Rendezvous

Okay - this post should have been posted yesterday, but for some reason it would not go through - so I'm posting it today. I really don't have much else to report - it was a pretty good day at the cabin - not real busy, but steady. Before I sign off - Dana and Mark - Happy Anniversary!!!! Take care all, and we'll talk to you tomorrow!

Friday's Post:

Well, Dan couldn't wait until next week and we went to the Mountain Man Rendezvous today before we did the laundry. What a disappointment!!! I guess we were expecting something big and fantastic - I mean, here we are in the area that had these types of meetings all the time. What did we find?? Well, there were about eight tents set up and that was it, and all of them were "selling" the same stuff - rabbit fur and a couple of beaver furs. Oh, and beads - lots and lots of beads. Why???? Even I was disappointed. I think Dan was expecting something like we have gone to in Florida - you know, really big and very realistic with people who actually looked and presented themselves as mountain men. When we have been to the one in Florida the reenactors have to be dressed in authentic costumes and all their equipment has to be authentic. These people today wouldn't have known what that meant if it bet them in the, well you know where. Anyway, to say we were disappointed would be an understatement, but we will learn that not everything is what it is advertised to be. Oh well, such is life!



When we left there we went to the laundry mat - laundry was pretty easy to do today - we really didn't have that much this week for some reason - don't understand that. We did have three loads but none of the loads were big ones. It did take us longer to do the laundry this time though because the load with the whites was off balanced - so the washer quit. We didn't know that until we got up to put the clothes in the dryer - well, to make a long story short - while the whites were washing the other clothes were drying and then we had to wait for the whites to dry. Anyway, it just wasn't a good day for rendezvous or laundry.

I don't have a lot to report - so I'll sign off for tonight - BTW Melissa and Crystal, wish your Dad a Happy Birthday from Dan and I! Talk to you tomorrow!

Home again, Home again!

Okay - first of all let me say that the reason I did not blog last night when we got home was I had the worst migraine I have had in a very long time - it was one of those that make you physically ill. Anyway, I came home and went to bed! I've been much better today and I did get some prescription meds today. Now, for our trip - this is a picture of big Dan looking out at the Beartooth Mountains. This was one of the most spectacular road trips we have ever taken - it was beautiful! We drove this way coming home from Cody. Cody was great - we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum. If you ever get this way, I would highly recommend this museum - it is NOT just about Buffalo Bill (yes, there is one wing that is completely devoted to him - and I learned quite a bit about the man). There is a wing about the Plains Indians, a wing with guns (every manufacture, military guns, western guns, if it's a gun, it's there), a wing with western art, a whole floor dedicated to research, beautiful sculptures, outside gardens - fantastic! We also went to the Dairy Queen and had ice cream - Dan wanted to go to the Silver Dollar Saloon for dinner and it was really pretty good also. The hotel was a little high ($152.59) but it was dog friendly. It only had a queen size bed which didn't lend itself to a good night's rest, but it was fun anyway - we have learned something - if we can't get a king size bed we will try to get two double beds - a queen just doesn't work with two dogs, Dan and I.

Now, I'm sure you are wondering what in the world this picture is all about - well, folks, if you look real close you will see snow on the window - yes, I said SNOW! At about 11,000 feet we ran into snow - the temperature was down to 31 degrees. It didn't last that long, but it was really cool (no pun intended)! Dan and I were really very excited to see the snow. Dan thought we would see about 39 degrees, but the temperature kept dropping the higher in the mountains we went. There was snow in different places on the mountains and there are some pictures of the snow in the pictures that will be posted at the end of the blog, but I just had to include this picture for you.

This is just one of the many waterfalls we saw on this trip - it was beautiful and there are more pics of this waterfall and others on the link. We also saw many different animals on this trip - in the Beartooth Mountains we saw deer in many different places - we went into several campgrounds (you know Dan, he just has to see what is available out there) and saw some deer in these campgrounds. We also saw them along the road side - Dan says that I am getting pretty good at spotting deer (if I was just as good at finding bears or moose or something like that!)

There are some awesome pictures of buffalo - this is just one of them - I hope that you will enjoy the pictures that will be posted at the end of the blog. There are some pictures of a surprise animal at the end of the link - these are of an animal that is not commonly photographed by "non-professionals". Let me know what you think.

Today we went into Rexburg to Wal Mart (that's where I picked up my migraine meds) and picked up the few groceries and things. We ate at Sonic (wow, a chili cheesedog!!!!) Sorry, Crystal, but mom has to have a fix every once in a while! We also drove around the town which we had never done before - did you know that there was a Brigham Young University in Rexburg - we didn't, until today. Anyway, a "quick" trip to the store takes 4 hours! Such is the life living out in Idaho. (Oh, by the way, I found out there is a Wal Greens in Rexburg - so I can order pictures and pick them up here instead of having them mailed to Dowling Park to Joyce - which means I can do some scrapbooking here. Yeah!) Okay, I've bored everyone enough for one day - so I'll sign off - one more thing though - told you I would be wrong about Kipton and Ed - she chose Ed who was the front runner all along - I hope that they will be happy and actually make a go of it. Okay, enough on that - I won't mention it again.

Tomorrow is laundry day - oh joy! Then back to work for a couple of days. I know that one thing we will do next week is go to West because they are having a Mountain Man Rendezvous and Dan will HAVE to go to that! Please, let me know what you think of all this stuff - I just love to read your comments!.

Here is a link to today's pictures - Enjoy!

Got the Satellite back!

Hello all - today was just a very quiet day at the trailer - I did get a hold of Dish and finally got our local channels back - just in time to watch the finale of "The Bachelorette" - I know, I know Crystal, but your mom's got to have some vice! I'm making a prediction and I'll probably be wrong, but I'm picking Kipton - now let's see what happens!

We are going to do Cody tomorrow - we will go over and spend the night and then come home on Wednesday - so I probably won't post tomorrow night - I don't think I will take the computer with me, but that means I will have loads of pictures to share on Wednesday.

Well, because the day was so boring I don't have anything new to report so I will sign off. I do appreciate those that send the comments - can't wait to go to the Dairy Queen! Welcome home Ruth Ann and thanks for reading!

Bye all!!

Just another Sunday

Hello all - we are finished for another week - today was very busy again which really surprised us - we really thought that people would be leaving this afternoon to go back home, but we were busy right up until we closed at 4:00. The really nice thing about being that busy is the time really goes by quickly.

Not much happened today - no new moose pictures or any other wild life - just a normal day at the "office". We are really trying to figure out what we will do this coming week - I know that we are going to have to call the satellite people because we are not getting the local channels - so we'll call the installer in the morning and see what we need to do (we were getting them yesterday, but we had a huge storm last night and we haven't gotten them since). Dan says we will go over to Cody this week - probably make it an overnight trip, but we will have to make sure to find a place that is "doggy" friendly (actually stay in a hotel/motel - WOW!) We want to go to the museum and the gun museum, plus there are a couple of other places that we would like to see in that area (a Japanese holding camp from WW2 that they have set up with a visitor's center and the redone the barracks and all - should be interesting). Anyway, that is a couple of days out of the week - we'll see what else will develop.

