What a difference a day makes!

The next day we had to drive to Great Falls to meet our good friend and pick up a 1/4 side of beef, but the weather had become a little less pleasant.  Inspite of the bad weather, we still always enjoy the scenery between Helena and Great Falls.  We had to fit all that beef in the freezer in our house since our 'extra' freezer stays in our home in Piedmont, and boy was it packed.  But after some fun shoveling and and more great sledding, we had a super steak dinner, which Jorge was nice enough to grill outside, because I would have taken the wimps way out and cooked inside on the cooktop! 

Carroll College Play off game 38 -2

It was perfect weather for football, in the 30's with the sun shining.  Jorge and I had great seats, center section 8 rows up and got to watch Carroll beat Marion IL, sending CC to the semi finals next week.  Due to Carrolls zero loss record, they are again playing at home.
The hill I focused on is 'the sledding' hill at Carroll, where sledding is popular for all the community. And as you can tell, the view of Mt. Helena is always a wonderful backdrop.

SNOWDRIFTS AND THANKSGIVING FUN

For those of you from southern climates, snowdrifts form on the leeward side of objects when snow fall is accompanied by high winds. Snowdrifts can be humongous, reaching several feet in height. The recent snow fall in Montana came with high winds and these are some of the patterns we found when we arrived here.

Even though the snow on the ground is not even because of the drifts, there is enough snow that sledding was a must, and it was fun!

Self portrait of Jake and I

Linda gets our sleds ready

I feel the need for speed

Here comes Mama

Oops, getting ready to do a 180 coming down at full speed

Wipe out!

Full 180 coming down fast

Trying to stop...

Wiped out!

JOURNEYING TO MONTANA

No matter how many times we have traveled between Wyoming, and most recently South Dakota, and Montana, it is never boring. I mean, there are lulls in the travel experience, particularly during the summer months in eatern Wyoming. But none of it was boring this time as we traveled to Montana for a Thanksgiving break. We left Tuesday mid-afternoon, ate dinner with Chicky and Steve and spent the night in Sheridan Wyoming, then completed our journey on Wednesday. Here is somewaht of a travel log:

It was 13 degrees when we left South Dakota. About an hour into our trip and shortly after crossing the SD state line, the wind picked up, the side mirrors fogged up, and the temperature shot up to 38 within a stretch of one mile

This is my favorite-notice my car sillhouted against the brightness of the setting sun

The sun has set, but the cloud pattern still painted the sky beautifully

Wednesday morning it was -10 in Sheridan Wyoming. After we passed Billings, where the temperature had risen to a tropical 1 above, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. Things got a little hairy between Big Timber and Livingston where cross winds blew snow over the road, first from one side, then the other.

We won't comment on the risks of taking pictures while driving in this kind of weather. Isn't that called "distracted driving" now. We just could not help ourselves, always wanting to share these unique experiences with you JIR

  

What do you get..

...when you take a bunch of scrap fabric, chop it up, and put it all back together?

Charleston, SC

The only trip we took outside of Charleston was a ferry over to Ft. Sumter.  Very interesting..

We got a kick out of all the parking tickets on this car.

They 'lost' my carry on bag (long story) and when I got it back, the case was broken and useless, as well as a few other things.  Luckily the damage to my sewing machine is cosmetic and it was still usable. I do not carry my good sewing machine when I fly, and this is why.

More of our hotel.

These are of the restaurant we enjoyed the most, it was called: Hominy Grill, and was very southern, and very, very fattening. They served boiled peanuts while you waited for dinner, Jorge is holding 'fried green tomatoes', and I had a piece of fried chicken breast, with Parmesan cheese on top, between a biscuit.  I had them put the gravy on the side.  There were enough calories in that alone to last me a whole day.

Here are some pictures from Charleston, SC.  The above two were in the hotel lobby.