Star Valley #4 -- shed some light

These are pictures I took in and around the ranch in the early evening on Friday. (Remember, you can click on any of them to get a larger view.) The shed pictures are perhaps my favorites. They haven't been processed, except to downsize them. Perfect light never fails to delight me. The horse. Well, everyone called him the dalmatian horse. And he pretty much looks the same in color as he does in black and white. The windows are in the pavilion where we had dinner and the rest are just shots from around the ranch. Click on the birdy (or any picture) to get a close-up. Look for the animal faces in the knots and weathered wood in the last picture in the post. It reminds me of one of those picture puzzles from childhood where one hunted for hidden pictures. Next-- The waterfall hike.

~Folks~ Star Valley #3

After the second trip down the river which was as much fun as the first, I bought a cozy sweatshirt at the ranger's shop. Ah! How nice to be warm again. After a delicious steak dinner, I took a few shots as everyone sat in a circle. The picture of the couple are Kerry and Bill. Tomorrow I'll add pictures from a couple of the studies I did of things that interested me around the ranch.

Snake River Rafting -Star Valley #2

Friday morning there was a a beautiful breakfast. (Thank you Ann and Lynn), but I can't even remember if I ate anything. I was excited and perhaps sensibly a bit anxious. Bill and Kerry Biggerstaff have been rafting for many years and generously brought the rafts and all the equipment for the adventure. Many thanks to them. It was by turns blissful, thrilling and very, very wet. The pictures are of rapids called 'The Big Kahuna'. My friend Lynn,(yellow hat) had the good sense to hold on with both hands. I'm the one in the pink hat waving like I'm on a Brahma at a rodeo. Wahoo!

Star Valley #1

Star Valley Wyoming
August 13-15, 2009
I was so pleased when my friend Lynn asked me if I'd accompany her on a three day trip to go rafting on the Snake River with a bunch of great folks from her neighborhood. Rafting was something entirely new to me. It was the perfect cap to the summer my husband and kids dubbed me 'Adventure Girl'.
The views of the valley are from the Carlisle Ranch which is north of Afton. I'd never been to this beautiful valley before and I was absolutely thrilled to go because my Curtis grandparents homesteaded there in the early 1900's when my father was a teenager. He used to tell me cowboy bedtime stories of breaking wild horses, taming Magpies for a little cash and Olympian-sized thunderstorms. He also painted several landscapes of the valley when he was young. When I viewed these early works as a girl, I used to think the mountains looked fake. I discovered on this trip that they do indeed look as he painted them. Now that I've been there, I've set aside my foolish adult skepticism about his tall tales and find that in my child's heart I know every story he told me is true.