It’s now 8:00 p.m. mountain time as I sit writing this post. Our last night in the cabin. Tomorrow we head home, tackling the huge state of Nebraska with the hopes of making Council Bluffs, Iowa as our first stop in the eastward trek home. Sometimes with all the animals on board I feel like we should be piloting a covered wagon instead. But then it would take us much longer than 3 travel days to reach our final destination.

It’s sad, but I think we are all ready. The dogs watched us getting out the suitcases, loading things in the Suburban, and finally as a last chore tonight, loading their crates. They know we are going and they seem okay with it. The cats didn’t even freak out like the usually do when we bring their kitty crates in from the front porch so they aren’t too cold to load them into in the morning. Usually they hide in anticipation of the trip home. Not today. As “at home” as the cabin is, it’s not home.  New Jersey is home now. For now. We are not sure what the future holds as far as our place of residence. We’ll let it unfold as it should.

We saw Mr. Moose again the other night. Same moose, nearly the same location, different night. I was lucky to get this shot as it was getting pretty dark.

The dogs will miss their walks in the high prairie and big sky.

We’ve seen so many hawks this time around, I am certain they will not miss us.

Bella will certainly miss her daily dips in the pond.

We will miss the true unfolding of Fall here but we know we’ll have our own glorious display in NJ.

So many things I could have/should have blogged about but in the end went unspoken.

We know we will miss the people, creatures and flora of this special place, but will it miss us?

I’ve taken so many photos over the past week that they are all screaming and crowding around me saying pick me! feature me! that I finally have to cave in. So here are a collection taken in the area of our cabin. Hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy visiting the real places like old friends each time we come.

More big sky and clouds, sorry. (on our property.)

Vertigo. Which way is up? (Our other parcel of land.)

Driving around Sand Creek Park and Chimney Rock (aka Camel Rock).

My mom was so fascinated with this old falling down ranch-ette that she dreamed about living here. I think the only things that live here now are packrats. Still, a piece of history.

Mr. Pronghorn (or antelope: Wyoming’s fast food)

Rick wanted me to take a photo of this no fanfare border crossing. I think I am taking this from the Colorado side of the border.

Okay, most of the photos are finally appeased (except for Dick the Tree who is still whispering sweet nothings in my ear, but he will just have to wait. He simply does not fit in to this post.)

Did you enjoy your three minute tour?

Today we had company at the cabin. More about that later, but what I wanted to capture now, at this particular moment in time, was what I felt just now when I stepped out of the cabin. When our company left at about 3:30-ish it was raining. Now at nearly 4:30, upon stepping outside I can smell the sage, aspen and pine, all mingling in an earthy damp smell. There is no other smell quite like it. If I could bottle this scent I would be rich. It is truly heady. Thunder grumbles in the not-too-distant distance and the sky holds dark, forbidding clouds. I think our rain is not over yet for the day. As I type I can still hear the protesting clouds. grumble, grumble, grumble. A nuthatch lends its song to the already present thunder song. My eardrums don’t know how to react to hearing next to nothing. I know I’ve talked before about the silence being absolute up here when the wind ceases, and it’s true. Sound (or lack thereof) can be deafening.

In a clear departure from my previous posts on this blog where I have skirted photos of myself (mostly because I am always the person “manning” the camera) and also because I am not one of those photogenic type people, I give you this photo of Rick and I taken on Picnic Rock with Hailey and Bella.

Our company today consisted of people we have known since we got married. They are mentors as well as friends and even though they are not really old enough to be parents, some have also taken on that role through the years as well. They have seen us through many years, and some have even shared or at least visited us on our FSE assignments in Europe.  We all have history together and we owe it all to Hewlitt Packard, which is of course how we all came to meet and be friends in the first place. It was wonderful to see everyone and we’re so glad they made the journey over dirt roads to be with us. We are equally glad that on our walk “around” they all were able to sidestep the multiple cow flops (and the very wet Bella) we encountered. To Rick and I they are part of living the cabin life, but to others can be something they don’t encounter on a daily basis. It’s a rigorous walk but everyone kept up and I know we all walked off our lunch. A visit to Dick the Tree (and by the way, he has a new friend we are calling Jane) was unavoidable. Do you remember Dick the Tree? No? Okay, photos to follow soon, but be aware they are PG.

I’ll leave you for now with this photo after last night’s rain taken from the cabin front porch. What’s not to love?

Here are some photos of the sky over the past few days. Some at sunset, some early in the morning.

This morning’s glorious display. These were taken with a wide angle lens.

I always wanted longer legs!

This tree is not on our property, but on an adjacent piece.

The same glorious display, only this was taken about 30 minutes later. A weather system was moving in.

So much for that old song where “the skies are not cloudy all day.”

Yesterday was annoying. Evidently Rick got too greedy with our internet. He had both the iPhone and the computer hooked up so both were taking up band-width space. Our server decided to penalize us by cutting us back so drastically we basically could not even get on to do anything. How dare they! But, now we are back to normal after having to stand in the corner with our noses to the wall. Shame on us!

Bella is upset because she is really anxious to bring you up to speed on what she’s been doing but I told her she’d have to wait her turn. Later, Bella, later.

This morning we filled the cabin with the smell of baking cookies and bread. I tried a new recipe from the latest Food Network magazine and Rick made Breakfast Bread for our breakfast.

The cookies are tasty and chock full of things good for you (molasses, dried cranberries, golden raisins, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, greek yogurt) but they don’t look very pretty. Baking at high altitudes is challenging!

Yesterday I felt like a pioneer woman. I did laundry in the kitchen sink, then hung it out to dry. I’ll spare you the photo of our underwear and socks hanging on the line. Getting the rinsing cycle down is not easy and I’m certain that I left some soap still clinging to the threads. And with all the wringing out I did it certainly makes you appreciate the spin cycle on your washer.

We had a visit from neighbors Donna and Larry, and after they left we put together a puzzle. That was about our day yesterday other than the walks with the dogs. For a few days now it will be the last of the walks with all the dogs together as Bella has entered standing heat. Not much fun for anybody, believe me! But, we’ve been through it before up here at the cabin (with multiple intact male dogs!) and survived, so I think we can do it again. It just makes things more difficult.

I need to do a picture post but none seem to go with this entry. Maybe later ...

P. S. No pack rat nest under the hood for two days now, so it must have been the only one. The furnace is still working.