Wild Thing: Pelicans

So back to Monterrey with you blog!  I can't stay away from the coast it would seem.  Maybe I need to travel more. My posts seem to be Monterrey...Yellowstone...Yellowstone...Niagara...Monterrey....you get the picture... So Pelicans...yeah they're pretty flippin' cool.  And there are tons of them.  (I've seen 'em in Yellowstone too)  I don't know a lot about them as birdies.  But I kinda like them!

So the Monterrey pelicans were like birds possessed.  They were always attacking the fishies.  Diving down to the water.  I'd be walking along, or sitting and enjoying the view and then splash.  I'd look up and see nothing, then go back to what I was doing and splash splash... look up nothing.  It took a while, but finally I caught on to what they were doing... tricksy little birds.

The ones in yellowstone probably do the same thing, but I never saw them do that.  They were usually flying or sitting on the water, doing lame bird things.  I saw some once that were bobbing for fishies.  But that is as close as it gets.

Wild Thing: Bison Bison

 Bison (Bison) or more commonly the buffalo... Buffalo, buffalo buffalo, I like them, I really do, but sometimes not so  much.  Part of that comes from the Yellowstone life.  Bison are so common that you almost stop seeing them.  Except of course when they are laying right in your path or surrounding your car during the rut.

I go back and forth on my bison opinions.  I love them, I hate them, they are adorable, annoying.  The babies are adorable, the big bulls can be ugly... I am truly conflicted.  The more removed I am from Yellowstone, I more I remember them fondly.  But there were times when I truly cursed their existence--well, at least cursed the fact that I had to sit in my car for almost an hour while tourists were just asking to be gored.

Now that I am out of the park, I get excited when I see them... and trust me this wasn't the case for many years.  They are big and kinda scary.  It may be silly but I would talk to them whenever I would encounter one.  Cause the last thing I wanted to do was startle the big guy and a goring was the last thing on my mine.  Bison are funny, because they look so docile and uninterested.  Not the case...they might be docile, but the notice everything and when they don't that is the when bad things happen...





But at the end of the day, I like the big lugs.  The are fun to look at when the huge herds are together, running down the roads and through the valleys.  I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to see the plains covered in bison as far as the eyes could see.  Wow!

Lazy Days

waitin' for sunset- Lake Michigan

So yeah, I am horrible at this posting thing... I am gonna blame the holidays and school... It isn't that I don't want to blog, it is just I lacked the inspiration and what not.  I gotta get my bum out and start taking more pictures, but dang it! it is cold in Minnesota this time of year.  Yeah, yeah, I know not an excuse, it is not like I haven't spent most of my life in Minnesota... I am being lazy.  So what do I do, I come back and write a lazy blog post.  So I guess that is what this one is gonna be dedicated to... Lazy!

I guess you gotta start with the laziest dog that I know.  Koal, he is a Gordon Setter.  They are gorgeous animals.  Wickedly smart, and like most setters they hate listening to you.  Koal is, for the most part an, outside dog.  When we lived in the city he almost never wanted to be inside, cause we lived on a busy corner and everybody interacted with him.  But the older he gets, he doesn't mind being inside.  He is under the impression that he should get to go out and then come back in for a few hours... after all the feather comforter needs to be guarded.

We will pretend this is me being lazy...

The winter is a lazy time.  Don't get me wrong I love the winter, I love the snow, and snow sports rock!  But not much tops lazy afternoons, movies & hockey games to watch, cookies to eat and the like...  You know grand times.  The are much more common outside of Yellowstone!  And I am ok with that.  Sometimes you just don't want to do anything but laze about!

Grant Village (of the damned) YNP

So what else is lazy.  I think it depends.  Rocking on a porch gazing at a most beautiful lake... Probably.  Napping in overstuffed leather couches...yes!  Friends, drinks, late night chats... Coffee breaks and smoke breaks when you don't smoke... Sometimes lazy can be good.  Sometimes it seems like you need it in order to continue at a high pace... And maybe going places, where you can relax is lazy.  Not have to hike miles and miles just because.  But going somewhere that you can have as much fun, but don't have to always be movin'.  And it is not always a bad thing!

