Tag Archives: Idaho

Our World – Off to Idaho

I have been off to Idaho to visit my Dad for a long weekend.

IMAG0446

Here is me and my Dad in his very first every selfie!

UntitledThis is in the Tulsa Airport using the Harris Effect App on my Ipod Touch. I love people watching.  IMAG0427I flew to Denver and changed planes. United and their partners in crime Skywest fly the most uncomfortable cramped planes I have ever been in.  Other than that, everything was great. IMAG0428 Anyways I got in kind of late and needed a bite to eat. So we went an Idaho outlet of a good old Oklahoma company, Sonic.UntitledWhen I got home I saw that Dad had properly stocked his refrigerator.  We can’t get Fat Tire beer in Oklahoma because our messed up liquor laws. #LowRider at my Dad's neighbor in#IdahoFalls it has been for sale for five years #givemeabreak #you'rekillingmesmallsLooking for a car? Dad’s neighbor has a low rider for sale. Let me know if you are interested. IMAG0442I went on a couple walks. Idaho, like Oklahoma is kind of rural. IMAG0440On a geocaching search I came across this old park. It is not maintained any longer for some reason but somebody put up a brand new net on the basketball goal. _DSC0983I took a walk along the Snake River and looked at the Falls that has given Idaho Falls its name. _DSC0986

And downstream a replica of one of the original bridges way back when.

Anyways, I head back home Monday, I’ve had a great weekend visiting with my father.

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Inspired Sunday – Fall Color in Idaho

Idaho Falls Color Impressions Liq lines 36 pct

I am up in Idaho for a few days visiting my dad and helping him get his house ready for winter. Idaho is a few weeks ahead of Oklahoma in Fall color. We were passing this LDS church coming back from dinner and I turned around and parked a took a few pics. I love the colors of Autumn. It is the best time of the year for me. Warm days, cool, nights, sign me  up!

Linking with Inspired Sunday

Skywatch Friday

IMG_5690

This week’s Skywatch Friday shot is from my mother’s beloved Idaho. She grew up there and moved for a time and came back when she and my Dad retired. She’s been gone for some time and I think of her every day. Most of what I am today is because of her. DSC00043

She was a natural Forest Ranger’s wife. She loved the mountains and loved her family. She always told Dad that she would live anywhere but she had to be able to see mountains.

PICT0517

We lived in some really out of the way places sometimes in Forest Service houses. I remember when we moved from Coyote, New Mexico to Payson, Arizona and you know what. The houses we lived in were exactly the same!!

PICT0476

Coytote, New Mexico Ranger Station, brother Bob on her right on my on her left.

 

She loved her kids, her grandkids, and  her many nieces and nephews, and their kids too!!

PICT0752

Here she is giving Logan a lift.

She had her health issues but she never let them slow her down.

IMG_5808

Rest in Peace Mom

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Saturday Critters – Essence of Bear

Bear World Bear - Impressions - Soft Sketch 40 pct

This is a resident bear at Yellowstone Bear World in Rexburg, Idaho. I call the post “Essence of Bear” because I blended a drawing rendition of the original photograph with the photograph (at about a 20% drawing/80% original ratio) to bring out some of the features of the animal because the original photograph was like a silhouette of the bear with his muzzle.

Linking with Saturday Critters

Related articles

Skywatch Friday – West Side of the Tetons (Again)

Teton West Side - Topaz Restyle

Okay, I hope that you are not tired of the Teton Mountains from the Idaho side. I apologize but I love the Tetons and they are special so indulge me one last time. This is a shot from the Idaho side. Not quite as spectacular in some ideas but still remarkable.

I used Topaz Restyle to “pop” the picture a little bit.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Here is a photograph from a few years back of the more standard east side of the Tetons that I took from the area known as Mormon Row.

Grand Teton from Mormon Row

Related articles

Ruby Tuesday – Steel Buffalo

Teton Arts Council Logo

Driving down a back road in Driggs, Idaho trying to get a better view of the “back side” of the Teton Mountains we came across this field of stylized buffalo.

They were on installed on the grounds of the Teton Arts Council. We didn’t stop and chat, but check out their web site. Do a lot of good things there, including lots of children’s programming.  So salud to you Teton Arts Council. I noticed that their logo is the same design as these sculptures. I hope I haven’t violated in any Trademarks. I know that my loyal readers will visit me in the Teton Jail if I did. Please bring quilts. It gets cold in Idaho.

