OH Canada, I Have Longed to See You~

Last October, some may remember the husby and myself got expedited Passports so that we could travel up into Canada, while visiting Glacier National Park.  

We also spent quite a bit to have the dogs all ready for the border crossing as well.  

You are not allowed to transport their food unless you have special permissions as well as health certifications etc.

Yep, we had to do all of that again at $185.00 clip each time ;(

THEN the Government SHUTDOWN kept us out of our own National Park system...GRR ;)

THEN we were enroute to the Canadian border when we got into a snowstorm, like we had never been in before.  

We had no cell phone service and no way of knowing what lay ahead.  

We travel in a Lincoln Towncar with good tires, but not for road conditions like we encountered.  

HUGE SIGH, we turned around and went back to our lodging in Whitefish Montana, quite deflated, but safe and warm.

We promised ourselves that we would make it next time.

This year we found that the day we were to arrive at Glacier NP, the higher altitudes as well as Waterton Lakes NP in Canada had received 2' of snow.  

BUT ;) on the day we planned to travel, we still could not go through Glacier NP, but we could go on up into Canada~

YEA!

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slide show presentation after you have read the narratives~

I will be linking up with Judith for:

www.lavendercottagegardening.com

Mosaic Monday

&

Stewart for:

   http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Wild Bird Wednesday

This was one of our first scenes as we went through the gates entering Alberta, Canada and Waterton Lakes National Park.

GORGEOUS~

Once we had reached the village where we would be staying for 2 evenings, we saw right away, the famed Prince of Wales Hotels.  

We had wanted to stay here and even with the dogs, could have, but the husby scheduled us for a long weekend and even though we book rooms a month in advance, there were no vacancies~

The first sign of wildlife was this lovely juvenile Osprey, trying to get itself perched up in a tree~

Bighorn Sheep were out just about everywhere, as it was rutting season.  

I really love these big guys and they had been elusive to us, until a couple of years ago in South Dakota~

The village within Waterton Lakes National Park was very lovely.  

Great accomodations and restaurants.  

We were very cautious with our 2 dogs, knowing this was big bear country.  

We saw quite a few Brown and Black Bears.  

They just want to keep moving and not bother with mankind, but sometimes mankind acts really stupid.  

Sadly people are killed at times, and a gentleman was the same week we were traveling in the Grand Tetons National Park~

A Bighorn Sheep Ewe.  

Poor things were constantly having to battle the rams, silly boys ;)

My beauties, my friends, my favorites.

Silveit is on the left and is 20 months old and Meaka on the right will turn 7 soon~

A single Daisy in the snow~

This large beauty is a female without cubs.  

Maybe next year~

And another one.  

This one was walking and then running down the road, as it just wanted to get to the safety if the mountains and all of the rich berries that awaited it~

A darling Least Chipmunk surprised me at the park, as there was so much snow and yet there it was awake and alert!

I get happy when we head west for many reasons and one of them is the wonderful Steller's Jays~

This mama bear had 2 cubs, a brown and a black one.  

She was giving people trouble the night before, as she did not want to move her cubs out of the road that leads into the village~

Another ram on the scent of ewes~

Red Rock Canyon.  

Can you tell why ;) 

Really beautiful!

And another Bighorn Sheep, on the prowl~

One of the few lakes within the park, and a young woman taking photographs.  

Several of us, took advantage of the beauty of the moment~

Now then...I spoke about being cautious with the dogs in these parks, knowing of the wildlife dangers.  

It appears that our dogs have no leads on.  

However, trust me!  

They do! 

 I had to retouch them out of the photos, so that they looked PRETTY ;)

A Mule Deer stops in someones front yard to nurse her twin fawns~

Heading Home Through Wyoming and South Dakota~

This will be my final entry from our vacation journey last month, and I must admit, I am very thankful that we went, that we stayed with the plan, even with government Shutdown...
We had a wonderful time, even with all of the many obstacles and saw great beauty everywhere that we went. 
Thank you each and everyone, who has stuck this out with me, for I know these have been long shares, but I just had so much I wanted to show you.
I am just guessing that the birds flying above are possibly more of the White-winged Scoters, but I am fine with being corrected~

Remember to double click on the image, to view a larger slide show of the images shared

 

I am linking up with Mary for:
"Mosaic Monday"

at: 

 

 http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.

 

and

 

I am linking up with Stewart at:

 

   Wild Bird Wednesday

        (http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/)
 

I will also be linking up with Sylvia at:

SkyWatch Friday

 

I invite you to check out more 'Skywatch Friday' posts from around the world at:

 

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

 

 

We drove from Southeastern Montana down into Wyoming and then South Dakota, on our last big leg, before returning home.

There were large Raptor nests like this everywhere out West...some are manmade, some are natural and some are built on platforms that man has placed in certain places~

 

 

Me with my puppy, oh my not such a puppy any longer. 
Silveit already weighs more than Meaka~
 

 

 

 

 

The land, the scenes everywhere you looked, were just stunning~
 

 

This was really sudden, taken through the closed car window and very far away, and yet...there it was a Golden Eagle. 
I had not seen any the entire journey, but when I saw this one, I knew what it was right away~
 

Blackbirds raiding plowed fields~
 

 

 

The land is so wide open, so pure in many ways...so much untouched by man's hand and I loved the sky touching earth feel that we got.
Some of the old homesteads and barns were relics and we also saw signs of other kinds of relics too, like this old caboose~
 

The sky in Wyoming just minutes before sunset and a small herd of Mule Deer, bidding us farewell, before we turned in for the evening~
 

 

Back in South Dakota again...and it was not as cold as when we had come through only 3 weeks before~

More Western Red-tailed Hawks along our route home...soon we would cross over into Eastern Red-tailed Hawk country~

I found the fields of spent Sunflowers absolutely glorious...the textures that I was able to capture, reminded me of beautiful Herringbone/Harris tweed~

 

 

We have now crossed over into Eastern Red-tailed Hawk country and that means we are closer to being home~

 

 

 

 

Fields of Indian Corn, reminded me of my beloved mother who always received a fresh bouquet from her cousin once a year~

 

Eastern Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk~

 

 

I have edited this Classic Diner with a touch of HDRish and it just seemed to shout out to me~

 

 

 

Loved this old church building and also edited a touch of HDR to it as well...

just for the fun of it~

 

 

This single image below...I have no idea why...but I just really liked it~

 

 

 

This barn was actually photographed in Iowa and that meant we had only 3 more states to cross through before being home again.

Thank you again for coming along~