Food

This week's Random Photo Challenge theme was Food. This should have been an easy assignment for me. We all know how much I enjoy food! But it wasn't easy for me this week.

My computer is on the fritz. I mean really, really on the fritz. Thank goodness my Cousin decided to get the extended warranty when he purchased my computer. I told him that it was silly at the time, but now I am very very grateful. Thanks Cousin!! The hard drive is going. And going fast. Causing the machine to crash at very inconvenient times.

Don't look for me on much of anything other than e-mail for the next week while it is diagnosed and repaired.

I managed to take this shot of my dinner early in the week just in case I couldn't get another one taken or uploaded. That turned out to be a wise decision.

The problem wasn't all my computer though.

I had some very delicious meals this last week, quite a few of them in restaurants. My favorite by far was the chicken cannelloni on Friday night. A beautiful presentation & fantastic company made for a wonderful evening. But alas, the camera on my phone no longer works due to a huge scratch on the touch screen. Only 3 more months until my upgrade & brand new phone!

I was able to come up with a fun little poem in honor of the theme. You can check it out over a Impassioned Versifier. As of this posting Photography139 has not posted this week's submissions as he is attending a funeral. I will let you know when he has the link up!

Silence

I think I may be back on track now. I'm still busy, busy, busy but some things seem less pressing now so I am able to take a little time out to enjoy the fun projects.

This week's Random Photo Challenge theme was Silence.

What could be more silent than a sleeping child?

I did manage to eek out a little bit of a poem on Impassioned Versifier. I also posted a poem for last week's theme of Silhouette.

Be sure to venture over to Photography139 to check out the rest of this week's submissions. There are some very impressive takes on this week's theme!

One Step at a Time

Day 6 in Yellowstone. It was our final full day in the glorious wilderness. Bug and I decided to make the most of it. We had labeled the previous day as Bug's day. This day was to be mine.

For our first activity Bug had helped me choose a Ranger hike. At 7:30 in the morning we met Rangers Rod and Linda, a sweet husband/wife team from Washington and California, as well as several other families to embark on our 7 mile hike to Lone Star Geyser.

Rangers Rod and Linda had been out the evening before to try to predict what time the geyser would erupt. They thought it would erupt around 9:00 so we hiked a hurried pace down the old service road in hopes to catch it.

The prediction was wrong, the people that had passed on the information to our dear Rangers the night before had apparently only witnessed a minor eruption. That meant we would have to wait about 2 hours to see the Lone Star's major eruption.

Lone Star is a geyser that is not predicted by the Park Service but there is a handy little log book available to help visitors predict when the scalding water would flow. Here Bug is checking the book for accuracy.

Ranger Rod led us further along the path while we passed time. We hiked to the beginning of a back country trail. Rod explained to us that the Park Service would not allow him to guide us any further due to liability concerns. The little bit of back country I could see was gorgeous and inviting. Our little trek took us past a back country camp site. I could picture myself camping in such a site someday, gazing at the stars and enjoying the peacefulness.

We were only back at Lone Star for a few minutes when the minor eruption started. We sat on a log watching as we grazed on snacks from our backpacks.

In the 20 minutes between the minor and major eruptions we found amusement in watching this inquisitive deer follow a raven around the thermal grounds.

Finally the major eruption started.

After we finished the Lone Star hike we stopped for a quick lunch along the banks of the Madison River. Then it was on to our next destination. We headed back to the Madison Junction Ranger Station so Bug could turn in his finished Jr Ranger Packet. Great job on earning your badge Bug!

The Ranger in Madison Junction suggested we check out the 1 mile back country hike to Harlequin Lake. She told us there was a good chance to see beavers at work as they had just built a dam on the far side of the lake.

The trail took us a half mile through a young Lodge Pole Pine forest up the side of a small mountain. It wasn't too steep, so we made the climb quickly.

As we emerged from the forest we were greeted by a beautiful view of the small lake.

As we waited for the beavers to emerge from their dam Bug paused to pose for a picture.

And he insisted I pose for one as well.

Alas, the beavers were in no mood to be photographed that day and not a single one emerged. We were investigated by this elk as we strolled down the trail though.

She was not afraid of us and seemed to startle us more than we did her. She actually turned down the trail to check us out and came as close as 7 feet from us. My heart was racing as I nudged Bug behind me, wondering what her next move would be.

Luckily she decided we were not a threat and turned back towards the lake.

The next trail we tackled was a little more strenuous. Purple Mountain is another back country trail that leads 3 miles up a semi-steep mountain. We only made it up 2 1/2 miles of the trail as the last half mile was a very thin and loose rock pass. A few steps out onto that rugged part of the terrain I decided it was not safe enough for an inexperienced 9 year old and a mom with dizzy legs.

