Welcome to my blog, in which I post photos from recent travels and photography ideas.
These are posted irregularly, so log in at your leisure to catch my latest ramblings.
January 13 - Yellowstone National Park
We passed these last two days in Yellowstone National Park, which is mostly in Wyoming.
From our base in Gardiner, Montana, we drove the one open road, which is in the northern section.
This road is kept open in the winter because it is the only access for the residents of Cooke City, which is just outside the north east entrance to the park. Its other access is over the Beartooth Pass, which at 13000 feet is closed all winter.
The temperatures on these two days varied between -24 and -31C.
Here is a selection of images from our time in the park.
On one of these days we drove to Cooke City, which is in Montana, for coffee.
The coffee and the lunch were very good - worth the extra miles.
This is the Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley, the route from Livingston, on I-90, to Gardiner, the park's north west entrance.
January 11 - Gardiner, Montana
We woke up this morning to discover that it had snowed overnight, but only about 4 cm of light fluffy variety.
The thermometer read -15C.
We drove into the town, looking for a grocery store, but did not find one. So we hit the road.
The driving on the interstate was fine. At first only the one lane was clear, but shortly, both lanes were bare.
So far this has been the rule - a bit of snow when we leave, but very soon clear roads and good driving.
This shows the range lands of northern Wyoming.
This is I-90 after entering Montana.
A roadside scene in Montana. Note how little snow in the grazing fields.
We drove past Billings to Livingston, and then turned south and headed toward Yellowstone.
We took a motel room in Gardiner, gateway to Yellowstone, for the next two nights.
With the bitterly cold temperatures at Silver Star, we are in no hurry to get there.
January 10 - Sheridan, Wyoming
We've had very good driving conditions for most of these last two days.
Tuesday morning in Fairmont, Minnesota, we awoke to an overnight snowfall.
After sweeping the snow off the car, we set out a little late, hoping for better roads.
The first hour and a half were tricky, with snow packed sections and some icy parts.
Lucky for us, we eventually drove into clear roads just before Worthington.
At noon, we drove into the town of Luverne and found this great coffee shop.
After our lunch, we headed out along I-90 and into South Dakota.
Welcome to the 80 mph speed limits.
This shows the interstate crossing the Missouri River at Chamberlain.
South Dakota is on the prairies, flat lands of fields and some rolling hills, covered in snow.
There are the occasional lone trees.
We stopped for the night in Murdo.
Between Murdo and Rapid City, one runs across very many billboards advertising these two establishments.
Today we took a detour off the interstate and onto the loop drive through Badlands National Park.
Then it was back on the interstate. We stopped in Rapid City for lunch, at our usual Panera Bread bakery.
Shortly thereafter, we crossed the state line into Wyoming.
The wide open lands of Wyoming seldom yield good photo opportunities, especially with overcast skies and an interstate highway that makes stopping difficult
We ended the day in Sheridan, where it is currently snowing lightly.
We'll await the morning and check out the driving conditions.
January 8 - Fairmont, Minnesota
This was the scene last Wednesday at Gallagher's home on the North Shore, Blind River.
A light dusting of snow in the early morning, temperature 0.
Saying good bye after a great visit - good food and lots of wine.
We stopped in town to pick up some butter tarts, and then headed west.
We stopped at Tuomo's in Sault Ste. Marie for a sandwich (excellent) and some Finn bun.
Next was the border crossing into Michigan.
I saw these cabins in Michigan, but Veda turned them down - too rustic!
So this is where we stopped for the night in Escanaba.
We drove south along Lake Michigan, which had no ice.
Further south, we entered Wisconsin. It was a good driving day - overcast again, but the roads were clear.
In the early afternoon we reached my cousin's home in Pewaukee, where we planned to stay for four days.
One day Veda and I went for a short walk in Simmon's Nature Park closeby.
On Saturday we met at Delafield Brewhaus for afternoon lunch.
John, my cousin Susan, Veda, and Susan's sister Lori in the Brewhaus.
We left Pewaukee this morning. Again the day was overcast and the roads were bare and dry as we drove west along I-90, crossed the Mississippi River into Minnesota, and onto the prairies.
Near Fairmont we eventually encountered some snow.
As the forecast was predicting more snow, we decided to stop for the night in Fairmont.
Now we await the morning to see what the driving conditions will be.
January 2 - Happy New Year
Happy New Year 2024.
But it looks more like November than January.
This is out the front of our house on December 30.
We left home to begin our drive to British Columbia on December 31.
We drove only to Blind River, where we celebrated the coming of the new year with Claudette and Bob, and guests Marilyn and Jerry.
This is their house on the North Channel of Lake Huron, at Blind River, on New Year's Day.
This is the shoreline at the house. Usually there would be a fair amount of ice on the lake.
Bob got his ATV out of the garage and took me for a ride to a walking trail up the road.
I had walked up this trail the previous day and had seen a photo opportunity.
At this time of the year, with the lack of snow and numerous cloudy days, one has to search and look closely for image possibilities. This is one that I found.
Tomorrow, we leave on the next leg of our trip, to Pewaukee, Wisconsin.