No Kings rally in Pleasant Hill, CA (October 18, 2025)

Ready to go to the No Kings rally in Pleasant Hill. I believe Project 2025 is the true danger. Trump is a distraction from how entrenched they're becoming.

The Gulf of Mexico since the 1500s. Take that man's Sharpie away!

Thousands of us demonstrated in Pleasant Hill, a town of 34,000. Here's a nod to the Portland, OR, inflatable frog.
 

Pups don't want kings either!

We lined a main road. Most passing drivers honked in support.

I think we all agree.

My favorite rally sign.

Costumes, signs, balloons. All very festive!

All ages participated. We all love our country!

Yep, I was there!

Brandy at the dog park (October 17, 2025)

Ryder is back at work and Brandy's 16 days out from surgery. She still can't drive or throw the ball for Willoughby. We took Piper to school and the dogs to the park. I'm grateful that she could be the poop scooper though! I helped the curbside pickup lady load the groceries and brought them in when we got home. 

With Ryder, Brandy, and kids (October 14-22, 2025)

Following Brandy's October 1 surgery, I flew out to help with the kids, driving, and household chores as she needed several more weeks to recuperate and Ryder needed to return to work on October 15. After Ryder and I took Piper to school, we let Willoughby and Jojo have an hour at the dog park. Willoughby loves fetching the ball and rolling in mud. Jojo likes to run.
 

The dog park isn't just for dogs and their humans.

Ryder with Willoughby and Jojo. Herds of cattle on the hills across the stream add moos to the barks.

Willoughby had a vet appointment. I really hoped we'd be seen before this patient and human were!

Fall is here! (October 7, 2025)

Here in Texas, we don't have fall leaves in red and orange and yellow. But our autumn chrysanthemums are a bright reminder of the season change.

The okra going to seed lets us know it's time for Halloween.

More construction on Alguno Road (September 29, 2025)

When Johnny-on-the-spots are delivered and pickups arrive, construction can't be far behind.

Riley is rescued! (September 19, 2025)

 Riley and a pal were roaming Alguno Road on their doggie adventure when we convinced her to come inside. She wasn't wearing a collar. We posted her photo on NextDoor. A neighbor with a chip reader stopped by to find out where Riley belongs. It turns out Riley lives on Alguno Road, across the street and a few doors down from us.

Amon, Leeloo, and a leaf (September 14, 2025)

 Amon found this leaf katydid on his patio. The leaf katydid is normally nocturnal. Related to crickets, they are known for their mating call.

Leeloo's such a good girl. She calmly rode back home in Max.

Flying home from Bozeman via Las Vegas (September 9, 2025)

 Our VRBO hosts provided bear spray for us. We left it behind in Montana and Wyoming.

Las Vegas airport is the last chance to hit the jackpot, right? We opted to buy coffee instead.

You can only gamble if you aren't getting high at the same time. Ah, our last look at the American buffalo.

Bozeman's Museum of the Rockies (September 8, 2025)

Montana is rich with dinosaur fossils, with more than 75 species discovered there, more than any other U.S. state. Significant finds include the world's first T. rex and the first baby dinosaur bones discovered in North America. 

The museum houses the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world, including this reconstructed T. Rex skeleton. In another part of the museum, you can watch paleontologists cleaning and preserving dinosaur fossils.

More grizzlies (September 8, 2025)

We visited the Montana Grizzly Encounter and Rescue near Bozeman and were alarmed to see a pen of goats outside. Were they bear food? I had to ask and ended up paying the fine. 

In the wild, bears are typically solitary creatures, except during mother-cub relationships or when food is plentiful. Three bears of varying ages and sizes, each with their own unique personality, are at the center. When not outside, they enjoy comfortable indoor dens equipped with climate control, running water, toys, and other enrichment activities.

Before being rescued, two bears lived in this 4' x 4' x 6' cage for years. Their captor fed them only bread and dog food. The captor was never prosecuted for his cruelty.

As close as I want to get to a grizzly, no matter how cute they are.

Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin (September 7, 2025)

Bison and fumaroles on the road to Old Faithful. Fumaroles are steam vents that release volcanic gases and vapors from the Earth's interior. The escaping gases hiss and roar.

