Gate Guarding

Gate Guarding

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Island Park, ID, Yellowstone & Time with Friends

We have been having a great time herein Island Park at the Valley View RV Park with our friends Kevin & Arlene, Chuck & Kathy, and newly arrived Keith & Donna.

We have been preparing an evening meal together and not having huge potlucks so it seems we are eating much less. We’ve enjoyed a few Happy Hours with minimum snacks and a few evenings of games.

We spent one day with the “Idaho Gang” going to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful. On the way we saw a Buffalo…

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and an Elk.

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We also saw lots of geysers…

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and the beautiful landscape of Yellowstone…had a picnic…but…

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Old Faithful was the main attraction of the day…it erupts approximately every 88 minutes so we had about a 30 minute wait until the main event…

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When we returned from Yellowstone we stopped in West Yellowstone and went to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center with Chuck & Kathy….

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The Bears are awesome…Sam & Illie are twins. They wandered into a fishing Village near King Salmon, Alaska. They arrived in the Center in 1996

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Sam…weighs in at about 1000 lbs…

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and Illie…weighs in at about 750 lbs

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The wolves were all sleeping…

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Tuesday we returned to the Discovery Center as our ticket covers two consecutive days…

We saw..

Spirit…weighing in at about 350 lbs arrived in 2002 after being relocated six times in efforts to divert her desire to obtain food near the Resorts.

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Kobuk & Nakina were orphaned as cubs in 1998 after a landowner killed their mother & brother in the Delta Junction of Alaska

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Kobuk…about 525 lbs

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and Nakina…weighing in at 390 lbs

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Wednesday we had an all day road trip planned to Yellowstone with Mac & I, Kevin & Arlene, and Chuck & Kathy. We rented a Mini Van so that we could all go together. WE loaded up in Kevin’s truck and headed in to West Yellowstone to pick up the Van. We were going to do the Upper & Eastern Loop of Yellowstone. There had been many wildlife sightings in that area and we wanted to see some…

We saw lots of Buffalo…

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and even this one headed right at us on the road…LOL

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we saw a Black Bear crossing the road in front of us….

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a Grizzly out in the field…

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some Mule Deer…

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and another Black Bear…

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We also saw another Grizzly but it went in to the trees before I could get a photo of it, and a Beaver standing right on the edge of the road…I had my camera ready to take the photo and a car came around the road and scared it away.

We had another picnic…it sure seems like the food always tastes better out in the open with friends…

The majesty of Yellowstone cannot be duplicated in the photos that I have enclosed….It is just breathtaking….to see more photos click on the link below…

Yellowstone Upper Loop-Wednesday July 27th

We ended our day in West Yellowstone with Ice cream for dinner…LOL

Yesterday some of us went into West Yellowstone to do some window shopping & lunch…There are lots of neat things in town, but we don’t have any room in our small house for anything more…we ended the evening with a bring your own food and we all ate together….Great day with friends.

Today we will be attending a Potluck that the Park is putting on. I made a Key Lime Pie for my donation to the meal…

Stay tuned…we will be going to Yellowstone one more time for the Southern Loop next week….and more fun with friends.

(((HUGS)))

1 Life is Good for Blog

Thursday, July 21, 2011

A visit to Rexburg, ID and Mesa Falls with Friends

This morning we were up and on the road about 11am headed to Rexburg, ID. Mac & Chuck had to have blood work done and Kathy, Arlene, and myself were going to have Pedicures. Kathy needed a manicure and Arlene & I needed haircuts.

We arrived a little early so we started looking somewhere to have lunch. Mac and I like to go to the little out of the way places instead of the usually Fast Food places so I looked on Yelp to see what all was available. I found a little place called “Joe’s Filling Station” so off we went in search of this place.

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and last photo of me with long hair for a very long time…lol

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We seated ourselves and the waitress was right over and took our drink order. We checked out the menu and the daily specials and made our decisions…the girls were having Country Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes, Salad, Green Beans, and Homemade Rolls. The guys decided on Liver & Onions, Mac with Fresh Cut Fries and Chuck having Mashed Potatoes. The food was very good and the atmosphere was very cool. The company & conversation was fabulous though…

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After lunch the guys dropped us off at Reflections Hair & Nails so that we could all have our beauty procedures done. They were very busy and we had to wait awhile. I got my hair cut and it is a very short cut for me. Arlene just had a trim. They took Arlene & I back for our Pedicures and Kathy was getting her nails done. All in all I was pleased with my Pedicure and with my haircut, except it is a LOT shorter than I wanted in the back!!

The guys picked us up and we ran by the grocery store for a few items and then we were off headed back to Island Park. On the way we decided to take the scenic route that we had saw a few days ago that takes you to the Upper & Lower Mesa Falls. The drive was pretty and we stopped at an overlook to see The Tetons from a distance…..

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Then we stopped at the Lower Falls…they were awesome!

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Falls in the background…notice the “New” short haircut…

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Myself, Arlene, and Kathy

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Then on to the Upper Falls….

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We arrived back at the RV park about 7:30 and everyone went to their own RV’s with the guys having plans to play golf in the morning and the girls just to hang out and maybe a trip to the Craft Fair down the road…

Stay Tuned….

(((HUGS)))

1 Life is Good for Blog