Shared With My Guy And My Dog - Part 2

After taking our time walking along the ridge LC, Jamie and I found a trail leading back down towards the house.

It was a well maintained dirt trail, very steep and with beautiful pine-tree-filled views..........

I have in the past, and still do, spend many hours alone on trails.

I love to do that and have always found it the most effective way to "soothe the savage beast".

Time to work out, time to feel, time to find ways to remain in touch with the world, time to be alone with my own sometimes-racing, sometimes-quiet thoughts.

But I also like to see views like these.

Scenes of my guy and my dog sharing the experience with me........

The tree that held the little blue bird in my first blog entry...........

It was a very steep walk back down to flat BLM land, but I was loving this walk.

The views of the mountains were gorgeous.

So were all the large boulders and pine trees found along the trail.

Very different from the gradual incline and sage brush filled trails we took up to the top of the ridge.........

Close to the bottom of the trail we unexpectedly came across this.

We had no idea what they were until we saw the sign on the locked gate.........

A beautiful and fun hike up to the top of the highest point close to the house on a cloudy and unsettled day.

I can't wait to explore BLM land more in the future...........

Day before yesterday it snowed off and on the entire day, and aside from a quick walk up and down the muddy and snowy road the three of us spent the entire day hunkered down at the house.

We kept the wood stove burning all day while we drank coffee, ate soup and watched movies.

Yesterday though we awoke to cold temperatures, calm winds, beautiful blue sky and boundless sunshine.

With snow covering all of the mountains around us it was a gorgeous morning.

All three of us had been in the house too much over the past couple of days and after drinking coffee LC and I skipped breakfast eager to wander and walk "somewhere".

Eager to be out.

We still have a lot of.......stuff.......in the storage room that we rented when we first arrived in Cody that we have to get out by the end of the month.  

Part of our venture yesterday would be to take a load of stuff back to the house.

I cringe a little every time we do that but soon it will be a completed task.  

We are renting only a small house and there is no room for more stuff.  

So where on earth am I going to put a large lobster trap?  

No idea right now.  

But it cannot go out to the garage on the property where we are stacking our multiple plastic storage containers after I have sorted through them.

Too many little creepy things that could chew away at ropes and old wood. 

So it will have to go in the house somewhere.

I have to go through every single container as it is unloaded from the truck.

We have moved too much in the past now-almost-year-and-a-half.

Too much thoughtful packing, too much panic packing, too much partial unpacking, too much rifling through boxes looking for one specific item, too much.........just too much.........

I have found things that I have not seen since I left Tennessee in early January 2010.

After conferring with LC the plan was to stop at the War Memorial Park on the outskirts of town.

Then drive across the highway and take James for a long walk at the park near Beck Lake.

Then go eat pancakes and then take another load of stuff out of the storage room...........

We have stopped at the War Memorial Park a couple of times since finding our way to this lovely town.

It is a large park filled with memorials to those who fought and died in all wars since WWII.

The park is located adjacent to a small and peaceful lake, contains pathways that wander throughout the area and that eventually lead to the monuments dedicated to each war, and that is filled with benches for rest and reflection.

It is a respectful and lovely place.

And I feel proud to live in a town where the sacrifices of Americans are remembered and cared for..........

The first time I worked out at the recreation center I was sucking wind on an elliptical machine while watching kids splash around through the glass in the swimming pools down below.

Close to the change room entrances leading onto the pool deck is a very large commercially made poster reminding people to "Honor Our Troops".

Along that same wall are red, white and blue banners and an American flag.

At both Wal-Mart and Albertsons grocery store are displays honoring the troops and large displays where shoppers and employees have brought in photographs of their military family members.

Reminders that this town has given and sacrificed mightily over the years.

There are even grainy black and white pictures of men from WWI.

I have spent a lot of time looking at the pictures of these young men and women - all young, all patriots, all who have served their country. 

It is touching.  And sad.  And heart-warming.  All at the same time.......