A Jeanne in the Kitchen

After leaving the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, we headed to Harding, where we turned in for the night. But before turning in, we took a little hike around the lake. The lake was beautiful.

We met up with friends both new and old.

Sorry for this grainy photo of the Western Grebe. This was the only photo he would allow me to take. Seeing this Grebe was a first for me, though we do have them at home too.

Same with this yellow warbler.

We see Red Wing Blackbirds all the time too. They love our lakes.

And of course we have plenty of playful and curious squirrels at home as well. But they are always so much fun to photograph.

After a good night’s rest, we started our travels and explorations early again the next morning. This time we went to Little Big Horn, Custer’s last stand. Once again, it was a fascinating presentation, and our guide was so informative. They had a great presentation with both Custer and his army and the Native Americans’ viewpoint and perspectives.

These are most definitely hallowed grounds. The presentation was just about to start when we got there, so we listened to that first, then explored the grounds. Many brave men, fought and died here; both American soldiers and many from many different Native tribes.

There were even some wild turkeys and a moth listening in too. His speech was interesting to all.

This is also a cemetery for those brave soldiers who fought and died in other wars as well.

Many horses were also lost during this bloody battle. They too were honored.

There were also dedications to the brave Native Americans who fought as well. Many people, from many tribes joined forces and fought here.

Even today, many Native Americans pay tribute to their brave warriors by offering tobacco to the gods. To many Native peoples a gift of traditional tobacco is a sign of respect and may be offered when asking for help, guidance, or protection. Traditional tobacco is sometimes used directly for healing in traditional medicine.

Once we toured the grounds, we went into the museum.

This is typically how the Native scouts, translators and Natives peoples helping the American Army dressed.

The American soldiers and how they were prepared for battle.

And the Native American warriors.

Our education continued after leaving the battlefield and museum across the street. It was combination of a gift store and a continuation of the museum and cultural center.

There was some kind of BBQ going on for the locals too.

I met this lovely lady, Olive Plain Bull, who was Crow, in the gift store. She explained a lot of things to me, and was so knowledgeable and gracious. She was telling me about some of the traditional materials and clothing worn by the native people. I could have stayed and talked to her all day, but alas we had to move on.

One of the things she was telling me about was this style of dress worn by many of the Native ladies. She said the owner of this dress was considered a wealthy woman by her people and was well taken care of by her husband. This dress is covered in bull elk teeth, that ONLY the bulls have, and they only have two. So this lady’s husband was a successful hunter and warrior, because her dress had a lot of bull elk teeth.

Yet again, this was not a planned stop, but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very educational and we all learned so much about so many things. Again, if you like history, this is a definite must see. And stop in and say hi to Olivia too.

History, the good, bad and ugly, teaches us to learn from our mistakes and to constantly grow and improve, to become better people. Never stop learning.

Have a great day and make everyday a great day to learn new things. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I have a few more fun posts from our big epic Northwestern Journey. We have now entered back into the United States, entering from Waterton, Alberta, Canada into Montana.

When we first entered Montana, it looked very similar to Waterton, but as we continued to drive through Montana, it became more and more like green pasture land, with beautiful rolling hills. Montana is very sparsely populated, with only about 1.6 million people. We were still traveling through the Rocky Mountains though, so there are still plenty of mountains all around too.

Montana is definitely cowboy country. There are way more cattle than people.

Apparently, Montana was also home to the dinosaurs millions of years ago.

We were heading south towards Harding, where we were staying for the night. Of course we made some fun, historical stops along the way though. This was the big dam we passed as we were heading towards the Lewis & Clark National Interpretive Center.

We made it to the Lewis & Clark National Interpretive Center. It was fascinating. I don’t think Lewis and Clark knew what they were in for when they signed up for the expedition, but we are all so glad they made it. Because of their fearless excursion, the United States grew into the very large land mass and country that it is today.

The Lewis & Clark expedition took place under Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, when we acquired all the western land as part of the Louisiana purchase in 1804. The trek was to go as far west as possible, to the Pacific Ocean, from the Mississippi River. The excursion lasted over two years. Along the way they confronted harsh weather, unforgiving terrain, treacherous waters, injuries, starvation, disease and both friendly and hostile Native Americans. Nevertheless, the approximately 8,000-mile journey was deemed a huge success and provided new geographic, ecological and cultural information about previously uncharted areas of North America.

The interpretive center did a great job of presenting the expedition and the trials and tribulations that Lewis & Clark and their men, faced along the way.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our stop at the interpretive center. We all learned a lot of new things too. For all those people who say they don’t like history and that history is boring, it really can be fun, especially when done right. 🙂

After leaving the interpretive center, we continued southward to Harding where we were stopping for the night. Montana is still home to many Native American peoples. We passed through Black Feet territory, and I am sure more as well along the way. Harding is home to a lot of Crow peoples.

