42 years...

 42nd Anniversary Trip to Glacier Nat'l Park

Al takes a turn at driving the red "Jammer"    

Falls on the tour, coming right out of the "ROCK"

Can it really be 42 years since we stood before the judge with our friends, Bruce and Pat Westlake, in Inkster Michigan?  The double wedding came and went in a matter of minutes, with no family available to witness the event.  And then... Al went to work.

It was a few years later (June 1970) before we were able to take a "honeymoon" to the Great Smokey Mountains. We were awed by the size and beauty of those "hills". (Since 1974, God has allowed us to see some really BIG mountains! From the Rocky's to the mountains surrounding Beijing and the Great Wall!)

Four children, with twenty grandchildren from 3 months to 21 years old, our life is full of blessings and work!

 At the Great Wall in 2003

Thank you, honey, for keeping me around so long! Its been a wonderful life and a great adventure!

Home at last... more work!

Going home last Friday, Domino came into the front seat a few times for variety. She watched the road and checked out passing car occupants...& barked when she saw"intruder dogs".  Ten hours and 600 miles is a lot of "down time" for a dog!  (Me, too!)

Checkers slept most of the way home, had little appetite 

and just wanted to be at home ASAP!

A few times Dom activated her "Back seat driver" license

to help Al drive home.

When not "driving", she took over the larger dog bed.

We enjoyed seeing the mountains crowned in clouds 

as we passed the Idaho mountains near Bonner Ferry, ID

We knew we were in Washington when we saw

this familiar warning at a viewpoint on the Columbia River.

Al wanted a photo with the river... Checkers, too!

We knew we were on the home stretch when we saw

"OUR MOUNTAIN", Mt Rainier, from a rest stop 

in Eastern Washington!

Dorothy was right, you know? "There's NO PLACE like HOME!" So glad to be back in the saddle and back at "work". The cabin was a restful diversion, but we are glad to be home and back at work!

[KEEP READING... more vacation photos in following posts!]

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Oh Deer! A SALE!

On the way to town to get refueled for our return trip, we did a "mall date" and found some great sidewalk sales (Hey, we don't have sidewalks, either!)

As we passed the pasture of the farm we spotted TWO deer standing in the field. They posed sweetly for Al to take their photo about 3 times.

Then, at the mall, I found this sweet handbag... it's SO me!!!!  (Who would guess?)

Glacier Park Jammer tour and Al's evening walk.

 This year we drove to the EAST side of the continental divide to take a different tour. The mountain range is still incredibly beautiful, but we saw almost no wildlife (unless you count some strange hippie-looking characters). The tour started at a beautiful Hotel almost 100 years old. Built with HUGE Douglas fir from the Pacific Northwest, it looked like Noah's Ark from inside!

This building is the dining hall of a lodging place that existed during

Teddy Roosevelt's presidency. He gave one of his famous 

"fireside chats" from this building.  Al is standing on the porch 

approximately where President Roosevelt spoke so many years ago!
(In the next photo)

From this building we walked around the corner to take a boat tour on this lovely Two Medicine Lake.

We got some stunning shots of the mountains from the boat.

(They need to be edited. )

After the boat ride we hiked up to a water fall... 

yes, we navigated this interesting bridge CAREFULLY!

 After the tour ended, we wandered in the front lawn of the hotel 

and visited the TeePee and flower gardens before heading out for lunch. 

We were hungry enough to eat a buffalo! 

So we shared a buffalo burger... YUMMY.

 And FLOWERS...  ah, sweetness! 

These pots were all over the porch of the hotel...

And in the wilderness I had Al stand next to these flowers

to show you the LARGENESS of them! INCREDIBLE stuff!

After dinner at the cabin, Al took the dogs for an hour-long walk on the property. He took some nice pics of his adventure....

A CABIN...

  An old barn...

And the pasture of the farm we stay at.

Just another day in PARADISE!

Walk to town?

 

Stretching after 10.5 miles!

Al decided to walk the entire rails to trails from Kila to Kalispell today... 10.5 miles, with a bit of detour adding to it somewhat. 

While he walked, I shopped! No sales tax is tempting, but having a small car curbs my appetite a bit! I found a few items I would have bought even without that no tax incentive! We have to be able to close the doors and trunk, don't you know?

Critter sightings...

No photos yet, but so far we have seen a few eagles soaring overhead, a deer in the yard this morning, chipmunks and snakes on the walking path in town, and not much else.

We'll keep our eyes open (and noses plugged... polecats make horrible roadkill).

Does she like vacation?

Domino relaxed halfway out of her bed this afternoon!

Day 2... just "waiting" for Dad

Dominoes sleeping and waiting at the door 

for her master to return from his walk...

They went with me to the garden to get photos 

this morning... HEY! get OUT of the picture, dog!

That's better! Thank you!

Al is back from his 9.5 mile walk on the rails trail. The dogs have over 300 acres to roam but they sit on the porch and wait for him.

We woke up in paradise...

Yesterday was a long day... a ten hour trip to our cabin in the woods in Montana. (Not really "ours", but even the host commented how often we come, LOL). We were thrilled to find internet hook up IN THE CABIN this year (past visits we had to sit outside their house for connection)! They also added a brass bed frame, updated HD TV and a washer/dryer is arriving today. WOW! These folks really take care of us!
[Note to sister, Jan: This is OUR kind of "camping"... dishwasher, BBQ grill, Fridge, full bath facility in the cabin, cupboards furnished with essentials, including food... luxury! REST, instead of WORK!)

 Last night we arrived at dinner, unpacked, ate and I laid down to rest a bit. Hours later I awoke and knew I would not be sleeping anytime soon, so I worked a bit on research for a scrap kit I am designing. Went to bed about midnight and awoke at 7:30... I think I am "caught up" on the sleep part.

So, this is the morning view from our cabin in paradise!

View from the cabin door...

The trees are SO TALL here in the area!

Well, back to "REST" now... Al is out running on the "rails to trails" local path. The dogs are already "resting"... ahhh! Vacation!

Published scrap pages...

"Can't Eat Just One" featuring Dominoes

"Heads or Tails" featuring Renfro's Sir Dewey

"INFLUENCE" featuring Hubby and 20 grandkids

These three scrap pages were submitted for publication and all three were accepted. Amazing to me... she and I must have the same sense of view!  All were made using Scrap Girl products. The supplies are in their individual meta-files.

Check these pages out quickly because they have to be removed while they are published... I will put this blog post in stored status until August after this week. Thanks for looking!