Linking with Ruby Tuesday 

Related articles

Saturday’s Critters – More Yellowstone Bear World

_DSC0418

As I wrote about yesterday we visited Yellowstone Bear World in eastern Idaho this past weekend. Bear World has lots of critters. I liked the bison above and appreciated him posing for me. That is a classic look. Bison have such big heads and they stand around a lot. I have always suspected that they think deep thoughts while doing so.

 _DSC0416

The property also has elk including this white elk. Their web site explains that it is not an albino elk. I got confused about the whole thing.

 _DSC0429

They also have about 45 bears. They were all up and moving. We have been there before and the bears were pretty sedentary, last weekend, the bears were on the prowl. It was nice seeing them so active.

_DSC0432

The web site explains that none of the bears were captured from the wild. They were all born in captivity.

Untitled

They had some cubs in a separate area to protect them from the adults. Is there anything cuter than a bear cub?

 _DSC0451

And they have moose, Their is nothing ungainlier looking than a moose. Give them room though. They are notoriously bad tempered. They must be Dallas Cowboys fans. The Cowboys make all their fans cranky.

_DSC0455

And swans.

_DSC0457

And chickens

_DSC0458

And some ducks. Sorry about the picture of duck sex going on. I try to keep it family friendly but what the heck. 

 _DSC0462

You know, fawns may be cuter than bear cubs. This one found a secluded spot away from everybody in the petting zoo.

 _DSC0463

Heather and Logan found the goats.

Untitled

 

And Logan found a pig. He loves pot bellied pigs.

We had a great time.

I’m linking up today with Saturday’s Critters

Weekend Reflections – Yellowstone Bear World

The #Moose is loose! #YellowstoneBearWorld #Rexburg #Idaho

On our recent trip to Idaho we visited Yellowstone Bear World near the town of Rexburg, Idaho. It is not anywhere close to Yellowstone National Park but you follow the road it is on and you will get there eventually. The facility has lots of bears (all born in captivity) on site in a fairly natural setting and you can drive around (with your windows up) and view them. They also have other animals including this male moose and a female in a separate area with their own marsh.

Bear World Bear in Water

They also had this guy enjoying a dip. It was hot the day we were there and there were lots of bears in the water and under the shade trying to stay cool.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

Skywatch Friday – The Grand Tetons from the “Quiet Side”

Tetons Restyle

Everybody knows about the Teton Mountains of Wyoming, the spectacular peaks soaring out of the west side of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  I had an uncle who had a drug store right on the square in Jackson and when I was a kid we visited him a lot so we got to see the mountains a bunch. Things are far different now than then. The gazillionaires have taken over. They have bought the ranches and built their big houses. The traffic is horrendous and prices for food lodging is ridiculous. Depressed? There is an alternative.

The west side of the Tetons overlooks the Teton Valley of Idaho. There are only about 6000 people in the whole valley and farming and ranching dominate the economy. There is no traffic and everybody is pretty laid back. It is called the “Quiet Side of the Tetons.” There is lots of history here. Lewis and Clark journeyed through the valley on their expedition. The fur trappers of the early west held their annual Rendezvous in the Valley in 1829 and 1832

You better hurry though, the signs of the early Californication of the Teton Valley are there. Big houses are going up and you can tell the tourist trade is on the upswing it appears. Word is that the Billionaires in Jackson are squeezing out the mere millionaires to the small towns of Driggs, Victor, and Tetonia.

Rainey Creek Country Store

Outside the Teton Valley to the south is Swan Valley. On your way to Swan Valley check out Rainey Creek Country Store. A small convenience store at the crossroads of Highways 26 and 31. They sell ice cream there it is pretty darn good. Especially the Huckleberry and Cream. They also use square scoops. I don’t know why but I think that the square scoops make the ice cream taste better. Why? Who knows. Check it out!

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Anybody know of an Ice Cream Meme??? Should I start one?

And a postscript, Heather and I are fans of HGTV’s House Hunters section. Here you can find an episode where this typical self obsessed TV actor couple that has ruined Jackson, Wyoming look at houses in Driggs, Idaho. A charming couple but they don’t realize how much destruction they cause.

Southeastern Idaho’s Snake River

Snake River Swan Valley Adjust

We just got back from a long weekend trip to Idaho Falls, Idaho to visit my Dad. While there we headed off east to see some sights including the Snake River as it goes through Swan Valley.

_DSC0379

The Snake River is a major draw for trout fisherman. Above was a fisherman on a sandbar. You can see his dory anchored nearby. I hope that he had it secured because if that thing gets loose it would be long gone. The Snake is a swift river.

#SnakeRiver #SwanValley #Idaho #Latergram

We admired the view for a little bit and moved on.