Early Fall Roundup, 2013

As I have alluded to in previous posts, a lot has happened in September and early October. I decided it was time for a general Roundup of all the goings-on, complete with photos.  With all the photos and randomness of this post, it could get a little long. Nevertheless... Enjoy!

I also wanted everyone to know that I did adjust the comments settings for the blog, so I think it will be easier for people to leave comments if they want to.  (Be kind!)

First event in the Roundup is Fall Seeding.

Not my best photo, but Jeff is actually standing on the platform of the air drill, which is directly behind the semi trailer, while it is filling with seed.  Bad angle. 

Again this year we seeded winter wheat. Early fall precipitation was bountiful, which generally makes seeding winter wheat an easy decision.  This year, the majority of the winter wheat we seeded was planted on Tom and Carol's land, and also on some CRP Jeff and I are seeding on our leased-ground for the first time.  Already the crop has sprouted well for Tom and Carol.

Second Event in the Roundup: Travel to the Tetons

Mt. Moran as the clouds lifted on a September morning.

I met my mom in Grand Teton National Park (obviously this was before Government Shut-Down) for a few days of photography adventures and light hiking.  The fall weather was warm and beautiful.  Wildlife and colorful scenery was abundant.

The photographer and the understudy!  

September was a great time to be in the parks because the elk herd was in full rut. Our lodging for the weekend was in the cabins at Jackson Lake Lodge, which was ideal for early morning walks listening to bugling elk in the valley.  The next two photos are actually of the same elk, that I saw while driving back north through Yellowstone at the end of the weekend.

This is his "Blue Steel" expression. 

Many of you know that my husband is an avid hunter. The joke of the weekend was that yes, we did indeed "shoot" multiple elk... with our cameras! Har har har...  This bull elk was just posing for the camera, however. In the height of the summer tourist season, he would have created an insurmountable traffic jam. On this cool, drizzly fall day, however, the park was pretty empty, which allowed a more prolonged, more relaxed viewing.

Section Two Point Five of the Roundup: A Wedding
Regrettably, I took very few photos at the wedding of our friends Skyler and Deitra, which was the evening of the same day I shot those elk in Yellowstone.  I did, however, stealth this great photo of Tom and Carol dancing at the reception...


Third event in the Roundup: Chicago
We went to Chicago a few days after I was in GTNP/YNP.  We were minus my mom, but the group at one point included me, Jeff, Katie, Josh, Tom, Carol, my dad John, and my brother Ryan, and Ryan's lovely girlfriend, Marissa. We took in two Cubs vs. Braves baseball games at beautiful Wrigley Field, celebrated Tom's 60th birthday at Tommy Gun's Garage (a delightfully hokey mobster themed dinner theater event), watched the Bears beat the Steelers at a classic Chicago sports bar, visited museums and toured the city.  Somehow I managed to take zero photos.

Event Four: Bobcat Football

Jeff and I before the Gold Rush season opener.

As we have the past two seasons, we again have season tickets for Bobcat Football, which means we are travelling to Bozeman for as many home games as we can.  We made it to the first game of the season back in August (above photo), missed the second home game in September (because we were at the aforementioned wedding in Helena), and took in the third home game, Homecoming, this past Saturday (photo below). As always, it's great to reconnect with family in Bozeman, cheer on the Bobcats, and enjoy gameday atmosphere.  We have three more regular season home games this year, and hopefully home playoff game(s) to follow in December! Go Cats!

Katies love Bobcats!
Special Thanks to Tom Bangs for allowing me to borrow his vintage Bobcat hat!!! 

And now for the Odds and Ends...

Evening walks with Harvey tend to yield excellent photo ops.  This photo was taken last week of a pair of antelope engaged in what looked to my uneducated study as a courtship dance. Photo was taken on my phone and again really isn't that great, but we spent several minutes watching these two speedily chase each other around the stubblefield directly across from the house.  Harvey has learned that he can't catch antelope and so did not try to chase them, but he did watch very intently.  The parlays and retreats were like a fencing match.  It was fascinating. In this case, between a buck and a doe, the point was not a battle to the death, but I was reminded all the same of Shakespearean sword fights.  My mind narrated the scene in iambic pentameter. 

And speaking of literature...

This book, Wild, by Cheryl Strayed is one that I recently completed. It is the pass-around book du jour, I am certain, among many circles. I also hear it is to be made into a movie soon starring Reese Witherspoon. All the more reason to read it as soon as you can! It is a memoir by the author, detailing her adventures hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.  I finally read it after many recommendations by friends and family. I think the biggest compliment I can give this book is that I came to feel like Cheryl was my old friend. I found myself thinking of her as she thought of her hiking pack, Monster, like someone who was with me wherever I went.  I would think to myself, "Time to check in on Cheryl," and then devour another fifty page chunk of the book.  I was sad when the book was over and now I feel like I want to call her up as if she is one of my long lost friends, and just chat.  She really bared all in the book and it is truly a remarkable story. If you haven't yet, read it now. Or, kindly ask my sister in law and perhaps she'll pass it on to you when she's finished with the copy I received from my Mom, and the chain of strong women who preceded her in reading it.