I'm really surprised that we didn't hear from anyone about the moose pictures yesterday - I mean I thought they were really great and not a word from anyone. Oh well, I hope to hear from all of you next week. BTW - Melissa and Justin, I absolutely love the new house and we are looking forward to seeing it for ourselves in November. Talk with you later!

Just another day at the office

Look what was waiting for us when we went to the cabin this morning!! We couldn't believe it. Plus he was there for about 2 hours just feeding and walking through the springs. I must have taken a million pictures - actually I took 42. There were some shots where he just picked up his head and looked straight at me - almost like he was poising for me. I'll put the link to all the shots at the end of the blog.

We had a tremendous amount of people through the cabin today - we will probably be really busy again tomorrow - then we have been told that things will probably slow down after this weekend. We were also told that we will probably see snow before we leave in September - that will be fine with me as long as we don't get snowed in!

Believe it or not, I turned down going out to eat tonight. Dan wanted to go down to Ashton and have Mexican (we have been told that there is an excellent Mexican place on Main Street), but I said that I would cook dinner instead. It looked like it was going to storm (which it did) and the girls had been alone all day and I just didn't want to go out again. I know, I probably just caused my kids to wonder if their mother was feeling well - I'm fine! Really, I promise!

Well, I really don't have that much to report, but I did want to leave you will one other picture of the moose.




Also, here is the link to all the pictures of my little friend.

Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Laundry Day!

Today was just a quiet day at home and doing laundry - we did have the automatic satellite dish put on the trailer this morning - so now all we have to do is just pull into a campground and push a button and within two minutes we have TV. (Yes, Dan is lazy and doesn't want to have to put out the portable dish - but I think it will certainly be nice.) I did laundry this afternoon- had three loads again and spent $7.00 - took me about 2 hours. Dan stayed at home with the girls.

Looks like we might have a job for the winter in Florida - at least the months of November and December - Highland Hammock State Park which should be about 30 minutes from Lakeland and 20 minutes from Lake Placid. Dan will be working in the campground as host on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:30 to 12:30 - I'll be working in the ranger station on the same days but from 8:00 to 1:00. We'll have the weekends off (which includes Thanksgiving and Christmas - YEAH!) and have afternoons off also. We don't get paid, but will have a hook-up. I've also applied for a position in Georgia for the months of March and April - this will keep us on the east coast through my mom's birthday and this park is not too far from where she lives. We'll just have to wait and see if we get the position.

Well, I really don't have much to report tonight - Dan is waiting for me to finish the posting tonight so I can start dinner - we are having steak, baked potato, salad, and fresh corn on the cob. I did put a picture on of the Warm River - thought you might like to see it. Hope you enjoy - and I look forward to more comments. (BTW - Dan says his back is better and has not taken any more medicine - I sure don't want his blood pressure to go back up - or for him to have an anxiety attack). Tomorrow it's back to work and we should be really busy all weekend - it's Pioneer Days out here (this is a local holiday in Idaho and Utah celebrating Brigham Young stopping in Salt Lake City) anyway, a lot of people take their vacation at this time - we've been told we'll be busier than the 4th of July. I'll let you know.

Take care and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Warm River

Today Dan and I rode out to Warm River and the cottage that the Forest Service has and rents out. We expected to find a river, but not this waterfall - the temperature of the water coming out of the spring is 50 degrees. it was absolutely beautiful. This is just part of the springs and waterfall, but the full on shot was not a good shot. Anyway, it was a lovely ride and we even saw a marmot - I have a picture of him and I'll post it tomorrow.

Dan is still having some problems with his back - I'm not sure what is going on there, but I threatened to take him to the doctor tomorrow if it isn't better by then. He has been taking ibuprofen, but he told me tonight that he thinks it makes his blood pressure go up. (I need to ask our new RN if that would happen!) Anyway, I told him to lay off for tonight and we would try the heating pad. Hopefully it will better tomorrow - he thinks he needs to see a chiropractor which we don't have around here. We'll see how he is tomorrow. Speaking about tomorrow it the day that I will do the laundry - and then spend a nice quiet day at home.

I've been reading a lot since we left Florida and I have found a new best author. First let me say that I have read just about every Mary Higgins Clark book that she has written, then I started on John Grisham. If you haven't read The Partner I would recommend it - it has more turns and twists than some of these roads around here. Now, my new best author is C. J. Box - I read Free Fire in a day and a half - it was excellent!!! It takes place here in Yellowstone and I think it is really good. I'm now reading Blood Trail - and I'm really enjoying it also. If you like murder mysteries you might like his stuff.

Well, I'm going to sign off for tonight - but, I'm going to leave you with a picture that I hope you can see what is in it. See if you can see the fish - it was taken on another section of Warm River and Dan was throwing out fish food - Hope you can see it.




Finally, I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Dana on becoming a RN - Dan and I both knew that you would pass the boards without a doubt!

Talk with you all tomorrow!

Guys and Dolls

Well, tonight we went to the play Guys and Dolls - for a local theater it was really pretty good - there were actually a couple of the kids that had good voices. Everything was going fine - Dan and I found our seats and the "actors" were doing a little warm up - individuals singing a few songs. The play starts and Dan looks at me and says "I can't stay in here -it's too close". He gets up and leaves - now I think he's going to go outside and cool off a little and then come back. Thirty minutes later, at intermission, he hasn't come back. So, I go out and look for him and find him sitting outside. Now, I'm ready to come back home - if he can't be in there with me I would rather come home. But he insists that I go back in and see the rest of the play. I sit with him for awhile, then go in just as the play was beginning again. I did stay for the whole play, but I did feel a little guilty. After the play we walked over to the Dairy Queen and had a Blizzard/

I told you that we had an appointment this morning and I would tell you all about it today. This was something that Dan and I talked about for quite sometime before we decided to go ahead with this purchase. Believe it or not, Dan was more for getting this than I was. What, you might ask, am I talking about. TV - we have gone without TV for six whole weeks and Dan just couldn't handle it anymore. So, we called and now we have ------- DISH Network. The tech came this morning and installed it - and we have had TV almost all day. Can you guess what Dan missed the most about not having TV service? Would you believe - Good Morning America. The plan we have now is pretty good - 250 channels - DVR receiver - HBO and Showtime for 6 months and a $20.00 discount for 3 months. So, for three months we are paying $24.99 after that it will be $44.99 (when you add taxes it will probably be around $50.00 a month) but now I can watch football next month (I can even record it on the DVR while I'm at work - YIPPEE!!!!)

I did not do laundry today - I will probably go Friday - we might go into Cody tomorrow and do our weekly loop in Yellowstone. We'll see - I'm going to sign off now and hit the sack - do some reading. Thanks for the comments last night guys - it helps me stay motivated to keep writing - keep them coming please! Linda - Dan and I will certainly make a trip up to Signal Mountain on one of our trips - thanks for the recommendation. Crystal and Kim - I hope they don't pay us in moose meat - I don't have any room in the freezer!!!! Finally, Dana, keep the faith , and remember that your Dad and I are siding with Mark! Talk to you all tomorrow.

