Driving to Montana (Deer Lodge, MT)

Before we left Texas in early May, we spent a week in Bridgeport, TX.  Below is a picture of Weatherford's county courthouse.  I never get tired of seeing this building.

We got a nice site, but it was not full hook-ups.  Still, the cats enjoyed their time outdoors and we found the quiet spot away from campers celebrating the lockdown lift.

Our biggest surprise upon arriving was seeing how high the lake was in comparison to our last visits.  The first time we came here, the lake was a good 20 feet below this dock (bottom right).  Now, the dock is five inches below the water level.  Quite a difference!

Our walks around Bay Landing Thousand Trails were quite entertaining.  We saw a family of Canada Geese near the fishing pond along with four ducks that were always together no matter what they were doing.  We saw quite a few snakes swimming around in the pond and after talking to one fisherman and finding out that someone counted 18 of them hiding under a tree, I kept my distance!😬  Between wildlife sightings and flowers blooming, we had some nice walks while we were there.

Finally, we felt it was time to get back on the road and see some new sights.  I know I was ready to see some snow-covered mountains.  Dan was able to get reservations at each stop.  His biggest headache was trying to steer clear of severe thunderstorms moving through the midwest states.  He did an excellent job because we saw very little rain and drove through some windy areas.

Montana!

Hitch has become quite a lap cat during our travels.  He can spend hours sleeping on us.  I'm not so sure our legs agree with his long-term sleeping arrangements.

Zzzzz

After two 8-hour days of driving, we were happy to spend two days relaxing at Terry Bison Ranch.  We were greeted by two sleeping cats inside the ranch's store/office area.  It looks like they had a tough day at the ranch.

Zzzz....Zzzz

This is the first time we have seen the peacocks at the ranch.  They were busy guys making lots of noise with their mating calls.  Have you seen the movie "UP"?  Kevin sounds just like them in high volume! 🤣

The peacocks even showed up one morning in the campground wandering from site to site.  Only one of our cats saw the big birds go by and I swear he was drooling.😺

1. Goats new play area 2. Artwork
3. Llamas 4. Peacocks visiting campers

This white turkey was quite a character.  I was kneeling down to take a photo of the bison artwork when he walked into view, fluffed his feathers, and stood there waiting for me to take his picture.  I took one photo and started walking off only to realize that he was following me around the bison, so I took another photo of his other side.  He seemed satisfied with the attention and finally moved on to another person walking by.

Left profile?  Right profile?

My favorite part was seeing the new colts this year.  Both had some beautiful markings.  I tried to get a better photo of the black one, but he or she wasn't in the mood for putting up with paparazzi that day.

Before we left Wyoming, we restocked our groceries for our 14-day quarantine in Montana.  Back on the road, Hitch once again surprised us by sleeping in-between Dusty and Max.  He is just full of surprises on this trip.

On The Cutting Board

Before we left Bridgeport, TX we drove to Lawton, OK to see our daughter's family and to give the girls a quilt each.  We had exchanged information on what we had been doing lately and to make sure none of us have been infected.😷  Such strange times we are having when we have to be careful just to visit family.  It has been 18 days and all of us are still healthy.

Bry stopped by to receive her son's baby quilt and to visit.  I'm sorry we will not be there when our great-grandson arrives, but we really do not want to be in our coach in Oklahoma's hot July weather not to mention Tornado season!

Our granddaughters seem quite happy with their new quilts.  The two younger ones took their naps with their quilts and claimed they slept better with them.  They are such sweethearts.

One of my brothers asked that if he paid for a quilt would I make him one from the same SW pattern I have been sharing on FB.  I finished the blocks during the lockdown.  Posted this photo of the top's arrangement in a FB group.  One quilter pointed out that the three blocks on top looked alike and I might want to consider switching the top and bottom blocks around.

I'm glad she pointed it out because this arrangement looks a lot better.  I did not want his feet to hang out so I added a little more length by sewing one row of Delectable Mountains to the top.  This came out better than I had imagined on paper!

Now, I need to get fabric for the backing and decide how I am going to quilt this one.  By machine, it will go faster.  By hand, it will be more personable, but slow going.  Well, I have time to think about it since I cannot go shopping until our quarantine ends on June 1 when Montana goes into Phase 2.  I can barely wait to go check out the local quilt shops starting with the one here within walking distance!

In the meantime, I am working on my quilt-as-you-go blocks which has been put aside for too long.  

Happy Quilting!