I guess fall is officially here.  I've been slowly freezing to death out here, since the mountains keep threatening snow daily.  Brr.  I only have a little over a week left in Wyoming, and I'm rather excited to get back and see everyone again.  Each time I leave, it gets easier to come back.  It gets easier to leave each time, too, but still.  Since it got cold I haven't gone on any long hikes, and I never bring my camera anymore.  It's heavy, and I'm lazy.  The hikes I have been going on are short walks down to the lake and the spot I found that's away from everything.  I love it.  We had a pumpkin carving night here, and I made a superawesome Doctor Who pumpkin.  Archibald helped.  He's my moose friend, and he doesn't mind getting pumpkin guts on his face.  I do.

This is the post-carving picture.  I took a couple of the whole process, but they're on my phone and, again, I'm lazy.  For those of you who don't know of Doctor Who, which is probably most of you, I present the Tenth Doctor:

Credit: The Telegraph

I love this show, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys British humor, time travel, sci-fi, and general Britishness.

In other news, I'M COMING HOME SOON!  It's so close I can taste the hotdish.

-E

I'm Back

Let me fill you all in on what has been going on in my life since Montana.  I have a new job, I'm living in Wyoming, and I finally decided to give in to my wanderlust while I can.  I live and work in Grand Teton National Park, near Jackson, Wyoming, and the only reason I am not outside enjoying my summer in the mountains is because I have a nasty cold. On my weekend.  Jerk.  I'm no longer working for a national, super-corporate company, and I no longer have to deal with snotty customers.  I'm back in the kitchen, and I love it.  I'm moving to New Orleans at the end of the summer, and I'm going to keep cooking.  It's going to be awesome.  

While I've been out here, I have hiked around 60 miles, significantly worn down the tread on my hiking boots, encountered several bison, 3 bears, a couple moose, 4 elk, and many mule deer.  I almost hit one on my way across Wyoming to get here, actually.  There is a mule deer that lives near the dorms out here, and I see her almost every day either on my way to or from work, or on the way home from the bar.  Yes, we have a bar here that is within walking distance of my bed.  It works out nicely.  

I have some pictures from my adventures, but I can never remember to charge my electronics up here, so I don't have as many pictures as I would normally take.  And cameras are heavy and bulky.  Also, I have my backup computer up here, so I have no photo-editing software to fix my pictures.  All of these are straight off the memory card with zero alterations.  

I went for a hike the other day to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point on Jenny Lake, and I saw some moose. They were just chillin' by Moose Pond, like moose do.  Baby moose are the weirdest looking things ever.  The pond was pretty far from the trail, so I apologize for the blur.

I think moose are cool, but I'm glad I didn't see these two on the trail.  Moose are far more dangerous than they look.  Hooves and antlers will mess your shiz up.

I found this guy trying to get into my pack.  Silly moose.
























Actually, this is Archibald, my new traveling companion, since I can't have real animals here and the National Park Service frowns on people taking wild animals as pets.  And by "frowns on" I mean it's a felony.


Archibald is such a ham.  I really wanted a picture of Hidden Falls through the trees, but Archibald jumped in front of the camera and demanded I take a picture of him instead.  Fun Fact: Hidden Falls is actually really pretty up close, but the trail no longer gets close to it because the Park Service is trying to get the habitat to regrow where the trail used to be.  Apparently people don't care about a little bush when there are pretty waterfalls to look at.  Who knew?  You can kinda see the falls through the tree branches.  It's the white blur behind the green.

I brought him up to Yellowstone with me, but that's a story for another day.

Winter Happened Over Night

So I've been kind of MIA for a while, and I apologize.

Winter happened since I posted last, and I pretty much just stay curled up in a blanket when I'm not working.  I refuse to turn on the heat in October.  Absolutely refuse.  I did get new-to-me skis last week, and I am getting really excited for the snow to fall.  Snow is already covering the taller mountains out here, but it will be a while before the resorts open to skiers.  I could climb to the top and ski down anyway, but there are no lifts running yet.  Pity.