A Quiet Day at Home

Since today was just a quiet day at home I decided to post another one of the wildflower pictures I took yesterday. Dan and I really didn't do anything exciting today - I did make up some "business" cards - you know, our name, address, phone number, email address and the blog address - to give to those people we meet who are also "full-timers" and we think we would like to keep in touch. Dan has been wanting me to do this since before we made this lifestyle change - but it just took me a while. Anyway, now there are finished and I saved them on the computer, so I can print them out as needed.

We did watch the movie Australia last night - it was a really good movie - we only had one problem - about half way through the movie the voices went off - we could hear all the music, but none of the dialogue - but we solved that problem - we just clicked on the closed caption and read the dialogue - it was still a good movie. Even Dan liked it. We did tell the clerk when we turned the movie back in there was a problem. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, I would recommend it.

I actually got excited tonight about the blog - I received a comment from someone that is not a family member (thanks Dennis!) It is nice to know that there are people out there who are reading this. You know, the only way Dan and I can know that is if people leave comments - that's why I was so excited. Please keep the comments coming!

Tomorrow night we have the play - we do have an appointment in the morning, but I think I will leave you in suspense to find out what it is. I don't know if we will go into Yellowstone this week or not, I just can't imagine us not- but you never know with Dan and I. In fact, he is in bed already - he has hurt his back again somehow - not sure what he did, but he decided to hit the sack early. I'm going to go in and read some.

BTW - yes, sometimes we think that we have it made - and in answer to your question - we haven't been paid anything yet - I'll let you know if I feel guilty when we do get paid. LOL!

Just a bunch of flowers

Today Dan and I went for a drive over to Quake Lake - and on the way I took some pictures of the wildflowers that are just about everywhere around here. these things are wonderful - I haven't cut any to bring in the house - I just enjoy looking at them everywhere.

Quake Lake is an interesting place - it was formed in 1959 when a 7.5 earthquake caused the side of a mountain to fall into the Madison River - 28 people lost their lives that night when the lake swallowed a campground. The corp of engineers opened a passage for the water to move through and open the river back up and, eventually, the lake will empty - but for now (50 years later) it is still huge and deep. It is pretty awesome to see the slide area and see the cabins that the roofs still stick out of the water on the shoreline. We stopped at the Visitor Center and watched a video on the quake and the aftermath - it sure does make an impression. Anyway, it was an interesting side trip.

I also took some pictures of an eagle that was just sitting in this tree beside the road - it just amazes me to see all this wild life just everywhere. We also saw a deer and a couple of antelope right beside the highway, but Dan couldn't stop so I could get any pictures.

I'm cooking a pizza right now - yeah convection oven!- and we are going to watch the movie Australia tonight - I hope it is an good as the hype. Not sure what will be on tap for tomorrow, but Wednesday is the night we go to the play - I'll do laundry that morning. I'll sign off for now, but come on guys - I can't believe I didn't get any comments on the moose in the neighborhood!!! Hope to hear from you soon! Love to all.

What a Neighborhood!

Look what was in our neighborhood last night! Isn't he absolutely the prettiest thing you have ever seen???? Let me explain how I got this shot - we went to work yesterday and had a normal day - somewhat busy in spurts because it rained some at the cabin (I think that is what caused my headache for two days). Anyway, we left the cabin yesterday afternoon around 4:20 and started home - stopped at the bank and made the deposit. Nothing special, you know, just a normal day. We get home and I'm ready to go in and take some pills, fix dinner and go to bed. As we are pulling into the parking area our neighbor, Kay, is walking toward us. I open my door and he asks me if I want to see a bull moose. Well, of course, you all know my answer to that one - so he tells us to drive back around and go over to the "bone yard" (that's the area that the forest service dumps all the stuff that they can't use anymore). Anyway, we drive back over there and I'm looking and looking and can't see anything - I'm getting really down because I think he has already gone over the river and I'll never see him. Dan tells me to walk back down the road to where the open meadow is and he'll come around and pick me up. I'm walking down the road when he comes pulling up beside me all excited. I jump in the truck and he goes back around to within 10 feet of where we were standing before and you see what we saw. He was HUGE! Now, I got about 15 pictures of him and I wanted to get a little closer - so I eased around and took the picture above - Dan told me that I was getting a little brave (I am out of the truck and going over toward this HUGE animal that is very unpredictable.) I told him later that if that moose had made any move to get up he would have seen nothing but "a**es and elbows" getting back to the truck! As you can see from the picture - that big ole moose kept his eyes on me and I kept my eyes on him. After I took the pictures we sat in the truck and just watched him for a little while. He just laid there in the grass and watched us watch him.

Well, I was so happy at seeing the bull moose - I mean he was withing 20 yards of me - I don't think many people get to see moose that close up. When I look up and see........





Yes, two more moose - cows this time. They were lying in the grass about 10 feet away from the bull. Just right next to each other and watching us. They were actually closer to the road than the bull, so I didn't get out of the truck at all - I just rolled the window down and took the pictures through the window. This was the first time I had seen two lying next to each other like this - I don't know if that is normal or not, but it sure does make for a great picture!

We came home and talked about how absolutely lucky we are to be able to experience the things that we are. It is amazing and we are so thankful everyday!

I did fix dinner last night - then I hit the sack - that's the reason I didn't get the pictures on the blog last night. I hope you enjoy these pictures half as much as I enjoyed taking them!

BTW - Dana, good luck on the boards tomorrow - your Dad and I know you are going to do just GREAT!

Hie Ho; Hie Ho; It's Off to Work We Go

Hello all - today was another day at work - but our work week is half over (Goodness, I love to say that!) It was an interesting day - met quite a few interesting people - one couple was from Holland! It just amazes me how these people find this little cabin in the middle of the woods in Northeastern Idaho. We started really slow this morning - we were probably open an hour before the first people came but then we were slammed until after 1pm. Dan didn't even get a chance to eat anything until after 1 - I eat after he does. Things slowed down about 3:30 then just as we were getting ready to close up at 4 we got slammed again. At one point today Dan counted 11 little boys (ages 3 to around 9) running around and people dodging them - It was really sorta funny. We'll have to wait and see what tomorrow will bring.

I came home tonight and fixed dinner - homemade chicken burritos with all the trimmings - we had purchased a cooked chicken at Albertson's last week and I took all the meat off the bone and fixed the burritos - I saved some of the chicken and made a small amount of chicken salad for our lunch tomorrow since we are out of lunch meat. I sure am enjoying the convection oven - while it isn't any faster in cooking time you don't have to preheat the oven and it sure doesn't heat up the trailer.

