Tuesday, August 31, 2010

God's beauty and a Hoary Marmot's nest.

Before we strap on our boots and venture out on today's Glacier photo journey,  I wanted to let you know that D-man, out of the kindness of his little heart, allowed us to stay in a motel during our Glacier stay.
In my opinion, driving seven hours and hiking for the remainder of the day was not compatible with roughing it all night. Furthermore, recent bear attacks in Montana sealed the deal!
I, for one, did not want to be dinner for a bear.

glacier beauty (1 of 21)
One wouldn't achieve the true "Montana" experience if one did not stay in a "log" motel room with bedspreads adorned with moose.(or is it meese?)
Of course, that is just my humble opinion.


Now, back to our journey.


We found this lovely little spot on our last day in Glacier.  As we chugged down the road I looked to my left and practically flung my foot over to the driver's side and slammed on the brakes myself.  One couldn't just drive past and not at least "try" to capture the beauty of the surroundings. 


That, and the fact that, due to a massive head cold, exasperated by the mildew growth in our motel room, I had been a walking "cement head" the day before and hadn't been in a picture taking mood.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the five mile hike that we were navigating...with no less then 12 pounds of water and food "just in case" the kids got hungry! 


I'm hoping D-man doesn't read this...because I'm not mentioning the fact that he had a 25 pound child strapped to his back!


I digress.
Let's venture back to the sweet little spot featured in today's photo journey.
God's creative hand is written all over it.
I'll shut up and let you soak it in!
glacier beauty (2 of 21)

glacier beauty (3 of 21)

glacier beauty (4 of 21)



glacier beauty (5 of 21)


glacier beauty (6 of 21)


glacier beauty (9 of 21)

glacier beauty (11 of 21)

glacier beauty (10 of 21)

glacier beauty (13 of 21)

glacier beauty (12 of 21)


glacier beauty (17 of 21)
J-boy was quite peeved with the whole situation.
He desired to scale the rocks with "no help" at all.
I mean for goodness sake, he IS 20 months old.
In his defense, he has had approximately 600 days to develop is rock scaling skills.
So when D-man set him down in a spot where he wasn't able to even get close to the water, he had nothing but disgust for me and my camera!



glacier beauty (15 of 21)
This was where he wanted to be.
I had to remind him that C-boy has had like 2595 more days to develop his gazelle like qualities.


glacier beauty (8 of 21)
The End.

And now I'd like to discuss an issue with you.
On our prior two camping trips, I failed to slip into even one picture.
As far as our pictures are concerned....I wasn't even there.
So, D-man was "making an effort" to take a few shots of me with the kids.
But I often noticed that he would single me out and snap shots that my thumb would delete faster than you can say "hideous"!


However, I feel that it is my duty to share this picture with you.
As I look at it, I noticed something very disturbing.
We had been in very public places all day.
No, I hadn't used a mirror while placing the ponytail.
My goal was the "messy but cute" look.
You know...the ponytail that has the little bump above it...for that added "volume".
Outdoorsy.
Are you with me?
I quickly realized I was definitely "feeling" cuter than I looked!!
glacier beauty (19 of 21)
As I zoomed in on my camera's view finder my heart began to beat a little faster.
What the heck is that on my head! 
And to make the situation worse, I had been wearing my hair like this all day!
This was beyond "messy yet cute".
This was just plain ole' revolting.

And this is where the hoary marmot encounter comes into play.
Remember him?
They are native to the Glacier area.

Hoary Marmot
picture by tomyris 95 on flickr


When one zooms in on the nest that was my hair, 
one can clearly see...
nest
The hoary marmot snuck up on me and took up residence in my hair!!!!
FOR.REALS!
Dang hoary marmots.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

29 comments:

S.I.F. said...

Ha! I think you look gorgeous lady!

But I do have to say: oh my wow! That water is incredible!

When I was driving to Alaska, Montanah was easily the most beautiful section of my trip. It is such a gorgeous state! I could totally see myself living there!

A said...

I agree with SIF, you are gorgeous, but I must admit that you had me LOL with those 2 last pictures!

For the record. My husband's idea of a perfect vacation (which is THIS week) consist of closing all the curtains in the basement, making it as dark as possible... and watching movies. That's right. "Man Cave" was coined after my husband, I'm sure of it. So I am terribly jealous of your little trips. You're not in the market of adopting adults are you ? A nanny? :)

Hannah said...

That is the funniest thing ever! LOVE your Hoary Marmot.

Beautiful place and pictures too. Those are amazing :)

Courtney said...

LOL! The shots are awesome! I can't get over the color of that water. Gorgeous!

Courtney said...

LOL! The shots are awesome! I can't get over the color of that water. Gorgeous!

laney said...

I can't believe how calm you were while the rodent was in your hair...Hehehe!! Maybe it just wanted to get higher on the mountain and thought you were the perfect person to do just that w/o being noticed. :)

Montana looks awesome. My husband had been saying he wants to move there.