I have a couple of projects going on that I'm trying to do at the same time.  We'll see how well that works.  I won't tell you what I'm doing yet, but I promise to let everyone know when I finish them.  In the meantime, I posted some pictures from the summer.

I think this is my favorite picture I've taken out here so far.  It's so stark and beautiful that I can't help sharing it with you.  Also, I never got my pony when I was a child.  I'm still upset about it.  I may need a therapist.

This is from my epic hike on the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park.  Indian Paintbrush is everywhere.  The pink is such a wonderful contrast against the grass and rock up here.  I really love living here.  Everyone should visit at some point in their lives.

This dog is weird.  Her name is Xena, and she has an underbite.  I tried a new effect with this picture, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I'll have to try it on more pictures before I can be sure.  Do you like it?

This is the original, fresh out of the camera picture with no correction at all.  What do you think?

Also, shortly after I took this picture, Xena was covered in green and purple spots, courtesy of colored bubbles.  Fun, colorful, non-toxic, colored bubbles.  Strangest toy ever.  I'm pretty sure the bubbles stain clothes.  Xena came clean, though, so I can't be sure.  

Is everyone else as impatient for winter as I am?  I'm freezing, but I still can't wait for snow.  I'm sure I'll regret that statement in May when it is still freezing and snowing and gross, but I just don't care right now.  If it's going to be cold, there should be snow on the ground.  

Ok, I'm done ranting.  Come visit me, people!  I miss all of you.  Really.

-Erika

Butterflies and Frozen Mornings

I keep forgetting that a) I live in the mountains and b) Kalispell is significantly farther north than Rochester is.  This usually isn't a big deal, but when I forget to close my bedroom window at night (every night, by the way.  I'm dumb.) I wake up FROZEN.  Absolutely frozen.  I have consistently woken up with a very cold nose every morning for the past 2 weeks.  There was one morning when I didn't wake up a popsicle, but that's because I actually remembered to close my window.  Who knew that a window opened only 4 inches let in so much cold air?  In September?  Summer is fading fast up here, and I think I like it.  If only I could remember to close that silly window.  

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago, and I really like it.  Butterflies aren't usually my thing, but this little guy slapped me in the face.  I had to pretend I didn't notice, but anyone who has been around me for more than five minutes knows that I spazzed a little bit.  It was inevitable that I take this picture after the butterfly made me look like a crazy person, and it turned out well for everyone involved.  The butterfly now has its moment on the internets, and I get to share a pretty picture with everyone.  

Next time, I'll look out for errant insects, though.

-Erika

My First Rodeo, Part 2

So, after a few late nights at work that left me in no mood to blog, I finally got around to editing pictures and my second rodeo post.  I'm still amazed at the athleticism/crazy the cowboys (and girls, as you'll see) have.  Mostly the crazy is what gets me.  I guess it's fun.  

I left you with the bronc riders in my last post, so I'll pick up with the trick riders.  There were two girls, and they must have amazing core strength.  These girls were amazing.  And sparkly.  

I don't understand how anyone would learn how to do this without killing themselves.  

Um?  Those horses were moving really fast.  And she's upside-down.  Crazy.

After the trick riders did their crazy show, the tie-down ropers did their thing.  They ride out after a calf, try to rope the calf around its head, and they have to tie its front two legs to one of its back legs or something.  I couldn't really tell, and they move too fast.  Like under 7 seconds fast.  

So, they chase the calf (with their piggin' string - not kidding - in their mouths) and try to rope it.  This cowboy missed, so the rest are a different guy.

The horse pulls the rope taught so the calf doesn't move when the cowboy flips it over.  Yep, the horses are smart.  They even know to let it loose when the cowboy walks back to his horse.

Cowboy flips calf on its side...

And ties its legs together.  