Unforgettable--Niagara!

The great differences between voyages rests not with the ships, but with the people you meet on them.

~Amelia E. Barr

Honestly, in my opinion, truer words have never been spoken.  And it is not just the people you meet, but the people you go with.  That can make or break a trip.  When I started this particular post I figured by default it would be a Yellowstone post.  And I could probably wax poetic about my Yellowstoners for days on end.  They are some od hte most amazing people in the world.  Kind, generous, loving, accepting, fearless, everlasting, you name it.  They embody it.  And I love them all for it so very much.

But this post is leading me in a different path.  As mentioned I took a trip this summer with my mom, her two sisters (The three of them being "The Aunties") and two of my cousins.  I had the time of my life honestly, it was one of the best trips I had ever taken.  Barring a few minor conflicts... (two of the aunties were a bit anal about the packing of the van and the phrase give me the f*cking bag comes to mind.)  It was an unforgettable trip of a life time.  So I am sure I mentioned it, but we did Niagara Falls in class and stlye!  Oh yeah, we were kinda awesome.

Top of the Dunes

Our rendition of the Sweet Sisters

With the obvious exception of the aunties (even that to a point) we the younger three are all different( is the only word) from each other.  Susie is in her early 30's, I am late 20's and Erika is the baby in her very early teens.  Yet, I think there is a bond, that somehow we forged.  Maybe not as a trio, but each with the others.  Ericka and I perhaps a bit more than we needed to.  Lets just say that we have a silly (some call it annoying) side a mile wide...  So for some reason in Michigan we decided we wanted to learn how to dance.  I am fairly certain it started as a polka and ended in a waltz, much like each time we tried to dance.  We made a pact that we would waltz in front of Niagara falls (we did!).  And sometimes when we get together we do still.

 

AWESOME!!!!!

Sand dunes are all shades of awesome, even if I almost lost forever my most prescous possession, a perl from my beloved gramma.  The dune ride was just a crazy, crazy time!  And then there was the cheese and the super awesome wooden show fuzzy slippers.  The cheese, oh gods, the cheese.  Garlic basil Gouda... like manna from the heavens... good gods that was good.  Wooden shoes were awesome, expensive so we settled for awesome slippers.  Around this point, Ericka and I were "banned" from sitting together in the car... it seemed we grated on the Aunties nerves a bit... 

Did I mention the matching clothes?

Windmills are just cool!

 

So on to Canada!!!! I love Canada by the way.  I think we were on Wayne Gretzky Parkway (or something) all the time.  And then we got to a swanky hotel in Niagara.  Over looking the falls!  And the bellhops were adorable!  There was this really cool quasi interactive video thing called Niagara's Fury and it had a super cute animated video.  Me and Ericka have really curly hair and it was a constant battle not to poof. Especally on the Maid of the Mist!

 

 I am sure I could go on and on, and maybe no matter who I saw Niagara with it would have been memorable and a good time.  But I think that there was some magic about this trip.  Maybe it is the 6 of us, the lack of anything set in stone, but something made it a great and wonderful time and fun was had by all. 

Wild Thing: Mooses!

 Ok, it is not much a secret that moose are not my favorite thing.  I think they are silly looking, but actually real moose are cool, but you don't see them a lot.  And my mom has a toy one that takes all its frustrations out on me... well kinda, it is a bit of a joke.  As far as it goes, I am not a huge moose fan, I might be someday.  I've seen probably about 6 in my life.  Something like that, most in the greater Yellowstone/Teton ecosystem and a set somewhere between YNP and Sheridan Wyoming in 2006.  The only moose pics I have are from my very last moose encounter.













