Onward, October!

     October slips away rapidly and with it my good intentions to keep this blog more up to date.  Sigh.  So many goals, so little time!
     We've put away our little tent-on-wheels for the season, but not before logging night number 333 in it since we got it in spring, 1998.  We parked it in a national forest service campground near Warm River, ID the weekend of September 16-19.  Accompanying us were new friends Barry and Dixie Smith.  We used the campground as an anchor for a couple of day trips.  We enjoyed playing tour guide for the Smiths who had not investigated Island Park previously.  On Sunday of that weekend, we accomplished one of my personal goals . . . to visit, even if briefly, the southwest corner of Yellowstone.  Since no real park entrance exists there, few of the millions of tourists coming to YNP ever make it to that area.  We hiked a short route, about four miles round trip, but did see two of the 21 waterfalls in that part of the park.  In addition, we saw three black bears . . . one along our hiking trail, a female with a cub, and another along the road as we drove.


(09/18/2011)  Glenn and me with Dixie and Barry Smith at Cave Falls inside of Yellowstone National Park.  We hiked beyond the confluence of the Fall and Bechtel Rivers, saw Bechtel Falls and lunched on the bank of the river.  On the return trip, we watched a female black bear and her cub enjoying some late season berries.

      Glenn and I also got away for a weekend earlier this month, driving to Island Park, ID where I'd rented a timeshare/condo for three nights.  Aside from just a little R&;R (I know, we're retired, it's supposed to be R&R all the time now!) we achieved a long-time goal -- we went autumn fly fishing inside Yellowstone.  The trip proved to be timely -- we were gone September 30 - October 3.  First, the weather was quite cooperative.  Saturday was gorgeous with sunny, blue skies and warm temps.  Sunday a little less so; we experienced some gusty breezes and a few raindrops but still better than our first of the season snow which occurred here on Wednesday, October 5!  Fortunately, none of it stuck to the ground, but bits of it still remain on the mountaintops around our house.

     In addition to reasonable weather, we did catch some fish.  Of course, most of Yellowstone fishing is catch-and-release, but still fun nonetheless.  Glenn landed more than one nice cutthroat trout and while fishing the Gallatin River north of West Yellowstone, MT we both caught mountain whitefish.

     In terms of animal sightings, we didn't see any bears this time, but a number of bison, elk and a close-up look at a really fine fox.  I believe we exceeded ourselves in one other mammalian category -- although not inside YNP, we saw six different moose.

(10/02/2011)  Glenn stands in the Gallatin River north of West Yellowstone, MT and inside Yellowstone National Park.  In the net, a mountain whitefish; he landed several from a pool that day.  In the background, an abandoned beaver lodge.

     The week of October 10-16 Glenn and friend Barry Smith spent  few days hunting for mule deer, quite a different activity here than in Michigan.  They hunt on public land, a real departure for Glenn.  Several prior excursions to scout out a good spot were required.  According to Glenn, mule deer behave quite differently than Michigan's whitetails.  Mulies tend to roam more and further and not in such predictable patterns.  His tag was good for only one week in a specific zone and although he saw a couple of small bucks, none ever came within range for a shot.

     Some of my time in the past couple of weeks included getting routine medical exams out of the way -- finding the opportunity for and completing those dreaded annual physicals.  Fortunately, it appears I'm still in great health and may continue the trek on to next year's round of app'ts.  Don't they always seem to come along so fast?!

     Now on our agenda is a small celebration Sunday in honor of Meg's upcoming birthday.  She will be 32 on Wednesday; talk about time slippin' away!  Then, Friday, October 28 Glenn will begin the long and lonely drive back to Michigan for some late season bow and early season rifle hunting.  I'll fly solo with daycare for the kids until Friday, November 18 when I'll dip into Detroit Metro.

     My trip to the Midwest will be compact and crazy as Glenn and I will utilize our season tickets to take in the UM vs Nebraska and UM vs Ohio State games in Ann Arbor.  I'll have one day to visit with his mom and sister, one day to zip back to Reese and Saginaw for quick check-ins with family and friends.  We'll be off to Plainfield, IL on Tuesday where we'll be for four nights and three days with sister Brenda and family.  Our long drive back to Inkom will commence on Sunday, November 27 with daycare duties resuming on Tuesday, November 29.

     I'm anxious for my trip "home" and it seems a long time away, but I know from experience -- this will be the fourth (!) autumn that Glenn's been hunting in MI and my third to fly back -- the next 28 days will be here and gone before I know it.  If only the drive through Nebraska would move so quickly!

(Special note:  For those of you who check into this blog now and again, notice in the upper left hand corner I've added a page just for the "grand" babies.  Click there for some news and pictures of Miles and Mae!)