Little dog, big snow bank! The road to the bottom of the property is somewhere in there but we might not see it until July!

Bella has finally decided that Destin makes a pretty good playmate and vice-versa. We watch them closely because Bella is such a big oaf, but she is surprisingly gentle with him. 

Air Destin says ready or not, here I come!

And playtime commences!

Play position!

And for a fun comparison of snow depth, here is last year's photo taken the day we arrived which is the same date as now. Compare it to the top photo!

Saturday when we drove down to get the mail we saw this strange phenomenon in the sky. Not a rainbow, not a sun dog. It's called cloud iridescence and is caused by water droplets or small ice crystals scattering the light. I have never seen this before. Here is a closer look.

It was beautiful to see but it didn't last long. I'm so glad we managed to catch it!

There are many sights to see on the way to get the mail. This old root cellar belongs to a very old homestead.

Our postal journey also crosses through Chimney Rock Ranch were there are many strange and wonderful sandstone formations scoured by the elements. One in paticular that we have named Darth Vader for reasons that are obvious. At least we think so! Those staring eyes, oh so creepy and the helmet of course!

The day was so beautiful and the clouds were stupendous. At one point there was such beauty all around me that I asked Rick to pinch me. I kid you not. I have missed the west with its sweeping vistas so much.

Tiny arches are forming in this rock.

It's not a 25-minuate chore at all to get the mail. You never know what you might see. Today on our way out to town we encountered a cow moose at the Bucky Beaver's dam. She was standing right in the middle of the road and spooked when she saw our truck. She startled us by jumping right into the deep pool in the creek formed by the dam and swimming! Of course by the time I got the camera ready she was on shore and back in the willows. 

On our way back in there were two cow elk in the same spot that we saw the moose on the way out. They quickly made a hasty retreat into the willows to safety.

What do you see when you get your mail or on the way in and out of town?

These are some photos from our walkabout this morning. Finallly, a beautiful clear blue sky to greet us! It's been kind of stormy weather since we arrived, can it really be two weeks ago? It sure doesn't seem like two weeks. And to think that normally we'd be heading back east right about now if this was vacation. I'm so glad to be staying this time. 

And can it really be one week already since little munchkin Destin came to live with us? 

Above is the view from one direction on top of the hill with Bull Mountain in the background. I love the walk up the sage-covered hill, it's good aerobic exercise. Plus, in the spring there are lots of tiny wildflowers, like tundra flowers. Can't wait for them to emerge. Here is the view from the other direction with the Snowy Range in the background. The cabin is back in the trees to the right.

Right now it's pasque flower time since the snow has recently left. Purple as far as the eye can see.

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One of the first flowers to appear right after the snow recedes is the beautiful Pasque Flower. It grows in clumps and would brighten anyone's day with its cheery yellow center. When they go to seed they equally as magical, and I will show you when they are done blooming. (Side Note: in the Dutch language "pasque" means Easter.)

Photos taken with my new macro lens! Woohoo!

Also out and about right now is the Sagebrush Buttercup with its very waxy petals. Both are blooming in and amongst the sage.

He just kept coming back all morning. We'd look out at the salt lick and he was there, then gone several times. At one point I went out to the bird feeder to add some craisins to it and I look up and there he is walking out of the forest, straight for the meadow -- and for me! I just walked slowly back to the cabin and he walked into the meadow.

He doesn't seem to be bothered by us at all. Now we are certain that this is the same young bull moose that visited us last year. He thinks of this as his home, obviously, so I guess we've adopted a moose. Names anyone? Should we have a poll?

He wandered over to the stump where we had a mineral block last year and licked it for a while. I guess we need a new one when we go into town tomorrow. 

After checking out the stump and finding nothing much there he walked back over to the salt lick and laid down, still licking. We finally gave up waiting for him to leave and took the girls out on leads in the opposite direction and went for a walk. Once away from the cabin area we let them off for some much needed excercise.