President's Day Weekend

Two men from Colorado Engineering & Geotechnical Group, Inc. drilled several holes where the barn and house will be built and in the septic system area. They took samples of the dirt and poured water in 4 of the holes for the "perc" test.

December 14, 2007

After 5 years of looking and making offers on two other lots, we finally found the one for us. 856 Dilley Ranch Road already has a well on it (with good tasting water). Our bid on this land was accepted and we closed on 12/14/07.

856 Dilley Ranch Road

This picture, taken in November, 2007, is a south southwest view on 856 Dilley Ranch Road, located in the Colorado "Banana Belt," 10 miles north of Canyon City. It is gorgeous!

Tagged

Last night, while attending a Christmas party, the Rav was tagged. Fortunately, we found a product that removed the red and black spray paint.

Watching the Cattle

Wally used to worked in the Livestock Yard for eight years. He took us up on the cat walk to see the cowboys sorting the cattle.

Cattle Sorting

The cowboys were busy sorting the cattle.

Auction

Listening to the auctioneer, seeing the cattle enter and exit and watching the cowboys in the audience bid at the auction was facinating. Here is the youngest cowboy in the room.

Livestock Yard

The Livestock Yard in Billings was our outing for the day.

Rehearsal

Mary is warming up on her oboe at the Alberta Bair Theatre where the Billings Symphony plays once a month.

Happy Friends

Pam, Joan, Mary and I had a yummy lunch and then went on a beautiful walk in the Pheasants Forever area. Joan and Pam are some of Mary's special friends.

Pheasants Forever Walk

In some areas on the trail, the grass was over 5 feet tall. We didn't see any pheasants.

Bud

Bud is Wally's dog. He is 15 months old and is part Border Collie and Australian Shepherd. Mary and Bud are enjoying each other.

Turkeys

The turkeys are plentiful north of Billings, where Mary and Wally live. At dusk they can be seen flying into a pine tree and sitting on the upper most branches.

Sharing the Road

This Montana Cowgirl was moving the cattle to a different pasture.

Montana

After leaving Yellowstone National Park, we went on to Montana.

One of the Many Falls

Norris Geysers

Minerva Terrace

These interesting formations are near Mammoth Hot Springs, located at the North Entrance to the park. No, it isn't snow.

Mud Geyser

Bubble, bubble.

Elk

Watching the elk and listening to them bugle was a special treat. This elk was keeping his herd in line.

Bison

The bison were plentiful in the park.

Pinwheel Geyser

Steamboat Geyser

This is the world's largest geyser, reaching 300-400 feet. The last major eruption was on May 23, 2005. There are frequent minor eruptions ranging 10-70 feet.

We are enjoying this beautiful site.

Just Beautiful

Tour Bus

This yellow bus has been restored to use again in the park. Apparently this type of bus was used in the park many years ago. We saw several of them on our tour of the park.

Old Faithful Geyser

Seeing Old Faithful is part of going to YNP. A few facts about Old Faithful: It’s one of more than 300 geysers in Yellowstone, 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of water are expelled per eruption, depending on the length of eruption, Old Faithful’s height ranges from 106 feet to 130 feet. The cloudy weather made it difficult to tell just how high the eruption was.

Dan enjoyed watching Old Faithful.

Unique Chairs

These chairs were on the porch outside of the store in the Old Faithful area.

Old Faithful Inn

The Inn is undergoing renovations to meet safety standards, provide more accessibility, and increase its protection from earthquakes. Art is sold inside the inn and a resident artist was busy with his oil paints creating a beautiful landscape.

Fishing Bridge

Our first campsite was at Fishing Bridge Campground, located near Yellowstone Lake. Prior to 1973 fishing from the bridge was allowed. There was a picture by the bridge that showed people fishing standing “elbow to elbow” on the bridge.

Yellowstone National Park

In 1872 Congress established Yellowstone as the world’s first National Park.
Our goal was to see the Park in the fall and we were rewarded with the BEAUTY of the area. We were in the park a couple of years after the big fire in 1988, and what a difference 19 years has made. All the new growth is refreshing.