Day 12: TEXTURE

Today was my first day in Yellowstone National Park and talk about texture!!! Our first stop was Mammoth Hot Springs and there was so much to see. White Calcite formations which have since dried up; vibrant gold, yellow, orange, sulphur and assorted other minerals make up such cool patterns; and dark brown areas which look like satellite images of deserts.

One waterfall area is called Canary Springs. There are flat levels of beautiful blue hues, along with bright white and gold falls which look frozen in time.

There are leveled steps which have smooth, flat tops and sides. Some are tall steps, some are low, some are wide, some are skinny. Surrounding the steps are rough rocks, some jagged, some smooth, many small pebbles, others large boulders.

Minerva was taken because somewhere along the way my sister thought that name was hilarious. I cannot recall the circumstances of it but seeing that name made me take a photo of it for her. So Betsy, here's a grand Minerva! Our next journey was to Norris Geyser Area. So many beautiful textures here. Milky smooth geyser pools, more vibrant colors of sulphur, and beautiful sounds of geysers bubbling, crackling, and streaming up.

Day 13: OPEN Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are about as wide OPEN as you can get. My day started off in a nice Guest Haus in Driggs, Idaho. Made a quick grocery stop for liquids, then we headed off to the Tetons through Jackson, Wyoming. Such magnificent mountains these Tetons are! Sharp, snow covered jagged peaks rise high into the OPEN sky. For this part of the trip Kim & I were on a journey to photograph wildflowers. I found a few nice ones to shoot and had a nice time just observing plants I usually do not pay attention to. I saw a cute squirrel but he was not interested in being photographed.

Our main objective for the day was to see the Old Faithful geyser area and Yellowstone Canyon. I really did not do much research before I went so I was really excited about the many geysers available to see. Actually most of the geysers were much more interesting than Old Faithful.

If you haven't been to Yellowstone here's the set up: You walk on raised boardwalks around the entire area which can take you 2.3 miles. Many of the geysers are just bubbling pools or pots of hot water or minerals. If you hang around long enough they might overflow, stream up into the air, or spray water for several minutes. Because so many of these geysers spray hot water the area must be wide OPEN to give you enough room to get out of the way in case the water comes at you.

After spending 2.5 hours there, and yes, seeing Old Faithful erupt, we traveled north to the Mud Volcanoes. This was a small area of to the left of the road so we figured it would not take much time to see the mud pots. The sky was looming black and the clouds looked as though they could drop a great deal of rain at any moment. We chose to go look at three of the lower sights, then head on our way. After about 10 minutes it started to rain. Here we are, in the wide OPEN, and hail pummels us all the way to the car. Some people had gone up a lot further so they were really in dire straits before getting to their cars. The hail fell for quite while so we sat watching it. Eventually we were able to leave so we hit the OPEN road.

Yellowstone Canyon was our last stop. There are some magnificent falls there that you get out of the car to see. It was still raining fairly steadily, but to go this far and not go investigate would have been stupid. When I reached the area to take photographs I was so happy to see the view in front of me. Layered rocks of many colors made up the canyon walls. The Falls were at the end of the canyon and the river was very wide and fast, most likely due to the rain storm.

This two day, fast paced journey through Yellowstone National Park was one I had waited so long to go on. No detailed prior planning was made- I just went. At the end of the day the stifling heat, the smell of sulphur, the crowds, and the pouring rain would not dampen my memories of perhaps the most beautiful place in the United States I have ever seen.

Day 14: BUILDING

Relationships take time to BUILD. Today I had the opportunity to BUILD great relationships with five wonderful huskies and their human companions. Bryan, Kim, and I went into the Beartooth Mountains to hike a little and play ball with Emmie, Sprout, Stratus, Lucy, and Willow. I had only met these hilarious dogs on Friday and they immediately showed me their willingness to become friends. Huskies really love to be petted and given all of the attention. Now consider being the only male in a pack of five- Stratus truly made himself the center of attention. And the boy is such a ham! I can only imagine what BUILDING a sled dog team with him it would be like. I took a lot of photos of them playing in the snow, chasing balls, digging in the dirt or snow. Stratus would just look at me as if to say, ok, I am the star so let's see what you can do with a camera. All five of these canines are very photogenic so you can imagine what fun it turned out to be BUILDING my Montana Husky photo album. Here's Stratus, Sprout, Lucy, Willow, & Emmie:

After a few hours it was time to head back to Red Lodge for dinner, as we had definitely BUILT up an appetite playing with these delightful dogs.

Day 15: FINGER My fingers were mostly on the steering wheel today as I began the long trip from Montana to Iowa. I chose a route to take me into the southwest corner of North Dakota because I had never been to that state. I also had my fingers on my camera because I knew there would be opportunities to photograph the Badlands and my new environment. Because I have now entered 49 of our 50 states I think it is fitting to show the Welcome to________ signs I took along this trip of over 2000 miles. When I started out I needed Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, and Hawaii to finish up all 50 states. Not sure how I'm going to accomplish Hawaii but hey, 49 is nothing to sneeze at. And the 49th state is Alaska, one of my top three favorites. See how that I got that math in there? So here are most of the states I traveled through since July 8th:

Day 17: MY ADDICTION One of my addictions is dogs....mine, someone else's, strays, whatever or whoever strikes my fancy. I love to photograph a beautiful canine. Day 14 really highlighted some pretty dogs, however I have met others along my way.

Day 18: PLATE Plates are used for many reasons. We eat from them, some plates are used as glass windows, you touch one to score a run in baseball or softball, and plates of armor were used in warfare. Many people decorate their walls with plates: Florals, sports teams, nature scenery, or significant events in that person's life.

Day 19:ANIMAL/INSECT/PET> I drove about 660 miles from Iowa to home on Thursday. I saw bugs, but only as they hit my windshield or got caught in the wipers or grill. I took a few photos of horses and cattle. They were hanging out, eating grass, hay, or whatever green they could find in a parched part of the country.

Day 20: Eyes

Some of the best photos are up close shots of people and animals. Sad eyes, bright eyes, evil eyes, eyes barely open. Horse eyes, dog eyes, moose eyes, kid eyes. I kept the dog, the horse eyes, the kid eyes...

So, after 12 days of traveling to new places, viewing beautiful scenery, and meeting new people and dogs I am ready to stay put for a few days.