Waiting for Old Faithful, the geyser that erupts every 60-110 minutes, reaching heights of 106-184 feet, expelling thousands of gallons of boiling water.

We weren't the only ones!

Old Faithful. Weird to finally see for real after years of photos and Yogi Bear cartoons.

We saw it again from the Old Faithful Inn.

We took a walk through the Upper Geyser Basin to see smaller geysers. The Old Faithful Inn is behind me.

I was standing at the bench when the Lion geyser roared and exploded. A guy told me to wipe the mist from my glasses because dissolved minerals like silica in the spray could leave permanent marks on them.

Yellowstone elk (September 6, 2025)

 Elk are the park's most abundant large mammal, with an estimated 10,000-20,000 in the summer. All but about 2,000 migrate north out of the park in the winter. We were there during rutting season but didn't hear any bugling (their mating calls) or see any bulls fight to gather females into their harems. Only the bulls have antlers so this must be a female who's sharing the road with us.

Yellowstone Lake (September 6, 2025)

In June and July, Yellowstone cutthroat trout spawn up the Yellowstone River. From the Fishing Bridge, you can watch the spawning frenzy in the water and the feeding frenzy in the air, as the trout are an easy catch for eagles, osprey, and pelicans. The bridge has been permanently closed to fishermen since 1973 due to overfishing and habitat impact.

Yellowstone Lake is the largest high elevation lake in North America. It's 20 miles long and 14 miles wide, with a maximum depth of 430 feet. The Fishing Cone is a hot spring along the lake where fishermen traditionally cooked their freshly caught fish. The practice was banned in 1912.

The orange color is caused by heat-loving microorganisms that thrive in the cooler, outflowing water from the hotter Black Pool in the background.

Black Pool, next to the lake, was inky black until 1991, when an energy transfer increased the pool's temperature killing the microbes that made it black. The pool became a bright teal blue.

Mud volcanos (September 6, 2025)

 

Yellowstone mud is dangerous too!

Churning cauldrons of scalding mud and water! Mud geysers! Erupting mud pots (muddy springs of sulfuric acid) blew trees out by the roots in 1948! Fumaroles (nearly dry underground steam vents in the surface)!

Bears, bison, and a dragon's mouth too! Rumbling sounds are caused by steam and other gases exploding through the water, causing it to crash against the walls of the hidden cavern.

Until the 1990s, the dragon spewed steamy water onto the boardwalk. No more, sadly.

Yellowstone is a dangerous place! (September 2025)

 Stay on the boardwalks lest you fall through the crust to be boiled alive!

Fluffy needs to watch out too!

This isn't Yogi Bear and Booboo after your picnic basket at Jellystone! YOU will be the picnic!

Sure, the deer and the antelope play. But bison don't play around!

Their home on the range, your grave!

Day 3: Back in Gardiner (September 5, 2025)

We visited the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in Gardiner for an up close but safe encounter. One of the grizzlies had been found asleep on the hood of a car near our VRBO after guzzling all the beer in a camper's cooler! In the wild, grizzlies may travel 20-40 miles per day. They stand 8-10 feet tall and can weigh 800-1000 pounds. I have great respect for their 2-4 inch claws! I wish these bears could roam free but I'm guessing they're enclosed because they lost their fear of humans along the way.
 

As dusk approached, this barred owl surveyed the meadow outside our VRBO. I'm guessing rabbits and rodents might be on the menu?

Day 3 at Yellowstone (September 5, 2025)

 The upper falls at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Steep canyon walls surround the falls

Day 2 at the North Gate (September 4, 2025)

Are we still in Texas? The Cowboy's Lodge and Grill was two blocks from our VRBO in Gardiner, Montana, at Yellowstone's North Gate. The wait for barbecue was too long so we walked a half block to the Iron Horse Bar & Grill. P.S. How does the bull balance on its two front legs?

 

I have red cowgirl boots too! But only a size 8.

Local draft beer and free fries at the Iron Horse Bar & Grill. 

Marilyn Monroe is watching over my shoulder.

This was as close as we got to a moose for our entire trip. 

The moose antlers ceiling fan is at the Iron Horse Bar & Grill.