It's the Little Things

There are two great things that stand out in my mind concerning Montana springs ~ baby animals and green hills covered with a profusion of colorful wildflowers. While out 4-wheeling today, we didn't see any baby animals, but there was no lack of wildflowers. It was while I was down on one knee photographing said flowers that this blog title came to mind. (It is actually from one of my Stampin' Up sets... "It's the little things that make life BIG!") That was very true today. It was great just to take all the time we wanted and just forget that there is a "real" world somewhere down there in the valley! 






Dan was so very patient while I went from one group of flowers to another, almost like the bumblebee that just wouldn't stay in one spot for half a second so that I could take a picture. (Okay, MAYBE the Cheetoes bribe worked. Haha!)




Unfortunately, spring doesn't last long in Montana, and neither do the green grass and wildflowers. Summer heat, dry vegetation, and fire season will be upon us before we know it, so I was very glad for the opportunity to get out and enjoy the just-right temperatures and God's beautiful creation. 

Until next time, here are some "little things" for your viewing pleasure. I am hoping that next weekend will yield some baby animal pictures, so stay tuned...

The Best Ride Yet

Ever since we bought our four-wheelers, people have been telling us, "You have to ride Pipestone!" Of course, they also warned us to make sure we took our GPS or went with someone familiar with the territory, since it is a large area with lots of trails. Well, it just so happens that our frequent riding partner Grif lived in Butte for a while and actually helped build and maintain some of the trails. I guess you could say he knows the place!

Grif and our buddy Rick drove up on Thursday night, but we couldn't leave until Friday morning. We got there early in the afternoon and promptly unloaded and set out for Ringing Rocks. Something in the erosion and composition of the rocks makes them ring like bells, a phenomenon that happens in only a couple places in the world. (Check out the video at the bottom of the post.) Of course, Dan had to climb all the way to the top. 


As we left Ringing Rocks, clouds were forming and thunder rumbled from time to time. We were down in a  wooded valley by the time it started to rain, which was a very good thing. The raindrops were huge and quickly turned to hail. It lasted long enough to soak us to the skin. So we went back to camp and started supper. I surely was glad to get into dry clothes. The change of clothes, a hot supper, and clearing skies made us all feel better. Enough better, in fact, that we decided to take an evening ride. (It was my favorite trail of the whole two days.) Then it was back to camp for a fire and s'mores. 

Saturday morning came early as neither Dan nor I slept all that well. (The fact that the air mattress went flat in the night and left us sleeping on the hard ground didn't help anything.) But that just meant that we were on the trail early. More time to ride! Another thing that Grif wanted to show us was an old granite quarry. It was fun to look around, but I don't

envy anyone the hard work that went on there in days gone by! Unfortunately, I inadvertently  picked up a souvenir from those days along the way - a railroad spike in my tire! But Rick had a tire plug set and a mini-air compressor, so at least we didn't have to cut our ride short. (Although we did have to stop from time to time to re-inflate the tire.)

Well, there's yer problem!

All in all, Dan and I rode 60 miles and Rick and Grif nearly a hundred! For all that riding, we left many, many trails unexplored. We will definitely have to go back soon!

 

Check out the Ringing Rocks. Pretty cool!