Montana is known as Big Sky Country. You can see how it got that name too.

Overlooking Billings.

This is a good place to stop. I have oh so much more to share, but that will have to wait just a bit longer. 🙂

Life is meant to be explored to be lived. Explore the world around you. I’m sure you will be amazed at what you find, or what finds you. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

For my fellow Americans, I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July festivities and celebrations. I know we did. We celebrated in true American tradition and style. We went to Mike and Lauren’s first for a BBQ dinner, then we all went to our local park for the 4th of July festivities. First there was a local band that played fun music from the 80’s that we all grew up with. We enjoyed the music and sang to every song.

The park was filled with people celebrating the 248th birthday of America.

There were many people wearing their American pride too, but none better than this colorful celebrant.

After the concert finished, it was time for the fireworks to begin, and what a spectacular show it was too. The sky was lit up in bright colors. Here are some of the better photos we took. I was actually surprised they came out as well as they did.

These were professional fireworks, set off by professional munition experts, and there were still three fires that were sparked by the fireworks. Fortunately there were plenty of fire fighters, police and rescue personnel around to put out the fires quickly, otherwise, things could have easily turned very dangerous indeed.

This is exactly why so many cities and states outlaw personal fireworks. It’s dangerous when you play with fire, even for the pros. Yet, there are still plenty of STUPID people who insist on buying their own fireworks and setting them off. There were plenty of our neighbors who were firing them off too, up to about midnight. WHY????? The professional fireworks are much better and MUCH SAFER. Don’t do it! It’s just not worth it.

As I always say, stay safe and stay well. Safety first most, and foremost! ‘Til next time.

Today, July 4th, is known as Independence Day in America. It was on this day 248 years ago, that our great country was started, as it officially broke away from British rule. The holiday celebrates the Second Continental Congress’ unanimous adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, a document announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. Most of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the document on August 2, 1776. By putting their names on this paper, these men risked losing everything if the British won the American Revolution.

Today, picnics, BBQs and fireworks are the traditional ways Americans celebrate the 4th of July. The tradition of setting off fireworks for the Fourth of July started on the very first Independence Day in 1777, with firework celebrations taking place in Philadelphia and Boston. Early U.S. settlers brought their love of fireworks with them to the New World and fireworks were part of the very first Independence Day – a tradition that continues every 4th of July when we celebrate as John Adams had hoped “with pomp, parade….bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

Our flag, with the 13 red and white stripes and the blue banner with white stars represents the 13 original colonies and the stars represent all 50 states. Also the red is for hardiness and valor. The white represents purity and innocence. The blue is for vigilance, perseverance, and justice. There have been 27 different flags since the beginning of our country. The flags changed as our country changed and grew.

Happy 248th Birthday America. May your banner forever wave!

Happy 4th to everyone. Stay safe, stay well, and most importantly, STAY FREE! ‘Til next time.

We made one last stop in Canada before entering back into the United States. We stopped in Waterton Glacier Parc, about 45 minutes from border between Canada and Montana. Waterton is where the prairies of Alberta meet the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Upper Waterton Lake is the deepest lake in the Canadian Rockies at 148 m. The Park’s highest peak, Mount Blakiston, is 2,940 meters above sea level. Waterton has some of the oldest, exposed sedimentary rock in the Rocky Mountains. Waterton Lakes National Park receives Alberta’s highest average annual precipitation.

Waterton was full of wildlife and full of surprises. We saw yet another herd of bison, though they were way off in the distance. The area was fenced off too, so we couldn’t get any closer.

We saw a big horn ram crossing the street.

You can stay here, at The Prince Of Wales Hotel in the park if you like, at about $300 US per night. The view is spectacular, but that’s a bit too pricey for my tastes.

We drove all around the park and hiked around a bit too. Yet again, we were treated to some amazing scenery and views.

There is also a small little town within the park. We stopped there for lunch and more sightseeing. We ate at a little restaurant called Zum’s. The food was good and the ambiance was fun and quirky, with fun signs and license plates from all over covering the walls.

We certainly did explore Canada’s Northwest Territories, though NOT the artic regions, and enjoyed everything we did and saw too.

I guess since I am NOT skinny, by any means of the imagination, you can definitely trust my cooking. 🙂

Since we saw one of these, it was only appropriate to get a picture of the sign too. 🙂

The town of Waterton was cute and quaint, but the most memorable parts for us were the deer sightings all over town. This one is just out for a jog along the water’s edge.

