Big Sky Country

Wayne & Tary and Joyce & Ernie in front of waterfall

This k's for you Kristin (this was in front a winery near Walla Walla)

Wayne and Ernie golf carting at White Sulphur Springs

Joyce on a 4 wheeler

Whenever we go to Montana I remember why I like it there so much. Wide open sky and spaces and very few people, plus beautiful land scapes. It took us 2 days to arrive in White Sulphur Springs (about 75 miles northeast of Helena). Our friends Tary and Wayne had invited us to park our RV next to their house and plug in to their electricity so it worked out well. They have a lovely new home a mile out of town set back from the main 2 lane road about 1/4 mile. From any window in the house was a view of expansive land and mountains - loved it!

On the first day we were there we drove to Bozeman (where I lived 30 some years ago). Sadly, it is not the charming small town I remember but an overpopulated town and an example of unchecked and uncontrolled growth at its worst. However, all 3 places I lived in are still there and basically look the same. I could see a small glimmer of what I remembered it to be, which is basically the older parts of town.

The following day we went to the Alberta Bair Museum in Martinsdale. Interesting history of a family that made their wealth in sheep ranching. On Saturday we rode ATV's thru the fields - fun! Ernie played his first round of golf on the course at White Sulphur with Wayne. Sunday we took a nice drive in the mountains and hiked up to a waterfall.

We spent many fun hours visiting, eating, and playing "Mexican Train Wreck" while we were there. It was a very relaxing vacation. Thanks Tary and Wayne!

Arrived in Stanwood last Thursday late afternoon. Unloaded the RV and headed home - pouring rain - welcome back to Seattle!

Will start packing for Chicago and New York City tomorrow. Ernie will be busy while I'm gone supervising the window installation and helping Keith with his new deck. The cat will keep him good company!

Hope to get some pictures posted along with this entry. - Joyce

September already

The view from the back of the speedboat

Paul at Yosemite
Yosemite Valley
Patrice and Paul at Lake Tahoe
Big trees

Today is Monday the 6th (Labor Day), the unofficial last day of summer. Officially there are about 2 weeks left, but the weather is saying Fall. I still have about 3 weeks left on my "Vow of Shorts" taken in Bakersfield California about the 15th of February.
Yesterday we were at Gail and Randy's for the Labor Day weekend BBQ. Must have been about 20 people there, and I had a couple of comments about the lack of blog postings. Apparently some people actually read this stuff! So, I will dilligently attempt to do a better job. If we start lagging again, blame Joyce!
We spent the last full week of August at Angels Camp California with Patrice and Paul. We had a good dose of summer there, as the temperature exceeded 100 degrees on 2 days (104 & 108), and the rest of the week was in the mid to upper 90's. But we returned to mid 60's, and that's where we're stuck. We had a great time on the trip. We put a little over 1000 miles on the rental car. We spent one day at Lake Tahoe, and one Day at Yosemite National Park, with the rest of the time poking around Calaveras County. We saw the Giant Sequoias and lots of neat little towns that sprung up just after the gold strike of 1849. We even rented a speedboat for a couple of hours one afternoon. We traveled a lot of roads that we had never been on before. The only disappointment on this trip was that the Ponderosa Ranch Tour no longer exists. We drove out there only to find that the ranch house is a private residence. I was looking forward to seeing the Hop Sing mannequin standing in the kitchen again. Everything is probably in a TV or Movie museum somewhere.
Tomorrow we are heading out on a short Motorhome trek to White Sulphur Springs Montana to visit with friends Tary and Wayne for a few days. There weather is about the same as ours, with highs in the mid 60's, and overnight lows in the low 40's. I've even got 2 pairs of jeans packed, along with several pairs of shorts. I'll definately need to bring a jacket along.
We will probably get home around the 15th-16th, which will give Joyce about a week to get ready for her trip (without me) to New York City with Patrice for an early birthday (Patrice's) girls getaway, for about 10 days. During that time I am hoping to get the new windows installed in the house and fire up the smoker a couple of times. I'm thinking it's about time to do a briskit again.
We are still looking at a 7 day Carribean cruise with Ron and Diane (Tulsa friends) on the 7th of November. It will be 2 years tomorrow that we met them on a similar cruise. I hope to get everything nailed down in the next couple of weeks.
Now that we are all caught up again, I will attempt to add a few pictures from the California trip.