Fun Photos

​Ward made this for our morning coffee hour 🤗…

And yesterday 🤗…

Forgot one!! ‘Rocky Mountain High’!

Wild Montana Skies

​I could match a photograph with every amazing line of a song that has ever been written about Montana, the USA, or our lush countryside.  Here I am on this day, back up at the Sula Campground with Ward and Nettie, enjoying the beautiful state we live in, the vast forests surrounding those of us who live on the western side of Montana ( the ‘Western Slope’ 😏), and enjoying the gift of friendship. As is typical for me, I was up early, so I headed out for a walk. There was a low lying fog which made the air smell so woodsy and fresh. After yesterday‘s 92° day, this morning 60° air felt especially lovely!  In fact, after we got the camp set up yesterday, we were all pretty much toasty and overheated. I suggest suggested we go for a drive, because my intent was to sit in an air-conditioned truck for a period of respite from the heat😂😂. So off we went. Ward pulled out his handy dandy Montana National Forest Atlas, and mapped us a path that would take us over hill and over dale and bring us out near Wisdom, one of the small towns in the Big Hole Valley.  Every so often we would pass one of the brown markers which would reassure us we were on the right road. After a time we came to a fork in the road…unmarked no less. Ward consulted the atlas once again, and then chose to take the road to the left.  It wasn’t long before we figured we probably took the wrong tine of the fork, so maneuvering the beast (aka 3/4 ton truck), we retreated and took the other road. Deeper and deeper we went into the forest, as the road, got smaller and smaller…narrow and down to two tire tracks with the strip of grass growing in between them.😂😂😂

The road before us…

And the road behind us! 😂

Thinking again that we should’ve stayed on the original road, we again maneuvered the beast back around, and retreated over BUMPY hill and dale, this time probably about 6 miles that felt like 50😂😂😂.  At last, we arrived back at the fork and headed down the road we initially started on. After a time, it too began to look like the other… ragged tire tracks in the road, separated by strips of tall grass, and with pine trees lining the edges. So close that they were scraping against the truck.  Certain this had to be the right way, we continued on for some time, while watching beautiful storm clouds settling in overhead. It wasn’t long before a torrential downpour began. As the road became worse and worse, now compounded by the heavy rain, we decided just to retreat the way we had come. We hadn’t prepared for the lengthy drive, had no snacks nor water, and had been on the road for about five hours by this time 😂😂.  But we DID have toilet paper! 😂😂😂

Our spirits remained high, although Ward felt at fault for getting us lost. Pulling out the Atlas, we realized it was from 2017, and most likely should be updated 😂😂. But on our retreat, we saw so much wildlife that was starting to stir because of the late time of day!  An eagle, a deer, an elk, and this, captured by Nanette, who was in the front seat.

And now some examples of the song lyrics to go with some of the pictures I snapped…

‘Misty Mountain Morning’

‘Fire in the Sky’ (John Denver)

‘There’s a storm across the valley, clouds are rollin’ in’ (again John Denver) 

‘Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head’ 😂

‘Edelweiss’

‘Wild Montana Skies’ 

Going to make my 2nd cup of coffee, and then I’ll post some of the beautiful pictures that I snapped along the way on our adventure yesterday. I am kind of hoping we get lost in the wilderness again today! We will just be better prepared for it😂😂😂😂

America the Beautiful

​I decided to take the more scenic route home from Red Lodge this morning. It took me through central Montana’s farm country on a small rural highway, with rolling green pastures bordered by mountain peaks, all of which were still capped with snow.  As I crested just one of the many hills, the song ‘America, the Beautiful’ came on, along with a brief introduction of the writer, and how she was inspired to pen the words.  It was such a perfect time to be just where I was, and to hear that very song, on what would soon be our nation’s 250th birthday.  In other words, the Lord blessed me with yet another very endearing moment! So perfect, that I stopped to take a picture of what I was seeing…

Even the moon made an appearance for the photograph!  Behind me was the Beartooth Wilderness, and in front of me were the beautiful mountains of West Yellowstone.  I ponder often how grateful I am to live in Montana. And I am equally grateful to have grown up in North Dakota. But every single day, I am grateful to be living in the United States of America!

🎼America, America, God shed His grace on thee!🎶🎵 🇺🇸💕🙏🇺🇸

Medora and President Trump

​I was fortunate to witness history in the making, as President Trump paid a visit to Medora, ND, to officially kick off the opening of the TR Roosevelt National Museum 🇺🇸. Upon arriving the day before, it was evident security and ‘loo’s were top priority 😂😂. 

And Nancy, bless her heart, gave me moment by moment updates as I made my way from Medora to Glendive the day he was due to arrive, in an effort to avoid the crazy crowds  

Air Force One landing in Bismarck 💕  

And the 25th of June, on the Medora amphitheater my way to Bismarck…

And on July 1 😆.  Just Five days later!

Amazing the difference five days and one President makes! 

Out of Season

​I enjoy going to local ski hills in Montana during the summertime. If one is lucky, the (a) lift will be running folks to the top to hike, wander around, or just enjoy the views on the way up and down.  And I can say that Red Lodge did not disappoint! 

And I imagine, based on the lack of people around, that I am the ONLY visitor in Red Lodge not attending the parade at noon 😂!

Still, it is wonderful to have the space all to myself. 

But hopefully no bears! 

Way back in the day, BeeHive activity’s guru, Glenda, used to take groups of residents up to the chairlift at Snowbowl, our favorite ski hill during the winter months.  I gladly volunteered as a helper for well over eight years, but then one day the ski lift operator asked Glenda… ‘How would we offload your residents in the event of an emergency (the lift stopped functioning)?’ Upon realizing there was no way we COULD evacuate residents safely from several feet above ground, and with ladders no less, she no longer took folks up.  But one, special memory forever  emblazoned in my mind is the day I invited Mildred M, a former school teacher and resident living in BeeHive #2, along for the fun. Somebody had canceled last minute, and so we had an extra space, and she was the first person that came to mind 😊.  She suffered from dementia, but only is the pleasantly confused type. I didn’t realize she had a terrible fear of heights until she and I were halfway up the mountain and she kept asking, ‘Is it over?  Can it be over? Oh, when will this be over?😩’

During the entire, forty minute up-and- down, she was leaning into me, and I was grasping the waistband of her polyester pants, trying desperately to hold her upright in the seat (polyester is incredibly slick on vinyl!).  At Snowbowl, there were no safety bars that came over the shoulder to harness us in. I just kept reassuring her… ‘It’ll be over soon and then we’re going to have a niiiice slice of pizza.’😂😂 You see, when I invited her along, I simply asked her if she wanted to go to lunch, knowing full well she wouldn’t understand what a chairlift ride entailed.😂😂 My bad😂😂!

But alas, the chairlift ride eventually ended, we offloaded Mildred, and proceeded to enjoy a lovely lunch on the patio overlooking the beautiful Snowbowl ski runs. Several weeks later, her son stopped into my room.

‘I think my mom is really losing it,’ he said. ‘She keeps talking about being up in the mountains.’ 😆😂😂😂😂😂😂