Is Old the New ... New?

Every now and then I stumble across something on the internet that is sooo much fun to use to play with my pictures.  Last time it was that whole black, white and color thing.  This time it was that whole retro picture thing.  (Have faith, if I get interested in it again, there might be a picture to painting post!)  Now, I'm not the greatest at editing, nor am I a part of that instragram fad, my phone isn't smart enough.  But I did find something fun on the Internets.  I guess the new fad is new to old or vice versa.  I enjoy playing around with it.

A Natural Bridge!

So, it has been really snowy and cold in Minnesota this week.  It has barely been above 0 for a few days.  So I've decided to use my blog to take a little trip to the desert.  Southern Utah to be exact and the Natural Bridges National Park.  Travelling a bit back in time for this one too.  Fall of 2007 (and there might be a pic or two from Spring of 05).  Natural Bridges was a quick side stop on my desert trip that year.  The fun thing about southern Utah is that there are such awesome national parks and they are rather close together.

Wild Thing: Moose Part 2

So, I've totally blogged about moose before.  But it was kinda a boring post, cause I've seen so few moose in my days.  You can read it here...  But seriously it would be so much better after my weekend a few weeks ago.  Me and some friends drove over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake Colorado.  An adorable little town!  (My car nearly died, but that is a story for another time.  The west side of Rocky Mountain is where one finds the moose!

Lily Lake

I had such a hard time getting motivated for my day off.  I woke up early as always, but went back to sleep for at least another hour.  I had no idea what I wanted to do.  A part of me just wanted to be lazy and not leave the room, but I had to do something.  I went to breakfast and decided to go to lily lake.  It is about 7 miles south of Estes.  It is a short trail around the lake.  I took a book, my journal and the camera and that is how I spent my morning.

View from My Door: Crazy Weather

 So I am sure I've mentioned a time or two, that Estes Park in the Rocky Mountains has some hellishly weird weather...  Thought so.  Well, today was not my first experience with it, it was quite off yesterday, but today was strange none the less.  I wish I'd been thinking and had taken a picture earlier.  I was supposed to work at 7:30 (at least that is when the vans were supposed to leave).  This didn't happen.  It was very windy and snowy and cold last night up on the mountain.  Thus the roads were unopened and needed some plowing.  Now 6ish hours later, still not open, so work has been officially called off.

Alberta Falls... Alberta Falls...

That Thursday, the other hike I did was to Alberta Falls.  I left from the Glacier Gorge trailhead; not far from Bear Lake.  I was warned by the park service (volunteer??) that the whole trail was still covered in snow.  I wasn't too concerned as it a short hike only .6 miles in and .6 miles out... actually I think it was closer to .9 in and out.  Their signs were sending me mixed messages.  The first .3 miles was pretty dry, and as I came to a bridge over a raging stream I noticed it was snow covered.

Bear Lake

I had Thursday off and I got up early and did some easy hiking.  I first went to Bear Lake, and then to Alberta Falls.  So June in Rocky Mountain is still pretty snowy.  And in some places it hasn't melted yet, and both of my destinations were such places.  Bear Lake was mostly frozen still and the path still covered in snow.  It made for some unique hiking.

Bear Lake is an incredibly short nature walk, though due to the snow, I only walked around half of the lake and went back the way I had come.  I just wasn't feeling to secure in snow.  I am not always the graceful sort and the last thing I wanted on my day off was to tumble into freezing cold waters.  But it was such a pretty day that it was totally worth it.  I love the drive to the lake and the walk was so much fun, and it was gorgeous anyways.  Win-Win!

Boats

Still in San Francisco!  We went to the Maritime National Historic Site (or what ever it is called).  It was totes cool, I like boats.  And they had all kinds.  There were old timey boats, a submarine and other fun and exciting things!

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!

Petals: Yellowstone National Park

Sorry Micaela, I have to, I can't post about flowers without Y'stone.  It would be a tragic omission.  So as much as I don't want to, here is my petals entry about Yellowstone.  Yellowstone has some pretty awesome things in it, bears, mountain bluebirds, forest fires, and some awesome flowers. 

Probably my favorite flower in Y'stone is fireweed.  But sadly I don't have a good picture that I can find. :( It is such a pretty color, and it makes the dead fall, and burned areas look really cool the summers following a fire.  Yellowstone burns every year, in some area.  Usually it is a bunch of little fires, since 1988 at least.  But I have worked in the park for some pretty big ones.  It is always interesting to see the park the following years, to see the burn area, and the subsequent recovery.

 

The fun thing about Yellowstone flowers is that you never know what you are going to get.  There is a wide variety of flowers in the park, and sometimes they only show up for a short span of time.  Things like lily pads, I had never seen so many until Yellowstone.  Now in the spring, I expect to see them.  (I get them near home too now).  Yellowstone has ruined me.  But that was a good thing!



Mesa Verde!

So one of my favorite places we traveled to when I was a kid was Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.  We traveled a lot, if you haven't noticed.  It instilled a great love a travel and adventure in me.  I love to travel, but have gotten spoiled in recent years.  I don't camp anywhere near as much as I used to.  And I like bathrooms, with running water.  But that is a whole 'nother story.  But Mesa Verde is a place that I think I love more as an adult than when I was a kid.  I understand it better, I know the history, and a look at it differently.

A Snow Lodge Winter...Are you crazy enough?

 Gunga-ga-lunga, ~Who has more fun then we do?

Having spent two winters in the Yellowstone interior I honestly thought I would never be warm again.  It's been a year since I left the park, and I am finally warm.  Yay, just in time to take you lovely people on a trip to one of the most crazy wonderlands in the world.  A Snow Lodge winter!



Surrounded by Beauty

Home sweet Lake Lodge

Since my mom has my camera and she is on her way back from Alaska it will be a while before I can take pictures of new things and post them.  But part of what I want to do is showcase some of my older pictures.  Just so you know, I don't do a lot of editing the pictures.  Usually I just crop them, sometimes I play around a bit more.  But mostly they are as me and my camera saw them. 

 I have spent the better part of the last 6 years in Yellowstone National Park.  To be surrounded by so much beauty is indescribable.

Enjoying the isolated spring

 And the beauty of the park is so many things, from the people who live there, to the wild, free animals, and the endless array of backdrops.  Yellowstone gives you an appreciation of life that is hard to find elsewhere.  It is the beauty of simplicity.  And at the same time, it is a place of personal discovery. 

The desire to be in Yellowstone is a magnetic pull.  Even when you know you are finished, there is a part of Yellowstone that remains with you.  Maybe it is the memories, the friends, the pictures, whatever it is... It is a tie that binds people together.  

Yellowstone is a place of beauty from the tallest water falls to the tiniest flowers.  Always changing, and never quite the same.  But never that different from year to year.

It was Yellowstone where I first realized that anyone can take beautiful pictures.  When you are surrounded by beauty on all sides it is difficult to screw it up.