On the docket for this afternoon is working cows. I'll try to sneak in a photo hear and there and hopefully a blog post on the event later this week. 

Early Summer Roundup, Installment Five: Glacier Drive Through

My family came to visit over the Fourth of July and the following weekend and did I take a single family photo to prove they were here? No...

It was nice to have them for a few days.  We were here on the farm for the first part of their visit. Jeff missed out on a lot of the action because he was on the swather/baler making hay.  The rest of us were mostly pretty chill. Lots of sleeping in, long walks on the farm roads, and catching up. 

The second part of their visit, we drove over to Glacier.  Mom and Dad had never seen the park, but Ryan and I went a few years ago when he was visiting another time.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had less time in the park than we had originally planned on, so we were pretty much limited to the Parking Lot Tour of Going-to-the-Sun road.  It was still awesome, and neat to share the park with my family.  If nothing else, it was a teaser for a future visit when we will hopefully have more time to get off the main road and really get to know Glacier. 

Most of the photos I took are pretty much your standard tourist photos from the pull-outs along the road, but the scenery is so spectacular that even the least experienced hobby photographer like myself can take masterpiece shots.  Here's a few of the highlights-- enjoy!

Mama and baby mountain goat! Jeff took us to the Goat Lick overlook on Highway 2, which was very cool.

Lake McDonald

I think this was Jackson Glacier. I wonder how long this glacier will be around?

St. Mary Lake

Early Summer Roundup, Installment Three: Washington's North Cascades

Jeff and I recently drove to Seattle for the wedding of a very good friend of mine from my hometown.  There will be another post about the wedding shortly as the Early Summer Roundup continues... I'm trying to do posts every other day, to catch up.  So far, so good.

 

Anyway, I have always loved a good road trip and since my husband doesn't much care for airplanes, we road trip quite often.  Who would want to fly after all the negative events surrounding airplanes lately, anyway?!?! I know they say more people die in cars than in planes, but there is something about that feeling of control when one is driving a car.  Who am I kidding, though- my husband is the driver!

 

This was my first time into the state of Washington.  We took our time driving from the farm to Seattle.  I think straight through, going the fast way, it takes about 12-13 hours.  We took several days to drive out and stayed with a few friends along the way.  Columbia Falls, MT the first night, and Omak/Okanogan, WA the second night.  This gave us quite a bit of time to meander and enjoy the scenery. We took many designated scenic highways and by-ways and never touched an interstate until we got to the Seattle area.  We enjoyed taking in the countryside and theorizing about agriculture in different climates and situations from our own. 

 



 

Shortly after we left Montana, we drove through the town of Clark Fork, ID.  As you can see, Clark Fork is home of the Wampus Cats.  No joke.  Yes, that is a mace on the end of it's tail...

Winthrop, WA was a charming little western town (tourist traps work on us!) just east of the North Cascades. It was kind of the gateway to the National Park and it was delightful. We were driving through at about 8:30 in the morning, so it was pretty calm.  It was situated right on a river, which I can no longer remember the name of, and was very scenic.  We agreed it would be a great destination to come back to and stay a few days.

So... that happened. Like I said, sucker for touristy things.

Along the North Cascade Highway, which is actually US Highway 20. I have always thought the perfect long-term road trip would be Highway 20 coast-to-coast.  Seriously.  Take out a map and look at the countryside that Highway 20 goes through.  It would be epic. 

Lake Diablo in North Cascades National Park.  Truly beautiful. The park was really pretty empty, especially compared to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier, which are the three parks where I have spent the most time.  AND it was FREE ADMISSION to boot!  Couldn't be beat.  The mountains and glacial lakes were very striking. Jeff and I agreed that it reminded us of Glacier but with only a fraction of the people. 

Yours truly... followed by a few more views of Lake Diablo.

Jeff and I did take a few short hikes in the park. Driving through East to West is definitely not the recommended route, because there is only one visitor center (that we knew of) and it is on the West side of the park.  Thus, we were not able to plan our hikes or our day very well.  But we did manage to find a few good short jaunts that weren't far off the highway.  It definitely looked and felt like west-of-the-divide, with all the humidity, mosses, and ferns.

This waterfall was extremely steep and narrow. Unfortunately, my photo really flattens it out. What can I say except my photography skills are less than great. Just go to North Cascades already, ok?

And... vino time!  As we coasted out of the mountains, we couldn't help but stop and "rehydrate," so to speak! Since it's very difficult to ship wine into Montana, we have decided a wine-drinker needs to take care of business when travelling!  We definitely stocked up in Washington!

 

Next post will be about Seattle Proper! Stay tuned...