Summer and the Bison Range

Two does in the creek

my best shot of the day

Today may be the first day I have really felt like it was summer vacation--odd timing as it was also only the second day I have set an alarm since we have been here. We got up and out the door by 7:30 this morning to drive through the National Bison Range. It's only about a half hour away from the house and we arrived so early the visitor center wasn't even open yet. Even so there were three other vehicles spaced out a bit on the road in front of us.

Tiny mountain chipmunk

Antelope on the ridge

Wildlife sightings were decent, not great, but the 300 mm lenses on the new camera let me get some great close-in shots. Jessie, however, got the best shot of the day (again) (with my camera as hers is in Austin) of a young bull bison swiping his nostril with his tongue. We saw antelope, deer, bison, and chipmunks. We didn't see bighorn sheep or bears, which we have in the past.

Herd of cow and calf bison

Jessie's tongue-in-nose-bison

I want to make one more drive through this summer but at the end of the day. The latest you can start through is 7:00, and as late as it stays light, that would leave plenty of opportunity for great photos as the animals move around at the end of the day. I also would like to make that drive in the Mini Cooper with the top down. Dave is a bit nervous about that idea as he thinks the bison might mistake the Mini for another bison and either try to mate with it or fight it. I want to take the Mini as I can get good 360 degree photos without having to get out of the car (which makes Dave very nervous).

Another picturesque doe

Saw lots of buck deer with large racks

The reason the day felt like vacation was that--even though I did much the same as I have been doing--I didn't feel like I should be doing something else instead of napping or watching woodworking videos. I just went with the flow wherever it carried me. I need to cherish thee moments because come fall and Austin, I'll be in the thick of it again.

Bull bison lying in his dust wallow

Old trestle bridge for the railroad

Tonight will be an extension of the sloth with dinner at Dairy Queen in Ronan, followed by the new Spider Man movie. Tomorrow I'll probably take the railer out to the lake and empty my parents things out the metal building so it'll be ready for my uncle when he arrives in a few weeks. I still didn't spin today, nor did I practice tomorrow. At this point it's going to be hard to conquer Rachmaninoff and finish all the fiber I'm spinning for the Tour de Fleece, but I can't be too concerned. The inbox will always be full.

The pink glow of sunset on the snowy peaks in the east as the moon rises over the Mission Mountains