Dan and I keep talking about what we will do next summer - I am pretty sure we want to come back out west, but maybe a little further to the west - Oregon or Washington state (maybe even Northern California). We are looking at maybe hosting in a campground next summer instead of doing something like the cabin - not that we don't enjoy the cabin, but Dan likes to be outside. He knows that hosting in a campground will mean we are more tied down then we are doing this, but he can be outside doing stuff instead of inside. We'll just have to wait and see what develops. We know that we will have to stay on the east coast until the end of April. My mother's 80th birthday is at the end of the month and we will do a big party for her - so that means we really can't come out west until after that. We aren't sure how that might effect our hosting abilities; but places here in Idaho don't open until the first of June due to the snow, sooo hopefully that is true further to the northwest. I guess that will all work itself out. (It's just that I am a planner and I like to know what we are going to do - Dan says I need to relax - yeah, right!)

Here is the link to the pictures I took yesterday. Hope you enjoy!

Two Moose and not a picture to show!

Okay, today we went up to West Yellowstone then took State Road 191 toward Bozeman Montana - I wasn't expecting to see any wild life just beautiful scenery - which we did see - a sample of the wonderful water is shown in this picture. However, Dan and I were just driving down the road with the pups in my lap - I figure I'll take pictures when we stop to let them out for a potty run - when what should appear but a MOOSE right beside the road - Now this is a state road - not a little country road so, of course, we can't stop and I don't have the camera in my lap and I can't get to it right away. Now this moose was feeding right beside the highway - we are not sure if it was a cow or a bull because we couldn't see it's head as we were driving by, but it was definitely a big moose. Now, I'm talking to Dan about who would have thought we would see a moose right beside the highway and we are just tooling along when I look out my window and right beside me is another MOOSE - this one is definitely a cow - she is just walking along the side of a stream. I couldn't believe it - we have seen not one, but TWO MOOSE and I don't have a single picture. Well, guess who went in the back seat for the rest of the trip and who had the camera out and ready from then on. Of course, we didn't see another moose, but we couldn't believe how fortunate we were to have seen two in one day. But that was not the end of our seeing wild life.

When we went into Yellowstone from the north (the Gardiner entrance) we drove along and the first thing we saw was a herd of elk up on a hill. Dan was able to stop and I did take pictures of the herd (I'll post them in the web album). We continued on and went to Mammoth Hot Springs. You would not believe it, but right in the middle of the "town" there were about 10 female elk just eating and lying in the grass. Cars and motorcycles were going right past them and it wasn't bothering them at all. We stopped at the Terrace Grill and had a cheeseburger and fries with a coke - probably the best value we have had at any place in Yellowstone - it was less than $15.00. After we ate, we drove on down the road heading toward the Madison junction when what did we see but THREE Bull Elk all together in this meadow. Dan was able to stop and I have some awesome pictures of two of the three - the third one went into the timber line and wouldn't come out - in a couple of the pictures of this elk you can see part of the third one's body in the trees. The other one laid down in the meadow and I have some good head shots but this one was one of the best shots. These guys are still in velvet - I'm not sure when they will start 'rut' but someone told me that it would be soon. So, I guess today was really a day for seeing Elk and Moose.

We also stopped by the upper geyser basin and the terrace ledge and took some unique pictures. I wouldn't call these 'pretty' but the landscape around these geysers and hot springs is really unique. It has somewhat of a 'ghost' look to it - most of the trees are dead around the geysers and hot springs and the smell is awful - like rotten eggs, but it's from all the sulphur. Anyway, I thought you might like to see one of those shots.

When we got home we decided to splurge and go back to the Island Park Lodge and eat dinner - it was prime rib night - so we did - the prime rib was yummy!!!! (It was a splurge though $57.00 with tip) We'll eat at home the rest of the week end and the probably most of next week. Tomorrow we go to work - but Dan is already planning what we will do next week. I'm going to sign off for tonight - while in Yellowstone today I started with a headache (only the 2nd one since we've been gone). I don't know what caused this one, but I have taken one of my pills and I'm going to hit the sack. Will post the pictures from today in tomorrow's blog. Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll be looking for your comments.

Dan caught a FISH!

Okay - we went back to that little stream that Dan fished in the other day and lo and behold he caught a fish - I didn't get a picture of his fish before he threw it back - but let's just say it was way too little to keep, but the fact is he caught a fish (actually he caught two last night but they were too little to keep also!) He caught some fish and at this rate he is down to about $75.00 for each fish he has thrown back! That's okay - give him time and he'll catch one or more that he can keep!

I did the laundry today and Dan stayed at home and worked in the yard - he used the weed eater and watered the yard - he also washed the front of the 5th wheel that still had bugs on it from the trip out here. I went by the post office and picked up the mail - I paid the three bills that were in the package and went through the rest - some was insurance information and stuff like that. There was some confusing information and I had to make some phone calls. Dan asked me if it was going to be easier next month and I told him yes because we won't have all the final bills from the house. Anyway, that should be everything for the month - at least I hope so. So far, we are still on budget and that is good.

Tomorrow we will take the trip into Montana. As I said last night I'm not sure if we will have any pictures for the blog tomorrow night, but I look forward to the drive. Then it's to work on Saturday and Sunday. (we did close the cabin this afternoon - our neighbor had to go to the play).

I also fixed a blackberry cobbler (Dan called it a crisp) it was a little crisp - but I am still learning to use the convection oven and I only did a half recipe because we only had one package of frozen blackberries. Anyway, I am learning and I'll keep trying until I get it right. Supper tonight was pretty good - chicken, vegetable medley, and corn on the cob. It was pretty good.

Well, I'm not staying on line too long tonight - we are currently watching one of the Indiana Jones movies - "the Last Crusade" (which in my opinion is the best of the series!) So I'll sign off - one more thing - Congratulations to Melissa and Justin on the purchase of their first home!!! Dan and I are sooooo happy for you both!!!! Talk to you all soon.

Grocery Day

Hello all -today was a day at home and the grocery store and getting things organized again. Since it was a sorta boring day I wondered what I was going to talk about today on the post and realized that I had never shown you pictures of the inside of the 5th wheel. So, I decided I would do that today - now forgive me for not having them in a more organized manner (this is our bed - duh - and the dresser is two pictures down, but I really wasn't thinking when I was downloading the pictures - sorry!) Anyway, I think you will be able to see how things are. We are getting rid of the "fu-fu" - we can't stand it and adding a more country/wood theme - we took down the "fu-fu" headboard that came with the trailer and added our own picture (of the Grand Tetons) - added our bedspread and pillows on the bed. Of course, when you see the dresser you will notice we added our own moose also!

Now you see what I meant when I said the generic table lamp on the dining table - we would really like something more "woodsie" (if that's a word) for the table. So, we will look for something in our many travels.

Of course, this is the kitchen area - look Melissa, I have the sign you gave us in the kitchen - for those that can't read it I'll translate - "Dream - When your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme! - Jiminy Cricket" We sorta feel like we are living that "Dream" right now.

In case you couldn't tell - this is the dressing area of the bedroom - and yes, here is our moose on the dresser - in the background is the shower and sink area.