It took a few summers before I saw a moose in Yellowstone.  I think it was my 3rd one.  The summer of 2006, me and some friends were headed down to Grant Village from Lake, and there by the marina was a cow moose and her baby (at least I think the baby was there- it kinda was a quick pass by).  It was neat.  Lake is not always a common place to see moose, but really where is. Then I saw 2 moose in the meadow in front of Lake Lodge one morning.  That was really strange, especially since in June the bears are still really active.  But there they were just sauntering by.



 The following summer I saw one in mid May, just after the lake broke.  There is a bit of an old causeway, where the old road used to be, and there was a moose just ambling along.  It was awesome, I didn't have my camera.  And by the time I processed that it was a moose, it was too late and I didn't want to turn around.  Later that summer me and some friends headed down to Jackson Hole and on the way back we noticed a bunch of cars at Moose Junction.  Not being one to stop for animal jams, I was convinced that we needed to stop.  It was worth it, because hanging out along the rivers edge was a bull moose. 

Wild Thing: Polar Bears at Como

Ok, taking a hiatus on the petals series.  I adore it but feel as though it might be repeating a bit.  And I need to gather more pictures.  So I am gonna start another weekly thing.  Probably similar to the petals but with adorable little critters and the places I see them.  I am not sure how exactly it is gonna work... if it will be location based or animal based.  Or a strange mix of the two.  So hear goes nothing!!!  Lets start with something that gets me in the wintery mood.  Polar bears!!!

So sadly I have never gotten to see them in the wild.  My big brother has, he went up to Churchill Manitoba on the shores of the Hudson Bay.  There is research school/something up there.  But I was at Como the other month, there was polar bears!  This made me happy.  Yeah, I know zoos aren't always fabulous, but sometimes it is as close as one can get.  These little(a relative term) buggers were wonderfully active.

I've seen many bears in my day, trust me there will be bear post coming out of my ears.  That is a side effect of life in Yellowstone.  It was awesome to see these polar bears, not as awesome as it would be to see them in person up in the frozen north.  But hey, ya take what you can get!

Snow! Glorious and Wonderful

 So we've finally got our first real snowfall here in SE Minnesota.  Those lucky peeps up in the twins cities and even further north got theirs earlier.  But we waited patiently and the snow gods rewarded us.  And it was beautiful and I had this strange urge to go barefoot in it...so I did and it was cold.

My mom and I were talking about a week ago, after the first itty bitty snowfall.  How a tiny snow is not pretty.  Sure the flurries are fun, and you feel like snow globe people.  But it highlights everything wrong with you lawn... how ugly it looks.  And trust me there is a big difference when the whole lawn is blanketed instead of the patchy look.  But needless to say, one good 6 or so inch fall and it looks like December has arrived in Minnesota!!!!!!

Petals: Como Zoo-Teil Zwei

So I know, I know Como Zoo been there, done that...cop out post... Well not really as it is a place that changes all the time.  It ebbs and flows with the seasons.  And in the year between visits there are many things that can change.  They have polar bear now...yes, I know not a flower, but super cool anyways.  And an itty bitty baby giraffe, well itty bitty is not the best descriptive term for a giraffe, but you get my point.  But I digress and on with the pretty!

 

Just a warning, I bet there will be a few orchids in these here pictures.  I like them...so deal with it ; )
But like I said, it was just that much different, and by the way still as humid.  I was really drawn to the fern and palm tree-esque plants.  What can I say, but the tropics would be nice this time of year.  But it was September when I was at Como and an absolutely gorgeous day.

The only thing I would change about Como is to make it bigger, the plant part (conservatory) not the zoo part.  It kinda feels like you go in and boom, you are done.  And I feel as though I am being rushed to get through ahead of other people.  The actual conservatory seems quite large and that there is a lot of space that is not being used, but I guess they do what they can.  But it is one of my absolute favorite places in the Twin Cities!