Back Home

I haven't posted in a couple of days due to being back home and catching up on Laundry and mowing grass.  We came home through Illinois and Indiana.  One thing about being close to home is getting to view our favorite wildlife. These were just enjoying a meal close to the road.

Upon arriving home, I looked out to see two turkey, the male showing off for the female of course!  I have also had time to enjoy the bounties of my labor in my flower gardens. Everything that I had planted from seed in the greenhouse in March and worked hard to keep alive, during our lengthy cool spring, without a heater in the greenhouse, really grew in the month we were gone. Below are some of my favorites.

I had a lot of weeding, and deadheading to do, but am getting it done.  Jon worked the Farmer's Market this morning and we both commented that when we take the October and February trips that we've planned, it will be easier to keep up with what needs to be managed at home.  I won't be mowing as much, horses can be left out and he won't be doing the market then.  We look forward to the next trip, but everyone always knows that it's great to be back home.  I will continue to occasionally update the blog with happenings around our farm and from the market, and look forward to sharing more of our Belted Galloway farm travels in the fall.

July 9, 2013

We hated leaving the awesome campgrounds in Minnesota, but now it was on to Wisconsin. We stayed at Devil's Lake State park and met our friends and their Daughter, from Dellafield, WI.   We hiked the Devil's lake Bluffs which was strenuous on a hot day and breathtaking. 

In the above picture, Jon and I are at one of the bluff view points looking at the lake that we later kayaked on. No gas motors are allowed on the lake. The lake is so clear that on our hike along the North Shore, we came upon a scuba diving group. While kayaking, we could see bottom pretty far from shore, also. 

Jon and I, along with our friends from Kentucky and Wisconsin enjoyed the hikes and the beach at the lake. 

Above Jon is doing the Lewis and Clark stance, as we have seen this picture many times on the trip west and some back east now. 

The above shows the beauty of a lake without gas motor boats. Kayaks, sailboats, rowboats and fishermen stuffed down in rubber rafts with webbed feet to move along, are many of the sites we enjoyed here.  We hated to leave such a beautiful place after two nights. 

We all enjoyed the exercise and beauty.  Now though, it is on to Illinois. 

Badlands

It was pretty awesome at the Badlands. We had the opportunity to view it wet. This is when it is prettiest. 

We took several pictures from the distance and many up close. 

Next, Monday, July 8 th,  We drove through Minnasota to pick up some friends in Minneapolis airport and just so we could say that we've been there, we all went to Mall of America. I did buy one thing, our son's fiancé, a birthday present.  So, I confess, I did shop a bit. Those of you that know me, know that is very unusual!

My favorite thing at Mall America. Was the Lego display! I (Sylvia) love playing with Legos. 

We sat up camp for the evening.  We stayed at Frontenac State Park and took a river walk along the Mississippi River to Eagle watch. We saw many Eagle and even got to see them diving for fish. 

At this point, one of our friends was tent camping. So we started a fire, sat up camp and enjoyed a beautiful evening catching up on news from home and visiting. 

South Dakota

We began July 6th with a visit to Gayle Cerullo and LeRoy Kindler and their Belted Galloway and Galloway ranch. We are enjoyed once again a clear blue sky day, as we have heard from our daughter back home that it has rained, rained, and more rain.  Pictured below are a few pictures from their beautiful farm in Newell, South Dakota.

 Since we are into the Fourth of July weekend, we just couldn't leave the state without seeing Mount Rushmore.  As we were coming around the bend to our first view of the Sculpture, our Daughter called again.  We were oooing and awhing and asked her if she could remember the four presidents represented.  She got three immediately, but had to take a second guess on the fourth.  Can you name all four of the presidents in Mt. Rushmore?

As we next made our way out of the Black Hills of South Dakota and into the Badlands, I don't know why but all the patriotic songs seemed to come alive in the landscape.  "fields of ever waving grain", "where the buffalo roam" and and the "sky is not cloudy all day" seemed to be the theme.  We saw the largest buffalo heard that we have seen so far, about 300 we guessed.

