It's a Beautiful Thing

In my family handcrafted gifts are the most valued. Monetary value is not as important as the fact that the gift of time was given to conceive and produce the offering. My mother still uses the covers I sewed for her kitchen appliances. ...

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Winter Solstice

The sun now dips behind the Sierra Crest as we look out our window at about 4 pm. A few days previous to the changing of the season we had six inches of snow. It was a very cold storm, and the snow was light and nearly weightless. With...

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Food Art

I am one lucky girl. Every morning my husband gets up first and prepares breakfast. I get to take my time getting dressed and check my email while the pots and pans clink in the other room. Most mornings it is oatmeal, thick and hearty,...

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No Knead Needed

It was not my intent to post another blog about bread so soon, but this in this case it is justified. Over the last few weeks the food world, and especially in cyberspace amongst food bloggers, has been abuzz about an article, recipe and video...

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First Turns

Last Wednesday morning it was 12 degrees when we woke up, the coldest morning we have experienced yet. The cold wave that eventually moved east and wrecked havoc in the Midwest states was giving us a chill. We had made plans to go over to...

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The Other Half of the Story

Note: Guest blogger, Ilse Brukner (aka Mom), gives us version of the conclusion of the bus story. --DRDid you ever sell a bus on eBay? We did, and I can tell you a tale. It’s a long story that started in early January when we moved to...

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Magic Bus

When I was 19 years old, it became obvious that I needed to be able to live independently soon. My sister was already out of the house for a couple of years, and Mom and Dad were planning ahead for when I would leave the nest, too. The house...

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A Knead Satisfied

Acquiring good bread has been a quest. During our summer travels we sought out locally baked breads to augment our otherwise minimal lunches. And we were successful. In Missoula, Montana we found three bakeries offering whole-grain breads made...

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A Trio of Peaks

From the window of our spare room, we can look to the west and see the rising sun highlighting the peaks standing guard over June Lake. We are in the period called the “shoulder season” by the local businesses – the time between summer fishing...

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First Snow

We have become real weather geeks. We have an indoor/outdoor thermometer that records the diurnal temperature highs and lows. One of us checks it first thing in the morning to see how cold it is outside. A weather radio sits on the kitchen...

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Moving to Paradise

It has been a week since we moved all our worldly possessions from Southern California to June Lake. It is so beautiful here – the crisp fall air, the golden light of the sunrise on the peaks, or the brilliant hues of the autumn aspen. Despite...

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Wanderings in the Eastern Sierra

With about a week and a half to squander before our move to our new place in June Lake, we ended up wandering in the Eastern Sierra. Mom and Dad were heading south, and we were able to meet up for a night in the Oh! Ridge Campground in June...

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Gimme Shelter

Once we started on our journey south, we covered the distance in five days what took us nearly 3 months to travel on our way north. After leaving Mom and Dad in the chilly high-20’s morning in Jackson, Wyoming, we pointed the truck onto the...

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Yellowstone Videos

due to technical difficulties, I was unable to upload three videos with my last post about Yellowstone. I have since overcome those difficulties, and the videos are up and available for viewing from the post titled "Return to Yellowstone".Remember, to view these videos you will need to down load the...

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Mom's Final Words

Can you imagine being married for 50 years? This happened to Ali and I on August 31st. Our two “super hikers” invited us to an authentic Wyoming Cowboy BBQ dinner at Moose in the Jackson Hole. Wooden tables and benches were arranged outdoors...

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Teton Backside

Yellowstone National Park shares its southern boundary with Grand Teton National Park. Despite their close geographic proximity, the landscape could not be any different. Where Yellowstone is relatively flat with thermal features, Grand Teton...

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Return to Yellowstone

If Yellowstone is not the most visited National Park in the United States, then it is near the top. We now understand why – it is a truly unique place. The sites in the park are dispersed enough to spread the visitors around, and the most popular...

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Beartooth Diversion

One of the hikers we shared a campsite with in Glacier was a local from Bozeman. He recommended that, if we had time, that we make a trip to the Beartooth Mountains. We had the time, and from his descriptions it sparked our adventurous curiosity....

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Megafauna – The Yellowstone Chapter

We headed south from Glacier, stopping again in Missoula at the world’s greatest natural food store. Taking our time, we followed a dirt road along Rock Creek Canyon to Philipsburg, following the trace of one of Montana’s blue-ribbon trout...

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Under-Advertised Geology

Photo courtesy of Ali Brukner (a.k.a. Dad).When you cross over Marias Pass on Highway 2 between East Glacier and Columbia Falls, Montana, you pass by a most significant geologic feature. If you stop at the roadside rest and read the placards...

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This is what Mom has to say…

Note: This is a guest blog by my mother, Ilse Brukner. She is my inspiration -- she composes stories and poems in English, her second language after German. I think it is about time that Mom makes a contribution to her daughter’s blog .For...

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Glacier Journeys – Part 3

Our last four days in Glacier National Park were centered around Two Medicine Lakes in the southeastern portion of the park. A bit less dramatic, a bit drier, but still rich in wildlife and glacier-carved landscapes.On our way to the lakes,...

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Glacier Journeys -- Part 2

You would think after seven days and 60 miles of hiking, we would have enough. But we decided on a day hike from the Many Glacier Campground to Grinnell Glacier to see a glacier up close.We were on the trail by 7 am – this part of the park...

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Glacier Journeys -- Part 1

A couple of days before our arrival at Glacier National Park, Dad started to get grumpy and withdrawn. It took a really good joke to coax a laugh out of him. The rest of us were quite buoyant in our anticipation of reaching the northernmost...

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