There were more deer camped out at various locations around town too.

We even saw Bigfoot.

This concludes our Canadian adventures. We had one more border crossing, this time from Canada back into the United States. Next stop, Harding, Montana.

Life is full of adventures. Enjoy as many of them as you can and you will lead a good life indeed. 🙂 Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

After leaving the visitor’s center, we continued on our Canadian wildlife adventures. We were heading towards Banff. We went to both the Banff Mountains as well as the town of Banff. I have been lucky enough to visit many, many beautiful places around the world, but Banff is just breathtaking!

This is Natural Bridge. Pictures just don’t do it justice at all.

Dennis with the Mt. Dennis sign.

Once in the town of Banff, we saw even more wildlife, just freely walking around and enjoying life. Banff is known for it’s world class skiing.

I was making friends with the little chipmunks and marmots around the visitor’s center.

Inside, there were more of the locals on display. We did see these in the wild, but again, not close enough to get any good shots. These will have to do.

We did NOT see any grizzlies though. That would have been an adventure for sure.

We saw a Saint Bernard, Jasper, that we just had to cuddle with. We miss our Saints, Lucie and Vinnie. Jasper was good Saintly therapy for us.

The town of Banff was just as beautiful as the Banff Mountain areas.

These are the street makers. All the streets were named after Canadian wildlife.

We were making friends with the locals too. Lee is getting bear kisses and hugs.

Leaving Banff, we saw a few Caribou on the side of the road too.

Again, this is a good stopping point. We still have a lot more adventures for the day. But I am going to leave you in a bit of suspense. Anticipation is a good thing. 🙂

I hope you have enjoyed Banff and the surrounding areas as much as we did. Hang tight. I’ve got lots more coming up. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We had heard there were bear sightings at our lodge in Golden. We had even been told that a bear was trying to get into the lodge in the wee hours of the morning, but we didn’t see or hear anything ourselves. We were looking for bears, but hadn’t seen any. That is we hadn’t seen any yet. As we were leaving the lodge, going down the mountain road, sure enough, we saw a momma black bear and her baby, frolicking in the bush.

We were “happy as Larry”, an Australian saying. Bears were not the only Canadian wildlife we saw though. We saw a whole bunch more throughout the day.

We had a very busy, jam-packed day ahead of us. After leaving the lodge, and seeing the bears. We headed towards the wolf sanctuary, called Northern Lights. But before showing you the wolves, here are a couple of things we saw along the way.

Inside Northern Lights, there were six or seven wolves who had all been rescued. They were living the good life. Northern Lights also offers a nature walk with the wolves, but we didn’t do that. It was quite expensive and you have to book in advance. All the others wolves were jealous of the one that got chosen to lead the walk, and started howling to let everyone know they wanted to go too.

After a few minutes of howling, they all settled down for a nap once they realized they weren’t going this time around. Seeing all these wild wolves, made me think of my own wolf baby, Juneau, back home. She is very similar to her wild cousins. The docent gave a talk to everyone, explaining the wolves and their way of life. Later she opened it up to questions and comments. I told her we were very familiar with the “wolf” life, and we showed her pictures of our “wolf” Juneau. She agreed, they are very similar.

This is my own “wolf” Juneau howling in the snow. I couldn’t resist showing this. I wanted to show how similar my Malamute is to the wild wolves though.

All the wolves at Northern Lights are very well cared for and loved, as they should be. Once again, we were all “happy as Larry” that we decided to go pay them a visit.

This was our last day in Canada before heading back to the United States, through Montana. We packed in as much as we could along the way too. We made quite a few stops to take in the beauty of the Canadian Glaciers. I also took quite a few photos from the car as we were driving.

One of our stops was the visitor’s center. We like going to those wherever we can. I love seeing all the displays at the visitor’s centers. They explain the area and tell you what is around. They also show you things you just might get lucky enough to see. As you saw above, we saw both bears and wolves earlier in the day. 🙂 The views were spectacular too.

A curious Magpie.

We did see quite a few Bald Eagles, but not close enough to get any good shots.

This is a good stopping point for this segment. As I mentioned above, we had a very full day, with many stops and a lot to see. I don’t want to overwhelm you all at once, so we will call this an intermission. Stay tuned for the rest. 🙂

Once again, we had to move on and say good-bye. We were saying good-bye to both Maureen and Milos, and also to British Columbia. We were headed towards Golden. We were on a tight schedule and had oh so much more to see and many more adventures yet to come. Again, we had a long drive ahead of us.

