Animals and the Rockies

When we embarked on our Rocky Mountain adventure, Jill and I agreed that two animals we wanted to see were mountain goats and big-horned sheep.  A bear would be nice, and anything else would be "gravy".  On the third day out we got our mountain goats.  Yes, I admit it's a stretch, but we could see them nicely with binoculars.  If you click on the picture, you may very well see five of them.

The big-horned sheep didn't come until several days into the venture into Waterton NP, but when they showed up, they REALLY had a presence. There were three of them, and they were grazing in town in the schoolyard and then across the street!

We got the bear in Waterton, too, as we were driving up the road on a field trip.

Besides the "big three" we got some nice bonuses.  A mule deer and her newly born fawn took up residence beside our motel, and we could watch from the bedroom window.

As the fawn got more mobile it was interesting to see how much its stance mimicked that of its mother.  If Mom looked or acted a certain way, so did baby.

I'm a birder, and I got three "life" birds on the trip, meaning that was my first-ever sighting of that species.  Rarely do I get a life bird as cooperative as this dusky grouse (recently split from the spruce grouse as a separate species).  This bird practically sat on my shoe at one point.  I wasn't able to get pictures of the other two life birds, the calliope hummingbird and the sage grouse.

There were the usually quotas of rodent species.  This little Canadian ground squirrel was living under one of the buildings at Lake MacDonald Lodge in Glacier NP.  Sassy little things!

We also saw, but weren't able to get good photos of, a coyote at the edge of a den riding herd on two pups as well as a small herd of bison.  It was a good trip for wildlife spotting.

Glacier NP and Beyond

In mid-June, my friend Jill and I met at the Kalispell, MT airport and began our quest to explore Glacier National Park and to attend an Exploritas (aka Elderhostel, now aka Road Scholar) session in Waterton National Park in Alberta, Canada (just over the border).  Since photography was one of the emphases of the Exploritas session, I took way too many pictures with the idea of experimenting with some of the techniques I was trying to learn.  For that reason, the Utah trip that came later has been blogged first.  I think the June trip will have to be posted in segments and by category.

We spent the first night in Whitefish, MT.  To our delight, we happened on their Tuesday evening Farmers' Market in downtown Whitefish.  Crafts, food, and entertainment were spread out around a pond.

Kids and dogs were all around, sometimes with kids sharing space with dogs.  In this case, sharing worked for both parties.

Some of the dogs were rather interesting.  The eyes on the left one are haunting, if not scary!

Some lucky pups got a personal carrier.

This dog was hard at work.  He was staying alert in case his master needed anything.  He's a service dog, and his master was in a wheelchair.

There were all kinds of goodies for sale.  These rugs caught my attention because of the colors and the construction, but I was not going to buy something bulky and lug it around for almost two weeks.  Click on the picture for a better look at the rug and the cute tag.

In addition to the items for sale, there were all kinds of activities going on.  Someone was selling hula hoops, and several folks were really getting into them.  This young lady almost seemed to be in a trance.

If you were hungry, there were lots of options.  Had we not eaten before we bumped into the market, I would have surely given this one a try.

The market experience certainly put two tired travelers in a good frame of mind to start the trip.

Fourth of July in Park City

Park City had an excellent parade on the Fourth of July, especially for a town of its size.  Thanks to the early-morning efforts of Steve and his friend Robbie, we had curb-side seats and an perfect spot to watch the proceedings.  Here we have Joan, Julie, and Steve, all ready for the parade to begin.

Besides the usual high school band and cheerleaders, there were floats of all sizes and shapes.  The theme was Silver to Snow, reflecting the development of Park City from a silver-mining town to a ski resort.  This little pup had a ring-side seat, too.

The kilts were fine, but the pipers were having a bit of trouble playing together when they passed us.  Too bad!  I love to hear the bagpipes when they are played well.

The local radio and TV stations had a big presence, and this particular entry certainly made me think a bit--accident victim or hitchhiker?

This entry puzzled me just a bit--I couldn't figure out how it fit into the theme, but the drummer was good.

I liked this old wagon and the horses that pulled it. 

Park City has what they call the Park Silly Market.  It's open on Sundays at the lower end of Main Street and features all kinds of arts and crafts (and food).  I picked up a couple of nice Christmas gifts there.  Since the market was Sunday and the parade was Monday, that allowed the people involved with the market to take part in the parade.  Thus the sign these folks were carrying:

These Irish stepdancers were really into it.  I'd love to see them perform!

