A Real Diamond Day

 We're here in Big Timber, settled in our site on the banks of the beautiful Boulder River.

clear blue skies today!

Dave's coffee came from Janna....our coffee maker just died
She's a life saver.

can you see the Merganser family zooming around?

Second cup outside is wonderful, water sounds, bird song, sunshine.    Well, except for the sound of a puking puppy.....the beautiful green grass is just too much for him to resist and the result is - well, you know what the result is.  

We leave in the morning, on our way south to Buffalo, Wyoming.   No particular reason to stop there, it's just on our way.

 

Yesterday was a Diamond Day for us.    We met Janna and Mike of restorationcowboystyle.com  at their beautiful and private home here.    We haven't spent much time with them, just a visit at their Arizona winter headquarters and a lunch at ours so we were looking forward to getting to know them better.    They have a new pup, Kaycee, who is just a month younger than our Taos so we were set for some fun!

Janna had a full day planned and she couldn't have given us a better day!   We loaded up our Jeep, turned on our walkie talkie (or whatever they're called these days) and followed their little yellow Jeep out the long driveway.

Once out onto the road we followed them to our first stop, Natural Bridge Falls.

 After a brief photo stop, we walked across the bridge and took a little hike (walk) around to the various viewpoints before returning for a picnic lunch, complete with a red checked tablecloth!   Oh Janna, you're too good!

 

big and little puppies

Little Miss Kaycee was the perfect hostess.   She invited Taos to play, batting him in the face and scooting around him.     He enjoyed her overture's and tried to play as gently as his huge self could, with a leash attached.     On the walk and during our lunch they were very well behaved and stayed calm.    Later, at the house, howe er, he became tangled in his leash and fell on top of her.....she didn't like that one bit and he was embarrassed so we decided it was time for their visit to end.   Sorry Kaycee girl, he's not in total control of his body yet!

I couldn't capture the grandeur of the falls with my little phone.   I tried, but these are the results.    The colors and the speed and the sound of the racing water were incredible.

 

It was a little smoky that day, I can only imagine how the mountain and river views would pop on a clear day.

Michael led us up the Boulder with Janna narrating along the way - perfect!    We saw (and heard about) the famous folks living in the area, Michaels early life and family homes, the huge church camps beside the river and anything/everything else that I asked about.   

Sage Grouse, aka stupid grouse (I know that isn't it, but I can't remember the right name, help Janna!)

that water looks mighty cold to me....

the wind caused that bay horse to shy, but his rider never lost her seat, or her hat!

They even led us on an off shoot to see the huge Palladium mine in the area that brings it's employees up those graded dirt roads in large buses daily.....because I asked.   How's that for being generous hosts?

At the end of the day we followed them home, back down the Boulder, to a lovely and delicious al fresco dinner on their patio.  

rhubarb pie! 
(and Dave's other favorite food, deviled eggs, for lunch!  Oh my)

 First, though, they took us up the hill behind their home, the hay field, to show us their views, and I was blown away.    I don't know why it affected me so, but it really did.     Silence, just the sound of the wind. expansive vistas in every direction, not a soul in sight, ahhhh, just ahhhhh.

Once again, my phone couldn't capture.....

Some days are diamonds.....

Real Time

 

zzzz, sometimes he forgets to lie down

Finally I'm writing this post from where I'm sitting, right now!     We're in Three Forks, Montana until the morning.   It's been a short stop but one we always enjoy.  We took the time to explore the area around the confluence of the three rivers (Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin) that come together here to form the Missouri River (our nation's longest river).     The Missouri ultimately flows into the mighty Mississippi north of St. Louis and then into the Gulf of Mexico.

We didn't feel we had enough time to test out this theory, so we came up with the next best thing....

If you own a Jeep you probably know about the annoying habit some people have of leaving a small rubber ducky on your vehicle when you're not looking (i.e. in parking lots, etc.) We don't know what it means, or why it's done, but we've accumulated a few.   Neither of us are interested in starting a collection so, as a result, we've put them on other people's Jeeps, thus perpetuating the tradition.    Well, here we finally found a logical use!

Ready....set....

Off he goes!      I wonder if he'll end up in New Orleans this fall?

Tomorrow our next stop is in Big Timber, Montana.    There we'll meet up with friends and maybe celebrate our 54th wedding anniversary.    

Before I go, let me show you the last few pictures from our stay in Polson.

We watched this fire from our campground.  It started the day after we arrived in the heavily forested and uninhabited Mission mountains.  At night it shown with an eerie orange glow. 

Our site was under huge blue spruce trees and one large and vigorous Basswood tree.   Basswood blossoms were irresistible to Taos and caused many pukes.  We had to be vigilant and work on "leave it" every time we sat down on our patio.  

