More July Adventures..... And.....

Still playing catch up... Yes I am!

But first..... I just wanted to throw on the table the fact that in 4 more days we will be on our way to Texas.   I have been busily finishing up all my homework for school so that I can begin my two week break, and now I am busy spending the last few days packing and cleaning.

Now..... just a shout out reminding you of my blog giveaway.  October 8th is the big day so get your suggestions in if you haven't already. Read HERE for more details.  Oh... and I have exciting news about the book I am giving away.  I will be giving away an AUTOGRAPHED copy!  Plus I will have two more surprise gifts that will include something from Montana and something from Texas.  Should be FUN FUN FUN!!!  I have received some excellent ideas but would like some more so get your ideas in before the deadline.

Now onto the adventure part....

Mid July we planned a weekend getaway to Great Falls, MT.  I wanted to see what the Great Falls were all about.  So away we went.... It is about 3-1/2 hour drive from where we live.  First stop was the hotel.  And as soon as we walked in our little Abby dog made herself right at home.  This is her style of camping!  She is not really the outdoorsy type like Daisy is.  This is more her style as you can see by this picture.

Princess Abby making herself right at home

A storm blew in as soon as we arrived in town.  It was quite the rain storm too!  So we just hung out at the hotel the rest of that day.  The next morning we started out with a Geo-cache.  Here is DH (Dear Hubby) finding it!  

DH Geo-Cache Find 

The stash is in the plastic container

The plastic container was found inside of this!  

It was a pretty cool way to hide a Geo-Cache.  

The location was pretty great too.  

It was at a park overlooking the Missouri River

The next stop was what I was there for.  The next few pictures are of Giant Springs State Park.  This is the most beautiful place I have seen!  This next picture is of the Giant Spring.  It is a natural spring that was discovered by Lewis & Clark.  It's awesome!  What makes it even more special is that this natural spring flows into the shortest river in the world... the Roe River which is 201 feet long and runs directly into the Missouri River.   It seriously is a really gorgeous place and I recommend everyone go see it!   There are several pictures of Giant Springs State Park because the scenery is so beautiful and I just couldn't choose any to leave out.

Giant Springs

Giant Springs

Missouri River in background

The water is SO clear!

Giant Springs

Look how clear that water is!

Giant Springs State Park

More Scenery 

Another one...

There is also a fish hatchery at the Giant Springs State Park

This is a pond of fish....They are HUGE!

Pretty Bird 

Missouri River

This is one of five falls on the Missouri River

These falls are how Great Falls got it's name

This is another one of the falls on the Missouri

We are making our way to the Great Falls on the Missouri 

But first we stopped to find another Geo-Cache.

Here is the family!

This is the Great Falls and namesake of the city.  

I wish the pictures did it justice!

Another shot of Great Falls

On the way home we spotted these......  SPEED GOATS!!

And then we found this pretty lake at Gates of the Mountains...  We had no idea about this place and wished we had more time to check it out.  It is an area that DH and I wish we had time to explore.  It is another one of the Lewis & Clark expeditions.  Check out the links and make it part of your next vacation to Montana.  I wish I had time!

As we arrived back home the sunset was really awesome.  These pictures don't even do it justice but it will give you some idea of what the sky was like.  

Sunset over Belgrade, MT

The sky is on fire

So pretty!

Well that wraps up our Great Falls Adventure.  We had a wonderful weekend and really do recommend it to everyone.  I love road trips and all the amazing adventures that take place while on one!  

So... most likely the next time you see another update, I will be in Texas.  I still have several Montana adventures to catch up on.  I am hoping to do that once I get settled somewhat.  

Don't forget about the Blog Giveaway!  See you soon my friends!

Fairly recent Montana Adventures..... July is recent right?

I mentioned previously that I needed to update my blog with our latest adventures.  The unfortunate thing is that it dates back to July.  The other thing is that we went on MANY adventures and I took a lot of photos, so I will have to break up this post into two or three different parts.  Please bear with me.

