August 12, 201114 yr The bright side of turning 55, of course, is the 10% discount offered by participating restaurants... But seriously, although some senior discounts start as early as age 50 (AARP membership), the bulk of them seem to kick in at 55 these days (as opposed to 62 or 65). Quite amazing, the discounts you can get on anything travel related (airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruiseships), and there are even deals to be found in banking, buying a new car, etc.
August 12, 201114 yr Hi Guys! Thanks for the warm well wishes. I had a GREAT day yesterday! My wife and I took the dog for a walk.
August 12, 201114 yr The textures of the rock were just amazing. All manner of stripes and wiggles showing up. Occasionally we'd see a rock in the trail with a vivid blaze of rose quartz in it. We're looking down at Big Sky ski resort. Or part of it ... Big Sky has a lift that goes to the very top of Lone Mountain.
August 12, 201114 yr The trail stopped at a snow field. We did manage to pick it up on the other side up the hill a way, but it was weird tromping on snow in shorts for a little bit. What's the old saying? "It's steeper than it looks."
August 12, 201114 yr This is at the highest point. Probably about 9600'. Looking the other way ... she's standing in the same spot. We decided to go off trail and down into the bowl. From there we just followed the melt downhill.
August 12, 201114 yr I can't tell you how soft and interesting the ground felt. Sort of like 2 foot thick loofa. If Walt Disney did nature, this would be it. 'Course Walt wouldn't have had the patience needed to split a rock nature's way.
August 12, 201114 yr Anybody know what a vole is? Basically, it's a little rodent that likes to burrow. But up here where the snow is usually 10 feet deep, they make tunnels between the ground and the snowpack, packing mud up into the snow. When the snow melts, you end up with little above ground tunnels .... everywhere. Voles can have 5-10 littes a year with 5-10 young per litter. You do the math. You couldn't walk without stepping on vole tunnels up there. End of the trail. It was a great birthday!
August 13, 201114 yr Holy shite, that's just gorgeous! That is a beautiful way to spend the birthday, glad you got to spend it such a way. My wife and I went to Bar Harbor.Acadia National Park recently, some gorgeous sites up there as well....
August 13, 201114 yr Holy shite, that's just gorgeous! That is a beautiful way to spend the birthday, glad you got to spend it such a way. My wife and I went to Bar Harbor.Acadia National Park recently, some gorgeous sites up there as well.... Acadia is one of my favorite national parks, and I've been to way too many to count. So different relative to the more majestic parks out West. Kind of an understated, peaceful, tranquil beauty, much like the White Mountains region of NH.
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