Finally, this is the living room area - and yes, I have tried to put a little bit of our "touch" on the place - I can't think about living somewhere that I haven't decorated just a little. It isn't big, but it's our home and we are getting settled in and liking what we have. I will do a few more tweaks of course (like the table lamp) but it is comfortable for us now.

Now, I did download the pictures of yesterday's trip into Yellowstone and I will post them at the bottom of the entry for today. Tomorrow we will do laundry and then we are going to go up and close the cabin for our neighbor tomorrow afternoon - she and her husband are going to West Yellowstone to see The Secret Garden at the playhouse. We told them we would be glad to close up for them so they won't be rushed getting to the playhouse. After we close, Dan wants to go back to the stream that I took the pictures of him fishing the other day. (Oh, by the way, he bought a new fishing rod and reel and all that stuff today when we were at Wal Mart - over $100 worth of stuff - I told him that he had better start catching fish - he was over $200.00 in fishing stuff!) So, I will take my book with us up to the cabin and then I'll read while he fishes.

Friday we are going to do the loop into Montana - I really don't know what kind of pictures I'll take, if any, but I'll have them for you if I do. It is hard to believe that this week is almost over and we'll have to go back to work in 2 days - oh well, it's only for 2 days. We can handle that!

Now, as a final note - I watched the Bachlorette (sorry Crystal) and I was somewhat surprised that she sent Reid home - but then her date with Kipton went really well. I'm not sure now who she will pick - the head's on favorite has to be Ed, but lately it doesn't seem like things go the way you think they will - and in the previews it seemed like there was going to be some kind of drama - so we'll just have to wait and see. Of course, next week is "The Guys tell all" and I hope someone beats Wes's A**! He is such a jerk. Okay, Crystal, I'll quit now.

Here is the link for the pictures from yesterday. Hope you enjoy!

Keep the comments coming - and just so you know - my hair is different!

Yellowstone - South Loop

Well, here we are sitting in front of the Lower Falls at Artist's Point. Isn't that the most beautiful scene you have ever seen - okay take us out and it's one of the most beautiful. Anyway, we had a great time today - we saw lots of water falls today on the north side of the southern loop. We did see a little wild life- I have some pictures of a Bull Elk and some of buffalo. Not much else - I wanted to get pictures today of the hot springs, but we made the mistake of taking the northern side first and by the time we got over to the western side we were ready to come home. Soooo - I told Dan that the next time we come into the park I want to take the hot springs picture and he said okay. Once again, the girls traveled well - we let them out a couple of times to go 'potty' but the rest of the time they rode in the back seat. We stopped at the Lake Lodge for lunch ($23.00). This is the oldest lodge in the park - I always thought Old Faithful Lodge was the oldest, but it's not - this lodge was actually used as a stagecoach stop. Anyway, Dan had trout almondine and I had a chef's salad and water -it was pretty good. I'm cooking dinner as I write - but, it's really lite tonight - how about hot dogs and potato chips.

One of the reasons we having hot dogs tonight is I don't have anything else to cook. That's why tomorrow is a run into Rexburg - Wal Mart and Albertson's (the Wal Mart store is not a super center and they don't have fresh produce or meat - so we'll check out the Albertson's that is right next door). We have a few things we want to pick up at Wal Mart - such as a paper towel holder that mounts under the cabinet (the one I have now sits on the counter and it takes up too much precious counter top). Hopefully we won't be in Rexburg all day, but it is the closest Wal Mart and "real" grocery store.

I'm not going to be too long winded tonight - I need to get up and finish getting dinner ready. I'll leave you with one other picture from today - I'll get the pictures downloaded to the web tomorrow and have the link for them then. Hope you enjoy!

Dan's Fishing Day

Well, today Dan finally went fishing - and I even have pictures as proof. In fact, he walked down to the Buffalo River right after dinner to try a little more fishing. This picture was taken on a little back road that we drove today - one of many. While he did not catch anything on this little trip at least he FINALLY went fishing!!! He was somewhat excited to be able to go out in the middle of nowhere and try his hand at catching trout - he'll catch some - it's just a matter of time.

Tomorrow we are going to do the south loop in Yellowstone - it is more of the geysers and hot springs - I don't know how much, if any, wild life we will see, but I will have my trusty camera ready. I look forward to taking some pictures of the hot springs - some of the colors in them are breathtaking. We will take the pups with us again - so if it's a long day we won't have to worry any.

This afternoon I bought tickets for a musical that is being presented by a theater group in West Yellowstone. We are going to go next Wednesday (the 22nd) at 6:00 pm. It should be fun - I let Dan decide what he wanted to see - they are presenting three different shows - Footloose; The Secret Garden; and Guys and Dolls - Dan chose Guys and Dolls. I hope he enjoys it and maybe we'll go see at least one other one (Footloose). I'll let you know how next Wednesday goes first.

Thursday I will do laundry and Friday we are planning on doing a loop into Montana. It's a scenic drive and I always look forward to seeing beautiful country.

Today has been very windy - gusts up to 35 mph. I will be glad to see it settle down - the weather forecast is for it to be windy like this until 9pm so I still have about an hour and a half. I really don't like the wind like that - it sorta rocks the trailer, but I know that it's fine. We keep a listen on the weather radio and there isn't any bad weather - just the wind.

Oh- one of the things that I did today was upload the pictures of Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. I didn't take many of the Grand Canyon for some reason, but anyway I'll put the links in. (At least I'm going to try and put in two links - I've never tried this before, so I don't know if it will work - let me know if it doesn't).

If you would like to see the pictures of Bryce Canyon click on this link.
If you would like to see the pictures of the Grand Canyon click on this link.

Let me know if these work - and for my girls - I'll email you the pictures of my "new" hair - don't want to bore everyone with them.

I'll sign off for tonight- BTW, the only tv show that I really miss is The Bachlorette and I watch it the day after it shows on network TV on the Internet - I am making a prediction now, in case any of you out there watch it too. I think she will pick - ED and REID and sent Tipton home tonight. We'll see how I do. (it was interesting to see that she did NOT use the Fantasy Suite with any of the guys except ED and supposedly just talked with him - a girl with a little morals maybe???) Anyway, after tomorrow, when I can watch the show, I will make a prediction on who she chooses. Later!

My two little excavators

Friday I gave my little darlings a bath and just yesterday we put their Frontline on them and gave them their heartworm preventative. Silly me thought I wouldn't have to worry about them for another month. So, imagine my surprise and my irritation when cleaning the kitchen this morning and fixing our lunch I look out the kitchen window and see dirt flying. I look again and Jessie (whose butt is toward the camera) is waist deep (if dogs had waists) in a hole and Samantha is on the other side digging just as hard. They had found a chipmunk hole and were digging furiously trying to catch this poor little creature. Dan comes to the door and tells me that the dogs were now officially mine and he didn't have anything to do with them and their past time. Yeah, like I'm really buying that one!
I finally get finished in the kitchen and walk outside with the camera - these little pups where making the dirt fly and when I called them Samantha tried to hide. I did finally get a picture of
both of them with their dirty little faces. I'm sure I will end up having to give them another bath but for now I'm just trying to give them a "sponge bath" and get the majority of the dirt off before I let them in the bed.
As you can see, these little darlings were dirty from the tips of their noses to the tips of their tails. Oh well, what can you do?

