I feel silly posting again from Nelson Reservoir in northern Montana, because we were there for only a few days and we’re headed into Canada where I’ll have tons of photos I’ll want to save here. Still, what a beautiful spot we were in.
Banjo got to be outside all day long every day, lying in the sun, walking in the lake, rolling in the grass. She hunted ground squirrels (we didn’t let her catch any) and complained when we turned around during walks (above). She would have stayed there if given the choice.
My goal to learn one thing every day about how to use my new camera has finally paid off; I took a photo that’s in focus! This Western Meadowlark isn’t particularly lovely or rare, but it’s in focus, by god.
This one’s not my fault. We woke up one morning to a thick haze as far as we could see, from wildfires in Canada. I wonder if smoke will hang over our whole summer, the way it did two summers ago in Montana when we had to keep moving to dodge fires. It would be a shame to go all the way to Alaska then not be able to see a thing, but if fires are that bad this summer, I’m not going to complain about my vacation.
This storm. We watched it across the lake one evening for a couple of hours at least; it just hovered in one place, drenching the plains with rain. Radar didn’t show us much for the night, so we put all our outdoor stuff in the tent to stay dry and went to bed.
We were woken by the sound of wind coming across the lake like a machine, like a beast. Hell, like a tornado. I braced myself for when it hit the trailer, pushing the whole damned thing and making it rock. 45 mph gusts have never felt so dangerous. Our minds were outside at first, assuming the tent was dead and the Starlink antenna on a tripod would get blown away. After a few gusts like that, though, we started worrying about ourselves. Even Tracy wished we’d made an emergency plan.
What’s weird is that everything survived our worst storm ever, and it didn’t even rain! No tornadoes were reported in the area, either. Just another reminder that Airstreams have zero structural similarities to storm shelters.
I’ll report back once we cross the border into Canada!
Now I miss the West! Happy to read about this brief sojourn.
That lightning photo! And you’ll get some good sunset pictures if nothing else, from the smoke further north. Crossing fingers for you getting through Alberta!
We might have to change all kinds of plans going north. And if only I could get as good photos with my new camera as I get with my old iPhone!