We were still able to catch some beautiful views and racked up 5 more miles on our round trip.

After hiking 13 miles in one day it was hard to believe that Bug still had any energy left. After cleaning up and grabbing a quick bite to eat in West Yellowstone we once again attended the evening Ranger Program at Madison Junction. Tomorrow would begin our journey back home.

Day of the Rainbows

Our 5th day in the Yellowstone area was Bug's day. We each got to pick out one activity for him to enjoy that day. I choose an activity that would bring Bug out of his comfort zone. Bug doesn't always like to venture out of his comfort zone, but he knows that I will always make sure he is safe and if he doesn't enjoy it he won't ever have to try that activity again.

We drove to Gardner, Mt, and found the Wild West Rafting Company. I had done a little research prior to our vacation and knew that they offered just the right combination of class II and III rapids for a little boy's first white river rafting trip.

We weren't able to take the camera with us, so these are actually photographs of the pictures that I ordered later.

We donned our live vests and listened to the instructions and safety tips. Then we carried the raft down to the river.

Wave to the camera!

Up until shortly before this picture was taken Bug was sitting in the middle of the raft next to me. Logan, our guide, asked if anyone felt they hadn't gotten wet enough yet. Bug had enjoyed the bouncy ride but felt that he wasn't wet enough so he raised his hand. Logan tried to convince Bug to sit on the very front of the raft with his feet hanging over. Bug is a hard one to convince though, so he satisfied himself kneeling on the floor.

All forward!

We approached a rapid called Sleeping Giant. It looked fairly calm as we barreled through the water towards it. Bug certainly couldn't say that he didn't get wet enough when the wave engulfed the entire raft, completely covering him at one point.

I recently asked him what the underside of the tidal wave looked like. He said he couldn't tell me as he had his eyes closed.

Bug will always remember that the hungry Yellowstone River devoured his flip flops that day. We had pulled the raft up to feel a hot spring when we got caught in an eddy and thrown towards the rocky shore. The whole crew had to get out and carry the raft over small boulders downstream. Bug slipped as he was climbing out and his bright orange sandals rode the current swiftly past us. A tour guide in another raft did manage to rescue one but the other made it's way towards the gulf.

"Don't worry Mom, I didn't like those flip flops anyway," he told me as we boarded the bus later.

Bug requested that we visit a ghost town for his chosen activity. After we dried off, had a change of clothes, and a brief lunch we loaded up in the truck and drove toward Virgina City, a supposed ghost town. Along the way we drove through a terrible storm. The sight of this rainbow eased the whiteness in my knuckles.

The approach to Virginia City looked promising.

The post office looked authentic and old.

Unfortunately these weren't anything more than old store fronts on newer buildings. It was 7 pm when we pulled into town and almost everything was closed for the evening already.

The opera house was the only thing open and had unfortunately already started the evening program.

We decided to head back to West Yellowstone for some supper. We saw another beautiful rainbow from the Madison Valley overlook.

A short drive up a mountainside later, I realized why we had seen another rainbow.

The hail was coming down so hard that I had to pull over for fear of driving over the edge of the mountain. The road was completely white by the time the storm passed. Bug wanted to get out and save a piece of the gum-sized hail, but I convinced him that it was late and we should get going.

Later that night I sat outside our cabin and star gazed. This was such a relaxing perfect trip so far.

Calm & Cool

Our fourth day in Yellowstone wasn't actually spent in Yellowstone and was a bit more relaxed. We spent most of our day chatting in the truck on our way to and from the Grand Teton National Park just South of Yellowstone.

The Tetons are Auntie's favorite place to camp and from the little bit of the park we did see I can tell why. The views are gorgeous.

Bug and I spent our day exploring the Colter Bay area. We hiked the easy 2 mile Lakeshore Trail. The water was beautifully clear and cool. Bug couldn't help but wad in several times.

Until he realized there were leaches in the water that is. We knew it was going to be a good day when Bug discovered a smiley face consisting of two snails and a leach.

Bug sampled the water temperature every chance he got but was not satisfied to stop and swim.

So we continued down the trail.

finally we found a beach area with other families swimming. As the boats passed a cool mist would spray up from this log. Bug entertained himself trying to predict when the splashes would occur.

After watching several children surf the waves on downed Lodge Pole Pine trunks Bug decided to give it a go himself.

It took him a little while to paddle out against the waves.

He did very well balancing himself against the waves.

I think he has the hang of it now.

The view was so relaxing, the water cool, and the sun warm.

