Drip Drip Drop

After our adventure with rocks we made our way to another little town. 

Where there was much summer fun to be had. 

What is more fun than a sprinkler on a warm summer day?

Reading to a new audience. 

Both kids are reading chapter books now.  Yay!

Fixing the hot tub. 

I couldn't resist getting this shot. 

Love you hon!

And can't miss out on a game or two of horseshoes.

Rocks

Another stop along our road trip was at a silver mine.  No, not one that is in operation, though I'm sure the kids would have enjoyed seeing first hand what timed explosives do to a rock wall.  At Wallace, Idaho, they have a small circular mine that is roughly a half mile long. 

Within the shaft they have all the equipment that they used to use.  We got to see the drill in action.  It was explained how to properly lay out a grid of explosive charges for the maximum damage to the rock. 

Our tour guide also kindly showed us the difference between several of the different metals that they pull out of the ore.  I don't remember any of them, I still can't tell the difference between lead and silver, so don't ask.  On the way out the guide demonstrated two more machines for us.  Two different ore shovels.  One that ran a bucket fastened to cables across the ground, bringing the ore towards the base of the machine and closer to the train out.  And the other was much like a miniature front loader.  But instead of needing to turn to load the ore into a car, this little guy swung the ore right over the top and into the car sitting behind it. 

Really cool to watch.  We of course, had to stop in at the gift shop when we were done.  And the kids now each have a little thing of silver, and I have a whole bunch of really strong fridge magnets.

A Small Slice

The place where this photo was taken is a place where I wouldn't mind living.  No really.  I know that it is out in the middle of nowhere.  To be honest that is one of the main appeals.  I know that I would need to drive 2 hours one way to go grocery shopping for anything other than milk, bread, and cheese.  I also know that it is beautiful.  One of the most beautiful places we passed through.  Single two lane highway, with only a handful of cars seen all day.  There was electricity and Internet.  Rolling hills.  Miles and miles of open air.  Yes, it was a little dry, but there was plenty of green too.  Add a couple more trees, and it is my own little personal slice of heaven down here on earth.  Of course living in a place like this would require a little learning.  I would need to learn how to ride a horse, milk a cow, and how to grow a proper garden.  It would be wonderful.

Couple Extra

Because I ran out of room on the last post. 
Because these are my favorites. 
Because I love you lots. 
Here are my 3 favorite photos that I took in Glacier.

This waterfall one was taken out the window as we were driving past.  We were going quite slow, so I rolled down my window and snapped a photo.  The snow melt made for some amazing waterfalls throughout the drive.

This is a view of the mountains.  Oh so beautiful!

I loved the contrast of a waterfall on one side of the rock, and seemingly dry desert on the other side of the same rock.  So I snapped this of the desert side.  These purple flowers were all over the park.

Rain Cloud, but only One

After bidding Adieu to our friends we began heading West again.  Over the river and through the woods, just as the song goes.  Well, we actually went over several rivers, and over quite a few mountains, but it all ended up taking us to where we wanted to go. 

A Montana traffic jam

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Driving the route that we chose made for some absolutely beautiful scenery.  The type of beauty that just leaves you in awe.  We drove up to the top of Glacier National Park, the Road to the Sun, in case you were wondering.  Beautiful.  Absolutely beautiful.  There was snow, so of course Mr O and Peaches needed to get out and play. 

And since we were just traveling through, we were all in summer clothes.  I got some funny looks for wandering through the snow in my sandals.  It was fun! 

Peaches paw in comparison to a Grizzly paw

Running and sliding, going down inclines on the seat of your pants, and enjoying the fresh cool mountain air while being warmed by the sun.  Lovely.  That and the tour buses were so cool.  I just had to take a picture (or two or three, you know how it goes). 

Once our feet (or maybe it was just my feet) got cold we headed down the mountain.  It was a good thing we hit the park early because there was construction all along the West side of the mountain. 

So we got to stop and enjoy the beautiful scenery from the road quite often as well.  But that allowed us to get some truly amazing shots of the mountain. 

Once we were all the way down it was time to think about a place to lay our heads for the night.  So we kept going until we found it.  A nice little town on the other side of a huge cloud.  Isn't that picture cool?

Yes, it did rain on us

On the Sunny Side

In Montana we had a particular town in mind to visit.  You know, one with people.  People that we haven't seen in a very long time.  Well, not too terribly long.  But last time we saw them they were a little pre-occupied with getting married.  They are one of those lovely couples who I think will be forever newly-wed.  Yes, you two, I know that you're reading this, it is a compliment.  They look at each other with love and laughter.  We had a lot of the latter while we were there. 

Once the boys got the fire going we roasted up marshmallows, ate smores, and talked.  Of what had happened in the elapsed time, of random tid bits, and of shared joys.  It was so good to get to know these beautiful people all over again in a new light.  I say new because they weren't parents before, and as you may know, becoming a parent changes your perspective on pretty much everything in life. 

See, you can smile for the camera.  :-D

This lovely couple have a beautiful baby girl.  A baby girl who is a lot like her mother and avoids smiling for the camera at all costs.  I did manage to grab a half-grin though, and that is just going to have to be good enough.  She is a doll.  Like all babies are. 

Cute and lovable, cuddly and absolutely precious!  The giggles and grins, slobber and baby talk (yes, slobber is cute, with babies).  Delightful!  And, to top it all off, I actually held her.  For the first time in probably the better part of a year, I held a baby.  No, it doesn't make me want to have another.  But it was wonderful to hold that little miracle in my arms for a little while.  To see her grinning and hear the giggles from my arms.  Wonderful.  Absolutely wonderful.

The Grasshopper Leg

The first day of our family trip consisted of driving.  Driving and driving and driving.  Thankfully the kids were pretty good about it.  I'm not going to lie and say that it was all peaches and cream (what a mess that would have been!  Giggle.), but all in all we had a good first leg of the road trip. 

Every time we saw something pretty, which was a lot, we would slow down or stop to take pictures.  No, I'm not going to post all the photos here.  Giggle.  We went over our Washington mountains, through Idaho, and into Montana our first day.  Once we were over the mountains it was beautiful weather.  You know, summer weather with the sun shining and it being warm.  It was so nice!

I know that where we live is beautiful country, but it seemed that the further down the road we went, the prettier the landscape became.  Maybe it was that it wasn't what I'm used to, maybe it was that it wasn't right out our door.  Whatever the reason, the drive was gorgeous. 

Beautiful snow capped mountains, seemingly endless prairie that would have sudden valleys cleft into them by blue rivers, and sky that just went on and on and on.  I know that I've said it before, perhaps not here on the blog, but I totally understand why they call Montana "big sky country."  It truly is.