Sunday, February 15, 2015

Valentines Day Getaway

Dinner and a movie? Bor-ring! 

Happy Valentine's Day! You do see the heart, don't you?

Regular readers of the blog may remember that I mentioned that our anniversary plans in December were canceled due to weather. Winter in Montana being as fickle as it is, this weekend was beautiful and perfect for those plans. 

Not everyone would consider Baker, Montana a perfect place for a romantic Valentine getaway, but we had a nearby destination in mind. So we spent Friday afternoon at Medicine Rocks State Park. The park is a collection of wind- and water-eroded sandstone "sculptures." It was a great place to wander and let my mind "see" all kinds of faces and shapes and creatures in the rocks. We stayed until dusk, taking pictures and just soaking up the warm afternoon sun. Just as we were walking back to the truck, I heard a howl. I asked Dan, "Wolf? Coyote? or just a domestic dog?" About then, the rest of the pack joined in the clamor. Funny, in town, it would be just highly annoying. In nature? AWESOME! 







The weather changed overnight, and Saturday morning, we woke up to cold temps and light snow. Oh, well. The other stop that we had in mind was Makoshika State Park in Glendive, so we headed east through oilfields and badlands. Unfortunately, this stop didn't quite "pan out." The visitor's center was closed when we got there, so we decided that we would do the drive part first. The only problem with that plan was that the road was barricaded about a mile past the visitor's center. So much for Makoshika! Bye, bye, Glendive. We hit the interstate until we came to Terry. We stopped for gas, then returned to the back roads.

By now, the sun was back (or maybe the snow just hadn't made it that far west yet), and we enjoyed bouncing along the gravel roads. We had the GPS and only really needed to stay pointed in a generally SW direction. Thus we came to Ryan Road, marked "Impassable when muddy or snow drifted." Dan looked over at me and said, "Well, it's been dry to this point, and there are tracks." To which I replied with a shrug, "You're driving." We proved the sign wrong -- the road WAS actually passable -- barely! After way too many miles with both hands wrapped tightly around dashboard and door handle (and with perhaps a little muted whimpering), I was very relieved to hit the next road. Still gravel, but a big improvement. We stopped and scraped half of the topsoil of Prairie County off of our truck, then continued on our merry way.


The next road had real pavement and led us back to the interstate. For this trip at least, I had had enough of the road less traveled. 




Friday, February 6, 2015

My Bloggie has a First Name...

...it also has a twin!


Not perfectly in focus, but still a pretty cool photo. 

My "little ones" are close, and they always play nicely together. Sometimes, in my mind, they are one and the same. But in reality, they are separate entities and do actually serve distinct and individual purposes. Let me introduce you to my "children."

Since you are reading this, you have obviously found my blog. The whole purpose of the blog is to share our outdoor adventures and hopefully encourage others to get out and explore God's beautiful creation, too. The pictures help tell the story. They might include pictures of people or pictures that didn't "turn out" quite right, yet are still part of the adventure. 

Our Facebook page (Photography by Dan and Tammi Capron) on the other hand, is all business. With only a few noted exceptions, every picture on the Facebook page is one that we consider "marketable." Indeed, nearly every picture on the page is or has been for sale in one of our shows. The page is where we list our show dates and where we market our calendars, postcards, mousepads, and prints. Please, please, "like, follow, and share"! 

As I said, my children always get along. They encourage and promote one another. I always link the blog posts to the FB page, and the page gets the occasional mention on the blog. I do hope you will take a little time and get to know them both. :)

It's always nice when "work" is fun.

...and for those of you with the Oscar Meyer bologna song stuck in your head ~ You're welcome! Haha