North Dakota's Goodlands

On the way home from Glacier we stopped in North Dakota at Teddy Roosevelt National Park. We camped one night in the park and had planned to do some hiking the following day-as we set out on our hike we encountered a herd of buffalo across the river...blocking our trail. We stood there for a bit but it was obvious the herd was in no hurry to move on. So we scraped our hike and drove around the park and we saw so much wildlife! Lots of bison, wild horses, and prairie dogs. The scenery was breathtaking and totally different from Glacier. Enjoy the pics!

The river through a canyon

A herd of buffalo across the river-Joel and I watched them for quite awhile

A herd of wild horses resting by the river (they were very close to the buffalo)

Another herd of horses-there were so many of them

We watched the prairie dogs for a long time too. They are so entertaining!

The young male bison (below) walked to the middle of the river and watched us to make sure we didn't come any closer (and we didn't!). Here he is giving us one last look...

We heart grizzlies

The reason that we love grizzly bears is that we didn't see one during our time in Glacier National Park. Although we did buy the $45.95 "combat assault pepper spray" made specifically for grizzly bears (you can see the can hanging from Joel's pack in a picture below). We bought it mostly for our own peace of mind and thankfully didn't have to use it...does anybody need any bear sized pepper spray? In any case, we had a great time and we saw plenty of non-aggressive, vegetarian wildlife!

It took us 23 1/2 hours to drive out there and bit longer to drive back. The drive was nice and we listened to a few books on tape (most notably, the 5th installment of the Harry Potter series which was 27 hours long!). The Honda civic held up well although a few times it didn't want to climb the mountain. We hiked a total of about 40 miles over the course of the trip-the weather was hot but it didn't rain so we couldn't complain.

We spend the first four nights and five days camping and hiking in the Park out of our car. We did the Highline Trail (which follows the continental divide) up to an old Chalet and then back down (on this trail we saw mountain goats and a marmot!). We also hiked up to avalanche lake which followed a pretty amazing gorge.

The last two nights we backpacked 8 miles along the US/Canadian border to Cosley Lake. It was gorgeous and relaxing. I read and we played cards. Joel and another guy tried to "bush-whack" up a creek bed to a peak above Cosley Lake and while they didn't get to the top they managed to have a pretty nice view (see below). Our campsite was right on Cosley Lake and though it was too cold to swim we still enjoyed the views!

After our backpacking extravaganza we headed back to St. Mary's (which is just outside the Park) and stayed in the lodge before leaving Montana the next morning. We stopped at Teddy Roosevelt National Park on the way home (and saw lots more wildlife). See tomorrow's post!

Joel all loaded up and ready to go backpacking!

We had to cross the river to get to our site on Cosley Lake-this bridge was really wobbly!

There were so many wildflowers blooming while we were there...this is Indian Paintbrush

A mama grouse that got pretty upset and poofed up as we tried to pass by!

A fawn was running around our campsite the day we left Cosley Lake

We saw a few big horn sheep right by the road drinking from waterfalls

Mama and baby walking right above us on the highline trail

Joel on the highline trail

At avalanche lake

On the highline (the views were breathtaking)

Joel's view after he hiked up off-trail to a peak (that's Cosley Lake)

Cosley Lake from our campsite

The trail leading to Cosley Lake (the lake is just over that ridge on the right)

A view of St Mary's Lake in the morning

Two Weddings, Two Graduations, and One Godson

Yikes! It's been a long time since I posted anything! These past two months have been pretty intense. We've been to two weddings (Alyssa and Keith, Andy and Meghan), two graduations (me and my sister), and had lots of visits with family and friends in between all of that! We leave for our road trip to Glacier National Park on Wednesday morning but I wanted to get a few pictures up before then to show everyone what we've been up to... so enjoy!

Everyone stopped at Luigi's for a picture on the bar!

Chad and Cheyna

Elizabeth (THE cutest flower girl) bustin' a move at the reception.

Alyssa and Keith were married over memorial day weekend and we spent the long weekend in Shawano where there was lots to eat and horseshoes to play...Chad and Joel even slept under the stars by the fire!

The second wedding was friends from college, Andy and Meghan. They were married in Waukesha and it was great to catch up with everyone!

Andy and Meghan right after the ceremony!

Joel's college classmates and fellow chemical engineers!

In between and among all of that...I graduated from University of Chicago graduate school and my sister graduated from undergrad at Lawrence. It's been a really wild two months.

We were also able to spend some time with my godson who recently finished a round of full spinal radiation and as we approach his second birthday there are many things to be thankful for...he's almost walking on his own! Enjoy this video I took a few weeks ago and don't forget the sound!

The painted house!

YEAH! After two weekends of nonstop work-the house is painted, the blinds are installed and it looks great! Enjoy the pictures...

Kitchen

The living room


The second bedroom with Joel's blue wall...


The master bedroom

Our New House

We were over at our new condo with our realtor this afternoon to check out the progress-and I remembered my camera! So here are a few pictures of our (very dusty) condo. We close in less than two weeks and move in on May 12!! So exciting. Enjoy the pictures...

The view from the front door (our living room/kitchen and hallway)

The living room from the hallway (front door to the left and fireplace to the right)

The kitchen and breakfast bar

The second bathroom (off the hallway)

The master bathroom

I took pictures of the bedrooms (there are 2!) but they don't do them justice so you'll have to wait!

Congratulations Barbara and Travis!!

My cousin Barbara had her second baby boy on April 10. He was 7 lbs. 2 oz., 18.5 inches long and HEALTHY!

Looking at mama

Welcome to the world Logan Lee!!

Hop Hop Hop

This past weekend was Easter-and Joel and I spent it with my family (and friends) in Indy. We got down there fairly early so my friends from high school (Gina, Julie and Rebec) headed out to Broad Ripple to celebrate Julie and Gina's birthday's in style. We went to the Red Room where there was drinking and dancing...



Then we headed over to Rock Lobster which is a bar right in the heart of Broad Ripple (the area where we were). And the music was REALLY bad and there were two guys for every girl. makes for a creepy evening...but one guy (who was about 40 years old) liked Gina ...and he had a really sweet shirt on. He thought he was posing for a picture of he and Gina but I only cared about his shirt. He sure was HOT!

And of course the night ended with some late night NACHOS at Qdoba. Mmmmmm...

I took some pretty funny videos at the bar which I will post later this week, those take longer to upload. So stay tuned...

Going Once...Going Twice...Gone!

Last weekend Joel and I went to an auction-a black tie optional fundraiser to raise money in support of students who take unpaid internships over the summer as a part of their grad school experience. It was in the "Winter Garden" at the Harold Washington Library downtown. Very fancy. It was open bar which means it was a crazy time. It was really nice to see some of my old classmates and spend money that we don't have! We got a great deal on tickets to the Shedd Aquarium and we hope to entice Joel's goddaugher and her parents down for a weekend! Overall-we had a great time. Enjoy the pictures...

The Winter Garden (looking up from our table)

Joel and I

Marnie and LindsThere was dancing!The Crew! (friends from grad school)