Steven's Land

Clark and I are spending a few days on the land in southwestern Minnesota.  It is so quiet out here, just the birds and the occasional animal going through.  The weather has been hot 85 - 90F but cooling off at night, thank goodness.

coming up the drive

 

 

our home away from home

 

happy little tire swing in a big tree

 

two swallows

 

 

We drove into Appleton to shop and have lunch at our favorite diner, Peg's.

 



 

 Peg's diner - home of the roast beef commercial :)

another favorite stop is Hardware Hanks

 

 

 

 

 

North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park

After overnighting at Miles City, Montana we ventured to Medora, North Dakota and camped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

We took the car and travelled the 36 miles of park roads to take in the scenery and some of the wildlife.  Gorgeous vistas of the badlands and was pleasantly surprised to see buffalo.

my navigator and cameraman

these pics don't do the badlands justice

this fellow was resting in the shade

mama and her calf

one of many prairie dogs - the colony was huge

saw several different herds of buffalo grazing

even saw three deer grazing on the hillside

While Clark was cleaning up the dishes after supper I went out to put the lawn chairs away and was surprised by these large visitors to our campsite.

I was keeping the car between me and these beasts

just a tad bigger than javelina

that's our picnic table

 

 

 

After visiting our site they went next door to an empty campsite and bedded down for awhile.  I can't believe that these beasts roam freely among the campsites.  I hope no one has ever been hurt by them.  They don't shoo away like a cat or dog!

On the road again May 2014

Clark and I have finally got on the road again for the first time since last fall. 
We started out in Pincher Creek on May 18th and our first stop was Great Falls, Montana.  Overnight we developed a flat driver's side front tire which ended in replacing both front tires.  We used the good front tire for our spare.  Joys of the road :)
From Great Falls we headed to Helena and then overnighted in Bozeman, Montana.  Love the mountains and countrysides in southwestern Montana.
We are presently camped in Miles City and tomorrow we head to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.  We should have some pics up for you after a couple of days at the park.
Feels good to back on the road again and the motorhome is as good as I remember it.

October - Pincher Creek, Alberta

Friends it's time I got into gear and updated our mobile life.  Lots of new things happened over the summer for us.  We were going to spend the winter in Canada albeit at the province west of us where the winters are milder but....

An apartment in a seniors complex came up for rent and we decided to grab it because they come up few and far between.  Our apartment faces south, is one bedroom, 539 sq. ft. (slightly bigger than our motor home) and the price is right even when we decide to go gallivanting with the motor home.

We live a couple of blocks from our grand kids and when we look out our windows we can see their school a block away.  We are settling back in with volunteer work at the museum and generally taking it easy.  We are looking forward to concerts and Christmas with the grand kids and maybe babysitting occasionally.  Life is good :)

The wind is blowing like crazy out of the west today but the sun is shining.  We went out for lunch and then toured the countryside looking at the fall foliage.

We also discovered an over age 65 and handicapped persons park and fishing pond.  What a jewel in our town.

lots of area for having a picnic

lots of level fishing areas

so glad it is not just an oval pond but a pond shaped like a horseshoe
with an island in the middle

 

Another restriction at this pond is your catch limit per day is 2 fish.

I heard about this pond in the summer but had never checked it out until today.  What  beautiful setting for a day at the pond.

 

 

We continued around to look at the aftermath of May flooding at the Oldman Dam.  The bridge is still not repaired between the dam and the Cottonwood campground and from reading in the paper may never be. 

 

 

The release of the dam waters because of heavy rainfall and flooding in the west country has left the Oldman River below the dam with a new look.

 

the spillway is at the lower left of the photo and the river has been inundated with rocks and soil

We continued around the dam to Cowley, a town just west of Pincher Creek and couldn't help but wonder at how many more wind turbines have been installed over the spring and summer.

 

 

 

 



 wind turbines with the Rockies in the background

Beauvais Lake near Pincher Creek

We went for a walk around Beauvais Lake just a ten minute drive from Pincher Creek. 

this lake is stocked with rainbow trout

clear, cold mountain fed waters

lots of Canada geese and their goslings near and on the lake

Alberta's flower - the Alberta Rose

 

We plan on visiting this lake a lot this summer and trying our hand at catching a few of these trout :)

Canada Day and trip to BC and Montana

July 1st saw us celebrating Canada Day at the Kootenai Brown Pioneer Village Museum with our son and his family.  The R.C.M.P. in their red serge marched in the flag.  One of the police officers told of the days of the NWMP and the outpost that was at Pincher Creek.

There were girls doing face tattoos, making balloon animals, bounce tents, food, refreshments and lots of visiting going on inside and outside of the buildings.   The weather cooperated and the breeze kept mosquitoes at bay.  All in all it was a fun day.

On July 2, we traveled by car to Fernie, BC and then crossed the border into Montana.  We followed along Lake Koocanusa which spans between Canada and the USA. 

Lake Koocanusa was formed from the development of Libby Dam on the Kootenai River.

We were surprised to see both sluice gates open.  There has been a lot of rainfall this spring and with snow melt it has raised the level of the lake. 

We spent the night in Libby and the next day headed towards Kalispell.  We decided to see Hungry Horse Dam before stopping for the night.  We just missed out on seeing the visitor's center.  Wouldn't you know on Wednesdays they close at 1:00 p.m.!

Hungry Horse Dam

 

We continued on the highway over the dam and were rewarded by sighting an Osprey fledgling sitting on the side of a nest and the parent ever watchful in a nearby tree.

 

 

 

 

We spent the night in Hungry Horse at a very nice motel.  We went walking after having supper in Columbia Falls and chatted with people from Indiana who were staying in the rv park attached to the motel.  You meet all sorts of nice people camping :)

 

 

Thursday, July 4th, Independence day saw us on the  Going to the Sun Road which goes from Hungry Horse to St. Mary.  It is a very picturesque drive with slow traffic and lots of stops for picture taking.  It seemed like around every bend there was more spectacular scenery.

Avalanche Creek

 

Heaven's Peak 8987 feet

Bird Woman Falls

Weeping Wall

 

Bear Grass

yes that is snow in the foreground of this picture

 

mountain goat at Logan Pass visitor's center

 

We stopped at the visitor's center and walked around.  There were masses of people out because of the beautiful weather.  A lot of people came prepared with snow gear (hiking boots, ski poles, etc.) because a lot of the trails were still snow covered.

 

We elected to forgo the icy trails and headed to St. Mary for lunch.

 

a couple of para surfers on St. Mary lake

 

If you are ever in Montana and decide to see Glacier National Park, I highly recommend the Going to the Sun Road.