We saw a beautiful Stellar Jay before heading out. Blue Jays are a sign of good luck. I will always take good luck, but especially when traveling.

We had another 170 miles to go once leaving Summerland before arriving in Golden. We made some stops along the way, but they were just little stops. We were doing mountain driving, and there weren’t many places to stop along the way. We did see some more gorgeous Canadian scenery though.

Once again, we had rain and snow along the way.

This mountain is known as 7 Mountain. You can’t really see it here, but the way the snow falls, it makes a perfect number 7 coming down the mountain. We saw a picture of the 7 later at the restaurant.

We arrived at our cute little mountain lodge where we settled in for the night. It was an adorable little alpine lodge, made from local woods. It was nestled in the mountain, with nothing else around. It was very charming. The owner of the lodge literally purchased half of the mountain and made his own road to the lodge, that he also built. It took him over ten years to make, but it was definitely well worth it. This lodge was truly a hidden gem.

The lodge was a throwback from days past. There were no TVs, on purpose. The intent was for the guests to commune with nature and to take in the gorgeous views around the lodge. This was the view from the back deck of the lodge.

One of the guests who was there to greet us.

We had to cross this river to get to and from our lodge.

After checking in to the lodge, we headed into town for a bite to eat. We were on one of the surrounding islands.

We dined at the Island Restaurant too. It was very cozy and welcoming, with very good food. It was just what you would expect to see nestled in the mountains too.

We all tried something different, and everything we had was delicious.

I had a pasta dish, but for some reason, I don’t have a picture of it. You’ll just have to take my word that it was also very tasty.

Because there were no TVs at the lodge, we went back to our games, and had another fun game night before turning in. We brought a few games with us, but the lodge also had a selection of games for everyone to enjoy as well.

Make the most our of every opportunity and take it all in. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We had a fun Dirty Laundry day, but NO, it’s not what you are thinking. 🙂 Dirty Laundry is a winery in Summerland. And, it was just voted best winery in British Columbia, 2024. It is also Maureen and Milos’ favorite local winery.

Once we got inside those of us who didn’t know the story or history of the winery, went inside to be “schooled”. Of course we were doing some tasting too. I learned about the history of Dirty Laundry by the wine servers at the bar. After hearing the story of their colorful beginnings, I got “pinned” with a laundry pin.

One of the things I tasted was their port, which was very good. I enjoyed it in a special port glass, called a Douro port sipper. The design is to help the port breath properly. I had never heard of this or seen this before. Of course I bought some. I love new and different things. 🙂

While we were inside Milos was staking our claim to the perfect table over looking the vineyards and the valley.

Here is a little video that tells the Dirty Laundry story in a very fun and creative way. Enjoy!

Dirty Laundry has a big, beautiful patio and a second big bar when things are really hopping. I wish all wineries had such a great set-up. There were also beautiful hanging gardens all around as well.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit at Dirty Laundry too, though in completely different way than how it used to be enjoyed. Our visit was a clean visit, as are all the current visitations today. The things we enjoyed were the wine, the wood-fired pizzas, the view and of course, the company.

No matter what you do, or where you are, it is WHO you are with that makes it special. Life is ALWAYS better when shared with good friends and loved ones. Good food and good wines are just a bonus.

Dirty Laundry is located at 7311 Fiske Street, Summerland, BC. Definitely pay them a visit, learn their history, get pinned and enjoy the wines and your day. It will definitely be a unique wine tasting experience like none other. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well, and spend time with those you love. ‘Til next time.

After a full of day of fun adventures on the train, to the Sleeping Giant Winery and the gardens of the Research Centre, we still had a couple more stops to make before calling it a day, and heading back to Maureen and Milos’ for yet another delicious dinner and another round of game night competitions.

First we stopped at the store to pick up dinner ingredients. Then to the farm for eggs where Maureen likes to buy her eggs direct from a local farmer. All the farm animals came out to greet us and were very curious about us.

The dog was the first to greet us with his tail wagging.

Then the cat.

The chickens and roosters then started to venture out to us as well.

This farmer had a ton of chickens too. He sells his eggs to a lot of the local stores as well as to individuals. I think the white chickens are the ones that produce his eggs for the stores, and the other chickens are the ones that produce the eggs he sells to individuals.

But the sheep were the funniest. At first, one came up to greet me, then another, followed by a few more, and then all of them came running up to me. I was like Little Bo Peep with her sheep. 🙂

I guess I speak their language. We are all all laughing together. 🙂

I always tend to make friends with all the animals. I guess I am related to Dr. Dolittle. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe, stay well, and make friends with whomever you meet along the way. ‘Til next time.