...weather Montana style

A leaf hints of Fall in 80 degree weather

A warm view of the Billings rimrock

My sister's outdoor grill

The view on Saturday morning

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis already know I was in Montana for a family medical emergency for the past couple of weeks. I won't go into the details here as you most likely know the story. I will, however, focus on the extreme weather conditions I encountered while I was there.
It all started with temperatures above 80 degrees and ended with a raging Montana blizzard. Every bit of it within a ten day period.
Life in the Rockies, eh?
When I landed at Logan International Airport in the middle of the night on October 1st I could feel the warm air and knew I had made the correct clothing choice when I was packing for the trip. But, when I left yesterday I tromped through the snow after parking my rental car and shivered toward the terminal.
In a way it was a good thing because it got me thinking about winter here in Alaska. Maybe the weather man was preparing me what I have to look forward to for the next six months. You know, setting my mind right for the promise of what's to come and all. But, I think I'm ready. I got some new boots at Sportsman's Warehouse. Tough boots. Boots for the weather. I'm prepared for anything, even...weather Montana style.

...another Cook Inlet Saturday morning

I took a quick drive to the shores of Cook Inlet this morning hoping to get some photos of Mt. Redoubt bathed in alpenglow. But when I got there the volcano was enshrouded in clouds. No alpenglow photos this morning, I thought to myself. Then I heard some kind of snort that I knew was animal related. I looked at the edge of the water where I saw three seals cavorting about and staring directly at me. For about 45 minutes I watched them and they watched me. I also took their picture.

After a while the sun hit Mt. Spurr so I took some photos of it before I left to come home. All in all, it was a great way to start...another Cook Inlet Saturday morning.

...moose sausage

Alaskans truly enjoy sharing the bounty of the land. For instance, if a neighbor catches some halibut you can bet they will be calling and offering several fillets as a gesture of neighborly goodwill. And back in August when we were walking on the beach at Captain Cook State Park and some commercial fishermen beached their boat and offered us a freshly caught silver salmon (which I declined--and never heard the end of), it was all about sharing the riches of Alaska's robustly rich and consumable wild game.

So, when a friendly camper entered our site last weekend at Russian River Campground and offered us some recently procured moose sausage I accepted immediately. We put it in our fridge until evening and spent most of the day in anticipation of eating it for dinner. When the time came we formed it into patties and cooked it in a frying pan. The aroma or red pepper flakes and sage filled the cabin of the RV as we waited for it to finish searing and browning.

The first taste was fabulously delicious, as was the next, and the next, and the next, and the last. As we ate we all talked about how good it was and how we hoped someday some Alaskan would share more...moose sausage.

...Fall at Russian River Campground

Those of you reading this blog on a regular basis already know how much we enjoy camping at Russian River Campground. It's a scenic place next to a famous river filled with spawning salmon and Rainbow Trout.

And I'll tell you what. It's prettiest in the Fall

That's where we were last weekend and it was beautiful. The leaves were at their brightest yellow and the mountains looked as if someone had sprinkled powdered sugar on them after the nightly snows.

We had bubbles, too. Lots of bubbles. So, here are some photos you might enjoy from...Fall at Russian River Campground.

...caribou vs cable

Some of you were interested in the fact that the caribou in yesterday's entry was sparring with the stabilizing/support cable on a telephone pole. So, I thought it would be a good idea to show the sequence of photos I shot for your perusal. Too bad a picture can't capture audio because the sound caribou antlers make on a hollow plastic tube is quite astounding. You'll just have to imagine that as best you can as...caribou vs cable.

...the caribou of Marathon Road

This evening we spent about 45 minutes wandering through the brush along the edge of Marathon Road with a small herd of caribou. It was great fun and watching the largest bull spar with the stabilizing cable of a telephone pole was particularly fascinating. The fall colors were brilliant and the early evening air was crisp. Just a wonderful time to be watching...the caribou of Marathon Road.

...a berry fun evening

Our good friends invited us to go raspberry picking this evening and we made a haul! In fact, as I write this a raspberry cobbler is baking in the oven and it smells really good.

The raspberries were from the bushes of a close neighbor and the branches drooped heavily under the weight of the ripe fruit. Our containers were overflowing after a quick 20 minute pick. We had way more than we could use and we were glad we had...a berry fun evening!