A Very Busy Summer

Well! Another two months have flown by. In that time, we have been very busy traveling, entertaining house guests, hiking, and doing our usual Montana lazy thing. July & early August were terribly hot, and we've had fires in the Glacier Park/Whitefish area. But all in all, it has been a wonderful summer. Temperatures are now down in the low 50s to upper 40s at night, and top out in the 80s during the day.

I'll start the pictures in order of the events, earliest to most recent. Since the last post, we have done quite a lot. Our first travel stop was the the Y-Camp at Estes Park (the week of the 4th of July).

This is the view from the front window/porch--more open than it has been in the past, so that we really get a good view of the mountains. Unfortunately, the openness is due to pine beetles killing off some of the trees . . . but for now, we are enjoying the view.

Because this was the week of the Fourth, Vivian and Emma got to take part in the "World's shortest but most enthusiastic 4th of July parade." Vivian helped carry the sign for her age group, and Emma got to be "Jackie Kennedy" in her group of "Famous Americans."

We spectators wore the silly hats we made for last year's parade -- we're Firecrackers! And, yes, even Max wore a hat, but he's behind the camera, so you can't see him.

In the evening, we did our usual journey into Estes Park to view the fireworks over Lake Estes. It was a good show, and we all felt that the nation's birthday was well celebrated.

Orvis was with us on this trip, but we didn't have a hat for him, nor a patriotic bandana, hence no picture of him as a celebrant.

Our next adventure was to drive from Colorado to Texas, first to Fort Worth to check on our house and Max's mom, then to Austin for the wedding of Daniel Perkins and Lisa Hatten! I have promises of more pictures to come, but at this point have these that Lisa's mom took:

Clearly, Emma and Vivi are thrilled to be Flower Girls.

And I must say, that's a fine-looking group of folks gathered at the altar . . .

Orvis did NOT attend the wedding -- he stayed at the Grand Pet Resort in Fort Worth, with his own TV to watch, and a pool to swim in. The rest of us really enjoyed all the wedding festivities. Lisa's family took wonderful care of us -- a back yard barbecue after the rehearsal, and lots of delicious reception goodies.

After a quick stop in Fort Worth to pick up Orvis, we headed back to Montana for more adventures. I have done a bit of hiking, both in Montana and in Alberta (with my Canadian group).

The panorama is a view of Kananaskis Country in Southern Alberta. Our hike was just up a long road to a gas well, but the view from the top was spectacular.

The other photo is of my Whitefish group doing a descent to a lake near the Hungry Horse Reservoir. I have lots more pictures to share but will save them for the next post, when I cover Our Company! This will have to do for now as an update.