What do you get?

Add one screwy dog looking for chipmunks...
Plus one camp fire...
A tail that's facing the fire...
What do you get? Have you ever smelled hair burning? What about dog hair? Luckily I had cut the hair on her tail off about 3 inches a few weeks ago...but tonight she has a patch that was frizzled and charred! I think she smelled it before she felt it! She ran away from the fire even though we had been trying to get her away from it for quite some time. She's head strong! Persistent! A moron! Wouldn't go NEAR it for some time, but before we went inside...she was back near it. Looking for those darn chipmunks...who weren't even in it!

**No animals were hurt during the posting of this blog!**

Tess, Hummingbirds and Rain!

I don't think I've mentioned the hummingbirds around here. Glenda and I both have feeders out...I have one that suctions to our window and Glenda has two. She also has two that hang outside. Today Glenda & Ray took the motorhome down the mountain to Sheridan, WY where they are getting a Motosat/Datastorm satellite put on like we have. When they packed up, she gave me her feeders to "watch" until they get back up here. At one point during the morning, I walked out our door and there must have been 15-20 hummingbirds right around our site. They "buzz" constantly when they are moving because their wings are beating so fast. Not to mention that they are very aggressive and territorial little things! There's been many days when they "buzz" us as they come up to the feeders because they feel we are in their way! Between us we have 5 feeders and we fill them at least once a day! I have to mention here that although I'm sharing some of my hummingbird pictures, Glenda has taken some awesome ones that put mine to shame...to say the least! We have seen as many as 7 or 8 swarming a feeder at once and to have two feeding out of the same hole is a common occurrence! The females (not as bright - colors) basically can feed with others. Males (brighter colors) will "buzz" and chase others that come to the feeder! I think they spend a LOT of energy keeping others away!

Now here's another picture of Maggie. He's "out" of his comfort zone which is basically the back half of the motorhome, but lately, when Tess is outside, he'll venture out to the kitchen. I've taken him past that, but he always runs back to the back! He's never been known for being very "sociable"! I held him by the window to see the hummingbirds at one of the feeders. He's an old cat and has cataracts, so he heard them first, but I think he did finally see them outside! Maggie doesn't like coming out to the front because every time he even gets close...Tess chases him back to the back!

And finally we get to Tess, the Wonder Dog. I say that in jest because if you've been reading my Blog, you know that she chased a bear not too long ago! Today I was able to take her down to the river and give her a bath. She's not much of a water dog, but she's becoming better! She had just about gotten dried when she spotted a squirrel or chipmunk and ended up chasing it to our woodpile! I've also included one of the pictures showing what a moron she is about them! She's persistent! She kept at the woodpile for quite some time before I finally dragged her away! She won't forget that it was there as she'll be checking out the woodpile tomorrow looking for that same squirrel/chipmunk! *I personally think she might have been dropped on her head at some point in her life!*

Finally, this afternoon the clouds came again and it started to rain. First just a few sprinkles, and then finally rain...several hours of it! The mountains need it badly, but it sure made the temperature cool way down! We even closed the windows! There's nothing we like better than hearing the rain on the roof. It was a pleasant way to spend the late afternoon! After a few hours, the rain stopped, the clouds went away and it was a beautiful, brisk evening!

What is Don Doing?

Although this first picture was taken yesterday at Shell Falls, I wanted to post it today! I'm NOT sure what Don was doing, but he was being a little nutty! Must be the altitude!

The fire danger has gone from "high" to "very high" and today the NFS put out the order that no fires are allowed except in designated camp grounds and only in approved containers (i.e. fire rings, barbecues, etc.) Glenda & Ray have told us that it may even go to NO fires allowed at all. That being the case, I decided to take a picture of our fire tonight. Now as some of you read this, it may be sweltering in your area, but that wasn't the case for us today! It was cloudy and we had 10 or 12 sprinkles at a few points during the day. I'm not sure what the high was for today...but it wasn't too warm at all! Yesterday, Glenda and I decided that we would have hot dogs for dinner. As we talked about it, we decided that we would get out the "pie makers" and make some pizzas over the campfire. Well...sure wish we knew about the weather forecast when we made that decision! We had a fire going for most of the day! Don and Ray have gotten pretty good about scavenging campsites as people leave and we have quite a stack of firewood! By the time it was dinner time, wouldn't you know...the rain came! Oh well. Isn't that what "camping" is all about? We have these high dollar motorhomes and we're out in the rain cooking and eating! :-) Our pizzas in the pie makers turned out surprisingly good and after we filled up on pizza and hot dogs (what a combination!) we used the pie makers for exactly what they are made for - PIES!

