Rain, Cooler Temps And A Birthday Trip

Friday before noon it started raining and rained off and on all day and into the night. Our temps are most definitely fall like–we needed a jacket when outside.  These are my kind of temperatures–somewhere between 60 and 75 degrees and I’m a happy camper!

Thursday morning the concrete pouring crew–Lonn and Michael (our grandson-in-law) showed up right about the time the concrete truck came up the driveway.  Those guys worked way hard for a couple hours–very hard!  And it was HOT!  By lunch time we had concrete decks and the Cowboy did a little finish work in the afternoon.  Burgers on the grill and watermelon for lunch.  Lonn buys our hay for the ranch where they live and came equipped to haul hay–the Cowboy loaded the trailer and off they went.

In the evening we went over to Lonn’s for dinner.  Michael grilled some delicious steaks, Katie made a salad and green beans.  I provided a flourless chocolate cake–a wonderful meal spent with family.  Those great grandbabies are adorable!!  Everyone was almost falling asleep in their plates so it was an early evening after all that hard work of the morning.

Friday we spent the day just puttering. The new mattress had arrived for the motorhome and we got it in place. We have the absolute best UPS driver!  When Tony delivered the mattress on Wednesday we were in Billings.  The back patio where he usually leaves boxes was missing in action, ready for the concrete pour.  Tony carried that heavy mattress box around to our front deck which faces over the creek–he’s a good guy!

Saturday we headed over to Sarge and Sarah’s in the new to us motorhome, camping in their driveway for the night.  It’s my birthday–I’m only ONE year away from Medicare!!–and we are taking a little road trip.  Sarge and Sarah live off the road which leads from Livingston, MT to Yellowstone National Park.  For my birthday in the early years of our marriage we always went to Mammoth at the north entrance to the Park to have dinner and watch the elk.  We got out of the habit–too many people, too expensive and the food was awful.

We arrived at Sarge and Sarah’s a little after 4pm, visited for a while and drove down the hill to the tiny community of Emmigrant where we dined outside at Follow Your Nose–a fabulous barbecue spot.  The rain stopped, the sun came out and it was pleasant to dine outside. Our plan had been to eat at Chico Hot Springs–nope, even though I called on Thursday morning the earliest we could be seated for dinner was 8:30pm.  That doesn’t work for us.  Granddaughter Katie told us about a place where she and Michael spent their anniversary this summer and Sarah also raved about this restaurant–Yellowstone Valley Lodge.  Nope again.  Earliest we could eat there was also 8:30pm.

So Follow Your Nose it was and it was delicious!  I grew up in the south and will occasionally eat greens–as in collard greens, turnip greens, etc. if they are cooked right.  On the menu last night were Aunt Mary’s Collard Greens.  When I asked the guy taking our order if this restaurant knew how to cook southern he said, “my Aunt Mary was southern.”  So I caved and tried the collard greens–they were absolutely amazing!!! So was the rest of our food.

Back at Sarah and Sarge’s we enjoyed homemade ice cream–four different flavors–basil/ginger, lemon, chocolate and vanilla.  It was amazing.  What a fabulous birthday–I’m a lucky woman!!

After we enjoyed a great night’s sleep on the new mattress in the motorhome Sarah once again outdid herself by making us blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast–amazing!!  Sarah sent me home with a big container of heirloom tomatoes she grew.  Yep, I’m a lucky birthday woman!

Our plan was to leave Sarge and Sarah’s this morning and head to Yellowstone National Park.  Even though the Park is technically in our backyard we don’t spend much time there.  We might drive through on our way to somewhere else but we don’t stay too long. Too many people, way too many people and today was no exception.  I have always wanted to camp inside the park and take drives out in the early morning and evening to spot wildlife.  The campground at Mammoth, “our entrance” at the north end of Yellowstone is a first come, first serve campground, no reservations taken.  Checkout time is 10am, we were there by 11:30am and encountered a big Campground FULL sign.  So, back down the hill we went and we came home.

We are loving our new little motorhome–easy to pack, easy to unload, easy to drive.  The Cowboy would have never, ever driven our big 40 foot motorhome into Yellowstone.

Sarah and Sarge’s view–Emmigrant Peak.

It’s a chilly, rainy Sunday afternoon here in Montana–fall is definitely here.