Tulips!

We had dinner at our friends Greg and Anita's house tonight....on the way out I was the proud recipient of the beautiful dinner table tulips! They look fabulous on my entry table.














They came straight from their yard!

Great America Highway Opening

Today I went to the opening celebration for the Beartooth Highway. This scenic road starts in Red Lodge and traverses for 60 plus miles in and out of Wyoming and finally into Yellowstone Park. Throughout the winter months, the highway (also called the Beartooth Pass and Beartooth All American Road) is closed due to snow. Each spring there is a festive celebration to recognize it's opening.






About 100 people came out to celebrate with cake, fun music, and even a little dancing. They even brought out the ladder truck to get a picture of yours truley (and 99 other people) for the paper.


This man was the 'parking attendant' (I think).















After the 'celebration' Shelby and I took a drive up to the first major lookout of the pass - it was BEAUTIFUL!














Shelby had a fabulous time and definitely enjoyed the sites (especially the chipmunks).

As we were pulling out of the parking lot we saw this very odd site.....not sure what to tell you....only to be used in case of an emergency....when you gotta go you gotta go...have seat will travel... Okay, I'm done.


On the way home I snapped some shots of Rock Creek. It runs parallel with the highway and then into town....it's extra beautiful right now because of the rapids from the melting snow, and it's amazing how loud it is!

P.S. Next year is the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Beartooth Highway. While at the opening celebration, I was recruited to serve on the committee! Ha, I can't help myself but get involved! FUN!

Moon Walk

Tonight I went on a Moon Walk sponsored by the Beartooth Ranger District of the Custer National Forest. The May full moon was the Bruin Moon, otherwise known as the Bear Moon.






It was a great first walk. I joined about twenty other people in the Custer National Forest just off Lake Fork Road.








Along the trail there were two speakers who shared about bears, what they eat, how BIG they get, how to spot them, how to be safe when hiking, storing food properly, etc. As the moon started rising and night set in, the third speaker shared two Indian folklores about bears. It was like being at camp as we all sat perched on rocks! The only negative was the GIANT mosquitos. Next time I'll be bringing bug spray!


I even spotted bear tracks!













Although when I left the moon was not quite high enough too see, by the time I got home it was beautiful!

June's Moon Walk is the Trout Moon and a partial lunar eclipse! I'll let you know how it goes.

Signs of Spring

Shelby and I went on a walk today and captured some signs of spring:

Greg the Dog Man is out selling his famous hot dogs, sausage dogs, and bratwaurst. I had a beef dog....yum.



















Yellowstone Preservation Society displaying the old tour busses (related to spring because the pass will open in two weeks so we can actually drive the shortest way to Yellowstone and I just thought they were neat.

Sweet Vidalia Onions for sale...Ha, I traveled two thousand miles and I can't escape the South! (Not that I would want to) Ironically, when I moved to Valdosta I thought I was moving to where they grew onions....ha, wrong V.





And to top it all off, a refreshing Root Beer Float made wtih real Root Beer from the tap, and of course a nice sloppy kiss from Shelby (as my friend Emily says, she can't control her licker.)

Happy spring!

Visitors in the yard

As I was working on a new post for my Love Undeniable blog, I looked out the window and saw a cute little girl, probably around 4, and a white boxer dog in my yard. Odd I thought - who are you? I hadn't seen the girl or the dog before, and certainly not in my yard. I watched her for a minute or so and then she and the dog walked away. About five minutes later I saw a man (okay younger guy) on the sidwalk calling what could be a dog's name. Opening the door I asked him if he was looking for his dog. He said yes. I said a white dog? He said yes. I said a boxer? He said yes. My dog, Shelby, who was still inside barked. I told the man his dog was in my house. I paused and then said, I'm kidding - I got him. He then asked if I wanted any Absinthe. That's when I began to notice his slightly unsteady movements and the cigarrette in his hand. I said no thanks, it's kind of early for that. He said what time is it? I said 10:00am. He said no way, pulled out his cell phone and checked. He said I was right. Clearly I'm a genius. I told the man if I saw his dog I'd send him over (the man was apparently visiting the odd house next door.) He said oookkkayyy. I then looked down and saw a nice fresh pile of poooo. Not my dog's because why would I let her poo in my own front yard. I said to the man, "Yep your dog was here and left something." The man looked at me confused. I went in the house. 5 minutes later white boxer dog appeared again.....and went into the odd house.

