Friends Visit Us and Yellowstone Area

One of the best things about this lifestyle is the wonderful friends we have met since we went on the road. We enjoy seeing all the beauty this country has, but it does not compare with time spent visiting with friends and relatives along the way. When we get to share the beauty around us with others, it multiplies the enjoyment exponentially. This week we have the pleasure of having two couples visiting us. The following are from a day we spent with Dave and Diane showing them a few of the wonders outside of Yellowstone.

The green and blue colors of Wade Lake are awesome.

A bee on a musk thistle flower, considered a noxious weed, but beautiful anyway.

A Steller's Jay.

This butterfly finds one of the few blooms left in the late summer.

Larry enjoying his new camera again, taking close up shots of bugs.

A pretty yellow bird flies from branch to branch eating insects.

After going to Wade and Cliff Lakes, we shared another wonder with our friends, Big Spring in Island Park, Idaho. The water is so clear, you can easily see to the bottom.

The fish thrive here in the 52 degree water.

The water from Big Spring feeds the Henry's Fork of the Snake River. The cabin seen here was built by John Sack. He was a German man who built it and all furnishings by hand. The small building by the water is his generator for electricity.

The ducks like it here too.

As we were visiting at the spring, this female moose came out of the woods very close to us.

She crossed the road and headed for the water at the big spring. It was interesting to watch her put her head in the water, past her eyes, in search of food.

Miner's Lettuce grows well here, a favorite of moose.

Except for the head, moose look very much like horses.

This moose must not mind the very cool water.

Small and Large Wonders in Yellowstone

Today, we decided to get up early and head into Yellowstone for the day. We usually avoid the park during July and August, but decided to go before a road closure that will happen next week. As always, we were amazed with what we saw.

Do you know what this is?

How about this one?

Mountains in the distance have a hazy look.

All the following flowers are an inch long or less. Really a bug's eye view.

Kind of looks like a giant cricket. It was so fat, it could only hop short distances.

View from Mt Washburn trail head.

No mystery why they are called Mule Deer.

Early Morning Dew in Yellowstone

After a cool night, (38 degrees at 7:30 when we came into the park), there was an abundance of dew on all the vegetation as the fog lifted.

All the white seen here is dew.

The following pictures are a bug's eye view of the dew drops. The effect and reflections are amazing.

Exploring back roads

This time of year the National Park is pretty crowded, so we find ourselves exploring other areas. This afternoon we took a nice ride on some national forest roads.

The view behind us as we drive in the mountains.

We pulled into one of the campsites in this National Forest Campground to eat our picnic lunch. If you look really closely you can see the nearest camper off in the distance.

A close up of the small flowers seen in the foreground in the previous picture. There were thousands of these tiny bouquets.

Another very interesting tiny flower.

Wildflower colors are amazing.

This black bug makes a great contrast with the white flowers.

He's not too happy to have his picture taken.

Storm clouds are rolling in, chasing us back towards home.

These seeds look like dandelions, but the clumps are about the size of a baseball.

Was getting ready to take a photo of these asters, when this striped grasshopper jumped in.

White Pelicans and Wildflowers

On one of our trips to the 'big city' of Bozeman, we drove along the West Fork of the Madison River. There were many people enjoying themselves by floating down the river. The flock of white pelicans we saw seemed unaffected by all the people.

They are very large birds with a tremendous wingspan. They are very graceful in flight, considering their size.

Ready for a touch down.

A pair wading in the cool water.

This squirrel is a frequent visitor to our campsite. It found a tasty pine cone to munch on.

Wherever we go, the camera travels with us. These are some wildflowers we found near the road.