The Petrified Forest

After lunch - we headed out to another trail - we got specific directions from the Park Ranger because the map showed the Petrified Forest but not how to get to it - we had to cross some private land to get there and the trail was a 9.5 mile loop...
This is the entrance to the trail - it keeps the ranchers animals out of the park....

We all squeezed through...

...and started the hike...

This spongy ground is so funny to walk on - it's like being on the moon...

This bison was only about 30 feet from the trail - it made me quite nervous - he kept snorting at us and I wanted to give him a wide berth...

Petrified wood is strewn throughout the park - but there is a lot of it here in one place...


Part of a log and it's collapsed table...

The field (or forest) - notice the small cave in the center - we saw several of these and they never seem to be inhabited - maybe they're too unstable...
More petrified wood...
It's amazing how it forms - as each cell is individually replaced by a silica cell - so that the structure of the wood remains intact - it's really just like looking at a piece of wood and then you touch it and it's stone...
a huge log still on it's 'table'...

a stump on a 'table'...

more stumps...

and more stumps - it was getting late when we hiked back out to the truck - the bison was still there - munching away...

The Badlands

Today was going to be the best day weather-wise - so we decided to spend the entire day hiking...

Our first views of the Badlands - this is the Painted Canyon - from the overlook...

For some reason - I love to take pictures of our shadows...

Another view...

Then we started around the Theordore Roosevelt National Park trail - and of course we had to stop to see the Prairie Dogs - I won't bore you with the 40 or so pictures we took of their antics - they were all very plump and out sunning themselves...

We saw a lot of bison this trip - these were pretty far away on top of a ridge - it's amazing how they can get up there - it's very steep...


Ahh - my penchant for paths...

The Man-Cub got to see some of the erosion at work...

These pot holes were several feet from the edge of a cliff - and there were several of them - so you can seen how over time this would weaken the edge and eventually it would just fall off in a huge chunk...

We hiked up to Halliday's Well - it's listed on the map as a flowing well - I think that means it's a spring - it's been capped and basined - so horses (and others) can drink - no spigot for humans 'though...

Some more of Nature's handiwork...

A buck and a doe - they were closer - but they ran away - and by the time I snapped a picture they were almost out of sight...

The Man-Cub got to do a lot of climbing...

He's the one who spotted the wild turkeys - so we stalked them for a little while...

One of us would hold onto the Man-Cub when we were out on some of these bluffs - a wrong step could land you several hundred feet below...



This bison was munching away right at the edge of the trail...

...and he didn't even raise his head as we drove by...

I was surprised to see so much of this - the park brochure says that drilling is managed so that the smell/sight/sound doesn't impact visitors...

More climbing...

Then time for lunch...

Garrison Dam

The Man-Cub has a couple of days off from school - so we decided to head west and do some hiking in the Badlands again...

Our first stop was Garrison Dam and Lake Sakakewea (lots of different spellings of this one - I used the one from the sign).

It's a big (really big) deep blue lake...

The back side of the dam...

The dam proper...
The intake for the power plant...
The Lewis and Clark Trail sign - I love these...
A little bit about the lake...
Throwing rocks is still one of the Man-Cub's favorite things to do...

We had a picnic lunch here at the overlook - we got all our fixings out and made our sandwiches (Wham and Vegenaise - Yum!) - but then decided that it was too cold to sit outside - so we packed everything back up and sat in the truck and ate our sammies - with this view...

Sooo Not a Princess

I am so not a princess - however I was intrigued by the idea of a 'Princess Sole' - after I read about it on another knitting blog - sorry I can't remember where - but I guess if you are a princess and can't have a pea under 20 mattresses - you couldn't possibly stand rough soled socks. Basically, you just do reverse stockinette stitch on the bottom or sole of the sock so that the smooth side is inside against your foot instead of the bumpy purl side as would usually be the case when knitting in the round. These are my 'Boy Scout' socks - that I'll be doing a lot of hiking in - so I thought it would be nice to have smooth soles.

The stitch markers just remind me to switch to purl for the sole - I like how they are turning out and I may be making all my socks with 'Princess Soles' from now on.
In other news we finally finished the last of the Harry Potter books - Whew - http://affectioknit.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-book-and-new-project-man-cub-and-i.html I can't believe that was over a year ago that I posted about it - but when you're reading along with a young one - it changes your pace a bit - and since I always read each ending first I was never too stressed out about it - hehe...

Webelos II

Our den actually grew by one this year - so I have 8 Webelos II scouts and they are really a super bunch of boys - they all get along well together and try really hard to do things well.

We finished up our Sportsman activity badges and played a game of 'Soccer Dodgeball'.

One person is 'it' inside the circle and the rest of the boys have to kick a soft ball and try to hit them - much more difficult than traditional dodgeball - as always it was a lot of fun!

The Weekend - in pictures - NOT

I meant to do a post this weekend of the Man-Cub on the new slide at the resort here - they just got a new 4 story tall slide - it's really fast - so fast in fact that it made me sort of dizzy. However, I can't get the pictures off my cell phone - believe it or not I didn't have my camera with me - that hardly ever happens. So anyway, that's what we did Saturday and then Saturday night we went to a polka dance - Julie Lee and her White Rose Band played - so much fun - but unfortunately no pictures from that either. Then Sunday we had Polka Sunday at church - that's always a lot of fun.

So the only thing I do have pictures of this weekend weekend are from the garden - where we cleaned up everything so that the Sexton can come and till it up before the ground freezes solid.

We pulled up the last half row of beets - the greens were still lovely - so I pulled those off - washed them 3 times and bagged them for the freezer.

And we also had a half row of carrots still in the ground so we pulled those and peeled them and froze them too.

I love to have a freezer full of goodies from the garden...

Red Belt

The Man-Cub passed his Red Belt Tae Kwon Do test this week.

This is just a funny picture of him taking down a much larger oponent.

Breaking a board with his forearm.

The New Red Belt!!! Only Red Sr. now and then on to Jr. Black - should be next June...