The Mountains Are Calling and I Must Go!

Hello Friends, Even though we just returned two weeks ago from The Tetons and Yellowstone, the mountains have been calling to me. We are so blessed to live in an area that within 45 minutes we are up in Rocky Mountain National Park. We went up a week ago and didn't see a thing-no wildlife and the color was sparse. We've been watching the nightly news to see how the colors are peaking and hit it just right. Our daughter Kim and family went up last Saturday morning, bright and early and not only saw so many Elk, but also the colors. Hubby is off today and I told him I wanted to leave by 6:30 a.m. to get up there first thing; we got on the road about 6:40 and were in the park by 7:30. We headed to the area Kim saw the large herd and were not disappointed at all. I didn't even try to count the number, but there was only one bull around. We did hear another bugling from about a mile away. They would answer each other, but we never caught sight of him. Isn't this big guy amazing!

Here is he answering the call that he is watching over his harem.

The small female is obviously pregnant.

I love having a nice telephoto lens, event though it's not as big as some of the others we saw~it still captures wildlife up close.

At this point he was chasing a young buck away-the youngster didn't have any horns yet, but obviously he was interested in the females.

One of his kids I presume.

Love this shot.

I can tell you that Colorado has been in the news this week when someone up in Estes Park tried to walk between two males fighting.  What happened was the bull knocked the female down and someone had to drive his truck between the two; his truck came out with a huge hole in it.
So, you'd think with all the signs saying don't approach the wildlife, and the news,  people would give them space.  As we were leaving the park this afternoon, we saw a crowd gathered with cameras ready.  A single bull was lying in the grass, very much awake with a man crouching in the grass nearby trying to get a close up.  He did not have a telephoto and we just shook our head, thinking how reckless he was being. Finally the man got up and walked away; he's very lucky.  We've seen several attacks in recent years, some innocent and some from stupidity.  I love wildlife and love getting great photos of them, but I'm always aware they are wild.
Tomorrow I'll be sharing the colors we saw today.
Have a wonderful evening!
Noreen

A Wonderful Story

Happy Tuesday to you! While we were in Yellowstone, we went into the lodge at Mammoth Hot Springs and decided to see what was in the store. I saw this book and was immediately intrigued, being the dog lover I am and being in Yellowstone. I choose not to get it there, but came home and ordered it immediately from Amazon. It is the true story of a Australian Shepherd(Aussie) who was lost after his owner was in a car accident for over 40 days.

I fully expected to cry reading this, but didn't~knowing it had a good ending. In fact, it was amazing that the dog survived for so long. If you loved dogs and want an easy book to read, this is a good one.
I'll be mailing it to my girlfriend in Carmel Valley.
Have a great day!
Noreen

Happy Monday to you! As many of you know I recently spent a lot of time making a surprise for a family member during the end of August. I couldn't share here because I knew she'd read it. My sister in law, who is the sister of my heart, had received a health diagnosis that was very frightening. While I had made my brother a wall hanging almost ten years ago, I had never made her a quilt and decided the time was now. Typically it would take me several months if not longer to get one done, but I wanted her to have it in case she was facing treatment other than surgery. I spent approximately 6 hours a day putting this together; it was stitched with love and prayers. I actually machine quilted the majority of it(plus hand quilted some designs on it) and had some issues, but knew she'd love it anyway. I had it done in less than a month. Thankfully, we got the news that she would not need any further treatment; however I still wanted to get it to her right away. I took photos of it prior to sending it and asked my brother to send a photo when she received it. Here she is.

 The pattern name was Forest Floor and I picked  all batiks.  She loves Autumn and I thought she'd love the colors.  I so enjoyed this pattern and maybe someday will make another one.  For now, I can breathe a bit and not have to barricade myself in my sewing room; though I loved every minute of making it, I didn't like being rushed.
Hope you had a great weekend and are enjoying the fall weather.
Blessings~
Noreen

Yellowstone Part III

Happy Thursday to you! Today I am so thankful for the ability to travel to the Tetons and Yellowstone, seeing the beauty in His creation. I mentioned on the first day we saw a juvenile Grizzly, the second day saw a black bear running down the road who just stopped and looked at me and on the third day we once again saw a black bear~this time eating berries. He was gorgeous and not nearly as close as the other two bears were. Many have asked why I wasn't scared, probably because I never felt in danger.  Both previous situations the bears clearly wanted to cross the road and weren't interested in those of us taking photos.  If they had gotten any closer to our car, I would have reacted differently.

