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Good Morning, everyone!! I'm so glad to be back on my blog!! Thursday night I was waaaaayyyyyyy too tired, which was probably not a bad thing because the campground we were in had too weak a signal to be able to get on the internet. And Friday night, I was too tired, too, so decided to wait until this morning. Mom and I were up at 3 this morning......city noises woke me and I decided I wanted to go for a walk, so she got up and took me. It's a beautiful morning here in Montana........and nice and cool. It's supposed to go up into the 80s today, so I'm glad Aunt Sue and Uncle Gale have air conditioning. This mountain air is really hot and dry and I'd rather be inside than out. Aunt Sue has a really nice house.......and she keeps it really clean. I've been helping make it look more home-like by leaving hair all over the carpet. It's really an improvement......the carpet is this dull, light beige so it needs some interesting spots here and there. I'm really trying to be helpful although I haven't had an accident yet.....I don't want to have to stay in Montana....too dry. I'm still practicing my artwork in the backyard, with the exception of sticks. Uncle Gale seems to have picked up any random sticks that might have been around but I've got my eye on a lilac bush that's just hangin' around doin' nothing. I'll be here for a week, so that does have possibilities if I get too bored.

Well, I need to take you back a couple of days. If I repeat myself, blame Mom. Early onset of Oldtimers. Once we crossed the Mississippi River, the landscape began to change and become much more rolling......Iowa is really a pretty state, but again, the presense of snow fences and barriers to shut down the roads is scarey. There are thousands of acres of corn fields......plants aren't very high yet due to the abundance of rain the area has had. They say it has been a very unusually wet spring which is great as far as I'm concerned because it's made for the BEST MUD!! I'm one of those kids who looks for the puddles and soft spots.....you know that kind! Anyhow, let me go back to the pictures......#1 would be snow fence, #2 would be lovely, sticky red mud, #3,4,5 ,6,7 would be landscape with and without the black dots which are beef cattle and they're all over the place, #8 would be antelope to the right of the tree which are also all over the place but harder to see because of their light color, #9 is the welcome to Wyoming steer......huge sculpture....#10 more landscape, and #11 me helping Daddy find something in the bottom cupboard in the trailer. Sometimes when I put my head between his legs like that, I can get to whatever he is after first. It used to be a game....now I think it's expected of me, and being the good helper dog that I am, I'm always ready to oblige. I like it best when I surprise Daddy and he yelps! He's funny.

OK, well, now we're into Thursday and South Dakota, which is very grassy and slightly rolling. We crossed the Missouri River and there was an immediate change in landscape. It began to look more western with hills and things, and scrub instead of the lush green it had been in Iowa. There are still black dots all over the place, and that great red mud. I really liked how it felt between my toes and I made great pawprints on the trailer floor!!

About noon, we stopped at this place called the 1800 Western Town to have lunch. The town itself was completely surrounded by this twelve foot fence to make sure the people would pay to go through the place because they couldn't see anything from the outside. Well, Mom took me for a walk on a strip of grass beside the town......fence on the left, roadside on the right. I've been such a good girl without my leash.....I come back when I'm called and stay close to Mom because if I don't, I know I'm gonna get bitten by something on my neck! We were doing really well, and I was looking for a spot to leave a calling turd when flash!! Right across my path ran the largest, most beautiful jackrabbit I've ever seen!! His ears were so long, and I'm positive he said, "Chase me, Juni! Chase me!" Being a guest in his state, I just knew I had to do it to be hospitable! The hard part was getting under the fence! He was smaller than I am, so he didn't have such a hard time.....and the mud made it easier to slide under, but I still had to find just the right spot! I could hear someone screaming my name behind me, but there was no turning back now! A challenge had been issued, and for Pete's sake, I'm a dog, ya know!! Well, I went off to the left. lost the rabbit, and ran into these two, HUGE dogs who didn't seem to want me in their space, so they began to chase me!! Apparently Mom was upset by not being able to get under the fence herself, so she zapped me....and I yelped and ran faster, back to the spot where I had come in and finally found a spot to get out!

Not too far away, she had her head and upper body under the fence, yelling at me so when I got under, I ran to her and jumped in her lap! Boy, was she glad to see me......but I think I was more glad to see her! Those big dogs were some scarey!! She called them mules, or donkeys, or something like that but they sure looked like dogs to me! When we got back to the camper.....on the leash......Dad took one look at the mud.....on both of us......and knew we'd had an adventure!! Mom had to change her clothes and wash up, and I had to have my feet and legs and belly all washed. I really need a bath, but I have to wait until I find a river somewhere, or a lake. Mom took a picture of the big dogs, so I'll post those on the next blog.

We ended up in a Wyoming campground that was really nice. We set the camper up and then went to the place where Dad has come to hunt in the past. We met Putter, the man who owns the hunting ranch, and his father and then looked all around their ranch. It was such a pretty place.....I did ask Mom to take some pictures.....it had all kinds of wildlife that I sooooooo wanted to get out and chase.....but mom said absolutely not! I mean, there were deer, and antelope, and pheasant, and all kinds of turkeys.....large and babies.......and birds galore!! All she'd let me do was walk around on my leash and drool.....

And on we went the next morning! We woke up to snow on the mountains....not by us, but it was only 46 degrees when we went out for our walk....on my leash.... We stopped once at a really pretty rest area and got out to walk around, but we had to stay on the cement sidewalks because there were rattlesnakes around!! Now, tell me, how many of you can poop on a sidewalk? I sure can't so I had to take a chance and find a spot on the grass....... The terrain began to change as we went north, and the elevation got higher. Southern Montana is pretty flat, with fields and fields and fields of wheat and barley....dull scenery after awhile. The best thing we saw was in Billings, Montana. It was a little white truck that said, 'Billings Poop Patrol.....All Dogs Do #2!" The license even said ' Got Poop.' and in the back was a barrel, and some shovels, and the man was off looking for poop! Reminded me of Aunt Susie in Cleveland.....checking out her living room rug for additions to her collection of my drop offs. I'll bet she could get a job in Billings with her experience! The other really fun thing was the Windmill Farm! They ones we saw were all adults, and there were over 84 of them. Mom counted as we drove along....said there were probably more, but she counted 84 for sure. We don't have farms like that in Vermont.

I guess I've about caught you up to date. If I think of anything else that was fun or exciting, I'll come back. I'm going to put some more photos on now.....until later, take care. I miss you all you eastern folks and can't wait to meet all you western folks. Bye!