Today was another busy day at the cabin, but it came in spurts. At times there would not be anyone in the cabin then 10 minutes later there would be 15 to 20. At one time there were over 40 - that is a little crowded! However, we met some of the most fascinating people and learn so much from them - today we met our first people that are full-time RVers like we are. We talked for quite a while and learned a lot about different parts of the country and where they would recommend us traveling to. It was very interesting and informative - they gave us a card with all their contact information and I hope to stay in touch with them.

I know my girls would like to see a picture of their "new" mom and I'll have Dan take a picture tomorrow and I'll post it then. I'm not sure what we are going to do this coming week - I know that I am going to encourage Dan to finally use those fishing licenses - he needs to get out there and see what he can do. Right now he has put in a movie (Bourne Supremacy) and so I guess I'll sign off for tonight.

Another Day in Paradise (or close to it)

Hello all - sorry I didn't get my blog posted last night - I had done the blog and when I started to post it I realized that I was not online anymore and I lost the entire blog. By that time it was so late that I decided I would catch everyone up on our activities today.

Yesterday was a day that we got a lot accomplished. Not only did I do housework, I rearranged some cabinets and got rid of some things that we will never need. You know, it's funny when you are getting ready for an adventure like the one we are on how you think you will need all this "stuff" and you don't. For example, I brought at least 8 towels - now what do I need with 8 towels when it is just Dan, the girls, and I? When I do laundry I wash the ones we have used then we use them again. I don't get new towels out everyday. Anyway, when we get back to Florida in November that is one thing that I will change - get rid of stuff you don't use or need. But I guess it just takes living the way we are to recognize what you actually do need and what you don't. It is a completely different way of living than living in a "sticks and bricks" house. You have to think about the size of the jar of peanut butter you buy - will it fit in the pantry? How many rolls of paper towels you buy and how much frozen things you can fit into a freezer the size of a small cooler. It is an adjustment, but I think we are handling it well.

I also was able to give the puppies their long awaited bath - they were not real happy with me for a couple of hours (at least until I fixed dinner - then all was forgiven). I will put their Frontline on them today and give them their heartworm preventive and we will be good to go for another month.


Dan and I went to a small craft fair yesterday also -it was to benefit the local library - I did buy 4 paperback books and spent one whole dollar. It will give me something to read at night since I had finished everything I had brought with us. (So, I donated those books to the library - don't have room to store them.)

Last night Dan helped me do my hair - and it may come as a great shock to my children, but their mom is NOT a blond anymore - I'm now a light brunette. I don't believe my girls have ever seen me not as a blond (that gives you an idea of how long I have been coloring my hair - YIKES!) Anyway, I got a little tired of having to do my hair all the time and I also thought that a person on the back side of 50 probably didn't need to be a blond any longer - SO, I looked for a color that I thought was pretty close to my natural color and voila I'm a new woman - Dan wants to know when I will let my hair go gray and I told him when I was as old as he is I just might!

Today was a busy day at the cabin which was somewhat surprising, but we had one family group come in that was having a family reunion - there were over 50 in the group with some coming from as far away as Hawaii. This afternoon when we were closing I looked at the register and there was a family that came through the cabin today from New Zealand. It is amazing how people from all over the world come to this little cabin in the woods - I sometimes wonder how they find out about it - could be the same way we did - the good old Internet.

Well, we are half done with our work "week" and I am not sure what Dan has in store for us next week. I think we will probably do the southern loop in Yellowstone sometime during the week - and I am sure I will do laundry one day, but other than that we are just not sure - we'll get up one day and decide what we are going to do then. I need to get up and fix dinner - bar-b-que pork sandwiches, fresh french fries, and corn on the cob. Should be good. Maybe one day next week, if we can stay home, I will get the pictures of the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon on the web so you guys can see them (they are pretty awesome!) That will be a goal of mine for next week. Please let me know what you think of the blog - or if you have any questions about what we are doing just drop me a comment and I'll answer you. Until tomorrow!

Grand Tetons National Park

Grand Teton

Today was another absolutely wonderful day - we drove over to Jackson (by the paved road this time) and shopped a little on the square - I should say we walked through some stores. My kids would be soooo proud of me - I haven't bought anything in all the stores we have been in - okay, I take that back. I did buy a Grand Teton National Park sticker to use on my scrapbook pages when I get my pictures developed. But I have not bought any thing for the trailer - no little something to decorate with. I know they won't believe me, but it's true. Maybe it's because I don't have anywhere to put anything. I did see a lamp that I told Dan would be pretty on the table instead of the Wal Mart special we have there now. But, the $75.00 price tag changed my mind very quickly! After we walked around for a little while we went into the Million Dollar Saloon and had lunch - I had a regular cheeseburger while Dan had a buffalo burger ($25.00). I saved some of my cheeseburger for the pups (yes, we took them with us again - I don't like to leave them alone so much).

After we left Jackson we actually drove into the Grand Teton National Park instead of just driving by on the way to Yellowstone as we have done in the past. Therefore, most of my pictures today will be of scenery. The scenery is awe inspiring. I hope you will be able to tell from the pictures that I will post at the end just how beautiful this place is. I really don't know if my pictures will do the place justice, but I hope they will. The picture above was taken at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center and almost matches the picture we have hanging over our bed in the trailer.

When we left the Tetons we decided to go ahead and drive through Yellowstone from the south entrance and go through West Yellowstone to go home instead of driving all the way back to Jackson and then back the way we came - it would have been about 100 miles that way instead of about 70 the way we went. We stopped at McDonald's in West Yellowstone because it was getting late and Dan was hungry (big surprise) - I figured it would be an inexpensive meal since we always eat off the $1.00 menu. WRONG!!!! They don't have a $1.00 menu - so instead of about 6 bucks we spent $12.63. Oh well, it was a great day and we did enjoy ourselves.

By the way, at the end of the pictures you will see female elk pictures and a couple of a very young male elk - he was just starting to get his horns (nothing like the Bull Elk we saw on Tuesday). I hope you enjoy these pictures - just click on this link.

Tomorrow I stay home and clean a little - finally give the pups a bath. I think Dan is finally going to go fishing. Will fill you in on what happens - you never know what we are going to do next!

Pictures on web and today's update

First let me see if I can get the link to the pictures from Yellowstone yesterday on here. This should be the link to those pictures. Just click on the highlighted word in the last sentence and you should be able to get all the pictures from yesterday - Let me know how this works to make sure I've done it right. (Thanks go out to my daughter Crystal - thanks for coming to your mom's rescue!)

