I went to Paris...

Moments of dullness don't exist.

Last weekend we were at Bear Lake which is on the border of Utah and Idaho near the historical Oregon Trail.  While my husband and friends hunted I stayed busy exploring the area.  The shape of the mountains might change, but the beauty didn't. On many occasions I pulled the truck over to marvel at galloping horses in tall grass displaying their effortless strength, to gaze at another breathless vision of nature and to read countless historical roadside signs. 

I thought the title of my post was funny and most likely caught most of you off guard, but it's the truth. I went to Paris, Idaho. Founded my Mormon pioneers in 1863, this small city has an impressive Romanesque sandstone church built by a son of Brigham Young. The LDS Bear Lake Stake Tabernacle seats 2000, nearly four times the population of the town.









Channelling the earlier settlers in a KOA, I built my first fire without the assistance of my male counterparts.That sentence as ridiculous as it sounds fills me with pride.  It's one thing to have assistance, but another to have the ability to bring light into darkness with matches and wood. It wasn't our typical "roughing it" camping experience, I'll be the first one to say that. It has to do with the amount of time I spend alone. After the fourth night, my tent flying across the grounds in an extreme rain/wind storm and cooking off a camper stove I was happy to take shelter at the barracks. (Did I just say that? :)

Over the Memorial weekend we drove 7 hours to visit our friends and previous landlords in Missoula, Montana. The drive there was nothing shy of fabulous and I wish each of you could experience it. With each turn on the winding road my heart grew with anticipation and happiness. We were going home.... 

The ranch hadn't changed. The animals greeted us with their usual lick. Our friends made us feel like we never left. I spent an entire morning sitting on the mountain side next to the horses. No book in hand, no MP3, just me and Big Sky country.

This weekend we are planning to do a few hikes to retrieve some of the collars that have dropped off the elk. Let me explain....  For the last 4 years my husband has been working on his PhD in Wildlife Biology.  Each year collars are put on elk and wolves so he can obtain information. It's not really that simple. The collars help him collect a bunch of information, in return he takes all the data and answers questions for his thesis.  Yesterday, he took a flight to get a better idea as to the whereabouts of the animals and the collars that have dropped off. (He has programmed them to fall off throughout the months of Oct, Nov. and December.)  It looks like one of the hikes will be relatively easy and the other one not so easy at all. I'll be sure to take some photos so you can experience it with me in the comfort of your home.



Until then....