Why Blog? part 5

Back on June 18 I started a multi-part posting on blogging. I just found that I had drafted this last posting, part 5, and had not shared it. So here it is, part 5. Sorry it got left behind.

Why blog? It's a question I ask everyday. Somedays I don't want to write. Somedays I can't help but write. Sometimes I need to get the thoughts out of my mind so I can easily fall asleep. Somedays I feel I should just write my thoughts in my own private personal journal and lock it away, not to be shared.

I blog so we can share our adventures with family and friends while we travel in our motorhome. I blog because I enjoy reading other blogs and maybe someone will enjoy what we share. Sometimes I write to get the words out of my head. Some life events need to be shared in the hope that it will help someone. Some life events perhaps shouldn't be shared, but I do anyway.

Many people blog to try to make money. They might be selling a craft or advertising their company. They might allow ads to appear on their blog in hopes of making money by the number of visitors or if someone clicks on an ad on their blog. I don't know if you can make a lot of money by including ads, but I know you'd have to have more visitors than I do. I get about 20 visitors a day and have a counter on the left side of the blog. Twenty a day is not a lot when you consider that some bloggers get hundreds and thousands each day. With that many visitors you'd probably make money with ads.

Years ago I knew people who met other people on the Internet through chat rooms and bulletin boards. But they didn't like to meet people face to face. They'd rather just talk on-line. Well, there are also bloggers who "specialize" in the interactive relationships with other people. They blog to communicate and receive comments from their readers. They become a network of supportive friends, but mostly not in person. We RVing bloggers are out on the open highway and because we communicate and share ideas on-line, we sometimes have more advantage to meet in person.

I still blog for the same reason I started with. I do this to share our experiences with family and friends. I enjoy writing my thoughts, capturing our experiences, but it's time consuming and some days I wonder why I continue.

Overheard

When I caught this one, I overheard a guy fishing near Rick say, "That's why you don't take your wife fishing." Huh? I don't get it.

From FISH

I added a couple slideshows of recent photos. One is at the left side and the other is at the bottom of the page. Enjoy the fish! We did!

"make a grown man cry"

What do you think he meant when he said, "She can make a grown man cry."

From FISH

Quantity vs Quality

No question - Quality!

Osprey Nest

While out on the drive to West Yellowstone we spotted this man-made osprey perch with a nest and drove on by because we didn't see any birds in the nest. I made a note of where the nest was and when we came back by on our way home we saw that it was now occupied. There were 2 babies and one of the parents was feeding the babies. Ospreys are trout hunters and can be seen diving into the rivers and lakes from way up high in the sky to grab fish. Whenever I see one overhead I have to stop what I'm doing to watch it's graceful, yet powerful, dive into the water and hope that it surfaces with a fish in it's talons to take back to the nest. (These photos don't do these magestic birds justice. I hope you get to see one in action.)

Town of West Yellowstone

A town of Tourists & Traffic

We started spending our summers in the West Yellowstone area back in the late 1970's and through the 80's. The town was a lot (LOT!) different then. It was a small town without paved roads everywhere, without curbins, without McDonalds, and without so much traffic.

We used to go to the Running Bear Pancake House for breakfast so decided to see if they were open for lunch. We didn't get into town until 2:30 in the afternoon and the restaurant closed at 2 PM. Darn. That would have been nice, but no dice. We drove through town and checked a couple other places we knew from the past, wanting to patronize local business. Nothing much was open in the middle of the afternoon so we stopped by McDonalds near the entrance to the park. We hadn't eaten at a McD in many months and never at this one. We walked in and surveyed the menu and I got a bad feeling. It wasn't crowded at that time of day, but I really didn't want to eat there. I wanted to eat at a local business, plain and simple, I wanted to support someone who was trying to make a go of it despite having a McD in their small town. Not only that, but the cost of a big mac, fries and drink would have been over $10 each. This was one expensive McDonalds.

