Take Me Back

Typically, if I don't post to the blog the same weekend we are out,

the post just never happens. But since we weren't planning to get out this weekend, I actually saved this post on purpose. 

Last Sunday was a little unusual for us: A couple of times a year, our church changes up the the schedule a little bit. Instead of the usual evening service, we have a picnic lunch and an afternoon service. It's fun once in a while to get to take a "Sunday afternoon drive"! 

Dan has a co-worker who lives outside of Roundup. He is always showing Dan cell-phone and trail cam pictures of the different wildlife that frequents his property. He has extended an open invitation to come explore. So we met Mike and his wife Amee at the Vintage Main Street Cafe in Roundup. Mike has been telling Dan about the good food and great service for a while now, and indeed, he was not exaggerating. Enzo and Nina, the owners, took excellent care of us. Dan said his burger was the best one he had ever eaten, and I could have made another sandwich with just the turkey that fell out of the one that I ate! This was NOT frozen, deli turkey, either -- it was real, chopped turkey breast. You know... that perfect "day-after-Thanksgiving" turkey sandwich. YUM! And the fresh-cooked potato chips? I am ready to go jump in the car right now and drive up for more! Seriously, next time you are in Roundup, you have to check this place out! (There you go -- the first and maybe only restaurant review you will ever read on this blog! Haha!)

After dinner, we followed Mike and Amee back to their place. Well, eventually... we kept getting distracted by photo ops. But we finally made it up to the property. Mike, Dan, and I set off to explore. Mike showed us his garden, then we moved on into the woods. The "resident" hen turkey put in an appearance, and we spotted a little mule deer buck as well. He was so handsome with his budding, velvety antlers. Then Mike showed us another spot where it wasn't hard to imagine a bobcat or a mountain lion bedding down. Unfortunately, they were just that -- imaginary. But we did spot a couple of small birds that were actually quite accommodating. Our last effort for the day was to attempt to call in one of the big tom turkeys that Mike and Amee have seen. We did get a hen to "talk" to us, but the toms remained stubbornly mute. 

Later research told us that these are violet-green swallows. 

All too soon, we realized that it was time to turn homeward. We still made a couple of sudden stops for a pheasant (gone by the time we got turned around), and a pair of nice mulie bucks. All in all, it was a perfect Sunday afternoon. 

Bonus!

We DID get out for a quick photo outing this weekend. Another long afternoon/evening drive found us bouncing favorite back roads. Not a lot of "blog fodder", but we did watch a little family drama among some sand hill cranes. 

I was very surprised when the adult bird jumped up out of the creek
and left the little one to find its own way out!

After several unsuccessful attempts to climb up out of the creek
(wings aren't much good for climbing),
the little one seemed to stop and think for a moment.
It then took about three steps further up the creek
and walked right out. 

The adult birds didn't even wait for the little one.
They just continued slowly working their way through the grass.

Eventually, though, the whole family was reunited, 
and they all wandered out of camera range. 

THE END :)