Sunday, March 27, 2011

Tatonka!

Jeffrey & Johnny on the porch at Jack & Wendy's
 
After leaving SD and moving west, we headed toward Livingston, MT to visit our friends Jack and Wendy Heckles.  We arrived just before dinner and were met in the street with smiles and hugs.  They asked if we wanted to come in for a beer.  To our great surprise, Jeffrey Stauffer came around the corner carrying a hand full of beers.  Jeffrey helped me tie down the boats on the roof of our truck before we left and seemed a little too casual about the goodbye's.  He had the whole thing planned out since before we left.  What a great surprise!  He's been here with us for the whole time.
Yellowstone River from the park down the street

Livingston is a great town with the Yellowstone River running right through it.  You could walk down 3 blocks from Jack and Wendy's house and pull out trout from the crystal clear river.  As could be expected, everyone is super nice.  Joey loves to be able to walk down the middle of the street while on his walks and has numerous places where he can run off leash and tear it up.   

 Jack ended up getting Wendy's elementary school cold so Jeffrey and the Hughes's took a drive to Dillon, MT to look around.  Dillon is big rancher country.  The cowboy hats and belt buckles were huge.  

My first Bison sighting!  I was so excited I could hardly take this picture!
The highlight of our stay here was yesterday when we went to North Yellowstone with Jeffrey and Wendy.  We saw tons of hot water, huge Bison up close (Tatonka), Elk, Deer, Antelope, and a pack of wolves from a distance thru binoculars.  The scenery and views weren't bad either.  The only thing we did not see were bears.  We finished off the day with a long soak in the Boiling River Hot Springs right at the edge of the park.  The abundance of wildlife freely roaming this area of the country is awesome. Today is a sit around and catch up day with our departure for the Canadian line approaching tomorrow morning.    Our ability to access the web will be greatly reduced so we will write again as soon as we can. 
Traverine, a form of calcium carbonate, in Mammoth Hot Springs
pthththththth!



Seeping scalding hot water




Bison getting some God

Yep, its poop, but cool, huh?

Wolf pack, Agate, consisting of four younger ones, an older male (to your right) and the alpha female (to your left) who is believed to be pregnant.  She has over come a battle with mange and the pack is doing well. You may be able to zoom in and see them better.  One of the black ones did down dog and laid down for a snooze.  They were beautuful! It was incredible!

John Hughes and Tatanka
    
  



Could someone please tell Traceylyn that if she thinks my stories are too long, she does not have to read them.  Missing you all and wishing you were all here with us, especially Traceylyn!

JH & ML

1 comment:

  1. That is so COOL! I'm so glad the trip out has been so interesting for you so far. I don't think your posts are too long at all. Keep em comin with the pics. Amy

    ReplyDelete