So I said to Rick, "Lets go" and we left. At that point I would have gone to one of the two grocery stores for something. We decided to visit Bob Jacklin's Fly Shop, another place we used to visit on a regular basis. They are still in the same location and Bob still comes into the shop every morning. We missed him, but I asked a couple of the fly shop guys where we could get a good sandwich or burger. They all agreed that Kiwi's Takeaway had the best burgers in town. They gave us directions and we were off for a late lunch or early supper. Although they close sometime during the afternoon to prep for dinner service, they were open and we were happy at the end of the meal. Although it's only a small place with 6 or so tables, the food was good, the service was good & friendly, and I think the huge tasty hamburgers, yummy fries, and drink was less expensive than McDonalds would have been. The owner was an interesting person from New Zealand who used to be a chef in a couple big cities, but tired of unhealthy food and poor quality.

We visited Blue Ribbon Flies, but missed Craig and Jackie. We stopped in at Arrick's Fly Shop, Madison River Outfitters, and then Bud Lilly's. Right next to Lilly's is a small shack that sells yummy fresh homemade ice cream. We used to go to the Playmill Theatre to see the melodrama and other plays and I read that it's celebrating it's 46th summer season. I just had to get a photo. Although it's not as it was 25 years ago, it was nice to see.


We noticed many artistically painted buffalos everywhere we turned. They were on the sidewalks, in front of businesses, on the lawn of the museum, everywhere. We didn't know what they were for or how many there were, but I got home and read about it on the Internet. There are 36 buffalos, each painted by an artist and they will be auctioned off at the end of August. I read that the fundraising project, West Yellowstone Where the Painted Buffalo Roam, started a couple years ago and is to benefit the local community. On the trip we passed through Ennis and Alder and saw large painted fish statues and I also learned that it is another fundraising project for Madison County called Fish Out of Water. The bidding on the statues is in the thousands of dollars.



It was getting late and we had a few hours drive to get home, depending on how many times I stopped to snap photos. And yes, I did stop on the way home.

Friday Fish ~ One on the Rod, Two in the Net

Rick and I landed fish at the same time and we got them both in the net. We call it a double-double. (Yes, In-n-Out burgers are some of our favorites!)

I won't say which fish was mine and which was Rick's, but you can guess.

I took a quick video of the 2 fish being released and you have to look real close and not blink to see the rainbow trout dart out of the big boat net as soon as it gets a chance. Then the larger brown trout takes it's leisurely time getting back to it's home in the river.

Drive along the Madison River

What can you say about the drive along the Madison River? It's a beautiful valley and a spectacular river. This was our view for much of the trip to West Yellowstone.

River Angel Dan Delekta - Beartooth Fly Fishing

Although we were on our way to West Yellowstone to visit the fly shops, I was on the lookout for Dan Delekta's Beartooth Fly Shop. I was telling Rick that I'd like to stop there if it was on the way. In the next few minutes their roadside sign was in front of us.

We'd been driving along the Madison River and I was remembering when I first met Dan. I was fishing the Beaverhead River, surrounded by fishermen - a couple upstream and a couple further away downstream. Dan floated by with clients and when he found enough room he pulled his drift boat over to shore and anchored. His clients were catching fish and obviously having a good time. He walked towards me and I was wondering who he was, he handed me a small handful of flies and said "Here, try these. They'll catch fish." As he turned and walked back to his boat I was speechless, but mumbled "thank you", totally amazed that a stranger would do that. As he was pulling up anchor I managed to ask "What's your name?", thinking I'd tell his boss how kind he was. He said "Dan Del-something" and I didn't hear what he said. He was gone with the current before I had a chance to ask again. A river angel?