The badlands were pretty amazing after coming out of the mountains and passing through the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.  What a full day.

Sturgis SD

Jon and I had a bit of fun when we arrived at our campground in Sturgis, Friday Jon especially! We went to the Knuckle Saloon for dinner. Quite the collection of artifacts here.

Below was a fitting way for us to end this day. It was a double rainbow over the campground in Sturgis.

Onward again

After a stay in Hardin MT, an Ice cream social at the campgrounds, meeting the Washington State Senior Trap Shooting champion, and watching the Hardin and Billings MT fireworks from a distance, now we are on the way to Devils Tower. The science fiction geek in myself (sylvia) satisfied. Jon could probably live without this stop. We'll stay in Sturgis SD home of the Harley Davidson annual bash tonight and on to Newell SD to visit our next farm. When you see the Lance trick camper with the Beltie Plate in the front, you know that's us!

 Fitting for 4th of July Week-end - I'd say

 The Lance has a "Close Encounter"

Glacier National Park

Wow, what a day.  We left the camper today to go on a Red Car Tour from the campgrounds up "Going to the Sun Road, the summit being Logan Pass and then back down to Lake McDonald.  The ride was awesome and our guide gave the history of the area as well as including Native American frontier storytelling, right up my ally for what I really love to do in my Drama Classes.  The views were 'fantastical'.  Below is a picture of Jon and I after enjoying a storytelling about the island over my right shoulder. Basically, the story told about how two geese led to all geese mate for life.  (I'll have to save the long version for a school Native American storytelling)

The next picture is of Jon at the Logan's Pass stop. I would have loved to hike all day here.  We saw several people carrying their skis to ski higher up the trail.

In the following picture,  Jon wanted to have a picture of the car we traveled in, probably about as long as the truck with the camper, but a lot lower to fit under the sides of the mountain ledges.

 Waterfalls were abundant around every turn.  Our guide told us that last week she drove in snow, sleet and much colder temperatures.  She added that today was perfect and I agree. We still saw snow and got to experience the waterfalls.

 The following image is one of my personal favorites from the trip because it shows how the road lets the water fall go under the road through tunnels.  It's also a bit scary to think about and view.  There were a few times when I (sitting at a window seat with a view of the ravine) wanted to climb over the other three passengers to my left to gain access to the other side of the car!

 So here we are in "Big Sky Country" that gives such a glorious view of the aqua marine blue of the lakes. A perfect day.  Jon got a break from driving and we were captivated by the views and the storytelling entertainment along the way.  Tomorrow we keep heading east.

Montana Farm

Visiting a farm in Ronan, Montana provided the back drop of "Big Sky Country", on a perfect day.  We visited with new members, Ted and Carol Madden.  Ted, an Elementary School principal and Carol, an Elementary school teacher are enjoying their summer off and will be putting up their first Hay crop in a few days. Below are the Maddens and their Belties and as you can see - a perfect morning for the visit!

Glacier for two nights

We will enjoy glacier's history on the Red Car tour tomorrow, plus some kayaking and Hiking. Jon gets another break from driving and I get a break from trying to keep him awake driving;) 

Beautiful lunch spot

Visiting with Ted and Carol Madden started this beautiful blue sky day. We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch on one of the biggest lakes that I've seen outside the Great Lakes,  Flathead Lake in Montana.  Now we head to Glacier National Park. 

Montana

We are in "Big Sky Country" and I can see where that description comes from. We are in Ronan as you can see below. 

Washington State

We had the opportunity to stop by Bajema Belties, yesterday, June 30, 2013.  We didn't have access to internet last night, so I'm putting these pictures on now.  Ken and Dee live in a beautiful location with a view of the Columbia River.  The farm has been in the family for three generations. We also enjoyed some raspberry  pie which Dee had made from their berries - Yum - Yum!   Ken showed us a lot of his Beltie novelties, one being a tic-tac-toe game as seen below.