Flytying Art Web Link

One of our nephews, Shawn Davis, has developed some beautiful flytying art. We have included his web site on our favorites list. Check it out, even if you are not into this sport. The artwork is amazing.

Butterflies at Hershey Gardens 2003

During the 5 summers we spent working in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania we made several trips to Hershey. Besides going to Chocolate world, we visited Hershey Gardens. Here are a few of the butterfly pictures we took there.

Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Since we are working for the next couple of months, we will take this opportunity to share some of our past pictures with you.
We visited the Valley of Fire State Park while staying at Lake Mead Recreation Area in April of 2007.

Sculpted red rocks contrast the bright blue sky.

Smooth hole shaped by wind and rain.

Interesting shapes we saw on our hike.

Many shades of color.

View of different rock layers.

A lizard warming up in the morning sun.

Weather shaped rock sitting on a shelf high above us.

Petroglyph makings on the rock walls.

There are many theories on the significance of petroglyph markings.

Holes inside holes.

Montana to Texas, via North Dakota

We left West Yellowstone on September 30 and arrived in Hondo, Texas on Oct 14. We headed east first, to Minot, ND. Our youngest, Jeremy, is stationed there and just purchased his first house. We had a wonderful visit with him and his roommates and helped them move their furniture. We played UNO and had lots of laughs. From there we headed south on US 83 which goes from Manitoba to Brownsville. After leaving Minot, we stayed the first night in Bismark, ND at a Wal-Mart. There were bad storms in the area and Claudia wanted a place to duck into if the weather got severe. The rest of the trip we stayed mainly in small city parks which are common in the center of the country. Some of these have utilities and most of them are free. The plains states are not as picturesque as the mountains, but every place has it's own beauty. The undulating landscape of fields in all stages of harvest gave the impression of a large wrinkled quilt. In the north they were harvesting sugar beets. Further on we passed many fields of sunflowers and corn, and expansive grasslands, some of which had grazing cattle or sheep and many oil wells. As we got into Texas, the cotton fields were being harvested.
In Kansas, we cut east to US 283 and took that to Englewood, where the SKP boondockers were having a gathering. They were very welcoming to us and we stayed 4 days. We had hobo stew one night, which was delicious. Each person made their favorite stew and we mixed them all together in a large pot. One of the mornings we had eggs in a bag. You scramble eggs and place in a zip lock bag, add whatever else you want, zip shut and place all the bags in a pot of boiling water. In about 15 minutes they were done, we put the contents in a tortilla and enjoyed. Great breakfast and no dishes to wash. We were invited to visit the grain elevator across the street from the city park where we were staying. Carol, the only woman grain elevator operator in Kansas, gave us a very interesting tour.
Now we are staying about a week in the SKP park in Hondo, TX getting warmed up and taking care of doctor's visits.

One last look at the snow covered mountains in Montana. Time to head someplace warmer.

Jeremy's house.

Parked in our son's driveway in Minot, ND.

Sunflowers bowing their heavy heads.

US 283 in Kansas.

Englewood, KS city park.

The grain elevators were mostly filled with wheat.

One of our neighbors in Englewood. Hope none of them stowed away in the RV!

Fall Colors, Lakes and Fresh Snow

Today, we took a drive from West Yellowstone past Hebgen and Quake Lakes. Then we traversed dirt roads to Wade and Cliff Lakes and ended up in Idaho by Henry's Lake. We shared this wonderful, cool, fall day with friends Terry and Doug (and Chico too). The fall colors were more impressive than we thought they would be, blue sky, gray mountains, green pines, yellow aspens (some were orange), and the ground cover in the forest was multi colored. There was also a fresh blanket of snow on the mountains which added to the awesome scene. Truly a spectacular day.

Beauty around every turn.

Color was everywhere.

Clouds rolling over the mountains.

Female Pronghorn running away from us.

An old homestead within Three Dollar Ranch.

Wade Lake

Colorful carpet of undergrowth.

A black bear we surprised near a campground at Wade Lake.

Picnic lunch stop at Wade Lake.

The colors of the water in Cliff Lake were amazing. The water was so clear you could see the bottom.

On our way back to the paved road from Cliff Lake. A sample of the 360 degree view.

Wow, what a place to live.

A perfect fall day in the mountains.

A few of our favorite websites

Today, we added links to a couple of our favorite sites. We will add to this list periodically, so come back to see what's changed.

Ignafire is a unique chocolate company. If you love chocolate or know anyone who does, check it out. If you are interested in 'green' (earth-friendly) companies, check it out. If you just want a free sample of their unprocessed chocolate, check it out.

The Escapees RV Club is the best support network for people who chose this wonderful lifestyle we have adopted. They are truly our second family.

South Loop Yellowstone NP

This weekend we decided to drive the south loop of Yellowstone. It had rained overnight and it was pretty cold, but we packed breakfast and headed out. The park is still pretty busy, even though schools are back in session. Guess everyone has heard that fall is a great time to visit the park. The animals are active and in their best form and the aspens and grasses are changing color.

Raindrops hanging from each pine needle like crystals from a chandelier.

Another male elk. Fall is a wonderful time to see the elk and hear them bugling as they gather their harem.

A pair of trumpeter swans on the Yellowstone River.

The swans are so large, yet graceful.

The quaking aspens in their fall splendor make a colorful contrast to the dark green pines.

A bison herd in Hayden Valley.

A young bison, born this spring.

Have you heard the one about.....

One of the largest males of this herd.

This herd was between the road and the fence at Fishing Bridge.

One of the many ravens in this area.