The horse lets the rope slack when the cowboy stands up.  Yes, they do that.  The calf has to stay tied for 6 seconds or something like that.  Again, I wasn't really paying attention to the rules and this was a couple weeks ago.  

After the tie-down ropin' were the bull riders.  I think only 3 guys stayed on the full 8 seconds, and I only got semi-decent pictures of one cowboy who got thrown in 3 seconds.  

He's preparing for the crazy that's about to go down.

Getting situated on a bull is a precise skill that takes a lot of help from your fellow cowboys.

That bull was mean.

He looks like he's gonna stay on through that spin...

No dice.

Cowboy was limping when he climbed out of the arena.  

The rodeo was a lot of fun (so was the honky tonk afterparty), and I will definitely go to another.  Probably just to drool over cowboys wearing chaps.  Not gonna lie.  Now that rodeo season is over in Montana, though, I'll have to settle for football and hockey.

Go Pack, Go!

-Erika

My First Rodeo

A couple of weeks ago was the Northwest Montana Fair in Kalispell.  I went to see how much like other county fairs I had been to, and there happened to be a rodeo three nights of the fair.  I went to the first and the last nights of the rodeo, which was definitely worth the price of admission.  It was my first professional rodeo, and I'm excited for next summer for more cowboys.  Yep, the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) rodeo made me even more of a country girl.  I even bought some cowgirl boots.  They're turquoise and awesome.  And I forgot my camera the first night, so all of my pictures are from the final night of the rodeo.

Since I took a lot of pictures of cowboys, horses, and cattle, I spread them out into two days of pictures.  Expect the others tomorrow sometime, provided I don't fall off a mountain before I get around to posting again.  

The first event of the night was steer wrestling or bull doggin'.  (We drop our Gs off -ing words around here.  It's cool.)  What the cowboy has to do is throw himself off a moving horse onto a steer, pick the steer up and lay him down on his right side.  The other cowboy is called a hazer, and he keeps the steer going in a straight line.

Notice the cowboy on the right is moving from horse to steer.  They're all moving really fast, too.

He's on the steer now.  Watch out for the horns, cowboy.

And now he's wrestling the steer onto the ground.  All of this happens in under 12 seconds, usually.  

After the steer wrestling, the saddle bronc riding started.  Basically, the cowboy has to stay on the bronc for 8 seconds.  He gets points for how he handles the horse, how hard the horse makes it to stay on it, and several other criteria that I didn't catch.  There were chaps and Wranglers involved.  I'm not responsible for my attention span at that point, sorry.

This cowboy stayed on the full 8 seconds, but the horse didn't make it easy for him.

He was off the ground right out of the gate.  

Still not totally on the horse.

He made it, and he's smiling.  That's usually good.  I don't remember the rankings after the scores were figured, but I think he did pretty well, if I remember correctly.

This cowboy, however, didn't do so well.

He looks good at first, but...

He's sliding off the saddle here.  

He was really close to the full 8, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  I think he was one of the top-earning cowboys last year in the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas.  It was not his night.

The horse was very happy to not have a rider anymore, and she was even happier to see her colt.

Horses are crazy athletic.  And beautiful.  And super smart.  I think probably smarter than the cowboys who get thrown off of them for a living.  I don't mind watching the cowboys, though.  I have a thing for chaps, Stetsons and boots.

More rodeo tomorrow, 

-Erika

My adventures with mountain goats

Mountain goats are funny animals.  I met two of them on my hike in Glacier National Park, and they were one of the best parts of my trip.  The goats in Glacier are not very skittish.  They use the paths just like everyone hiking, and they don't care if silly humans are there or not.  They just ignore everything.  

Until you get in front of them with a camera.  This one was chewing on something, not yelling at me for getting in his face.  

He was a bit of a ham.  He really liked having his picture taken, and I was the stupid tourist with a camera who ate it up.

Seriously.  They are the weirdest creatures.  I love the underbite.