Some days are diamonds, some days are stones, sang John Denver.    One day we had a stone day.    "Lake County Fair - rides, animals, food and fun - the area's biggest fair"  touted the campground's handout.     It was running while we were there and wasn't too far away so we decided it would be a good learning experience for Taos.     No, nope, no rides, no food and no fun that we could see.   Pigs and cattle barns but no rides, no food, nothing that looked remotely like fun.    Ah well.    There were two Wildlife Preserves in the area so we were off to see some birds.  Must not be bird season.     Back to Polson then.   I had heard about the Safe Harbor Marsh Preserve on a peninsula along the shores of Flathead Lake.   Sounds like fun!     Google showed a small road to "there" so off we went.   Dave is such a good sport.

  Along the shore turned out to mean, high ABOVE the shore, very high.   Pretty scenery kept me busy and the tiny, rough and twisty road kept Dave busy.   Taos, slept.   

 

 When we got to the spot that dear Google told us to watch for....it wasn't there.  It was on the screen, but not really there.    Ah well, back to Polson we went, down that same rough, twisty high road.   

Perhaps a nice lakeside lunch would be good?   It was late in the day and we'd had no lunch yet.   (Dave had been looking forward to a burger and fries at the fair....) We'd seen a Mexican restaurant with a large, lovely patio right by the bridge.  

  

Turns out the patio was closed that day.     Dave's lunch was yummy and Taos had the experience of lying quietly under a booth inside a restaurant.    I wanted an ice cream cone after lunch but found out that Scoops had turned into a Cannabis shop.  sigh.    We called it a day.   Not quite a Diamond, but not altogether a Stone either.

To end on a sweet note, here's Annie!

     

Family Birthday Week

 It's our last night in Polson, Montana and before we go any further I want to show you some pictures of our time in Canada with Jesse, Erin and sweet Anabel.

We didn't do anything earth shaking or really exciting (well, it WAS exciting when the train passed by directly behind the house and blasted it's horn unexpectedly) while we were in the Nelson/Proctor BC area.  That wasn't the goal.    We enjoyed quiet, quality time with family, ate good food (thanks Erin), and reveled in the spectacular mountain and lake views in front of us.  

can you see the ferry crossing the lake?

 Dave and I (Taos too) stayed in a beautiful BnB in Balfour.     We took our morning second cup outside on our private patio, walked Taos in the small orchard and slept peacefully each night.   

There was a small pickleball court in front of us that Dave and Taos used a few times....

The owner gave us a few suggestions on some unused logging roads that would take us up into the mountains behind us.    One day Jesse, Erin and Annie packed us all a lunch and joined us on the long, pretty drive.   

I was surprised at the number of wildflowers that were still blooming along the roadway and at the lush, laden berry bushes everywhere.   We were warned that this was peak season, and that bear were abundant.   We were watchful and didn't wander far from our vehicles.

Up and up we went.   Not too many places along the narrow dirt road to find some shade for a lunch break   I couldn't imagine driving a huge log truck down these tracks!    We finally just took what came along and enjoyed our sandwiches together.

Annie and Taos keep busy while we unwrap lunch

roadside repast

Jesse and Erin rented a cool house (The Rusty Bear) across the lake from our BnB so every day we got to ride the little cable ferry over to spend the day with them.   

It seemed to always be waiting for us....we never waited more than 5 minutes to board and once on, it moved silently to the other side.   So nice and peaceful, so Canadian!

I think I'll just show you pictures of our time together now.   Each day was much the same as the other.     Second cup on our patio, ferry ride across the river, lunch at the house, water time, happy hour wine with our feet in the lake, dinner then back on the ferry and "home".  Nice....very, very nice.

Taos and Molly got along well enough.   Taos doesn't have much dog experience and Molly is sometimes protective of her family but, with us all supervising carefully, they existed in the same house together without incident. 

they studiously ignored each other

Molly was mostly interested in retrieving her ball in the lake.   Nothing much else was even close.    She kept it within reach in case someone, anyone, would notice and throw it far out into the water.    She's a very focused dog.

he explains why she must take a break....she respectfully disagrees

Taos was immediately in love with Annie and followed her everywhere.   If she cried, he ran to her and licked her face gently.     She returned his affection.   She enjoyed grabbing his tongue when he licked and it made her laugh, big belly laughs.     So fun.   

 She enjoyed playing with his ice cubes also.   He was quite magnanimous.

They were very slippery and she had trouble keeping track of them.     And they melt.....

where is it now?

Erin made cupcakes for Annie's birthday and it became a family effort to frost them.    

Annie enjoyed hers on the beach.    

nom nom nom

While Molly retrieved, and Jesse/Erin/Annie floated, and Dave and I sat in the water, Taos found some water activity that made sense to him.   

Selecting the perfect rock, carrying it gingerly to the shore and placing it on his blue beach towel.   Back and forth, back and forth.   Ah well, to each his own.

 Annie, too, was enthralled by the stones and rocks along the shore and in the lake.

nom nom nom

So went our week.    

who needs a walker?

Our time together went by much too fast.    We spent a few days back in Spokane before packing up and heading on.