Okay, now, what did we do today - This morning we straightened up around here - Dan has the yard so nice and clean now - he has burned all the clippings from the trees and has raked the yard. It looks so nice! I sat down and paid the bills that came in the mail on Monday (thanks Joyce!) So after all that was taken care of - we ate lunch (Dan ate leftovers, I had a bowl of cereal) then it was off to do laundry- we tried a different laundry mat - it was closer to us and it actually cost less - only $7.00 instead of $10.00, but I did have one less load of clothes. Anyway, while we were doing the laundry a huge storm came up and the temperature dropped like a rock (it was actually down to 47 degrees when we got things loaded into the truck at 3 o'clock in the afternoon). We stopped at the nearest grocery to pick up some hamburger buns - I planned on using the left-over pork chops from last night and making bar-b-que pork sandwiches, with french fries, and corn on the cob. I asked Dan if we had sauce and he was quick to say yes - I've gotten where I really don't want to buy something if I think we already have it - we just don't have a lot of storage space. Anyway, to make a long story short - we did NOT have any sauce so I decided to fix soup and grilled cheese sandwiches since it was still pretty cool - around 61. Now that is done, and the dishes are finished. We also rented a movie for tonight (this place rents them for $1.99 instead of $3.00 at the other place and they seem to have a better selection). Anyway, I wanted to rent either Australia with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman or Valkry with Tom Cruise - Dan wanted to rent Mall Cop - guess which one we rented. I'll let you know how Mall Cop is tomorrow.

Well, I really don't have much to report for today - please let me know if I did this right with getting the pictures where you all can see them. If this works, I'll get the others on in the next day or so - Take care everyone - hope to hear from you soon!

Trying to get pictures on the web

Here is a link to the all the pictures of "My first moose". I'm trying to see if I can actually get pictures on the web so all can see. Let me know what happens.

Bear and Moose and Elk - Oh My!

Today was an absolutely amazing day as you can tell from these pictures - I am just giving you a single shot of each of the three main wildlife sightings we had today - I was so excited today that I just can't explain it to you.

Well, can you tell we went to Yellowstone again today? We got up this morning and decided it was a Yellowstone day - so I took a shower, got dressed, made the bed, straightened up the kitchen and we were out the door by 9:30 - Pups and all! (We didn't know how long we were going to be gone today, so we decided to take the puppies with us - am I glad we did - we didn't get home until after 7 o'clock - Long Day!) We went into West Yellowstone and decided that we would head for Silver Gate - a town at the northeast entrance to the park. So, basically what we had to do was start on the west side, and travel the upper loop of the park to get to Silver Gate - and we knew this was the section of the park roads that are under construction - everyone tells you to expect 30 minutes delays, and we did have a couple but it was okay - the scenery was wonder - (Dan said that God was the best landscaper ever - no one can hold a stick to Him and I would have to agree!)

After we get into the park and head over toward Canyon (you have several intersections you have to go through to get to different sections of the park). Dan and I were talking about what type of wild life we would love to see. I said I wanted to see a bear and a bull moose. Dan said he also wanted to see a Bull Elk. Well, we weren't sure we would see anything, but we were hoping. Who would have guessed we would see all three?

First we saw the bear - and I mean it was right there and absolutely the prettiest thing you have ever seen - I was sitting in the truck window to take the pictures - it was so close I wouldn't dare get out of the truck. As you can plainly see it was wonderful. I must have smiled for at least 5 miles.

Next thing we know there are cars in front of us slowing down - that usually means there is some kind of wild life near. Dan says - pay attention this looks like it could be a moose territory and sure enough right there was the nicest Bull Moose you would want to see - now his rack was not that large (I don't know if they grow new racks every year or if he was just young) but he was standing in this lake and eating and posing for pictures. Once again, I didn't get out of the truck - there was a ranger there that was keeping a pretty close eye on everyone - We have found out that the window is a nice place to crawl out and sit to take pictures - I did that all day!

Now, Dan and I were so excited - I mean, we hadn't been in the park longer than an hour and we had seen a bear and a moose - what else did the day hold for us? Well, how about a momma bear and two cubs? Yep! They were far enough up the hillside that I did get out of the truck and took some pictures - the cubs like to play hide and seek behind rocks and trees, but I did get a pretty good shot of momma and one of the cubs - now this momma bear was MUCH bigger than the other bear we saw today - I mean MUCH BIGGER!!!! It was really neat to see her and the cubs, but to tell you the truth, I'm sorta glad she stayed up on the hillside.

We drove and saw the most beautiful scenery - waterfalls and creeks and lakes and mountains and snow! We went through Silver Gate (boy! am I glad we decided NOT to take the job there - it is right in the middle of all the construction and there isn't a whole lot there - Like maybe one or two stores and that's it!) We drove on down the road about 3 - 4 miles to Cooke City (we did have to wait in a construction line and we asked the construction worker that holds the "Stop" sign where would be a good place to eat - she gave us the name of 3 places). So, when we got there we stopped at the Bear Tooth and had lunch - chili burgers - they were really pretty good and filling!

Back in the car and drove back into Yellowstone - going on around the loop to end up back in West Yellowstone. And lo and behold, what did we see but Dan's Bull Elk - once again so close to the truck that I sat in the window and took the pictures - I must have twenty of the Elk - in one he is eating the grass but looking straight at me - it is so awesome!!!!! Now the rack on this Elk is absolutely amazing - it's HUGE and it is still in velvet! I don' think I uploaded the best picture of the Elk but if you would like to see more let me know and I can email them to you.

Anyway, we had a fabulous day - the puppies were the best ever - they stayed in the back seat and didn't try to come up for me to hold them all day. It made it very nice when I am sitting with the camera in my lap they whole time looking for game. We also saw buffalo - I got the cutest picture of a little baby buffalo - it's looking right at me - then he turned to run to momma and I have a picture of a little buffalo butt! We also saw deer and antelope and female elk - I have lots of pictures of female elk. I just can not describe the beauty and majesty of our trip today! All I can saw is AMAZING!

Tomorrow we have to come back to real life and go do laundry - Dan will probably try his hand at fishing (we bought his fishing license in Rexburg yesterday - $98.00 for an out of state licenses- YIKES!) Oh well, he wants to fish and he had to have a license so it's fine! We did go to Wal Mart in Rexburg yesterday and then we watched a movie last night (Shrek 2 - bought it for $3.00- there were some funny parts).

Well, I'll sign off for now and if anyone wants to see more pictures let me know and I'll be glad to email them to you - they are pretty awesome!

Our work week is over!

Hello everyone - hope you had a nice and restful holiday weekend! Dan and I had over 700 people come through the cabin this weekend - we were very surprised at how busy we were today. We thought we would be busy yesterday but we didn't think that we would be that busy today. Boy, were we wrong! The good thing about being really busy like we were is it sure does make the day go faster! However, it was another day without any pictures. Maybe I'll just go back to some of our other pictures and post some of those.

Dan wants to get his fishing license and go fishing some this week - maybe I'll work some on my scrap booking. I've just about read everything that I brought with me - I've read four books since we have been gone - has that only been two and a half weeks ago???? It seems like it was forever ago - and I don't mean that in a bad way. Maybe I'll pick up a few more books when we go into Wal Mart in Rexburg. Or, I might check out the local library and see if I can check books out from there.

