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.....