Bear Story

In Yellowstone the traffic always stops for wildlife to have the right of way...it also stops when someone spots a "picture moment" alongside the road. We were stopped in a long line of traffic and I could see a bunch of people out of their cars with their cameras, taking pictures of something. We were about 5 cars back, so I said to John, "I'm going to get out and take a picture" So I jogged up to the spot, not really noticing that everyone else was on the other side of the road! A little girl started to cross over near me and a father shouted for her to stop....at that point I turned to my right to see that I was face to face with a black bear! About 5 feet away from me. I slowly raised my camera and got just two shots before it dawned on me that I was way too close! I slowly backed away, but the bear was more interested in the berries than me! Thank goodness! So that was my close encounter with a black bear. We also had buffalo walking along right next to the car. It was great!

Tomato Day

Well, I'll postpone the bear story for a few more days because I have another story: On Tuesday I had a bad experience with an ear of corn - I broke off my front tooth!
Needless to say I've had a few painful days and still have quite a few dentist appts to get through. That was one expensive ear of corn!

I got out in the garden early this morning to find LOTS of red tomatoes! So I picked them and more peppers and have put up 6 pints of diced tomatoes and 6 pints of quartered tomatoes. I've prepared a big batch of black bean & corn salsa, but won't get that into the jars until after dinner. We're having stuffed peppers tonight! So it's been a great garden day all around.
I just love harvest time and seeing all my mason jars with pretty vegetables in them lined up on the counter.

Starting to get back to normal!

I don't know if we were just invigorated by the high altitude or we just exhausted ourselves and didn't realize it until we got home - but we have been so tired all week!
I just came in from the garden with a basketful of tomatoes. We enjoyed our first eggplant this weekend in eggplant parmesan (one of our favs) and also celebrated the tomatoes and cucumbers with our annual falafel dinner. For those of you who don't know what that is - it is a middle eastern dish that I learned to make while living in Israel. And it was GOOD!
Our weather is still quite moderate for August - I hope we get a little heat so my tomatoes ripen.
Still swamped with bookkeeping work at church as we end our ministry year and get ready for a new one September 1st! New budget, statements to send out, books to close. And more doctor appts this week. I'll give everyone a full health update at the beginning of Sept when all the tests are back. I feel great though! Walking every day and gardening helps.
Well, time to get ready for work....more soon. Here's another greatly requested for picture from Yellowstone.....the black bear! I'll tell you the story tomorrow.

How does my garden grow?

Michael took good care of my flowers and garden. Everything is growing well except the spaghetti squash - it died. Can't tell why as the other squash in that bed are doing well.
Looks like I'll be canning alot of tomato sauce this year! I'll have to get out there with a camera soon. Besides going into work extra this week to catch up - I've got a bunch of annual doctor appts. No fun! Anyway, I'm heading to sleep soon as I need to be downtown and in the endocrinologist's office by 8 am! Not looking forward to I71 during morning rush hour.
Here's one more picture for you:

On our way to Yellowstone we stopped in Coralville Iowa and Andrew treated us to an anniversary lunch at the Mongolian Grill. Here's a picture of him with his motorcycle.

Back Home - Back to Work!

We made it home! It's a long drive to Wyoming! Got home last night at 6 pm - unpacked, went through the mail, Michael bought dinner for us at Noodles & Co. - what a treat to not have to cook after driving all day!
Well I meant to get some more up on the blog today - but I had to work and now I'm too tired to do much. I did manage to get some posted to Facebook - so you can check those out until I get more on here.
www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006017&l=e2b37&id=1180077531

Hello from Wyoming!

Well we finally found an internet connection. Sorry for those of you who were hoping to follow our trip...but we took alot of pictures that we will post along with a recap of our WONDERFUL trip! It has been amazing...sights that took our breath away and made us Praise our Creator for making such a marvelous world. Until yesterday we have had perfect weather and enjoyed hiking 5 miles each day in Yellowstone and seeing a good bit of the famous sights. Our trip out was LONG - it is quite a drive to make in 2 days. Omaha was HOT! And our first night in the tent had us wishing we had purchased that little battery-operated tent fan. As I lay awake, I thought and prayed for our missionaries, the Crestingers, who are in Africa and having to adjust to the heat and lack of electricity to run fans.

The second night was glorious - camped right next to the Snake River in Wyoming. And it got down to 45 that night - what a contrast! We marveled at the number of stars we could see in the sky!

Then we picked up our little motorhome and parked it at Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone. It was wonderful to have a "base camp" and the ability to bake in the oven. We appreciated the bathroom as well. One thing I learned this trip is that the long walk to a camp bathroom at 3 am is not as easy as it used to be!

Friday morning we had to turn in the RV and then planned to drive as far as possible before stopping to tent camp. We decided to take 3 days to drive home. As we neared our planned stop - we went through a bad thunderstorm - pea-sized hail. Storms really can roar across the wide expanses out here. It hit while we were driving through the Great Divide Basin - so there was nothing to slow down the wind! We had to pull off the road for awhile. We decided to treat ourselves to a night at the Cheyenne La Quinta! Boy, did that hot shower in a "huge" bathroom feel good. We couldn't believe how big the room seemed after living in the little RV for 4 days! Anyhow - we had wireless internet with the room - so we wanted to give all of you a little update. We hope to camp tonight near the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois.
More to come after we get home!