Welcome to Montana?

A snow storm in late May. I was looking north from I-90 between Billings and Livingston.

This photo was taken a few days later. These are the Crazy Mountains...honest, that's their name!

Another photo of the Crazy Mountains. 

I was on Hiway 89, headed south out of Clyde Park. I'm pretty sure these are the Absaroka Mountains. 

You know, I've lived in tornado alley practically all my life but had to go to Montana to experience one of the worst storms I've ever been in. After leaving South Dakota, I took I-90 West thru Wyoming and then into Montana. Shortly afterwards, and I'm talking less than an hour after crossing the Montana line, I noticed two storms that appeared to be headed my direction. At that point, I-90 runs pretty much north and south and one of the storms was directly to the west and the other was to the northwest. I could see the green skies in both storms and I knew what that meant....hail....or maybe I should say HAIL!!! When I heard that first "ping" on my truck, I got that sick feeling inside and knew I was in for it. Soon after the first ping, I heard another ping, then another and another. After that, the pings turned into bangs, then more bangs and then too many bangs to count. To be honest with you, I don't know how large the hailstones were. I don't know if I was totally focused on driving or if I closed my eyes but I did not see the hailstones. I do remember seeing an overpass some distance ahead of me and all I could think of was making it to that point. I finally made it to the overpass and tried to hide as much of my truck and trailer as possible underneath it. Once the hail stopped, the interstate was completely covered with hailstones. I felt it was safe to continue so I started driving again and soon regretted it. I don't know for certain but I think there may have been a tornado, or at least the beginnings of one, in the storm. The winds were intense and were blowing west to east but soon afterwards they reversed and were blowing east to west. The low clouds were whipping across the interstate ahead of me. This time I know for sure that my eyes were wide open...or should I say WIDE OPEN!!! I was driving and at the same time looking upwards into the swirling clouds above me. It was hard for me to concentrate due to all the screaming going on in the truck until I realized I was the only one in the truck so the screaming stopped. I don't know how far I drove in those conditions. It seemed like forever but probably was only 5 or 10 minutes. When I finally made it through the storm, I found the first rest stop and pulled in so I could breath for a few minutes. I got out and looked at the damage on my truck which was pretty extensive but I didn't see a lot of damage to my fifth-wheel....but only because I didn't climb up on top of it.

After driving another hour or two, I decided to stop at a Walmart parking lot to spend the night. That's  when I climbed up on top of my fifth-wheel and discovered the rest of the damage. My trailer suffered a broken skylight, broken vent cover, the awning was torn in five places (even though it was rolled up), broken running light, chipped fiberglass propane door and one dent in the metal trim that runs around the lower part of the trailer. As for my truck, it had two cracks in the windshield, a busted fog light, busted bug shield (on the front of the hood) and huge dents in the hood, cab and on the passenger side of the truck. The hail even bent up my front license plate. I knew I had to temporarily repair the items on top of the trailer that would leak if the rain continued so I got right to work. I found out one thing...if you'll climb up on your trailer in a Walmart parking lot, carrying duct tape and large plastic bags, people will drive by and look at you!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Until next time!

The Badlands!

The Badlands. I don't know about you, but I think this shot would make a great jigsaw puzzle!

This was late in the day. The cloud shadow added a lot to this photo, making it easier to distinguish foreground from background. 

This is one of my favorite shots. It was taken on the western side of the park in early morning light.  There is more color at this location than in most other areas of the park. 

I like the dark greens silhouetted against the lighter ochre and terra rosa in the background. 

Finally, I'm back on the road. I spent the winter in southern Georgia where the weather was very mild, only dropping below freezing a couple of times. My original plan was to spend the summer in the northeastern states but an opportunity has come up that brought me back to the northwest. I'll tell you more about that if and when it happens.

Since I made this same journey last year, I decided to take a different route and check out some new landscapes. I've wanted to see the Badlands in South Dakota for a long time and decided this was as good a time as any. I camped in Wall, S.D. which is only 8 or 10 miles from the western entrance into the Badlands. I spent one full day in the park, traveling from west to east and then back again, taking photos along the way. The park was smaller than I expected so I decided one day was enough and it was time to be on my way. I hope you enjoy the photos of this most unusual place.

Until next time.

Georgia on my mind!

This is the beach at Jekyll Island.

There are lots of marshy areas around. This particular marsh is near Jekyll Island.

This old fire pit is near the house shown below. I didn't stick around to see what was for supper. 

This spooky old house is near Shellmans Bluff. 

Hello! It's been ages since I've updated my blog and I apologize for that. I'll try to do better in the future.
I'm currently in Kingsland, Georgia and probably will be for a couple more months. Kingsland is in the very, very southeastern part of the state. If I traveled south only one more mile, I'd be in Florida, and, if I flew with the crows about 6 or 8 miles to the east, I'd be in the Atlantic Ocean. Although I'm not finding an over abundance of paintable subjects here, this area has turned out to be a very comfortable place to spend the winter.  While my friends back in Tulsa, Oklahoma were skating their cars around on the ice in temperatures near zero, I was having my evening coffee outside, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Now when those "polar vortexes" were wreaking havoc all over the country, we dropped below freezing several different times so I didn't escape winter altogether, but for the most part, this has been the easiest winter for me in many decades.

I'm going to attach just a few photos of this area. I haven't done a lot of exploring but I have tried to hit a few of the best areas along the coast. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to go out exploring in the next few weeks. If I find anything interesting, I'll tell you all about it, right here.

Until next time!

Still enjoying Glacier!

This is one of the locals. You can usually find him or his friends hanging around Logan Pass.

Some of the views here will just take your breath away!