Odd. (Sorry no pictures, the only evidence I had was the poo and I decided to spare you. Your welcome.)

Weekend at East Rosebud

This past weekend I had the pleasure of staying with two wonderful people, Don and Anita, at their beautiful home in Roscoe. (Around here, the appropriate response is: 'Where the hell is Roscoe?' Really, that's what people say. Kind of like in South Georgia when you say you're from Adel and people say 'Adel Baby' or 'It's so close to hell you can see Sparks.' Get it?) So anyways, I had a fabulously relaxing weekend and, as you can see, saw some beautiful scenery.

Don and Anita live just outside of Custer National Forest. I also live just ouside of the same forest, yet we live 40 minutes away from each other. Goes to show you how big Custer is! (And illustrates the fact that there aren't any straight roads here because of all the mountains....no such thing as driving like the crow flies.) Speaking of crows, I learned this weekend that out here they're twice the size and called ravins. Good to know.

Within the forest is the East Rosebud Lake....it's completely surrounded by mountains. A few very fortunate people are blessed to have vacation homes there (they've been there for 100 years) but otherwise the land is undisturbed.














We arrived just in time to see a few ducks fly from the lake...they left great tracks!


Although we never actually spotted a moose, we did find some of their tracks also. They were fresh so we must have just missed them!



Back at Don and Anita's, I snatched a shot of one of their regular visitors, a Marmot. I think they're so cute! (Click on the picture to zoom in and look closely, he blends in with the rocks.)







The view from my room was beautiful! This is the rising sun hitting the mountain - so majestic! (Sorry about the glare).







Although we were surrounded by snow, it was a beautiful day and not too cold. A perfect time to sit by the fire pit with some wine and cheese. It's amazing how quiet it is outside. A huge thank you to Don and Anita for having me as their guest. I'm looking forward to my next visit (don't worry, I'm not being rude, they invited me!)

Snowed in.....

Every morning I go to the window in my living room and peak out. You never know what you might find behind the curtains....this morning was a first. The snow from yesterday apparently continued through the night and I couldn't even see through the window.








So I opened the door
(slowly)
It wouldn't open all the way.
My back door won't even open.










My car is out there....








This is my neighbors house.
The houses here are really close together (in the cute historic way, not in the suburbia cookie cutter way) I hope his snow stays on his roof and not on my window (good thing my windows are double pane)





My Redneck Riviera is once again snowed in. To give you some perspective the little table is ~22 inches tall, you can see about 4.5 inches. So 17.5 inches of snow....I know, it could be worse. But it's the sixth of May people! I'm supposed to be hiking in the hills surrounded by wildflowers. This is not what I signed up for! Okay, I'm done. Actually, in what some may consider a sick way, I enjoy the snow - I think it's pretty amazing and quite beautiful. Of course, I haven't lived through six months of it yet either. I know the folks here are ready for summer for sure.

Snow Day! Snow Boots! Cinco de Mayo?

Yep, that's right - today is the fifth of May and it snowed......it started with just a little but now it's turned into a full blown winter storm. As we sipped our margaritas and munched on our chips and salsa the snow came down, oblivious to the fact that we're supposed to be out by a pool with little umbrellas in our drinks.


Good thing my new snow boots from Crocs came in the mail today. (Gotta love the clearance section) I thought they were quite festive for Cinco de Mayo....don't you agree?