Jordan, Montana

To be real honest I'm not sure if this was the western edge of North Dakota, or the eastern edge of Montana. Pretty though, no?

We pulled over at this museum's parking lot to call some hotels and find one for the night so we could determine our best route. Yeah, we travel on the fly.

We got onto a Montana backroad not long after entering the state, from Glendive we went to Circle then on to Jordan. Kinda going right through its middle towards Glacier. We were surprised that even on backroads the speed limit was 70 mph. The bugs sure do splat at that speed, lol.

Coming into Jordan, where we spent the night. This is the only stop-and-go light flashing light in town. To the left, out of sight is our motel, if you turn right there's a place to eat, or drink. One of the tiny towns we passed through had a sign that would have fit here too, "Go ahead and blink, we're still here."

I crossed the road and turned around, here's our motel. The Garfield Motel, I guess because we're in Garfield county. The owners are very nice and they've recently purchased the place and working on renovating it. That bright spot is the only convenience store in town. The town had a population of 364 peoples in 2000, and they are at least an hour from any other town. Amazing way to live.

While facing the motel I looked left and could see the bar and grill where we ate dinner.

Any wonder that the new owners are redecorating? Scary, lol. Everywhere I turned there was a new color and/or pattern, kinda gave me a headache. But shockingly of all, we had internet.

We were up and at 'em really early. This was shot real quick as we loaded the van. I think it's a similar position as when we came into town in the dark. Wagon's ho. . .

A little ways down the road we were treated to sunrise in Montana - Glorious!

What's its

I have the best son, always keeping his eyes open for me. He brought me this little branch full of tiny beetles(?). I have no clue what they are but I really liked them!

One of the berries on the branch had some empty egg cases on it.

I had to take many photos because they did not cooperate and pose for me. No, they were constantly moving this way and that.

Does anyone know what kind of little bug these are? With so many in one place I'm assuming they are babies. Did they hatch from those eggs?

Would you have guessed they were this little? Amazing little guys!

Bugs on Blooms

Bugs in Love

Praying Mantis Love

Looking closely

Snails on a beach in Maine - I’m totally missing Maine - seems like forever that I’ve been editing my vacation photos!

I was enamored by the starfish (if you couldn’t already tell), even ones left up on the rocks after the tide went out. I felt as sorry for them as I did our ducks last winter - the ducks missing the water the city had drained out of their area.

I’m not sure what was going on in this shallow water. I know it’s a starfish and one of those weird water-worm/snake things. I wondered if the worm-thing (technical term) was trying to eat the starfish but I really have no clue. I’ve already showed you how slow the starfish moves - I’m betting lots of things eat them!

The starfish seem to not care what they are “walking” on - but the snails and barnacles don’t seem to mind either.

My son, Haden, was an expert at finding the minute stars! Several times we thought he had found one with a missing “leg”, only to see the star in the water with all 5 points. Odd.

See, this is the same starfish - all “legs” in tact.

They are so magical! They appear soft and squishy, maybe even slimy, but they aren’t. They are kinda hard, like a crab, not quite that hard, but rough to the touch, not slimy at all.

This is the underside of a starfish - he’s still trying to move, as the water comes in and out, the star floats then lands, wiggles, floats, then lands. . .

If you look close, in the pools left on the beach, you will find all kinds of life. Just have a little patience, sit and watch, then you’ll notice movement and discover something new.

In this photo alone, there’s a starfish, barnacles, many snails, and many “bugs” and some slugs. . .

Beautiful, even in death.

Haden Alexander Forrest

Haden is the youngest of my four children and the only one left still at home. He’ll be 17 in April. And, according to him, our life at home is similar to a Family Guy episode. Not one day goes by without him saying, “That reminds me of a Family Guy episode. . .” This was surely my goal in life, no?

(taken with cell phone)

He’s our Guitar Heroes Expert Guitarist and bandleader, I know Dennis and I bring his band down. But he trudges on with us anyway. (We did finally get this song, it just drove him crazy that we got so close our first time playing, and he demanded a photo be taken of the tv.)

He loves being outside no matter what the weather.

He’s the brave one in our crew. Willing to climb tall trees, all the way to the tippy top, or wiggle down a fallen one from a cliff to the beach below (done for a geocache).

He does many things that we don’t understand.

And when I stick a camera in his hands, the photos that come back are of bugs and spiders.

He found this Black Widow for me to photograph and held a twig for it to pose from.

And this nighttime web weaver.

And this scary hairy guy.

And although I will be sad when he moves out, I won’t miss his roommate.