Ending of one Epidsode and On to another

On June 3rd, we drove up to the Teton's in search of 399 and her 4 cubs. No luck, set for hours where she was supposed to be but, OH Well, that's the breaks. We did see another Sow and her 2 cubs and some beautiful scenery with lots of snow. Only portions of the park were open.

On June 5th, headed out for one last hike in the area. Went to Palacais Creek Trail. Hopefully there will be a moose at the lake. It's a 10 mile round trip hike and the moose does make it worth the miles.

We not only saw the moose, but some goats up in the cliffs along the way. Differently a good hike.

The moose has a deformed paddle. Probably

won't win any cows or survive the fall.

The creek was really running

Saw several goats up on the cliffs.

So on the 9th of June, we had closed on the lots and headed up to Clyde Park to visit Wayne and Nancy and determine what is our next step. Sad to leave friends behind, but we'll see them in Happy Trails and Surprise. Ready for a new adventure. Because of Covid, we still can't go to Alaska as planned this summer. Plan to just hang around Montana and explore.

Parked in the Muggli's drive, but wanted to check out Tom Miner campground to determine if we wanted a summer job there. So drove up there for the day the next day. Saw Elk in Emigrant and found our next dry camping spot.

The next day is an UTV ride with Wayne and Nancy. Great day with friends and beautiful scenery. With a stop at the local Bank Bar in Wilsaw

After staying with Wayne and Nancy, and being entertained by them, we head out on the 14th to discover Yellowstone and the new dry camp area, Carbella Recreation Spot.

Parked right next to the river. Really lots of spots and level.

Of course for the next week, it was a daily trip to Yellowstone. Great since the North gate at Gardiner had just opened, there were very few cars and no tour buses. We would watch bears with only 4 or 5 cars around. Best way to see the animals.

Lots of Bears, Badgers and Bison, oh my. With wolves, antelope, and elk all around. Too hard to pick pictures, but here is an assortment of the sights we saw. Everyone is reminding you to take precautions due to the Covid Virus

Day 6/15/2020

Day 6/18/2020

Day 6/19/2020 The fox is blurry, but it's the only picture we got of him.

That afternoon, we decided to hike Hell's Roaring Canyon Trail. I had problems with pain in my chest and took forever to hike back up the really steep trail. 900 Ft down in the 1st mile and then out 2 more miles going down another 500 ft. My chest hurt so bad that I had to lay down every 100 ft or so. When we got back to the car, the pain had eased some, but Bob insisted that I go to the emergency room in Livingston, MT. Stayed overnight, but no problems with my lungs or heart. So scheduled a video appt with the Cardiologists on Friday. Life continues.

6/21/2020 This was a special day, Not only did we see Bears, Badgers, Bison and Wolves, we got to see them interact. One bison must have died during the night. All the other Bison payed tribute to him. They marched around him and each one nosed him to be sure he was dead,(I guess). Then the wolf started stalking and trying to get to the dead bison. The Bison chased him away, and one Bison stayed with the dead one for several hours, trying to keep the wolf away. Finally the final Bison left and the wolf got to eat. During this time, a family of 3 Badgers were nearer the road. After the wolf left the Bison, he approached the mother badger and they had a little standoff. The Badger won!

We continued to tour and view animals that week. Then on Friday, during the video appointment, I was still having some pain even after taking Nitroglycerin, so back to the emergency room, this time in Bozeman. Stayed the night, again, and had nuclear stress test the next day. Again, not the heart or the lungs. So what's the problem with exercise and pain in the chest. Think it could be the esophagus. So taking omeprazole. Need appointment with GI doctor. We were still dry camping in Carbella, so since Bob was not allowed in ER, he went back to the campsite. It's after 5 or 6 in evening. Hotter than Hades, so he runs generator to run Air Conditioner to cool down rig. Ok, it stops and won't restart. He moves rig back to the Muggli's until we decide what to do. Comes to pick me up on Saturday and we then establish residence with them until further notice. To earn our keep (not that they required it), we repaired a water leak problem in their roof and repainted the living area. Then we painted the bedroom and bathroom and kitchen of their rental house and then painted the outside. They fed us well with lots of entertaining.

Bob and I decided that with the problems I was having, maybe we needed a permanent summer home. We started looking. Checked places in Clyde Park near Wayne and Nancy, but either too much property or too much work to even move in. Contacted a realtor and she showed us this place outside of Butte, MT. It was perfect for us, so we made as offer. 1st offer rejected, they came back, we countered and they refused. We assumed we needed to keep looking. They came back and accepted later thatday. Closing would be in about 4 to 6 weeks.

We continued to have fun with Wayne and Nancy and their friends. ATV rides etc.

One was on July 5th. Beautiful country.

We figured we couldn't stay in the Mug's driveway forever, so moved on the Georgetown Lake on July 10th. One of our favorite places with moose. Ended up staying in the Piney Campground for 7 days. This was also only 50 miles from Butte, so we could sign papers and arrange things on the house there. Great time and beautiful, and MOOSE! We walked a lot for exercise and to look for animals. Here are a few of our finds.

On Georgetown Lake

Our campground from the other side of the lake

Our resident moose on different days.

The only hike we took. An easy one around Storm Lake.

After a week, we headed to Fairmont Hot Springs for a 2 nights with full hookups, a massage at the hot springs and several dips in the pool. If you like really commercial hot springs that are not really hot, then it was ok. Nice getaway, and a good massage.

Headed back to Muggli's until closing on the house. It wasn't scheduled yet. Ended up being on Aug 6th.

Now more UTV rides, but we were actually on an ATV not a side by side. Nice ride as always and lots of wild flowers.

Stayed at Wayne and Nancy's until the 5th of Aug. Busy looking for furniture, walking at least 4 miles most days and having way too much food and alcohol. Really was thankful that we were able to stay there and be with friends. Of course, Wayne was looking online for us a UTV. Had to be a 50 in in order to ride in a lot of the forest trails. Well, he found one and we headed out to check it out. Cutest little thing, so we caved.

Proud owners and with a snow plow just in case we have to stay in Butte.

So now we are in the New House and are continuing to buy things we need, like everything. For the first time since we married almost 22 years ago, We are living in a house during the summer. We've always lived in the RV. It's beautiful and friends from AZ, Pat and John Irwin were our first dinner guest. Last weekend, we entertained our friends from Clyde Park. Our first sleep over.

Friends Wayne and Nancy brought their rig and their son and daughter-in-law, Nate and Steffy. Along with two UTV's. Penny and Wes and cousin Kathy joined us with their UTV. Had a great day exploring Boulder River Road.