I took a picture of the sky over the motorhome as we made our way inside. It was beginning to rain again. I also took a picture of our site...we're in back and Glenda & Ray's 40' Windsor is in front of us. I can guarantee you that there aren't too many campsites where we could get in two motorhomes over 40' long! They "moved in" with us the other day since their campsite had a reservation coming in and they wanted to be close to us so they could use our internet connection! Aren't satellites wonderful? I sure think so! Tomorrow, Glenda & Ray will head to Sheridan for the day to get their own satellite put on...guess they won't care if they can't park close to us anymore! J/K

Moose (what else?) and Shell Falls!

**Note to myself...don't close the program until it posts otherwise you lose it and have to start all over!** <-- This is the SECOND time I've typed this post! Drat!

O.K. so where was I? Oh yeah...the other day I posted that I had seen 10 moose...in various locations. Today I saw 8! How awesome is that?

Don and I went to the dump station, well...to dump and fill with fresh water since we have NO hook-ups at the campground. When we turned into the dump station there were cars parked alongside the road across from the dump. I made Don let me out and I walked across with my digital camera! There were 5 moose, 4 of which you could see relatively well. One of them was in the willow and you could only see her when she raised her head, most of the time you only saw her ears! I took a few pictures (8, 9, 10 or maybe more) and walked back over. When we go dump, I also do laundry. I can be doing laundry as Don fills with fresh water and dumps. When I'm done, we fill up and dump again! Luckily, there's more than one spot and it's not too busy! Most people see our big motorhome and think BIG tanks! Little do they know that we're also doing laundry!

One thing we have learned is NOT to leave our generator running as we drive up or down the gravel road to the campground as we raise a LOT of dust! The exhaust for the generator points straight DOWN! Don has given up trying to keep the motorhome clean since we drive on the gravel road every 4-5 days!


Since there are 3 couples here (Don & I, Glenda & Ray Roe, and Pam & Mel Roe) we try to stagger our time at the dump station. Anyhow, when we were done, Don & I headed back and Glenda & Ray headed to dump. Once we got back and parked, I headed back in the car so I could take more pictures with my "film" camera. My digital does a fair job, but it really doesn't "zoom" too well! I only had to drive out of the campground and there were the three bull moose that seem to frequent the area (and are in MANY of my pictures)! They were very close to the road, so I pulled over, along with several others, and started taking pictures! It wasn't too long when the largest moose walked across the street in front of me! I was so close, I could even hear him snorting! (I WAS in the car on the passenger side with the windows open!) I did get a pretty cool video of all three of them crossing the road! That's one neat feature of my digital camera...video! I was glad that I hadn't driven the 10 or so miles back to the dump station since I was able to get some great shots right in our own backyard!

On Sunday afternoon we all decided to take a drive to Shell Falls. It was beautiful to see and interesting to hear how the falls have been created over the years! The rock in the area is something like 1.2 million years old (pre-Cambrian period)! It's lower in elevation, so it was a little warmer, but not too bad! It's amazing how far you can drop down or go up in elevation in only 15-20 miles! Gosh...trying to write this I realize I should have read more and taken fewer pictures, or at least taken pictures of the displays talking about the falls!

By the time we got home the clouds had begun to appear over us. It wasn't too long after dinner while we were enjoying a camp fire when lightening, thunder and sprinkles began! Made it inside and shortly after that the rain came...just enough to make the dust on the motorhomes worse!

Do you see what I see?

Yes, it's a female moose (cow) and her baby (calf)!