Lord O Mercy! And to think I drove to Marfa, Texas to see their mystery lights and all I really had to do was come to Glacier! Those guys that photograph the orbs on the TV ghost shows got nothin' on me!

Okay, this one is not from Glacier. It's kind of weird. I feel like I've been on this road before!

I just checked the weather for the upcoming week. The highs are predicted to be around 80 degrees and the nighttime lows are going to range from 45 to 50. I never thought I'd be using my furnace in July but I am.

I've been in Columbia Falls, just outside of Glacier National Park, for a little over a week and have enjoyed it tremendously. I've made several trips into the park at different times of day and have gathered a lot of subject matter for future paintings. My ol' trusty camera has taken a turn for the worse, though. I've talked with a camera repair shop and they seem to think it's an issue with the software (they call it firmware) in the camera. I tried to download the "fix" but my computer skills, or lack of them, prevented me from getting the job done. So, once again, I got in touch with my nephew, Ron the photographer, and we have taken care of the problem. It seems that real photographers have cameras just laying around that they aren't using. I talked him into selling me one of his spares and my new camera is now on it's way to Montana. Thanks, Ron! The check is in the mail!

While I'm having some downtime waiting on my new camera, I've been taking care of some other business. I've stretched canvases for paintings that I'm going to put in the Tulsa Gilcrease Museum's "Collectors' Reserve" show, which opens in October and have also varnished three Big Bend pieces that I'm getting ready to ship to the Whistle Pik Gallery in Fredericksburg, Texas. I have also just completed my first painting of Glacier National Park. Oh, I may have taken a nap or two during my downtime also!

Until next time!

Glacier National Park!

Lake McDonald, which is just inside the west entrance into the park. 

McDonald Falls, on the northeast end of the lake. 

Hmmm. I must be gettin' old. I can't remember the name of the distant waterfall.

A tiny segment of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

I shot this when I was on top of Logan Pass. Logan Pass is at elevation 6,646 feet.

I'm at Glacier National Park in Montana and it is beautiful! The weather is perfect and the scenery is spectacular! I've driven a lot of miles to get here but it has been worth it. I am not disappointed. This is a location that you have to put on your bucket list of places to visit.

By the time I arrived in Columbia Falls, it was late afternoon.  I got my trailer leveled and the utilities hooked-up and decided to make a quick run into the park to see what I could find. The sun sets late here so I still had several hours of daylight. I entered the park at West Glacier and took the Going-to-the-Sun Road up to Logan Pass before I decided it was time to turn around and head home. Just as a side note, when I first saw the name of the road, I thought it was kind of silly. But after driving on it, I understand how it got it's name. The road goes up and up and up and up!!! When I'd find a place to pull over and take pictures, I'd look ahead and see the road continuing upwards as far as I could see. But let me tell ya, the road is very narrow in places, enough so until I thought I might lose the mirrors on my truck. So far, so good. I still have my mirrors!

Until next time!

Along the way!

My first view of Scott's Bluff National Monument.

Overlooking the North Platte River.

This is just to the west of Scott's Bluff National Monument.

Sunset. 

Once again, I'm having to play catch-up. I've put quite a few miles behind me since my last post and have taken lots of pictures since then. After leaving the Texas hill country, I stopped in the Texas panhandle to visit my brother who is ill, and my sister who is there helping to take care of him. I spent 15 days there but finally hitched-up in early July and started making my way to Montana. I spent my first night on the road in Oakley, Kansas, but didn't take any pictures there. The next day, I made my way to Sidney, Nebraska, where I would spend the next two nights.

Being in Sidney, I wasn't far from Scott's Bluff National Monument but wasn't sure I wanted to make the drive. It was about 50 miles away but I'd already spent plenty of time in the driver's seat of my F-250 and the thought of just having a lazy day appealed to me. But the chance to see new country and possibly find new subjects to paint finally won out...and I'm glad it did.

Even though Scott's Bluff is a relatively small park, it is very scenic. The road from the visitor's center to the top of the bluff is only one and a half miles long but I passed thru 3 tunnels on the way. Once at the top, I was impressed with the view. The bluff is located in the middle of the plains, so being on top of the 800 foot tall monument allowed me to see for miles and miles and miles. Looking to the east, the city of Scott's Bluff was the backdrop which, in my opinion, detracted from the view...but that's just me. The views to the south and west were beautiful!

After leaving Sidney, I spent the next night in Casper, Wyoming. I was only there one night and didn't bother unhitching. The next morning, I headed out with Montana in my sights!

Until next time!

Headin' North!

This is near Boquillas Canyon, on the eastern side of Big Bend National Park. In this photo, the U.S. is on the right side of the river and Mexico on the left. 

This is at the mouth of Boquillas Canyon. Obviously, I'm standing on the U.S. side and Mexico is on the right side of the river. 

A few Mexican Burros grazing near the river. 

I don't know what kind of cactus this is, but I'm pretty sure the flower is safe from any intruders!

I'm getting a later start than I had planned, but I'm finally heading north to escape the heat. As of now, I'm in the Texas panhandle, visiting with family. My brother lives here but is in poor health so my sister, who normally lives in Georgia, is here helping to take care of him. I've been here a little over a week and plan to stay another 5 or 6 days, but will continue my journey north soon.

I'm not certain exactly where I'm headed. From here, I'm going to head up thru Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Soon after that, I'll have to decide if I'm going to turn left and go into Montana or turn right and head towards Minnesota and Wisconsin. I guess I'll play-it-by-ear, as they say. It should be a fun adventure, regardless of where I end up.

I haven't taken any pictures recently, so I've looked back through my recent trips and decided to share a few more pictures of Big Bend National Park, in Texas. Hope you enjoy them.

Until next time!