Scripture Picture and Anniversary Vacation

Greetings and Holykisses,  

This is part one of our roadtrip.

The photo above was taken somewhere in Yellowstone Park at sunset.

(It's not photoshopped in any way)  -- 

One of my 2013 words is: "Light" and truly this moment

was one of many "God stops" for me.  I have a hunch that

Myguy would say the same thing.  

This trip started here in Arkansas and then we went into Oklahoma,

Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and then our first destination:  the cabin in Montana.

Our stereo was cranked to Matt Redman most of the way... with a giant  bag of 

bugles between us, a can of peanuts, Animal cookies; a Diet coke for Myguy and Diet A&W for me.

--We're  pretty sure too... that bugles ... never go bad. It's a fact I must share here.  They have got to be thee closest thing

to a twinkie there is... as far as shelf life goes.  It's a miracle. 

....Have you ever tasted a  bad  bugle?  

Us neither?!!!

So travel time was good.  Roads were pretty good for the better part of the way.

I kept  two cameras at my side constantly  along with my iphone, and we each

had binoculars.  What a ball.  

The photo above was somewhere in Wyoming.

And for the record... Wyoming should be called the Eagle state because we saw so many

bald eagles there.... -- most were eating  deer roadkill.  

Because we were on the interstate we didn't turn around to try and get a photo,

BUT... we did pull over once on the way home and got maybe my favorite photo I've ever

taken and it's of a bald eagle near a herd of sheep.  I'll share it soon! 

 

 

 We had to enter Yellowstone state park and drive all the way through to get to our cabin at Cooke City, Montana.  We actually had to drive all the way to Billings and make this square just to get to where we were going because all the roads were closed.  But... Yellowstone in the Winter was 

nothing short of amazing.  We've been there 3 times in the Summer but this was our first Winter visit.

We were greeted by Pronghorn and Buffalo right away.  

 And we were both amazed how God created Buffalo to use their big block heads to snowplow

down to the grasses beneath the deep blanket of snow.  I could watch them for hours and in the days to come...

actually did!  ;)

They kept reminding me of the movie Dances With Wolves.

 So while we were driving to the cabin, through the park... we spotted something right away.

You can't tell in the picture very well but there is this ... riverbank that dropped down where you couldn't see what was down in it.  While driving by we got a glimpse of something moving and so we pulled over to watch.  I hope if you click the photo you can see our surprise!

You can see two if you enlarged the picture... and there was a third as well that we didn't get 

in the picture at the same time.

 I could hardly grab my camera fast enough!  

They were hunting together.... and one was hurt pretty bad.

We didn't know if they were coyotes or wolves... but we showed the photos 

to some Park rangers and they said they believe they're  wolves.

 It was awesome to watch them hunt.  We could actually see 

the hair stand up on the front ones neck. 

 This one broke our hearts.  

We were told that some have mange... 

parasites etc.  

?  Who knows what happened to it... but  it was 

pretty amazing to watch the pair together. 

 This one was sure doing all the work to hunt for food.  

We watched awhile and then they dropped back into the riverbank and out of sight.

 So we'd never been to this cabin before and were so pleasantly surprised.

The setting was... a wonderland.  There was so much snow and the log cabin... was ours for

seven whole days and nights!  

No cell service.

No internet.

No television.

 We heated with wood and it was seriously thee best week ever.

Cozy.

 Quiet.

 Comfortable.

 We had this visitor every night.....

and by all the tracks in the snow in daylight...

she surely was not alone.  

We video'd her as well but I couldn't figure out how to put it on here.

You can go to my facebook page though if you want to watch it!

 Myguy and I each read a whole book while were there.

He read The Harbinger....

 There were books galore in the cabin!

Notice  the ladder between book shelves?

If you climb to the top,... there is a little attic bedroom.

We kept the door shut to it though to save our heat! 

But it's cute huh?!  

 I'd brought a new Stampington Somerset Life magazine that I read cover to cover-

And also chose an olde book off the shelf called:  Halfway to Heaven by Ruth Adams Knight.  

Since I've been home I tried to find it on Amazon- there are several other books with the same title but I couldn't find the right one.  The book was about a boy who felt called by God to go live at a Hospice high in the mountains with monks and train St Bernard dogs.  -- It was such a good read!  One I don't want to forget!  

Oh hey; .... notice the turquoise coffee cup I found it in the cupboard?  

Oh Happycup!

This little corner was one of my favorite little spots.  

The goat was my favorite taxidermy piece and the sage rocker... 

-- a lil heaven right there!

 Especially in the quiet morning before Myguy woke up.

It's where I'd light my candle and get into the Word.  Binoculars on the ready! 

 We cooked on the cutest little vintage gas stove.

.... mmmmm Wakey wakey Myguy!!!

 Breakfast is served!  

(I don't usually eat much for breakfast but ... 

it must be a sin to say no to flapjacks.)

 After dishes were done, .... 

we went exploring our new surroundings.

 This was the town.

There wasn't much open- the convenience store, post office,

a bar, the prospector, coffee shop, and a bakery.

We did most of our cooking at the cabin but we did eat out twice there.

The saloon makes  a great pizza,

and one night we ordered burgers n fries "to go" at the other restaurant.

 

 

We  bought  groceries at Livingston on the way there,  so we made 

samiches for our lunches when heading out for the day.

It was a blast to just go drive and pull off somewhere and see what comes by,

or what you can find with binoculars on a mountainside.

This elk was so pretty... 

and plump too!

 This little Raven was a real "beggar."  