This big buffalo was at one of the geysers and walking across the are near steam vents.

What was surprising though is that he proceeded right to the wooden walkway and jumped up on it.  Many people immediately got out of his way and stayed clear, however some just ran to be in front of him, so they could get better photos. A ranger quickly ran up and was telling everyone to move away. I believe this guy is used to seeing people within a close proximity.

Mammoth Hot Springs .

That is all of our photos; I hope you've enjoyed them.
Sending big hugs your way.
Noreen

Sights of Yellowstone

Happy Monday to you all. It already seems like several weeks ago that we were in Yellowstone with our best friends. This first shot is of Firehole Falls, close to Madison and the West Entrance.

                                                  White Dome Geyser

Loved seeing this boiling water spilling into the river.

This mud pot reminded me of a Troll.

Waterfalls are everywhere and so beautiful!

One of my dreams was so see lots of wildlife and that we did.  We saw Elk, Buffalo and Bears.  I was the first one to spot this juvenile Grizzly running towards us in the meadow next to the road.

Loved his coloring.  Believe it or not, my window was down and I was shooting this photos will my phone.  Someone asked me if I was scared and I truly wasn't.  If he had wandered close to our car, I would have been-but he was a safe distant away.  He really wanted to cross the road to get to the river, but do to stopped traffic was unable to.  When he started posturing(standing on his hand feet) he was only about 30' from our car.  He appeared to be between 5-6' tall.  He was a beauty!  Wouldn't want to meet him face to face though.

Loved seeing this buffalo; they are still somewhat small in comparison to their original size, but he was gorgeous.

I tried to get signs of the places we stopped so I could add them into our slide show, but that didn't always happen.  In fact, the second day of our time in Yellowstone we saw a bigger black bear and he actually stopped and looked at me while I was taking photos.  I never felt in harms way and was very cautious.
Hope you have a wonderful first day of Autumn.
Hugs,
Noreen

Historic Sight

Happy Friday to you! I hope your week has been good; it has been wonderful being at home and settling back into our normal schedule. Today was the first day in two weeks that hubby and I made it to the gym; it felt good, but I will admit sewing was hanging over my head. After we got home I headed to the park with my girls and 9 of our grands to see their art work and have lunch. Since I got back, I've done some cleaning and once I finish here plan on going downstairs to sew. This picture is on the Tram ride going to the top of the ski run at Teton Village. Barbara and I always have such an incredible time together and as well with our hubby's.

After spending the morning at Teton Village we headed out on a drive, looking for wildlife and views.  We didn't see any wildlife, but were awed by the Tetons.

Hubby and I especially love old barns, cabins, schools and churches; this was in a historical Mormon District.  I may have to enlarge this and frame it, just love it.

Also love this shot I got!

I can only imagine what life was life out here during the Pioneer Days.

Love this old barn!

We helped support the economy at Jackson Hole and Teton Village.  These first two days of our adventure were very relaxed, which was good due to the pace we'd keep in Yellowstone.  Stay tuned for more pictures.
Have a great weekend,
Noreen

Jackson Hole and The Tetons

Good morning friends, I know it has been so long since I was here, but there is so much to share about our trip. I'm trying to get the best photos, so hope you enjoy.  This was taken on the way to  Jackson Hole, near the town of Dubois.

We spent our first day driving around town and shopping as it was raining.  On Thursday we went to Teton Village and took the tram and gondola ride to the top on one of the peaks.

Hubby and I ready for the ride.  Let me just say that even though it wasn't raining, it was freezing.

This is the top of the ski lift.  The wind was so strong that even though the temp was about 30 degrees, the wind chill made it feel so much colder.

Our traveling/best friends-Jim and Barbara.  We've been going on adventures for probably 15+ years and have been friends since we lived next door to them in Ca. which is over 25 years ago.

It was so cold, but thankfully they had a snack shack and we all got hot chocolate.

I'll be back in the coming days with more pics and some great shots of wildlife in Yellowstone.
It feels so good to be back home again and settled back into our routine. Now, if I could just get in gear to go back to the gym it would be good.
Hugs,
Noreen