Down the road we went and out of the twisty turnings roads with steep inclines and sharp long descents. The road as it wound through the mountain passes becomes more gradual and you can see further ahead of you as you are driving. The trees changed to from a mixture of pine and aspen/ birch to many more pines and a few other trees marking the landscape. Rock and fields of gravel and boulders left over from years of winter thaws or maybe a long melted glacier are replaced with more sand. As the landscape changed we noticed big holes in the sand where all the grasses had appeared to be dug out. A little further down the road all was made clear.
You got it, a buffalo! It was so awesome seeing this guy standing grazing on the road. Then we saw another right beside the truck on the opposite side of the road.
We drove a while down the road and were celebrating seeing these awesome animals on the trip. It could not get any better we said to each other as we stopped for lunch.
It couldn't get better until....
....we ended up driving through a herd of about a 125 of these animals. Big males grazing or facing off to each other, nursing mothers, babies laying in the sun on the side of the road- what a moment! We told the kids soak this in because you may never see anything like it again and even if you do most kids never see anything like it - EVER! What a great day back on the road and the day was not over.
Psalm 100:3 reminds us the Lord had made us, and we are his people. Cannot help but think of those buffalo on the road. Some were fighting a bit. They were tending to their young. They were eating and sleeping all the while with little care, life was passing them by on a busy road. To be like that in our own families and allow God who says we are his and he has made us- trusting those words. Not easy but a good thing to strive toward.
A little further down the road I saw we were going to have no problem hitting Watson Lake for the night and had an extra hour or so to burn since we agreed no night driving. We pulled off on a side stop for a dip in the hot springs.
Now a couple of things to clear up right now:
1. You will not see photos of me because I would not want you turning into a pillar of salt or even to throw up when my bod hit the screen. Trust me the world is safer without those photos!
2. I put Michelle's photos up because she is cute and she does not know how to add or delete them. With knowledge comes privilege!!!
3. The water was too hot at the top pf the springs so everyone was down river a bit. They had a nice pebble bottom and even benches to sit on in the water as well as beside the water.
4. Men should not wear speedo's!!!! There was a very nice older gentleman from another country who came out of the changing room and there was a collective gasp about the place. 'nough said about that!!!
That was not quite the end of the day as we did see a mother bear and her cubs. They were shy about getting their photo taken and it so happened a few miles down the road we saw another mother and cubs who were not shy. We also saw a big boar (male) black bear but it was too dark to get a photo.
We stopped in Watson Lake for a quick photo op with the forest of signs. They come from all over the world and it is pretty funny to see the creativity of people who hung them here on the outskirts of Watson.
Have a great day everyone. God bless you all and thanks for the prayers. As of today we have had good weather and roads. The only issues besides Michelle being sick was a broken windshield in my truck from a trucker going a little fast and throwing grave, a side light on the trailer with a rock hole in it and Michelle's Yukon getting hit with a piece of wood from a passing log truck with no real damage. We continue our journey with cooler weather now. It is not getting much above 65 during the last couple days and I finally turned in my shorts for pants for the evening and morning hours are in the 40's.
Love Jesus!
Love Others!
The Ritchie's!