Since I hadn't seen a moose all day, Glenda Roe and I decided to go "moose hunting". We spotted a moose just outside the campground (a bull) but since he was by himself (we usually see two or three at this spot) we decided to go a little further. In fact, I wanted to go to the "fishing spot" which is where we encountered our first spectacular view of a moose up close! At first we didn't see much of anything...in fact, it took forever to even see as much as a deer, but in the end...we spotted not just one or two moose, but TEN in all! It was the perfect ending to the day! This mother/calf was the next moose we saw. When we first spotted the baby he/she was running around the mom! It was way too cool! By the time we made it back to the campground, we saw ten in various locations! It was a GREAT day for moose hunting! I have tons of moose pictures now! I'll have to figure out a way to scrapbook them all!

Glenda and I have decided that we've become VERY spoiled by the close encounters we've had with the moose! If they're too far away or we can't get a "good" picture, we may not even bother to stop! I still get very excited when we see one fairly close though! They truly are magnificent creatures!

Moose Alert!

So, how cool is this? We're sitting outside, I'm inside getting some chips & salsa for our "Happy Hour" when Glenda yells "moose, moose"! I think she's calling for me, not to me and then when I go outside she points across the street to the stream/creek/river and there I see two bull moose! I'm very excited and so happy that I bought some film at the lodge when we went to make phone calls (there's NO cell service until you drive about 20 miles south). I open that box of film, load my camera and I'm out the door in a flash! Ultimately, I was about 50' away from them (but always near a tree) while they were busy eating the grass along the banks! I spent about 20 minutes taking pictures of them with both my digital and film camera! It was way too cool! Although they weren't "in" the campground, they were along the edge of the river that runs beside it! So far I've seen moose every single day we've been here except for one and that's because we didn't go looking that day!

Some Moose Facts...

*Height at shoulder of moose can reach 6-1/2 - 7-1/2'

*A mature moose can weigh 1200 - 1500 lbs

*A female moose gives birth (in the spring) to 1-2 calves after a 230 day gestation

*Moose are the world's largest deer

*Moose can easily run 35 mph. They can also swim 10 miles

*Moose antlers are not what you should fear, but their sharp hooves. Hooves are their first line of defense

*Each year in Alaska there are more moose related deaths than bear related deaths

*Only mature bulls (male moose) has antlers. They shed these before winter and they grow back in the spring

*Antlers can reach a width of 6' and can weigh up to 44 lbs!


This is NOT a moose but a deer! We came back from having dinner out and this deer was in one of our campsights. Ray took this picture for me from the driver's seat (that's why you see his mirror and arm in the picture).

Also, Ray was kind enough to stop and let me out to take the first picture when we were driving back up the gravel road to the campground! There are 3 bull moose there, but two of them were laying down. I'm pretty sure this is the same 3 that I saw yesterday. Ray & Glenda think they may even be the 3 Glenda took pictures of last year in the same area. There were 2 younger ones and 1 older and that's what these guys look like! Couldn't get them to come any closer...heck, I couldn't get the 2 laying down to get up at all! Oh well...there's always tomorrow!

I will not....

let this beat me! It takes me hours sometimes to get my pictures and text to "publish" together! Or I can get my pictures here and when I add the text, it's underlined and everything is in blue! Tonight it let me put all my pictures except for one into one post! Not sure why that was or how to get around it, so I created an entirely separate post! Anyhow, here are the pictures I wanted to post with my previous blog! Ha Ha! I made it work!



Maggie...he's still not too sure whether he likes "motorhoming" or not!
Don...on our friends, Glenda & Ray's quad (for the first time). This is where we were "free-ranging".
Tess the Mighty (bear) Hunter...
The motorhome at Sibley Lake. This is right before we left. In fact, the back slides are already in and Don is sitting in the driver's seat!