Kelli said...

Those pictures are breathtaking!! You and the hair comment are TOO funny.

Bethany said...

I hate that I've never been there! To Glacier National Park, I mean. I've been to that place where you feel cuter than you really are quite often, and now I get a discount there.

Which makes me a cheap mess.

It's too early to be commenting on blogs, apparently.

I always love to catch a glimpse of you in your own life, though. You look plenty cute to me!

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

Wow you are a pro at photography! Even with messy hair! Really is beautiful pics.
kim

Shannon K. said...

You crack me up. I still say you're cute...nest hair and all.

The pictures are beautiful!!!!! I bet it was breathtaking in person.

You've certainly had some adventures lately.

So...I did it. My meme has moved on!

Liz Mays said...

I had forgotten how glorious the water colors are there!

Nicole said...

I am your newest follower! Your pictures are amazing!

Kate said...

Your pictures are breathtaking!!

And your hair...fabulously trend-setting ;-)

Sherri said...

Ha, I told you those things were creepy! Can't believe what he did to your hair, which was in a very cute messy style (I can tell).

Mirrors are for sissies...you looked adorable! Awesome pics, too...what a beautiful place.

Carrie said...

Julie, you are too cute ... and funny, too!!! ;)

LOVE these pics!!! That emerald green water is GORGEOUS!!! What makes it so green?!

LKP said...

oh.my.gosh.
i couldn't stop giggling through this WHOLE post!!!
but you must know that i ADORE all of your photo essay in this blog entry. seriously makes me miss being so close to both montana, wyoming, and all the treasures hidden there. the water is compelling! definitely one of my favorite shades of blue ever. we call it "God Blue." (:
as for the hoary marmot nest, been there. matter of fact, i think i'm still there now!
thanks for visiting my 2nd forgiveness post. it's been a journey for sure....may be a part 3 to it next week.
have a great rest of this week dearface!
::high-fives::

liz said...

I love your dramatic rock climbing photo. And I think it's awesome you calculate how many days your kids have worked on their climbing skills!

Love Letters To China said...

I'm over here eating my lunch and cracking up! You are so funny. I actually think you look gorgeous... messy hair and all. :-)

I can't believe how amazing those pictures are of the water and rocks. I've never been to Montana, but after seeing these I think it's definitely on the list of places to see.

Leanne said...

Ohhhh Julie!!! YOU CRACK ME UP!!! These photos are absolutely breathtaking - for reals. More and more I am understanding this whole outdoorzie life of yours! ;)
Seriously - though - I think just a little time in surroundings like this would do my heart, my head, my soul some good. Thanks so much for sharing these moments with us - even the hair! (I thought you were a "bump-it" girl for a minute! Thank goodness its just the hoary marmots! Hoary marmots I can accept. I'm a little less forgiving if you were wearing a bump-it! ;)

TheFitHousewife said...

BAHAHAHA...you had me laughing out loud the whole way through! You are so funny. I often sport a "nest" in my hair thinking I'm too cool for school. Then I look in the mirror at the end of the day and "EGAD...what is that?" *hanging my head in shame* Why can't it look like those women I see on TV? What are they doing to make it look so cute?! Seriously, what?

You look amazing girl...nest or no nest!

Those pictures are breathtaking. The water looks like the ocean! I just love pure mountain water. If D-Man ever wants to take you and the family to Banff, you know who to call!

Ashley Sisk said...

Wow Julie - this pictures are incredible. I don't think I've ever been to Montana but I must go now!

Wanda said...

Bwa-ha-ha - thanks for the great belly laugh. That felt good!

Your pictures are stunningly gorgeous. The colors.....ahhh...I just love!

Wanda (At Last...)

Dana said...

How crazy you probably drove threw my home town Libby and passed by Crystal Lake, Happys inn, where we spend our summers. Isent it awesome over there!
Glad you had fun and loved the hair!

mariel said...

I LOVE love love your pictures! Thanks for taking us on the adventure with you!!

Brianne said...

Hahahahaha! The end had me cracking up!! ^_^

Those pics are amazing! Definitely some of Gods artwork. :)

Anonymous said...

I want to be there! It looks so beautiful! Glad you're getting to do so much! Great memories!
And the hair is a work of art!

Hen Jen said...

wow, I love all the photos, so beautiful!

laughing at your hair with you, I've had many days where I found out later I was feeling more cute than I was...!

Seizing My Day said...

We went through Glacier in a day last year... on our way home from Canada... and our favorite place was that river!! We had fun times on that river! and also got beautiful pictures! I loved it there! we camped in a cabin at the KOA right outside of the North East part of the park I think?! ;) anyhow... no mold... and a killer hot tub! in case you want to go back next year... I LOVED that KOA! esp. in the cabin!

Kimberly said...

These photos are outrageous! (I'm not referring to the one of your hair;)). I need to put Montana on my list of must see places immediately!

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