Continuing adventures

My intention is to post every day until I cover the entire trip, but I had more pressing matters (a job interview!!! yay!!) yesterday and I know I'll be away to a dog trial this weekend, so I'll have to cover more ground somehow...

Chap. 3: Big Sky and Battlefields

Our second day on the road took us through more beautiful vistas in Montana. We could see lots of snow-covered mountains around us -- the Absaroka, Bozeman and Crazy mountains, to name a few. We mused about Lewis and Clark and where they passed through this part of the country.

I had borrowed an audiobook from the library called "The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History" by a Lakota historian, told from the Native American's view. We listened to the book as we crossed much of Montana, preparing for the visit we would make to Little Bighorn Battlefield. Mel has read and studied much about the battle, Custer, and topics surrounding the historic event, but this book gave a much better appreciation for what really took place on June 25 & 26, 1876.

Actually walking and driving around the site gave us even more appreciation for how the whole thing unfolded, where soldiers and natives were, etc. I was especially glad to see that a memorial to the Native Americans involved had been built in recent years.

We spent several hours just taking in the spot, walking around, driving down to Reno-Benteen hill, taking lots of pictures. Then we headed south, past Sheridan to Gillette, Wyoming, where Mel's brother, Rocky, lives. We'd stay a day or two with them before heading on with our journey.

Vacation continues

Chap. 2: On the Road

Our journey began on Friday morning (June 18) as we drove to I-90 and pointed the van east. We drove through Ellensburg and Spokane, then left our Evergreen State behind. Idaho has beautiful scenery, as we saw Lake Couer d'Alene, plus a little bit of potato farmland in our brief drive through and then it was on to Montana. The Big Sky State is magnificent: lots of rolling ranchland. We drove past Missoula and made it to Butte that night.


Mel's not fond of Butte because it's a huge copper mining town and the stripped hillside isn't too picturesque, but we really didn't want to push on to Bozeman. We had a quick dinner and hit the bunks. (OK, they were really hotel beds.)

In the morning, during our search for coffee (we ARE from the coffee capital of the world and the free stuff at the hotel's continental breakfast just wasn't cutting it -- this would be a continuing theme during our trip) CJ saw this interesting place, where you can do just about everything but get "real" espresso (as they advertised).

Ah well, Butte does have a few espresso stands and we managed to track one down. Properly fueled, we headed for Billings and beyond.

As we left Butte, I took this picture, saying "Our favorite view of Butte: in our rear-view mirror."



Next: Walking through history

More Christmas magic

I finally got a good photo of our "Candy Cane Tree" we created in our front yard.

We've had these large plastic candy canes for several years and tried different ways of using them in our Christmas displays. We like to decorate the yard for Christmas, but we're not the over-the-top types.

This year I was inspired to create a different sort of tree. We have rope lights in white, red, and candy-cane stripes, so I wrapped them around the trunk of a tree. This is a birch tree that had just the perfect limb structure to adorn with red and white lights for the best effect. Then we hung the candy canes along the limbs and we have a real crowd-pleaser. Not that we have too many neighbors, but those who live nearby or drive by have given us lots of praise.

We just have fun with it.

(The lights in the background are draped on the rhododendrons along the house.)

Christmas with the Crists is shaping up nicely, don't you think?

Apple Blossoms in December

This year I chose an amaryllis of a different color. This is my gorgeous Apple Blossom Amaryllis, which ended up having SIX blossoms. It's brilliant white with pink streaks and a rosy glow on the edges of the petals. I think it has a lovely scent too. I would definitely grow this type again.

For those who don't know, growing an amaryllis is a tradition that I started only in the past 5 or 10 years. I think I was inspired by my Dad, if memory serves me correctly.

Does anyone have experience with saving an amaryllis from one year to the next and getting it to bloom again?

Meanwhile, enjoy.

:)