And the smirk.  Next time when the ranger says, "Careful, there are mountain goats on the path," I know to be ready with the telephoto lens and watch for slow moving hikers.  This guy caused a bit of a traffic jam.

A little later on the hike (4 miles after the first goat), I met up with his girlfriend, who was eating her dinner.

She was shedding a lot, and it looked like someone sheared her but stopped halfway down her back.  

She clearly cares a lot about how she looks.  I think she just wanted the tasty grass I was standing on.  Silly goat.

Aside from the goats, the hike was amazing.  I have more than just animal pictures, so I'll have a few more posts about the hike.  I finally got my photo editor to work again, so I should be back to a more regular schedule.  I even have the rest of the week's posts planned already!  I'm such an overachiever.  

Loving Montana more every day,

-Erika

P.S.

I thought this picture was hilarious.  You should laugh, too.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who thinks this is witty.

I'm glad I live in the mountains

Alright. Tomorrow I'm going on a little day-trip to Glacier National Park. I'm going on a nice scenic hike and bringing my camera (complete with battery and memory card this time). I should have pictures posted sometime Sunday or Monday. Glacier is apparently one of the only places in the lower 48 where grizzlies are seen. I don't have bear spray, so this should be an adventure. Literally.

I'm so excited for tomorrow. I have several possible hikes lined up, based on whether the road is closed or not due to excessive snow and ice. Yes, it is August. Again, I live in the mountains. The pass just opened a couple of weeks ago, and it has been warm here, so most things should be accessible for me.

I promise to take a lot of pictures and post from the hospital if I have an encounter with a bear or mountain lion. Or moose. I might even try to call my mom from the top of a mountain where I can see into Canada. Things like this make missing Minnesota a little easier to take.

-Erika

Grandparents and Dinosaurs

My grandparents are hilarious.  Over the weekend all four of them were at our house, being super grandparent-y.  If you don't know what that means, it includes talking loudly, repeating seemingly hilarious stories we've heard before, asking us if we've had enough to eat, and generally being slightly clueless.  Adorably clueless.  

Grandpa Jerry (Dad's dad) and Grandpa Austin (Mom's dad) were sitting on the deck, probably discussing manly things like various construction projects and health problems.  And politics.  Both Austin and Jerry love to talk politics, even if they have no idea what's going on.

They also never manage to smile for a picture at the right time.  Both of them only smiled after I had put the camera away.  They're awesome.

Since all four grandparents were present, we had to take a picture with them.  I hate being in pictures.  Spencer doesn't mind, but we rarely get a good picture of him anyway.  

So Jerry, Betty Lou, Dee Dee, me, Austin, and Spencer all lined up amidst the jungle of ferns outside and waited for my mother to take our picture.  The dogs were running around in there, too.  They kinda knocked Dee Dee over once.  Whoops.

Today, Spencer and I find out Austin and Dee Dee went shopping.  For cell phones, a laptop, and something for "The World Wide Web".  Of course, we had to go over to their house and help them figure out the new technology they had no idea how to even plug in to its own charger.  They're precious.  Dee Dee has had the same phone since Motorola came out with its very first Razr.  Yeah.  That long ago and it still works.  Austin has never been allowed to have a cell phone because he misplaces everything.  Keys, glasses, combs, change, the cordless phone, his garage door opener, EVERYTHING.  We were just a little surprised Dee Dee allowed this phone until we looked at it.  It's fool proof.  I'm not too worried for him.  They'll figure it out, and now they can email us from the cabin.

On a completely unrelated note, I have started putting toy dinosaurs in the ferns around our house.  I decided the golf ball "dinosaur eggs" needed a guardian, so there is a little brontosaurus lurking in the plants. 

I'm still trying to decide where to put the velociraptor pack once I glue the head back on one of them.

Waiting for Dee Dee to figure out Twitter,

-Erika

The First Robin of Spring?