As you know we are moving away from Montana.  We created a bucket list of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to visit before we leave.  Our bucket list included hikes, Geo-caching, road trips, and canoe trips to name a few.  Each weekend we try to spend a little time doing something towards completing our list.

Over the July 4th weekend we chose to do many of the items on our list.  We went hiking, located and found several Geo-caches, as well as spent time in the canoe.  Here are few pictures of some places we visited and sights we saw.

Palisade Falls

This is a hike we went on.  These falls are located above Hyalite Reservoir in the Hyalite Canyon of the Gallatin National Forest.  As you can see the falls are gorgeous!  

History Rock

This is another hike we went on.  It is also located in Hyalite Canyon.  This is an impressive rock formation with names etched into it dating back to the early 1800's.  

A closer view

Daisy and I in front of History Rock

Our adventurous Dog

Scenery on the History Rock trail

An Eocene Dike - A Natural Wall

As we were traveling down through the Paradise Valley towards Yellowstone N.P., we decided to stop at this Geo-cache which is actually an Earth-Cache (look it up on Geo-caching.com).  Now this is something to see and learn about!  This is why we enjoy Geo-caching.  

This Eocene dike was created about 30 million years ago. This wall of black basalt rock was injected as molten magma into a crack in horizontally bedded volcanic conglomerates.  Conglomerate is like cement.  

I loved learning about this!!

Petrified Forest

This is another hike we went on.  It is a petrified forest located in the Paradise Valley heading towards Yellowstone N.P.  

Scenery along the trail to the Petrified Forest

More scenery

Billy & the girls found a comfy spot to rest

Me near the top of the mountain

Me Again!

The Petrified Forest trail is an interpretive trail that informs you of what you will see each step of the way.  

In these alcoves you can find parts of petrified trees

Daisy found the shade

Here is a petrified tree stump

A better view

We didn't get to finish the hike as a storm was coming in and we needed to get off the mountain.  

It was a great hike though, with really beautiful scenery. 

The Paradise Valley is just that... Paradise!  It is a gorgeous area.  If you ever get up this way, I recommend taking this drive as you head towards Yellowstone.  

This post covers the adventures we had over the July 4th weekend.  

Watch for post number two coming soon, for more exciting adventures brought to you by ME!!  

The latest news....And a GIVEAWAY!!

I have so many adventures to write about and pictures to edit and post; but the problem is I just have not had any extra time to do this.  As you know we are moving to Texas and I have been busy packing the house when I am not at work or at school, which doesn't leave any time for anything else.  We have also been trying to see and do as many things as we can before we leave.  Thus the many adventures I still need to journal.

However, today I feel that I need to at least update everyone on the latest news.....

We finally have a move date!  FINALLY!  Saturday, September 24th is the day we will be loading up the moving truck; and we will head south the following morning.  It will take us THREE DAYS to get there with loads of driving each day.  We are ready though!  Ready to get the next chapter in our lives started.

We will be staying with my sister, Valerie, and her family while our home is being built.  We hope to have that completed in 5 to 6 months.  I am SO excited to be living near my sister and my in-laws!  I am EXCITED about NEW ADVENTURES!!

Now I want to remind you that as Our Adventures from Big Sky Country is coming to an end rather soon, I still need to rename my blog.  I announced in an earlier post that I will be doing a GIVEAWAY for the person who's idea I use for my blog name.  I want to have that wrapped up around the OCTOBER 8TH, so please comment with your idea for a blog name by that date. I have a few ideas as to what I want to GIVE AWAY, this is one of them....

I will also throw in a couple other surprises.  So be sure to comment about your idea for my new blog name.  I AM SO EXCITED!  

As I mentioned above, I have many recent and amazing Montana adventures to still write about and I will be working on that as soon as I can because I hate being so far behind!

Until next time my friends.....stay safe and happy!