Lovin West Yellowstone!

This place is absolutely incredible! Here are just a few shots so you can appreciate the beauty! There is one draw back! We drove 78 miles ONE WAY to the closest WalMart!! The first two pictures are in Yellowstone National Park...the bison are everywhere! We hiked in on a ridge and counted 17 babies in one herd on a meadow. The fly fisherman is on the Madison River...the Robert Redford movie A River Runs Through It was shot on this river. The last picture is of an 1959 earthquake caused landslide that impacted the flow of the river and created Quake Lake. On the way to WalMart, we saw pronghorns, mule deer, wild swans!, and some other birds I haven't identified yet. Tomorrow we're going bear hunting...with a camera of course. Supposedly there is a mama and two cubs that several people have told us about! Thank heaven for hiking boots! I've always felt a little funny wearing them, but not out here. Thanks Libby..mine are hand me downs from her years ago!!

We worked by ourself Sunday and everything went fine! We have a wonderful boss...Brenda...she works constantly and has convinced us by her hours that we don't ever want a gallery! That's a big part of the reason we wanted to work at The Buffalo Trading Company http://buffalotradingcompany.net/index.html to see if we wanted to start our own storefront. Now I know we don't want to be that tied down! We'll just work for others on occasion. Starting this week we work Wednesday through Saturday from 3-10P...you know I can't get Woody up before 10A so evenings are best for us!

We are so blessed to have this opportunity and just want to share it with all of you! We are thankful for our blessings and wish you all as many as we have...your life will be full!

West Yellowstone is Cool...Literally!

Check out these pictures of the road to West Yellowstone last night in a snow shower! and bisons, note the fence is behind them and not between them and us! and our RV this morning when we got up! that's just kidding but look at the snow!

We start work tomorrow! The Buffalo Trading Company is wonderful! I don't think I'll make any money as I'll be buying out the store!

On the Road Again!

We're back on the road! Woody and I left Hendersonville on May 2nd heading to St. Louis...then on to Kansas City where I made a deposit at the Ameristar Casino...just a small one! We headed on to Grand Island, Nebraska and from there the fun starts! The pictures are from Wyoming! The boots are in Cheyenne, Wyoming! We had a blast finding out that the first woman governor in the U.S. was from Wyoming. We also learned that it was the first state to give women the right to vote! The snow capped mountain is from the highest point in Wyoming and the image of the canyon is Firehole Canyon that is part of Flaming Gorge Recreation area just outside Rock Springs, Wyoming! It was a bit overcast but still gorgeous.

The most fun was seeing herds of antelope all along the highway from Cheyenne to Rock Springs! We also loved the back road drive from Cheyenne up to Laramie through Medicine Bow National Park and a great lunch at a little restaurant near the University of Wyoming. Tomorrow we head to Park City, Utah. Woody has never been there so it will be fun showing him where his dining room and breakfast room rugs came from! Donna and I bought them there and had them shipped home!

We're at 6,000 feet+ and have been going up since mid Nebraska! We've been as high as 9,000 feet. No altitude sickness. The key is lots of water! Keep that blood thin. We should be in good shape for West Yellowstone on Friday!

The RV is doing fine in the mountains. We do so love being trailer trash! There are tons of pipeline workers in the RV parks so the scenery is almost as good in the KOA parks as out the windows. So far the only problem was one KOA park that closed two days before we got there! Otherwise I can recommend www.koa.com any time!

Harley and Andy are fine but neither one of them like walking on gravel. This area is called high desert and there is no grass! There is also a lot of wind. We've had just a tiny bit of rain after the first day on the road when a monsoon hit! That was the day of the tornados.

That's all for now...miss you all!

Aloha from Hawaii

Work is so much fun! Woody and I are having a great time in Hawaii...I'm working and he's hanging out with the surfers! If you look really close at the little black dots on the right picture....they are Woody's new friends. This is the view from our hotel.

Cindy, the Crouching Lion is still under renovation...we came by there today after going to the North Shore and the Banzai pipeline! Told you we're hanging out with surfers! Right off these rocks we saw whales! A few breached and it was incredible.

Will write more...going to bed now. It's early/late/who knows!

Come on Hillary!

I've been lazy lately as you can see from the delay in posting! Well, not lazy...working hard to get ready to head to Montana. We found a great housesitter! Wendy! Welcome to Hendersonville!

