Home is good

Adventures are always fun, but isn't it nice to be home?  My only disappointment is that nobody cleaned the house or tended the gardens and pulled the weeds while we were gone.  Our neighbors kindly mowed the grass, so that was a delightful surprise.  Look what we returned to. 

There is a marvelous bed filled with peonies that were gigantic buds the day we left.  Apparently we missed the peak of the blooms but  it was another pleasant surprise the former owners left for us.   

 We also missed the glory of the rhodies, but the mangy deer seems to enjoy them.  

Al's pavers.  After hours of painstakingly planting little creepers in each hole we returned to weeds trying to take over. A few more hours on my knees and/or sitting on my fat butt and listening to show tunes as I plucked the offenders have put us back on track.  I'll be watching very carefully and nab those devils before they can form roots.  I'm hoping that once the blue star creeper grows the way it's supposed to, the weeds will find another place to land.   Please?

On the Way

We sadly said good-bye to Yellowstone, spent one very long day driving as far as Clarkston, and now are in Ellensburg, WA.  Tomorrow we'll drop Homer at the repair shop so the broken window can be dealt with.  We're busily loading up what we need to take home and what can just stay in Homer for the

 two weeks (so they say) it's in the shop.

  I'll be back with pictures when we get home and have time to sort through them.  

 Our campsite at the Fishing Bridge RV park in the park. 

 Nothing as lovely as a pile of dirty snow right outside the door.  

Here is my new favorite business. 

What?  I didn't tell you about the broken window?  The Saturday before we left on this little vacation something went terribly wrong, probably  a renegade rogue rock from the lawn mower.  The dining room window had a teeny hole and a jillion pieces of glass hanging precariously in place.  Ever resourceful, Al took his favorite spatula to it, removed all the shards, taped around the edges and we set off.  In order to replace the double pane thing, they have to remove the entire window, send it off somewhere to have the new one fabricated and glued in place.  At least one window will be clean when we pick it up.  

Yellow and all the other colors

What an incredible example of the power and creativity of nature!  Yesterday we explored much of the park and are still reeling at the wonder.  I won't be able to share it with you until later because the connection is rebelling against loading any photos.  I'm pretty sure it's a conspiracy to make everyone get away from their computers, lift up their heads, open their eyes, and marvel at the miracles.

Where are the Yellow Stones?

 It's so beautiful here! 

 Yellowstone Lake is still partially frozen, there is a lot of mostly dirty snow everywhere, no wildlife to be seen - at least not yet - and we're settled at Fishing Bridge RV Park, the only one with full hook-up. The friendly guys had to shovel a wider path to our front door and told us that yesterday there was a bear wandering around here, so we're locked up tightly. 

 I'll just have to eat all the chocolate before she smells it.

100 Years of Jackson

 Relatives?

We're still enjoying Jackson but there really isn't much to report. 

 All the pictures are easy enough for you to figure out without me explaining, right? 

Tetons

 This is the boat that used to be the only way to get across the river.  Not very convenient, but effective.

 Nothing to say about all the beauty in the Teton National Park.  

Jenny Lake in the background is still frozen.  It was named for a Shoshone woman who married

 Richard "Beaver Dick" Leigh.  She and their six children died of smallpox in 1876.

  He was bereft but eventually married again and had three more kids. 

Signs everywhere warning us to be cautious of wildlife and for hours all we saw were a couple birds.  Not even flocks of birds, just one here or there, probably the scouts. Finally a herd of bison, not even appreciating their view, just eating, eating, eating.  Apparently they are thrilled to find something green after a long winter.  No wonder they look so raggedy.  

Yours til Idaho Falls

 On the Snake River, Idaho Falls is low but very powerful and huge.

  It was a blustery morning so we didn't spend much time gazing at the beauty.  Next time.  

 Balsamic reduction on fries.  Bring another load, please. 

Alas, the sluts sold all the brownies before we arrived.  

 Sagebrush, not to be confused with the sage plant used in cooking.  If Idaho didn't already have the potato, they might have to adopt this as the state plant because it's everywhere. 

Can you see the name?  The company that makes this bright potato harvesting equipment is called Spudnik.

Now we're going to load up and go to Jackson.

She'd look good in a potato sack

It was a busy day, enjoying the beauty of Idaho.  Really.  It's a gorgeous state and the highlight has been a visit to the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot.  See?

1948 was a good year for tractors and babies.

 Somebody said of Marilyn that she was so pretty she would look good in a potato sack

 so her agent took some pictures of that very thing.  Al is smitten. 

A Little Alventure

 We said goodbye to Al's bucket garden and set off on a little vacation.

First stop was Pendleton, OR, which is mostly about cowboys and cowboy boots, but they also still have the famous woolen mill.  We were too late for one tour and too early for another, but did get to peek in the windows to see where they spin the yarn and weave the fabric.  From sheep to shirt very quickly.

 This seems to be a very creative way to tell us that the sidewalk is broken and we don't want to fix it. 

My new motto. 

 On to Boise, where we once again happened upon an afternoon organ recital.  This time the organist explained all about how a pipe organ works, which was very interesting. 

 Amazing what some hollow tubes and air can do.

 Yes, Albertson's was begun in Boise.  

 Nothing but cute.

Boise is the captial so we couldn't resist the capitol.  Nice dome.

It has been brought to my attention -

Well, I've been told that you saw so much of the project construction,

 but not enough of the completed product, so here are a couple results. 

 This is the dining room/kitchen side of what used to be the big brick fireplace. 

 Here is the living room side, with the granite we were lucky enough to find in the leftover pile. 

 There will be a mantle someday but we haven't happened upon just the right thing yet.  

Sometimes the search is half the fun.  

 Digger found an edging tool at the second-hand shop for $2 and seems to think it's fun.  

Remember those thousands of  cheerful yellow dandelions last week?

  Lawn mowers all over the neighborhood seem to be going night and day this time of the year,

trying to keep ahead of them.  Not so pretty now, are they?