Well, I thought it was Spring.  I took my new shoes on a walk this morning, and it was kinda ok.  I definitely should have remembered to, I don't know, go outside before I decide I don't need gloves in March.  I did see a robin, though.  It was standing on this little stump, looking all smug at being the only robin amidst a flock of chickadees.  Of course, since I'm not the quietest or sneakiest of people, I failed to get a picture of the robin before I scared it away.  I'm awesome like that.  I think it was taunting me, because I heard it behind me the entire time I was walking.  Good for you, robin.  You succeeded in making me just a bit more aware in the morning.

This is the stump.  Just imagine it with a smug little robin on it.

Trails by the river are not maintained in the winter!  I walked anyway, since there was no snow left and the trees blocked the wind.  It's windy today, folks!

Yeah, not maintained.  Also, this trail was under like six feet of water in the fall.  There's still debris on it from the massive flooding SE Minnesota suffered through in September and October.

Yeah, it's kinda messy.  I didn't mind, since there were no other people on it.  I'm claiming that's from the messy trail, not the sheer idiocy of being outside, freezing your fingers off, for fun in the morning.  I'll learn one of these days.

There's GREEN poking through all the flood-nastiness!  Sure, it's minimal, but it's just the hint of Spring that makes the freezing fingers worthwhile.  

And then there's the remnants left on the trees from the flood.  Still hanging in there in March.  Oh, yeah, the top of the crap on the tree was at least a foot over my head.  I'm 5'7".  The bottom of the tree is three feet above the river level right now.  I forgot how bad the flooding was last fall.  Here's to more in April!

The river is already super high, and there's still snow to melt and rain to fall in the next couple of days.  Did I mention how much I love (loathe) Spring in Minnesota?  

In spite of the cold and my own stupidity, my morning walk was fantastic.  I'm excited for this weekend when I actually have time to spend outside.  This Spring is going to rival last Spring's epic hikes through Ireland.  I hope, anyway.  

How's your Spring looking so far?  

-Erika

Weekend Recap

First off, felix ides martius comites! (Happy Ides of March everyone, for those who aren't awesome nerds.)  This weekend was super busy.  My grandparents came home, my brother came back for Spring Break, my mom got the counter tops installed, I went to the Science Museum of Minnesota, and I figured out what was wrong with my car (a weird battery cable, nothing major.)

Friday morning, Grandma and I picked up Grandpa's truck.  He was working on my car.  She suggested we go pick it up so I could go to work (I wasn't so keen on that idea, but whatever).  He said he would go get it when he was done.  Not five minutes later, he comes back inside and says, "You guys want to go get the truck?  I think that's a good idea."  This is the world I live in.  This is why Grandma always looks somewhat exasperated.  

We stopped by mom's new house and checked out her new counter tops.  They're pretty.  Roger was there too.  He was installing the tile.  I'm getting excited to move in!  Oh yeah, mom likes to wear flannel.  

Roger put the tops on the cupboards, too.  I like it.  They're backlit!

Spencer came home and immediately started spoiling the dogs.  She's sweet for about five minutes when he's here.  And gross, but that never changes.

This was probably two minutes later when Spencer decided to shake things up a bit.  He was clearly not ready for the consequences. 

She didn't stop with Spencer.  Poor, innocent Penny was her next target.

Luckily Penny can hold her own.

I went to St. Paul on Sunday to visit my old roommate.  We went to the Science Museum, because I wanted to see the mummy exhibit and listen to Harrison Ford's narration (I think he was channeling Indiana Jones).  In college, Minda and I lived on the same floor and our RA gave us all dinosaur names.  Mine was Erikatrodon (yeah, try to pronounce that mess).  Hers was Mindatops.  

It's a Mindatops!

We went to dinner and got margaritas that had far too much salt on them.  We were still very happy with them.  Yea!

Happy almost-Spring!

-Erika

P.S. This was another highlight of the weekend.  Surly Brewing Co. Furious Beer.  It's fabulous and makes cooking dinner that much more fun.