Lewis Lake and Lewis Falls | Yellowstone National Park

This was my first waterfall stop in Yellowstone, not bad for the first one. Water looked cold so we did not take time for a swim.

Lewis Lake, Yellowstone National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Our next stop on our summer vacation, Grand Teton National Park.

Our Yellowstone adventure first started with a drive though the Grand Teton National Park on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. A friend from work suggested that we take the time to stop at the park and it was definitely worth it. What a break-taking place.

This is also where we encountered our first, and thankfully, only grizzle bear; what a beautiful, powerful and frightening animal.

We also had our first encounter with snow and realized that we might be camping in the snow. 

The Teton park is gorgeous and was a pleasure to drive through.

Dubois, Wyoming | "Where Real Cowboys Work And Play"

We started our Summer Road Trip with a flight into Denver, we then rented a car (a very small car) and drove to Dubois, Wyoming, for our first night's stay.

Dubois is a very quaint small town boasting the tagline "Where Real Cowboys Work And Play." We stayed at the Branding Iron Inn, which turned out to be a small log cabin, just perfect for the two of us. Patty, the owner, is great. She is very helpful and was very understanding with our late check-in. The cabin was very clean, had the one room with a double bed, coffee maker, refrigerator and TV, no air but we really didn't need it. The shower stall was on the small side but overall, just perfect for the stay. 

The next morning we moseyed out and took a look at the "The Worlds Largest Jackapole Exhibit", where I had the rare opportunity to photography Cowboy Rick and Cowgirl Pam, as they saddled up on their jackalopes.

We also saw the largest skull door frame, could be the world's largest. This skull door  was on the building next to the Laundromat and Car Wash. So, do they wash your car first using your dirty laundry and then wash your clothes? No-one was in to answer my question.

We then moseyed our way to the Coyboy Cafe for a mighty good breakfast of eggs, hotcakes, bacon and coffee. 

Every Tuesday and Thursday night the city of Dubois has a "Never Sweat Chuck Wagon and Dinner Show", held outside by what seems to be a old mine. Wish we could have partaken in that. I am sure it would be fun.

Great little stop in a quaint little town. I hope to make it back for another stay.

This is Phil, well that is the name I gave him. The Branding Iron Inn offers free corals, so I am not sure if Phil was visiting or a resident, but he took time for a photo.

Where else can you have a gate entrance that is made from antlers. 

2011 Summer Road Trip

We recently took our big summer trip. A 11-day trip that took us 3100 miles across some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. We traveled across five states, well six if you include a quick drive over the North Dakota border just so we could say that we where there. We saw stunning country; beautiful prairies, big skies that seemed to go on forever, gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, and some of the Midwest's' wildlife. We visited quaint western towns, saw quirky little tourists stops and met some very nice people along our travels, and most important, we had the chance to visit with family and friends. 

In the following days I will have several posts showing many of the stops we made and some the things that we encountered, some of them a little unusual and some of them not so.

Garden Update

Here is a updated photo of my container garden. It seems to have doubled in size. I  already have a few tomatoes and peppers. I even found a squash.

I hope the squash will get larger than this...

Temperature rising

I got in the car at lunchtime the other day and noticed the thermostat reading.

and before I could put my camera away the reading went up a degree...

and then up another degree...

Just plain hot.

Sometimes a spider can be beautiful