Last Taste of Summer 2011

Mike and I have been on the road for one last taste of Summer.

This photo was taken near Livingston, Montana.

I was too lazy to stop and take a proper picture but this way you get to see the bugs on the windshield and to really get the feel of the trip.

Our goal was to spend some time with Mike's Mom (Carol) in Montana.

It was a low-key type of visit.

Mike worked on his music and I worked a little on my book and a LOT on crocheting.

We went for walks and visited and even shopped a bit.

We played card games.

Mike cheated.

I won't say too much about that but

I will advise you to NEVER

play Old Maid with Mike. 

He's really pretty devious.

I finally remembered I had a camera the last evening with Carol.

We were at a place called Giant Springs and it was beautiful!

Lewis and Clark discovered it as they travelled through that region

but its history with people goes back much further.  The water is 54 degrees year-round so it was first a popular place for Native Americans.  During the long Montana winters I am certain it was a delight to come upon that flowing water!

Giant Springs is a place that is kind of hard for me to fathom, even though I have been there many times.  It is a pretty spring that bubbles up right beside the Missouri River.  In the photo above, the springs are in the foreground and the Missouri River is in the background on the other side of the walkway. The water comes from underground after having travelled from the Belt Mountains.  The signs at the park say it takes 50 years to make that journey!

Mike's Mom enjoying a quiet moment by the spring.  She's likely trying to calm herself, pondering how she could've raised a son who was such a cheater at Old Maid.

Once the water bubbles out, it follows the Roe River right into the Missouri River.

What?  You haven't heard of the Roe River?

Thanks to some local elementary students this river was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Shortest River.  They no longer have that category but at 440 feet long, it is certainly a VERY short river!

It is so clean and pure!

I really, really wanted to jump in for a swim but I had to settle for taking pictures of fish swimming in the springs.

 The evening was absolutely perfect.

It was calm and clear, not too hot and not too cold.

And it was that time of the evening when the shadows make everything appear so crisp.

Mike and I strolled along the river path a ways, just enjoying the evening.

We found these cool cliffs that overlook the Missouri River.

Cliff swallows have made their home there...their Summer home anyway.

We went back to where Carol was waiting.

I don't know if she found any peace over the whole card-cheating-son situation...

...but maybe she came to realize she's no longer responsible for his actions.

(Special thanks to my mother-in-law, Carol, for putting up with the camera stalking her.  You handled it with good grace.)