 This skipping to her lou 

Magpie too.

I wish we had Magpies on the farm.

I love them so!

 My friend Jeanie from Scotland,

knitted me this pink scarf.

I love it so much... and it kept my neck 

warm when jumping out to play!

We started to walk down by this creek but the snow was so deep in places.

I just "thought" my boots were tall!  

Right behind our cabin Myguy sunk up to his butt in the snow!

We rented snowshoes but it was hard goin! lol

 The guys jacked my Jeep up before we left and put bigger tires on it and a step 

so I could get in.  It did really well and we only had one little mishap.

One day we were in Yellowstone Park and saw a moose we wanted to photograph 

so Myguy just barely pulled over a little bit with the right wheels just off the edge of the road.

... That wasn't too good.  Not only was it not coming back up on the road but started sliding 

sideways off the steep edge of the road.  It was all on my side... and he actually let me out HIS door so I could get out.  I stood out on the road while he tried to ease it back up... and the snow was like a vacuum cleaner- was how he put it... pulling the jeep sideways down the hill.  It looked like it could just roll over on it's side.

I just started praying... almost unable to watch anymore.  Myguy got out... and next thing we knew a vehicle is coming down the road towards us.  It was a big 1 ton heavy truck... and the driver stopped and had a tow strap... and helped us get the jeep back on the road.  Before they were finished... next comes a Park Ranger.  Thank you sweet Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Myguy tried to pay the truck driver... and he refused.  

The Park ranger told us not to feel bad... there was someone else in worse shape than us just up the road.  On the way back, we saw a big fancy truck in the ditch and it was almost to tip over as well.  They had a big wrecker trying to get it out... but gave up coz they needed an even bigger wrecker.  

We really felt for them!  

I just can't tell you the sinking feeling it was to be stuck in the cold snow, with no cell service ... so far from our boys who would have come to our rescue. lol  

But....the thing is: I learned once again who to call on first anyways!

 The rest of our road trip went smoothly...

especially with a hot chai tea latte from this adorable place!

The cafe name alone just warms me up!

 Myguy did too!  haha

We had so much fun together. 

This was our 30th anniversary vacation and I'm just so thankful 

to be best friends with the man I married.  

I love hanging out with  him.  Just "being" together.

 And loved sharing the things we got to see...with  one one another.

 Still I can hardly believe... how God 

brought so many beautiful creatures across our path...

 

 Someone asked ... "What was your favorite thing?"

Time... alone with my husband"... is my answer.

This was the actual day of our Anniversary.

We went exploring and wound up at Mammoth Springs at lunch.

We had the most delicious taco thing there we've ever had.

I can still smell the meat... and the bugles...???

they were still good!!!   lol  

That night we cooked a big spaghetti dinner and celebrated.

While cooking we listened to the sounds of the crackling fire,

and praise and worship music on the ipad.  

We thanked God for the 30 years we've shared,

and for this time... away.

The next days were more adventure.

We went hiking and 

 were so glad to have  base layers on, down parkas

and wool socks!!

 We'd noticed on one drive that you could park at a pull off and hike to the petrified tree.

The marker said it wasn't very far but... oh...mygosh!   Myguy totally kicked my butt on this one.

It was all up hill, and you had to stay on the ski tracks or you'd sink.  I was so tired when we finally got there.  We saw one other couple coming down while were walking to it.  But other than that it was desolate.  We were both watching out both corners of our eyes that's for sure.  You just never know what could come along--  

 The walk back was wonderful!  

All down hill!   

Our lungs were much happier!

Everything 

looked like a postcard.

But it was real.

Breathtaking!

One evening our path 

crossed with a lone wolf for a very brief moment.

 We'd watched a whole pack of wolves one afternoon through binoculars

along with a group of other people at a pull out.  They had fancy equipment

and a park ranger was documenting the pack.  

But this one was a very quick encounter.  

There one minute and gone the next.

 The moose too were very hard to photograph.  

But still; it was a delight.

The morning we had to leave, the temperature dropped to -16 degrees below 0.

The Jeep was very slow to start!  

Our last drive through Yellowstone park was bitterly cold.

The Buffalo looked incredibly beautiful covered in frost, but 

I can't imagine what it's like to live like that.  

 Down the road aways, this coyote crossed.

It had blood on it's throat but no where else.  

Maybe it had just eaten something.

 It was very early morning and seemed in a hurry to get where it was going.

We were as well.  

We drove to Colorado and spent the night.

We woke up in Fort Collins on Valentines day.  

Neither of us knew it... but we both gotten  eachother a silver bracelet for Valentines.

-- That's just plain crazy. Don't you think?  

Anyways, from there we drove through Colorado.

Estes Park,.. on down through Colorado Springs.  

Valentines day morning we got slowed up awhile in traffic due to a wreck on the interstate.

We prayed for the people standing out on the road while we drove by and ... I don't know- it just

made me feel kinda funny.  I can't explain it.  

I'll stop here... 

and record  the rest of our trip; next post.  

It's sleeting and snowing here at our house right now.  

Our weather man said many people will probably lose electricity.  

Just in case, I stocked up on emergency supplies.  

We have batteries, candles, lamp oil, and dry wood ready to go.

The cows, horses and donkeys got grain tonight and two round bales set out.

While we were in Montana; one of the cows calved.  Hope the little rascal does okay tonight.

If I don't post for a few days, you'll know the powers out.  

Otherwise, I'll try to add part two tomorrow.

Holykisses, xoxo 

L