After our last night at the Dude Ranch and a hearty breakfast, we start our day with a plan.  We will go to Yellowstone when it opens and head straight to the bison herd and waterfalls before the crowds get big.  We know we have to run the “bear dinning gauntlet”...

Second day at the Dude ranch and I’m still calling Gene Dude.  He is mildly amused.  Just mildly. But he didn’t hide the bear spray, so I think he still has my back. We started our day with a “Legendary hearty biscuits and sausage” breakfast and coffee at 7 a.m.  We...

Several years ago, I met a wonderful woman named Trudie.  She learned that I was going to start treatment for breast cancer and she offered to help me in any way she could.  Unlike many offers of help people made, she meant it.  She contacted me several weeks into...

Day 2.  Casper to Cody, WY We took the opportunity to take a two mile walk on the Platte River Parkway trail, (oddly enough along the Platte River) through Casper, and enjoyed the cool morning and crisp air.  It was a bit of a climb in some places, but it was paved...

Gene and I have been trying to get to Montana for about five years now, and something always comes up and we put it off for another year.  This year, he had a meeting scheduled in Colorado Springs and I suggested we spend a couple of weeks with Steven, then head north...

I don’t know about the rest of you, but the first time I wore a mask into the grocery store, I felt like a bank robber. I remember looking around and watching people do a double take when they saw me, and feeling uncomfortable. To make matters worse, Gene sat out in...

Itsy Bitsy Spider After a beautiful yesterday morning, we stopped at the end of the driveway to pick up the mail and paper. Gene Lariviere got out, gathered the mail, opened the door of the truck and handed me the mail and got in and closed the door. I unfolded the...

A few years ago, when I was expecting the arrival of my first grandchild, I purchased a sheet of stamps and framed it for the baby’s room.  I told my daughter-in-law that the gift served two purposes.  It was decorative art for the baby’s room and in case of...