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Tag Archives: road trip with dogs

Preparing for Winter

There was one overlook in Yellowstone that was often full of cars. The first time I stopped to see what was attracting people, someone told me there was a black bear in a hole across the way. It was easy to see the hole and sometimes, if the light was just right, I could see bear fur but it took several visits before I got a good look at the bear. And then, on our last day, she was outside the den! People referred to the bear as a her/she so I went along with that. She slowly moved across the ground, scraping dry vegetation that she would collect and drag and then she backed up into the hole, as if she was making a nest for cubs that might arrive in the winter. I’d love to be there next spring when she emerges and maybe get a glimpse of those cubs!

Next Stop on a Roadtrip

We continued north, driving all the way through Yellowstone National Park and ended up at a Forest Service campground just a few miles away from the park boundary. It was a nice place to stay with a string of beaver ponds along a creek and lovely fall colors. There were trails through the sagebrush outside the campground that were perfect for dog walks. Our friends from western Montana, including their dogs, joined us for a few days. The girls and I stayed there for ten days. After so many days of trying to find a good place to camp, it was such a relief to be in a nice place with clean air. The night sky was clear and I could see and photograph the comet again.

Eastern Oregon Spring

The girls and I spent a few days exploring the basalt covered landscape of eastern Oregon last week. The weather was ok, sometimes too windy and rarely was the light good for photos, except at night. We walked three to six miles everyday and the dogs got to swim at least twice each day. Sky is doing really well on her new arthritis med and nothing seems to slow Willow down. She is obsessed with the water wherever we go. We were a little early for wildflowers. I love the way that so many plants grow right out of the basalt rocks. There were bighorn sheep on the canyon walls and Chukars and Ring-necked Pheasants called relentlessly from the hillsides. I did see a couple groups of Yellow-rumped Warblers decked out in their finest spring plumage!