Watched the debate tonight between Obama and Hillary. I think she did incredibly well...she is so much sharper than Obama...if he hmmmed and hawed any more, well you get the picture. When he isn't parroting Hillary's answers he struggles to say anything of substance. I just don't get it...I thought we as a country were smart enough to vote for knowledge this time but things aren't looking good. We voted for charisma over content (that's Bush over Gore) and look what we got...are we going to do that again? I can only hope that he implodes before the convention. Unfortunately I fault our campaign for where we are now...where is Carville? We need help! Obama stays above the fray and let's his staffers do the dirty deeds...we should get Hillary off the negativity and back on the issues. Regardless...vote!

Doctors, Dentists, Eyeglasses...Oh My!

When you're only home a few months in the spring and fall, you spend most of your time with your close friends and physicians! After a great dinner with Cindy and Lou, Holly and Roy, and Donna and Mike at the Tin Angel, this week is doctor week! Catching up on all the annual visits! We're healthy fat people but have to go get our prescriptions straightened out...we're going to West Yellowstone Montana and there's no WalMart!!! Oh dear...how will we ever survive?

We're heading to see the grandkids next week and then home to get ready for Montana...oh and more doctors! Then off to Hawaii! Will be working hard with just a little fun! Hope to get some good pictures.

This election is really getting me down. I am so for Hillary that it is just killing me that we're not doing any better than we are! I just can't see a junior Senator with minimal experience in the White House. If Hillary's not at least on the ticket...I don't know what I'll do. I guess it will depend on McCain's running mate. I think Hillary's campaign has been mismanaged...just not sure if there's anything that will salvage it now. I'm still blogging, writing on comment boards, etc. It's the least I can do. Go Hillary!

Our Molly is going on her first, real, adult vacation! I hope she and Leo have a wonderful time in Miami...she'll probably like it so much she'll want to move there! I loved it...when we were younger! Libby is working hard and at a conference in Chattanooga. She and I both like Chattanooga! Cool town. Chris is working hard and just got a big promotion. Mom and Dad are so proud of our younguns! We survived and they seem to be prospering! Yeah!!!!

I think it's bedtime...night night!

My New Career!

Well...look at me now! I'm driving a Ford (granted it's a Mustang convertible), living in a trailer (well, a purty nice RV, or maybe now it's a night cruiser), and singin in a country band!!! What a difference retirement makes! I'm lovin it! Last night we had an exciting night at the Gallatin Senior Citizen's Center for the St. Patrick's Day Dance. Our friends Bill and Jane (top picture) invite us every year and it's a blast! I got to sing! First time in a hundred years...bit out of tune and need a little practice, but I could get into singing back-up and harmony for Jane, who's the real singer! We did "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?"...shades of my old gospel background! In nursing school I made spending money singing at weddings and funerals...hmmmm....could this be a new part time endeavor to go with all the others?

We're on the road again in April...we're heading to North Carolina to see the kids and grandkids, and believe it or not...a consulting gig in Hawaii with The Oncology Group! I'm such a lucky girl! I still have enough miles to get Woody to Honolulu with me so while I work he can play on the beach...wait a minute...that may not be fair! Then early May, off to Montana for four months. I'm still selling photos, both stock and art, so I'm going to spend most of my time taking pictures. We are working part time in a gallery/gift shop, so hopefully some of my pics can be part of the inventory.

Got to go find a recipe for Irish apples for our St. Patrick's Day dinner at Ginny's! Have a great weekend! busy...busy...busy!

We're Baaaaack

We're home just in time for snow! We just haven't got this snowbird thing quite nailed down! Will post pics if we get the 2-3 inches they are planning. Had a great birthday this week with family and friends, and more to come Saturday night if we aren't snowed out!

How would you like an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii? That's the call I got yesterday to do some work! Well, duh, I'm going and taking Woody with me! After checking all my leftover air miles and hotel miles, I can get us to Hawaii free and stay over a few days after work! There are just a few benefits of flying for years and years! I also just had an article accepted by the Journal for Communication in Healthcare on "Developing a Cancer Internet Strategy"! Now I have to send a picture. I've got Wendy looking for my head shot, since I can't find it....just a little false advertising as I looked much better then!

Will write more later! Have to go to the Breakfast Club at Mickey D's!