we all sang Happy Birthday too him. It was so fun to celebrate with Grandpa Larry and so many aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Happy Birthday Dear Colter!

Here are all the kids lined up waiting for cake and ice cream...
Ready to open presents...
Walkie Talkies are always a hit with nine year old boys...

Someone thought it would be very neat to have their own tent just like their big sister! Someone was very happy to get their very own tent for their ninth birthday!
Colter set up his tent several times over the last few weeks... outside, in the basement, and in our livingroom. But, it just hasn't worked to sleep in it yet.

So, today was his birthday celebration day with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Steve. Finally tonight he is getting to sleep outside in his tent in their backyard. It was cute to see his tent, Kyla's tent, and Grandma and Grandpa's tent all set up in their back yard tonight when we left. It's a real backyard camp-out happening! Hopefully they're all getting snuggled in right now for the night...

goodnight,
Alison

Family Reunion-July 7-10, 2011

The next portion of our trip was spent at a Family Reunion for Randy's Mom's side of the family. Grandpa Clarence is in the center of the picture above and this was 'some' of the family that attended the reunion. People came and went, so it was impossible to get everyone but this may have been the majority.

Below is pictures of our family. Everyone made it!


Auntie Aleta and Melita...
It was SO fun to be with Russ and Andrea and family and finally meet little Trevin...

It was such a special time to be together with so many that we don't see very often. Here are some more random pictures of the days...






















We also enjoyed time at the waterslide/pool, seeing Uncle Don's bees and gold panning machine, playing Foosball and ping-pong, singing and listening to beautiful music, fireworks and pit fires, good food and visits, and wonderful studies and fellowship together. Saturday evening also included birthday cake for our 9 year old! Pictures to come.

We had such a restful, enriching time together. We left on Sunday feeling like our trip was complete and we could just as well head home, but then we remembered we still had a week to go!

Where to next?
Alison