Sibley Lake & Tie Flumes, WY

From Sibley Lake we decided to “free range”. Free Ranging is where you can go out into the forest and basically park where you like. They have certain restrictions, like you have to be so far off the road, etc. We went up in elevation and about 20 miles south (?). Parked the motorhomes (us, Ray & Glenda Roe, & Ray’s brother and his wife, Mel & Pam) in a triangle and we were set…or so we thought! It only took us two days/nights to decide to find someplace else! Ray and I were the main meal for mosquitos! Both of us woke up EARLY and woke our spouses with our scratching! Glenda, Pam and I set out and found three available sites at Tie Flume. Tie Flume is between where we were camped at Sibley Lake and where we were free ranging. It was almost like heaven having tables and trash service! It’s amazing how little things like that can make one soooo happy, but I guess it doesn’t take much either! ( Guess what we saw when we drove down the gravel road to Tie Flume? Moose! Yeah! Three bull moose were in the trees, laying down! Of course we stopped and took a few pictures! When we were leaving to go back to the motorhomes to let them know we had found spots…there was a cow (female) moose! It was about ½ hour before we got back to Tie Flume and we found the moose (bulls) had gotten up from their resting spot and were out grazing. They weren’t too close and we took a few more pictures! Around here it’s pretty easy to spot the wildlife…when you see some cars/trucks/quads, etc. pulled over…you can bet there’s something to see! Today was no exception! After dinner Glenda and I went back down the road but there was no moose in site. We did spot a couple of deer and a yellow-bellied marmot, but that’s all! I really can’t complain when I did get to see 4 moose today!

Tess - the Mighty Bear Hunter!

This picture was taken by our friend, Glenda Roe. She took it today after Tess had tree-d the bear! That's right...you read it correctly! Tess, the mighty bear hunter had tree-d a bear!

First thing this morning we had heard of a bear encounter within the campground. Seems a bear knocked into a tent and even bent the tent poles. Well, this afternoon, dinner was just about ready...we were all eating inside our motorhome because there was a threat of rain. Anyhow, someone was coming in the door and Tess took that opportunity to run right out. About an hour earlier, there was a deer at Ray & Glenda's and we thought Tess was after it. She had seen it earlier and had been barking and barking at it. She took off like a streak of lightening, ran around the loop of the campground, made a mad dash towards where the deer had been, back up and then back down past where the earlier deer sighting had been. I went inside to retrieve two of her favorite toys...a sure way to get her back - NOT WHEN THERE'S A BEAR IN HER SIGHT! I was yelling at her "get it" to try to get her attention to the fact that I had her toys. There was a couple in a tent trailer and they yelled "why are you telling her to get it? It's a bear!" They didn't realize I wasn't telling her to get "it"! Anyhow, that's when Don and I saw the bear! Now I'm not real familiar with bears, but this one didn't look too big to me, but I know that bears can be mighty dangerous! I wasn't getting to close to it, but it didn't seem to faze Tess one bit! The closer I got to Tess, the closer she got to the bear! Don went back to the motorhome to get his gun...in case the bear decided to attack Tess. I'm still trying to get Tess's attention but even after she saw her toys...she didn't care! Finally, the bear heads up a tree...about 6 or 7 feet and Tess is just barking and barking at this thing! Then the bear slides down and sits/lays on this rock. I shouted as loud and as serious as I could at Tess "NO" and I think she knew I meant business! After several "NO"s, she looked at me and I threw one of her toys...she finally went after it! It took us about six or seven throws before we got her. Meanwhile, Don had given Lloyd his gun and told him he was probably a better shot...if the bear needed to be shot! Jerri and Glenda had gotten their cameras and were busy taking pictures! At one point in time...between thinking what would I do if Tess actually got into a fight with the bear and what I would do if the bear started coming towards me...I was thinking "damn, I wish I had my camera"! So, we're not sure why the bear was so complacent towards Tess...maybe it had already eaten? It didn't feel too threatened (not sure about that one since it did try to go up the tree)? It's sick or injured? But whatever the reasons...we feel very lucky this story didn't end up with a trip to the vet for massive amounts of stitches...or worse!

After we got Tess away, we were able to get some pictures and then we left the bear alone. It wasn't too long before it sauntered away, very close to motorhomes, trailers and tents on the back row. The campground hosts were notified and I think they notified the park rangers. I guess, from what the campground host told me, a trap was set at Prune Creek which is a few miles from us, but now maybe one will get set here as well.

As for us...we'll be leaving here tomorrow and going about 15-20 miles away. We are going to "free range" for a few days. In Wyoming, in certain areas you can park your vehicles within the park as long as you are a certain distance away from the road. Hope we encounter some more moose (or elk as we saw the other night), but the bears can stay away! Tess doesn't seem the least afraid of them...she was within about 4-6 feet of one today. I might have been 10-12 feet away...and don't really want to experience anything closer! It was a very exciting day...one we don't wish to repeat too soon!