Wouldn't this be an interesting event to attend? 

I enjoyed the parade and was delighted to be there for it! 

Cool Time in Utah

After spending a couple of very chilly weeks in Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton National Park in Alberta, Canada, I came home, did the laundry, and headed for Park City, UT.  That's where I spent a delightful week with Steve, Julie, and Julie's mom Joan.  The weather was chilly there, too, but I didn't mind.  In Maryland the temperatures were ranging right around 100 degrees with high humidity!  I much prefer the cooler, drier air and the company of my family. 

One of the things we did was go to the rodeo in Oakley.  I quickly learned that to take rodeo pictures requires a quick eye, anticipating the movements of the performers, a quick finger on the camera button, and camera equipment that can handle the action (and the low light conditions that occurred as the evening went on.)  The flag rode in on horseback and the action continued from there.

Riding a horse that doesn't want you up there can be a problem.

This little dogie has been roped and tied.  The horse is a big help in maintaining control.

How the cowboys stay on at all is a mystery to me!

The women had one event, which required them to race madly around barrels.  By that time the light was getting so dim I had trouble getting pictures.  This was about the best I could do.

Bull riding was exciting, and fewer of the cowboys were successful.  I surely wouldn't want to have to ride on of those beasts!

It was a fun-filled evening, one to remember.

Secret Garden Tour

A local historic house has a fundraiser each year that features little backyard (for the most part) gardens.  Annapolis has so many wonderful houses, many of which have little or no front yard.  Most gardens are in the back, and one never gets to see them.  In previous years this tour has been a great deal of fun, but this year the whole thing seemed very disorganized.  Several of the "gardens" were in places where one could see them without charge, such as the governor's house and a couple of small gardens on the campus of St. John's College.  I had volunteered to act as a docent at one of the gardens today and ended up on the sidewalk outside Government House (we couldn't actually get on the grounds of the mansion).  What a waste of my time! 

Not all the stops were that way.  Melissa and I went on the tour yesterday in lieu of our monthly tea outing, and some of the little gardens are exquisite.  But yesterday was miserably hot and humid--more typical of August around here, and we gave up before we quite finished the tour and went in search of air conditioning and something cold to drink.  Today there was a breeze, and they closed the tour early  because of storm warnings. The storm struck just as I got back to my car!

I did practice with the macro feature of my pocket camera, a feature that often defeats me, and managed to capture a couple of pretty flowers.  This little hibiscus has some pretty markings.

The hydranga  looks like it has little seed pearl beads in the center of the flowers.

I think I will redirect my volunteer efforts next year unless the group gets a bit better organized.  Normally this event is extremely well organized and delight.  I have no idea what happened this time.

Another Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated the first birthday of my grand-niece Emily.  As usual, the clan rallied around to make it a delightful time.   At first Emily wasn't sure about this cake business, but she quickly got into the swing of things and made short (messy) work of her birthday cupcake.  I think her verdict was that it was quite acceptable!

Her cousins were there to help in the celebration.  The older girls got into the bubble-making with great gusto, but the younger children got more pleasure out of chasing them (or just ignored the whole thing).

At one point Elizabeth seemed to be bestowing birthday blessings, but I think it was just a friendly head pat.

Jake kept himself amused with Emily's Easter bunny, which makes delightful music when you get it started by pressing a paw.

I'm not sure Emily understood what all the fuss was about, but she seemed to take it in stride.

And old Auntie Em had a great time, too!

For family folks interested in more photos, check my Picasa site at  http://picasaweb.google.com/ejoyce2

Birthday Buddies Bash

A group of ten of us often do things together--go to movies, go to a cappella shows, go out for meals, and the like.  We also celebrate any birthdays in the group by having lunch or dinner together.  This month we celebrated, belatedly, the April birthdays of Sweet Suzanne and Jovial John. 

Mike provided the hats for all of us.  Of course, the honorees got special ones.  

We were really blessed in having Helen and Gerry with us once more.  Gerry has been fighting some rather serious health problems, but he's perking along nicely now and once again able to join the Tenacious Ten as we celebrate life's little victories.

John is our "Social Secretary to the Stars" and Joy keeps him in line!

John's son Lynn and Lynn's wife Angela are stalwart members of the group.

Last, but certainly not least, is Dave.

It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and Mimi's fed us well.