Oh my dear dear Wyoming! How I've longed to see you, to live within your borders, for so very long. At long last we meet! :) Wyoming really was pretty! Rolling hills and beautiful! I'd live there!
South Dakota was actually way prettier than I would have ever imagined!
DO I look happy? :) I used to say, forever and ever, that I wanted to "grow up" and own a ranch in Wyoming or Montana! That was my dream and to be honest, I think it still is, a little bit. :)
HAHA! As I was pumping gas, in a teeny little mountain town (I never risked it with the gas. No one wants to get stranded in the mountains with no gas and a cell phone with no service!), I noticed the gas pump. Made me chuckle enough to get my camera out! This had to do with all the bikers that were traveling to Sturgis for the bike festival. Did I ever finish that whole story from before?.............
Oh Montana. Oh MONTANA!! OH MONTANAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously! Gorgeous!
Carla was the photo taker of the trip. I thought I was the "photographer" but wow, if I would have had my camera out as much as she did, I would have gone a little crazy in the head, I'm thinkin. lol! I think that as I've gotten more into photography- as a side business- I don't feel the need to take out my camera at every instance. Granted, sometimes I regret that, a bit. But I continue to hear the wise words of a friend/leader from my mission trip with Teen Mania to South Africa and Namibia. I, along with all the other kids, were just snappin our little hearts away with our cameras. At every opportunity. And this leader, Jenni, wasn't. She wasn't much older than I was (I had just graduated High School and I think she was 19 or 20) so we were able to talk a lot. At some point I asked her why on earth she wasn't taking many photos of the beautifulness around her! And her reply was simple. "I'm trying to learn to take it all in, with my eyes, and enjoy it now. That way I don't miss as much as I did when I was behind the camera lens." Okay, that's a paraphrase because that was over 13 years ago so there's no way I would remember, word for word, what she said! ha! But the meaning of what she said, always sticks with me! I don't want to miss what's in front of me because I'm so busy trying to "preserve" it for later. When I got my photos back from that trip to Africa I realized that they really didn't do the land any justice. It was just a photo. Next time I'm there, I will open my eyes more and take it all into my internal hard drive! :)
All that to say, Carla did get some amazing photos! Maybe it's more that I don't take the time and energy to put into the photos, what I should, in order to get photos that I really like?! Anyway...onward we go................ :)
We camped, in Glacier National Park, for 2 nights. Yes, I, Karisa, decided it would be good to camp. I can't believe what's happening to me. :) I was the one who wholeheartedly agreed with the greeting card I once saw that read "I love NOT camping!" :) But as I grow older (and wiser, might I add), I have come to appreciate the simple things in life a bit more. Like the smells and sounds that you wake up to when camping! The stillness of the morning, deep in the woods. The crispness in the air that makes you want to take a deep breath in! I really love it! Now. I also still really love HOTELS! :) AND I am still, by all means, a self declared Hotel Snob! But, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy some camping times as well. Just so long as I don't have to look nice to go do anything! :)
We really had such a nice campsite and this park is amazing! It's no wonder that so many people travel to Glacier National Park in the summer months! It's beautiful and amazing! I would love to go back sometime, when I can stay longer! p.s. Do you see that trail back behind our campsite? That was our own personal trail. ;) We set our tent up right there at the beginning of it and watched for bears at night. :) Never saw any, but we know they were there. :)
While driving through the park, and getting out for photo ops, we came across this beaut! Bighorn Sheep. Wow! If my mom would have been with she probably would have scolded me for how close I got. Granted, I have a telephoto lens on for these pics, but I was still QUITE close. :) It was exhilarating! The unfortunate thing is what brought these 2 guys around. Someone had obviously dropped/spilled or placed some sort of food/drink in one of the off road parking areas. Because that's where we first found the one, licking it off the pavement. There are signs throughout the park and park shops that tell you to not leave ANYTHING, not even any food droppings, laying around because then it causes the animals to come closer and closer to human interaction and they aren't forced to continue to find their own food. It puts humans, as well as the animals, in danger. So sad.
Glaciers and waterfalls. At first It thought it was just snow until I realized why it's called Glacier National Park! They are glaciers, people! Wow! How amazing is that?! :) But I heard several park people say that within 20 years they are expected to all have melted. And no, I don't believe it's because of global warming. It's just life. yeah? :)
They are pretty cool though!
This bumper sticker hits the nail on the head! haha!
Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. We got down to the waters edge for awhile. So stunning!
I guess I've lost my touch with the self portraits that include a wonderful view of the background! Actually, I think it's the camera. It's so much heavier than my cameras used to be. Yep. That must be it!
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