Highway 191 to West Yellowstone, MT

Driving Highway 191 south from Bozeman to West Yellowstone reminds us of the drive up Golden Gate Canyon from Golden to Blackhawk, Colorado...except it's about 90 miles compared to only 15.

Marlon was only driving about this fast.

Good thing there was no traffic while he was taking the pictures. Doug was following behind the motorhome in the Santa Fe. We decided it would be a more practical vehicle this summer than the Cobalt.

Highway 191 enters the very edge of Yellowstone National Park.

After the long ride down Highway 191, these two were very tired.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Rapid City, SD to Billings, MT

Today we left Rapid City and headed for our next stop---Billings, Montana.

Just a short drive from Rapid City is the infamous town of Sturgis which becomes a wild and crazy place for one week in August every year...

followed by about a two-hour drive through the northeast corner of Wyoming.

There were some beautiful clouds along the way.

Chatfield tried to get Pedra to look but she wasn't interested.

Wimpy Doug puts on his coat to set up camp in Billings, Montana.
Despite the pleasant image its name may convey, Trailer Village RV Park was a very nice campground.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Today We Lost a Family Member and a Friend

Today we lost a very special friend of nearly 16 years when Sammy passed away.

Marlon rescued Sammy from an animal shelter in St. Joseph, Missouri as a kitten. Within a few months, Marlon and Sammy moved to Raytown, Missouri.

There Sammy met her new friend, Gypsy.

Sammy liked visiting the outdoors.

Sammy and Gypsy learned how to eat out of plastic bowls...back then we apparently couldn't afford actual cat dishes.

Sammy enjoyed lounging around on the couch in the downstairs family room.

Then everyone moved to Colorado and soon lived in a house.

And Sammy loved to sit by the upstairs railing looking down on the rest of the house.

Sammy always posed like a model with her right paw extended like this.

In 2002, when Sammy was 9 years old, all of a sudden she stopped eating. Suffering from fatty liver, she had a tube inserted into her stomach so that we could feed her through it until she got better.

And six months later, Sammy WAS better. Thank you to Deer Creek Animal Hospital in Littleton, Colorado and especially Dr. Markee Kuschel.

She always liked to rub against her gargoyle on top of the fireplace.

Sammy loved it when we got a paper shredder.

She could enjoy herself for hours with a single strip of paper.

Here's a video of her having fun with paper.
Sammy loved to sleep above Marlon's head when he was napping.

She loved playing in boxes before they went in the trash.

Sammy always worshiped the sun.

She trusted Marlon and always looked like an acrobat on his arm.

Here she is practicing sun worship again.

Sammy always loved lying in a warm pile of laundry.

Sammy and her new buddy, Chatfield, began their RV adventure a little over a year ago and we hope she enjoyed it. Because we really enjoyed having her with us.

To see Sammy featured in our blog, type her name in the blogger search box at the top of the screen.

Dedicated to Sammy...we miss you.

To be continued...