I took the opportunity to sit back and catch up on a little reading.

That evening we made it back to Yellowstone in time to watch another Ranger program. This one was called Boy Cub and was about man's interaction with bears. It was a very pleasant & relaxing day. We both slept well that night.

Paths

Now that my travels are at a momentary pause (but not my travel blogs, be watching for more from Yellowstone), it is time for me to get back in gear on my ambitions, goals, and challenges.

This week's Random Photo Challenge theme was Paths. I'll admit that this week's submission was hurriedly done to get myself back in the groove but I am still pleased with the results.

You can find the other terrific submissions for this week over at Photography139. You will also find a new poetry submission at Impassioned Versifier.

Day of the Bison

Our third day in Yellowstone was spent exploring the lower Southern loop of the park. I thought it would be a fairly quick day as the map didn't seem to indicate a lot to explore and we had already covered a quarter of the loop a day before when we explored the Old Faithful area. . I was proven wrong.

It took us almost an hour and a half to reach the Continental Divide towards the Southern tip of the loop.

At which point we decided to stretch our legs since our first official stop would be a half hour away (with light traffic) at West Thumb.

At West Thumb we had our first view of Yellowstone Lake and a strong reminder that the lake was still on the caldera of the volcano.

From the lakeside boardwalk we got our first glimpse of the forest fire that was burning several miles away. I am under the impression that this fire started naturally with a lightening strike.

As we continued on the half mile boardwalk we came to this pool. I puzzled over the name of the hot pool for a short while. Sure looks blue to me!

We passed by several mule deer carelessly grazing on the thermal grounds. According to one Ranger, deer and occasionally bison loose their footing or break through the thin earth crust to a painful death in the scalding water.

Silly deer don't heed the warnings very well. Although who could blame them, it looks harmless.

A little further up the road we saw our first bison of the day. This bull was gazing out upon the lake as he sunbathed.

After a brief stop at the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center Bug decided he wanted to go fishing. We consulted with a Ranger who directed us to an easy 1 mile trail that would take us to a beach along Yellowstone Lake. The signs warned us that it was a bear frequency area so we made sure to sing camp songs and talk loudly on our way through the woods.

While Bug practiced his casting skills (and lost his favorite lure to a snag) I took in some sun and read my book.

When Bug tired of fishing we continued on to Canyon Village. In Hayden Valley we saw over 100 bison grazing in the meadows.

We made a brief stop at the Mud Volcano to tread the short boardwalk. Bug once again kept me informed about the natural wonders.

We passed by another Bison, this one resting not too far off the trail. He picked a bad spot to lay though, as he is on top of a heat vent. A few short minutes after we passed we watched him jump up in anger as the vent released it's steam. He then crossed the boardwalk in front of a small group of visitors to reach a cooler sandy area.

The mud volcano had it's last major eruption in the 1870's but continues to bubble and gurgle to this day.The small of sulfur is strong in this area and Bug had to hold his breathe.

Bug's favorite site at in the Mud Volcano area was Dragon's Mouth. This hot spring belches and steams from a cavern and gives you the impression that a dragon may just be taking up residence deep inside the cave. The smell of sulfur was still strong, but Bug briefly forgot it in his amazement.

A It didn't take long for us to find more bison. There were probably another 70 or 80 grazing in this meadow. It was getting to the point now that I hardly slowed down the truck to watch them.

Although I did slow down long enough for Bug to take this picture out the window.

The rest of our afternoon was spent in the Canyon Village area. We decided to start out with a three mile hike on the South Rim trail to view both the Upper and Lower Falls. We had a good view of the Upper Falls from the parking area but had heard that we could take the trail to the waterfall itself.

Unfortunately this was as close to the waterfall as we could get. The trail was closed off due to washouts and unstable grounds.

We were able to get a decent view of the bottom from an overlook on the trail above the falls.

Bug wasn't too sure what to think of the overlook. I guess he was finally developing his dizzy legs.

It was a very pretty view of the Yellowstone River once I finally ventured out onto the platform.

Bug got a little more daring further up the trail and decided to show me his impression of Titanic.

We didn't follow the trail the whole way, deciding to turn around a quarter mile before the end due to biting insects. We were able to catch a glimpse of the Lower Falls before we turned around.

We drove across the river and took a trail that dropped 600 ft down to the top of Lower Falls.

Bug was very impressed to be so close to the raging waters.

I, on the other hand, had to stretch my arm out past the fence and take a picture in order to see the bottom.

Looking straight out into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was definitely worth the steep climb back up.

The sun was starting to set and the moon starting to rise. It was time to head back to the cabin and get some rest for another busy day tomorrow.