Wisconsin Dells

We drove to the Wisconsin Dells yesterday. It reminded us to Pigeon Forge,Tenn. The only difference was there are tons of waterparks in the areano Dollywood. The main drag consists of tee-shirt and trash gift stores. We opted to take a boat tour down the Wisconsin River through the Dells. It was beautiful down threre.

This formation looks like a stack of pancakes.

We walked through this cool spot where the water made almost a tunnel.

We saw a German Shepherd jump the fifty feet across from one formation to the other and back again. I tried to take picture of him jumping, but wasn't fast enough.

This spot is called the narrows. It is 100 feet deep here so passage is easy.

We sat up top so we got the breeze, the
sun and the view. Today we just ran errands and got rained on. We leave for the Green Bay area tomorrow. More than

Wisconsin

I've taken no pictures this week. We were so delighted that the RV got fixed in time for us to get Helena to the Mall of America that I forgot about the camera. So here goes. We got to Minneapolis on Saturday and found a place to do laundry ( big whoop.) Sunday morning we got up and ate and left for the mall by noon. We followed Helena round for four hours as she bargain hunted on one and a half floors of that huge place. We ate dinner at the mall and drove back to the rig exhausted. Monday we got there ( the mall) at about the same time and followed Helena around again for four hours. We did the other floor and a half then. She spent all of her money for back to school, but got lots of clothes. The kid can shop. Her mother has taught her well. We ate dinner there at the mall again and went back so Helena could pack her treasures and get ready to fly out the next morning. She was very excited to be flying on her own, but I was a little nervous about it. I guess she grew up while I wasn't looking. We had a really good time with her this month. I can't wait until we can do it again.

We left Minn. Wednesday morning and drove to Oakdale, Wisc. We stayed there for three nights. One day we wondered around the small Amish area. It's not as concentrated as Ind. or Penn. but nice. The next day we drove around the cranberry marsh area. It seems that 60% of cranberries are grown here. We went to a museum and learned a lot about growing and processing practices. We drove on down the I90 to Madison this morning. There seems to be a lot to do here. We'll let you know next time and maybe I'll even remember to take some photos.

Our little hickup in Bozeman

We went to the Grizzly Encounter yesterday after we had breakfast. We saw four bears that were born in captivity and will never be able to go back into the wild. It was really interesting. Helena took over fifty photos alone. I only took a few. The smaller bear would run up to the male and slap it and run away. It was funny. She was more agile than the 600 pound male.

This was the two five year olds sparring in the pond.

This is Jacob, the five year old male, begging for peanuts from the keeper. He was a riot. When it was time for him and the female, Maggie, to go back to their den, he decided he wanted to swim some more. He wanted to decide for himself when he was going in.

This is Maggie hunting for the peanuts that the keeper threw.

Today we dropped off the RV to have the radiator fixed. Friday we were getting fuel and found a coolant leak (big time.) So we're stuck here in Bozeman until at least Thursday. This is the cabin we are occupying until the RV is fixed.

The desk and chair in our cabin.

Our bed.

Helena's bed.

This is how we collected the drips so we wouldn't ruin the parking site. Erv emptied it ever 10 or so hours.

Cute, right.

Helena has been entertaining herself in the pool. The heat has been bad today and we sat out in the shade to catch some breezes. Helena's big job is finding and directing us to places to eat. She did a good job for tonight. The place was a lodge way out a dirt road and the food was great.

We'll let you know how our first night goes. Helena got some bug spray so she would feel better about the bugs and spiders on our porch. Maybe she'll be able to sleep because we got up at eight this morning. Aside from that we're having a good time.

More Photography from Helena

Horseback Riding

Glacier National Park

These are a mountain goat and her kid grazing.

We spent the day in Glacier National Park yesterday. We took a red bus tour. The scenery is spectacular.

We saw a herd of big horn sheep. These two were part of the group that a ranger was chasing out of the parking lot. It seems they come in and lick the pavement to get the dripped antifreeze there. They looked magnificent leaping over the guard rails running away.

This is a tiny island in the large Lake Mary.

Helena and Papa in front of snow up at Logan's Pass. She made snow balls, but didn't throw them. I think she was amazed by how cold it was.

The three travelers enjoying the day before it started to rain.

The red bus has a convertible top, so when we stopped to look a something we could stand up to get better shots.

There are waterfalls all over the place just like this one. At one point the whole wall we were driving by was "weeping."

Several mountains have glaciers on them.

This is an avalanche shoot. See there are no trees just low growing green stuff.

The bus driver said we might see a moose and her calf along this river. No Such Luck!

Here is the red bus. It was built in 1936 to 38. It was a fun ride. It can hold 17 tourists plus the driver. The inside is said to be original.

This is Helena conversing with nature. She's afraid of spiders, but she'll play with a tomato worm.

Today we went back to the park so Helena and Papa could go horseback riding. They rode for two hours back in the woods, across the river (twice), and discovered some muscles they forgot they had. We have had a good experience and we are off to make our way to North Dakota in the morning. More later

Last day in Yellowstone

We are finished with our last day here. I;m sending no pictures this time because we went to a lot of the same sights. As Helena says, "Once you've seen one geyser, elk, or bison you've seen them all. The weather has been good to us so far. Only a little rain and very spotty. The only disappointment we've had so far is we've seen no moose or bear. Oh well, maybe on the way to Glacier. We'll be there Monday. We're traveling tomorrow and will do laundry( big whoop) in Deer Lodge, MT. More later

Pictures from Helena

I took over 1,000 pictures today in Yellowstone. Here are some of my pictures from the whole trip. I had to lower the quality on the pictures so that it wouldn't take years to upload though.