Reconnecting

Ron and I joked about our trial separation while I was in Ontario and so now it was time to reconnect.  I arrived back in Pincher Creek last Friday and then the next morning we left around 9:00 a.m. for a motorcycle ride.  We headed south.  I was tired but it was nice to be on the bike behind Ron.  We stopped in Helena, Montana for the night.  It was quite hot.  After supper we went for a long walk and then I was excited to fall into bed, ready for a good night's sleep.

The next morning we continued towards Yellowstone Park.  We had an interesting stop at Earthquake Lake. 

In 1959, an earthquake happened here measuring 7.5 on the richter magnitude scale.  A landslide was formed on the Madison River.  It travelled down the mountain at 100 miles per hour. The landslide blocked most of the flow of the river and water began to fill upstream.  In less than a month, the waters had created what is now called Earthquake Lake.

It was quite a spectacular spot and amazing to think that it was created by such a devastation. 
We drove through Yellowstone Park. 

There weren't too many animals but we did see an elk.

We drove down through the geysers.  It is so amazing seeing steam spewing out of the ground.

We had to stop at the most famous geyser of all.  Old Faithful was named in 1870. Since 2000 it has erupted every 44 to 125 minutes.  We arrived just in time for the show.

 It always is amazing.  This time we sat in a spot where the water sprayed over top of us.  There are always lots of ohhhh's and awes.

We drove south and into the Grand Teton National Park.  This was in Wyoming.  This was the first time that we had been in this park. 

We saw some falls and even a bear with two cubs.

 

From there we drove west to Idaho.  We stayed in Idaho Falls and were super excited to find a hotel.  After a wonderful tea on the balcony, I was happy to have a comfy bed.  In the morning, I enjoyed another tea with this view.

The next morning we rode back towards Montana.  It was a hot day and we took a few breaks to try and cool off.

We stayed in Missoula, Montana that night.  The next morning, we drove north to Kalispell.  We found a hotel and also Krispy Kreme!  We went for a little ride into Glacier Park in the evening.  The next morning, we had a hot apple fritter at Krispy Kreme before heading home through Glacier.

Once again, spectacular views, amazing ride and a wonderful driver.

We have come to the conclusion that we can handle short times away from each other but life is better when we are together!

Now Ron is back to work.  I'm trying to get caught up and WestJet is still trying to find my luggage.

Cottage Time

Ron and I have always enjoyed our time at the cottage but this year it was going to be different.  Ron couldn't take summer holidays so off I went to Ontario by myself.  The "by myself" didn't last too long.  Jenn picked me up at the airport with our youngest grandson, Anthony.  We headed to her house and filled the van with other little voices.

I had 2 little girls in my bed that first night.  Jacob slept on the couch and Abby with her mom.  We were all pretty tired but it wasn't meant to be a good night's sleep for our first night at the cottage.  Poor little Abby had been sick before I arrived and she got worse through the night and we ended up calling an ambulance fearing that it might be appendicitis. Thankfully it wasn't that and she had to fight through a severe infection.  The three kids and I picked Jenn and Abby up at the hospital the next morning.

Jenn and Abby left later that day and I was left with these three little monkeys.

We swam throughout the day and went to the Sharbot Lake beach at night for some play time.

The next morning, Mom and Dad came.  Mom planned to stay with me for a few days.  The heat of Ontario was perfect for a holiday by the lake.

The kids got very use to the water wearing their life jackets. Throughout the days, we did finger painting, crafts, puzzles and lots and lots of water time.

Every morning, we had a fire and would stretch it through to lunch so that we could have s'mores for our dessert.

Every evening, we would gather in my bed for bible stories and sometimes one child would leave and sometime there were all four of us in one bed.

Every day we would send pictures to Grandpa of what we doing....swimming, kayaking, baking....there were lots of smiles and lots of fun.

 

While I was away, Ron kept busy working but on his days off he hiked, biked and sent us nice pictures as well.

From morning to night, the weather was amazing.  Some nights we would swim right before bed to cool off and then would swim again first thing in the morning.

 

 The kids went from swimming with life jackets to swimming under water, doing the doggie paddle and swimming on their backs.  It was so fun to watch.

On the weekend, Jenn and Abby came back to the cottage.

Joe picked up all of the kids on Friday night and Jenn and I went visiting in Sharbot Lake.  On Saturday, we shopped in Kingston and then met wonderful friends from Frankford in Napanee for lunch.

We had a visit with Mom and Dad in the afternoon and then out for supper with Ron's mom.  We got back to the cottage in the evening and Joe and the kids arrived soon after.  In the morning, Jenn and I and the girls went to church.  It was nice to be in "our" old church.  Joe, Jenn and Abby left in the afternoon and once again I was left with my three oldest grandchildren.  Our cottage friends, Kim, Amy and Jordan were around and so I had lots of help with my three little charges.

Mom and Tina came on Tuesday and stayed until Thursday and then all too soon I had to pack up the cottage and my precious grandchildren and go to pick up Jenn.  We took lots of pictures before our final hugs.

Jenn and I headed back to the cottage for our last night.  We cleaned the cottage and had a quiet evening.  In the morning we took one more look at the lake and headed to Ottawa.

The trip home was long but I was so looking forward to be back with Ron.  First I flew from Ottawa to Toronto and then Toronto to Calgary

and then I was supposed to fly from there to Lethbridge but....

They decided that we would all be sent to Lethbridge via a bus but first we were to pick up our luggage but mine was no where to be found.  After completing a lost baggage claim I climbed on the bus.

Ron met the bus on the way and soon I was back in the chalet in Pincher Creek.  We spent one night there and then.....well that's for the next blog.