I'm not going to stay on too long tonight - I want to take a shower and wash my hair before I go to bed. Plus, not much is going on around here. See, everyone has down days - even those of us who live in a RV. I'm sure things will pick up next week. Everyone take care!

Happy 4th of July

Hello all - Sorry I did not post last night - Dan and I bought a frozen pizza and I fixed it in the convection oven (I'm beginning to like that thing) and then we watched a movie ("Night at the Museum"). By the time the movie was over we decided it was time for bed. We did have to work today - and will work tomorrow also.

Boy, was today busy!!! We probably had over 300 people come through the cabin today - at times there were so many people inside they all couldn't get up the stairs to see the bedrooms and had to wait in line. I was really pooped when we got home - BUT I fixed dinner (ham steak, macaroni and cheese, and green beans) then cleaned up the kitchen. I figured I needed to let you know that the last couple of days have been sorta quiet. We knew we would be really busy at the cabin today and probably tomorrow morning - then things should slow down as people have to pack up and get ready to go back home after the holiday weekend.

As of right now we don't have any definite plans for next week - I'm sure we will go back over to Yellowstone and explore a little more and I will need to do laundry again at some point. Dan is also talking about going down to Rexburg (about 60 miles away) to the nearest Wal Mart. We'll see how that goes.

I don't imagine we will stay up and go see any fireworks tonight - they are suppose to shoot some off at the lake at 10 pm - that's a little late for us since we need to get up and get ready for work - I think that our bodies are still on eastern daylight time - we are going to bed around 9:30 - 10 and getting up at 6:30 (that would be 11:30 - midnight and up at 8:30 if we were still in Florida). In one way, I want to stay on eastern time - but I don't know how long we will be able to - I mean we will be here for two and a half months.

Well, I just seem to be rambling on about a lot of nothing - so I will sign off for today - Dan, Sam, Jessie, and I wish everyone the happiest of 4th's - stay safe out there!

Let's Talk Money

Hello all - today has been a day to get things done. We did not leave the campsite at all today - Dan worked outside - weed eating around the camper and getting the yard cleaned up - hopefully it will help with the mosquitoes but I don't guarantee it. He also got the door hung back up today - we (I did help by holding the flashlight again) reinforced the rail that holds the door and HOPEFULLY we won't have the problem any more.

What did I do, you ask? Well, first I balanced the bank statements - then I paid the credit card bill - then I figured out the money situation - what it cost us to get here and what it will cost us to live - of course, some things I won't be able to finalize until we get our mail from Florida - I know that we will have some final bills to pay - you know things like the final light bill and final water bill. The only reoccurring bills we will have are: Verizon Wireless (cell phone and air card), the storage facility in Florida (I paid for 6 months before we left, so I don't have to worry about that for awhile), and the Credit Card (fuel and misc. charges). So, after this month's final bills from Florida are paid, we should be in good shape.

Now, I promised that I would be honest about what it costs us to live -so today I got all the figures for fuel, campground fees, meals out, and misc. expenses for the trip out - this is the breakdown:
Fuel: $985.23
Campground Fees: $210.87
Groceries: $ 97.85
Misc Exp. $120.77

Total $1,414.72

Even with the fuel charges we are still well within our budget and we won't have a fuel bill that steep for the next 2 months (July and August). Of course, when we start our trip back toward Florida the fuel expenses will go up again, but this just proves that we should be able to live quite well on my projected budget.

Dan and I are keeping a very close tab on the money we spend - we have a fuel log in the truck and I keep all receipts and write them down in the "little black book" - I don't want to have any surprises. I hope to start building the saving account this month - our little emergency fund. We have had more misc. expenses since we got here - we have eaten out four times (Pond's Lodge for dinner, Angler's Lodge for breakfast, Lunch in West Yellowstone when we did laundry, and Lunch at Old Faithful Lodge yesterday) for a total of a little over $100.00. Dan did buy his new hat yesterday ($128.75), and we bought a couple of books while in West Yellowstone (around $30.00) - now some of these expenses we have paid cash for (the Dinner's and books) we did charge his hat. We have also bought some groceries - mostly things like eggs, milk, bread, and lunch meat - that's been about $75.00- all that has been paid for. So far, since we have been here (I know it's only a week) we have only charged fuel once and Dan's hat. So far, so good.

Now, when the mail from Florida arrives (probably Monday, since this weekend is a holiday) I will let you know what the budget looks like from that standpoint. I do want to say cooking breakfast and dinner, and packing our lunch when we work or eating left overs here is not always fun, but I do enjoy knowing that we are living well within our means. We will look at being able to eat out maybe once a week and even taking a few overnight trips and staying in hotels (we just have to make sure we can take the pups). I'll keep you posted on the way things go. If you have any questions about any of this stuff - just let me know. I'll try and answer them for you.

Maybe tomorrow will be a more exciting day then today -but occasionally you just have to do the paperwork. Oh well - such is life.

First trip to Yellowstone!

Yellowstone - when most people think of Yellowstone National Park they think of Old Faithful Geyser. Yes, Old Faithful is a part of Yellowstone, but just a part. There is so much more to this wonderful creation. This is a picture of one of the thermal pots - the colors are magnificent - and this is just one of the pots. Dan and I went to Yellowstone today and only traveled 30 miles within the park. Yes, we went to see Old Faithful erupt - even ate at the Old Faithful Lodge, but there is so much more to see and witness.

For example, not only did we see this thermal pot we saw lakes formed by small geysers - beautiful rivers that hold all types of trout. We saw a Bald Eagle in its nest with babies - a herd of elk grazing beside the river - a lone deer lying in the grass - antelope feeding on the hillside - a bison herd grazing in the distance. We saw magnificent waterfalls that are hard to imagine they would be so large. And all of this in one 30 mile southern loop. Do you want to know what is really cool? We have all summer to explore this beautiful place - two and a half months. We will go to the park at least once a week, if not more. (Just so you know - this is not costing us anything but fuel - we have a Golden Age Pass which allows us entry into any National Park for free - it has saved us $75.00 so far on this trip along- Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and today - it will allow us to go to the park as many times as our heart desires which will be many times.)

Tomorrow Dan plans on working around the "house" - he still has to put the door back on and he wants to weed eat around the yard a little more - we hope that will help with the mosquitoes. I plan on bathing the pups. We may ride around and explore the area closer to "home" after we get our chores done - if so, I plan on taking the pups with us. They have been by themselves most of the day since last Friday - they need to spend some time with us. I'll also work on the budget and getting those figures done. Also, I have figured out how to email pictures from Picasa to people, but I have yet to figure out how to post them to the web (I am now at the point that I would accept help from my tech savvy daughters, friends of my daughters, or even sons-in-law - if you know, please let me know!)

Well, I'll sign off for tonight - but before I do, I'll leave you with one more picture. Enjoy!