During the next week I asked a few of the guides if they knew a fellow guide named Dan Del-something who wore a big cowboy hat, but none of them did. We went into Tim Tollett's Frontier Anglers and when I asked Tim, he said he did know who I was asking about = Dan Delekta at Beartooth Fly Fishing on the Madison River. Tim said he was a nice guy and had been in the area forever. I looked it up on the Internet and found their website and learned all about Dan and his wife Nancy, their wedding and their fly fishing business. I sent him a comment through their website and subscribed to their newsletter. This, however, was going to be the first time seeing him since the river.

We were lucky to find Dan, Nancy, and his father in the shop that morning. They were all extremely friendly and helpful and their shop and lodge were amazing. So well stocked with fly fishing equipment and tying materials that Rick accomplished almost all the shopping he planned to do. Dan is very knowledgeable about fly tying (to say the least) and was able to help Rick find almost everything on his list. Dan grew up in the area and has been on the area rivers with his dad since he was a kid. From what I've heard, Dan is one of the "good guys". If you are in the area, you must stop in to visit them or stay at their lodge on the river. Check out their website, their story, their flies, and sign up for their newsletter.

http://beartoothflyfishing.com/

We travelled on to West Yellowstone, along the Madison River, past Quake Lake, Hebgen Dam, Hebgen Lake and more. Although we had our fly rods with us, we didn't plan to stop to fish. We made it to town in time for a late lunch at Kiwi's Takeaway and had delicious hamburgers. Very delicious. More on town later. Thanks for stopping by.

50 years ago Quake Lake happened

Fifty years ago Rick and his family were camping in Montana near the Madison River in the Gallatin National Forest. His family was camping with their red and white 1955 Aljoa travel trailer. Rick wasn't even a teenager yet, but he remembers the summer trip of 1959. Before Earthquake Lake was formed.

They had been at the campground for a couple days, had visited Yellowstone National Park, and planned to go on to Grand Teton National Park. They left the Rock Creek campground by the Madison River and continued with their vacation, moving on to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While in Jackson on August 18th, they saw the newspaper headline saying the largest recorded earthquake in the Rocky Mountain states (7.5) had brought down the side of the mountain over the campground near where they had been camped, killing 28 people with many more injured. The rock and dirt buried the sleeping campers and the wind created by the slide also caused the river to carry away buildings, vehicles and other victims. The mountain collapse was tremendous and dammed up the Madison River causing the water to quickly backup, starting the creation of Earthquake Lake, commonly referred to as Quake Lake. The deadly jolt caused the land to shift and the water behind Hebgen Lake moved so much it sloshed over the top of the dam. The area roads were distroyed and people were air-lifted out. It was a huge tragedy and the eerily quiet, dead and half-submerged trees in the lake still are a reminder of what happened.

We had been there a few times before, years ago, but with the upcoming anniversary we had to stop again at the visitors center overlooking the scared slide area and lake. The visitors center was focused on the upcoming anniversary and had many events and speakers planned to commemorate the disaster. The local news agencies are also remembering the date with stories and photos and are easy to find on the Internet.



News article: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090816/NEWS01/90816001/1002/Hebgen-Lake-earthquake-anniversary-unleashes-flood-of-memories

These are photos from our recent trip.

Spur of the moment trip to West Yellowstone

One night last week we decided to take a trip to West Yellowstone. The town of West Yellowstone, not the national park. Although the town is at the west entrance of the park, we knew it would only be a day trip with the main purpose of visiting the fly shops. What else? And I also knew it would be a great opportunity to stop along the way and take some scenic photos. As the driver, I get to stop where and when I want to.

We were on the road around 8 AM for the 3 hour drive and stopped in Dillon for fuel - for us and for the car. I'd been wanting to visit Beaverhead Rock on the way to Twin Bridges, so this was the first place I pulled over, cameras in hand. It is a historical location, an old stagecoach stop and one of the places visited by Lewis & Clark. The area is now a conservation area by the local rachers and farmers to preserve history and enhance the environment and economy. You can see that the Rock is quite a landmark, easily seen from a distance, even if you are driving a stagecoach.

Friday Fish - Better late than not at all