Star Valley Pickleball, The Grand Opening of the New Courts

Besides lapidary and wildlife photography, we also play quite a bit of pickleball. It keeps us active and helps us to acclimatize to the six thousand foot elevation. It’s a great way to meet people and we look forward to playing the fun game.

Our club started with nineteen people in 2010 and has grown to three hundred and sixty members. With skill levels from 2.5, beginner to 4.5, (each level is 0.5 increase), and even perhaps 5.0. At first the founders, Mary, pictured at far right, and her husband, had taped the pickleball courts over the tennis courts. There were two which converted to eight. As the club grew we needed more courts and another four courts were added where a bumper boat pond had been located. It quickly became obvious that this wasn’t enough and another four courts were planned and finally finished this past week, (we now have sixteen courts). To celebrate the new courts opening the club held a grand opening event. To inaugurate the new courts members could put their names in a hat and if drawn be the first to play.

Renita decided to put her name in and she was drawn for the 3.0 skill level!

The President of the club gave a speech about the growth of the club which was followed by the ribbon cutting ceremony. After that it was game on and all sixteen of the courts, new and old, were busy! Thanks to all who worked so hard to raise money for the new coursts and to the park who agreed and provided the land! Game on and of course Clear Skies! Before the SVRR Park added the Pickleball courts new lots sales were sluggish at best. Now the lots sell almost as fast as they build them. Any rv part without them is at a disadvantage. Our park is the largest rv park west of the Mississippi!

Great Horned Owl

Our friends Fred and Becky drove up in their golf cart. They were excited as they had found the park’s great horned owl. Another photographer had posted pictures of it on our parks Facebook page and Fred had gotten pictures of it sleeping. He showed us the pics on his camera and gave us detailed directions on how and where to find it. Getting our camera gear ready we opted to walk over, we needed the exercise, but after carrying the heavy gear I started to complain as we got mixed up and took a couple of wrong turns, Renita looked it up on Google Maps and we found the reported location.

We looked at the wrong tree and couldn’t see the huge owl until a kind lady came out of her house and pointed at the owl. They have such great camouflage! It was sleeping and had its back to us. She told us that the owl had been there all day. She also said there were two others, but we never spotted them. As we took pictures of its back it woke up and started to preen.

She also told us that everyone had great feathers from its previous preening, (I didn’t have the heart to tell her that collecting feathers was against the law). Renita meanwhile found a great vantage point and motioned for me to come over as she could see its eyes. As usual she had found the best spot and directed me to where I could take a good full body shot. It had its eyes open and was watching us!

As we continued to watch, another lady came over with her small dog and asked what we were looking at. The owl then crouched and stared at us, or should I say it stared at the small dog. It was probably trying to decide if the dog would make a great breakfast treat!

Luck was with the dog as the Great Horned Owl decided that its intended prey was protected, and it didn’t swoop down. Losing interest in the dog, it turned away from us and we decided to head home. It was a nice break from rock work. Thanks Fred and Becky! Clear skies

Cabbing Time

It’s cabbing time and so in the cooler mornings we grind stones, (it reached 91 F for the past three days). A front has passed through, and the temps are now down into the eighties. Our humidity is usually about ten percent and so it’s pleasant without needing air conditioning. Each year, after all our shows, we make an inventory of what we have sold. Next we locate the rough rocks and saw them into slabs, (using a slab saw). From there we draw the shapes before using a trim to saw rough shape them into what we call preforms. These are now ready for us to grind into finished pieces, called cabochons, before giving them a finish polish.

To do this we select the preforms and then grind them on diamond wheels. The first wheel has a grit size of 100, wheel two is 220, and the third wheel is the special wheel that we think of as a magic wheel with 400 grit. Thie first two wheels are rigid, but the third wheel has a pliable backing that takes the edges off the preforms and cuts them into their final shape. we grind these by hand, as using dop sticks is unnecessary, (unless the stones are too small to grip, which are used for rings or earrings).

After washing the cabs, we inspect them for any scratches before finishing them. Wheel number four has a grit size of 600, wheel five is 1200 and the sixth wheel is 14000, (we also have a wheel coated with 50,000 diamond grit but it is rarely used.

Finally. we give them a final polish on a buffing wheel. The last step is to inspect them for any flaws or scratches before saving them in glass cases. We only finish about fifteen cabochons every third day, this gives us a few days for my back and hands to rest/recuperate). The cabs are then stored and taken on our winter travels. We turn them into jewelry when the weather is too bad for fishing, birding, or hiking. Clear skies and rock on!. I still enjoy making cabs even though we have made thousands. It’s still amazes me that we can take a rock and turn it into a stunning cabochon/piece. For safety all cabs are ground with water to minimize dust. We do not wear jewelry and also wear a N 95 respirator/ mask, a lab apron, and a safety shield. Our cabbing machine is a Genie, which was made by Diamond Pacific, a company in California.

Summer shows and friends visits

It’s been a crazy busy three weeks! In that time, we have attended, set up, and sold at three shows, had visits from two sets of friends, and even found time to go fishing. While I have already discussed the Alpine and Cody Shows, which are multiday shows, we also had a very abbreviated show at our rv park.

Renita did take an image of me actually working at the Cody Show, (several had suggested that I make her do all the work, which is not true as I do help her with advice…. She also took some images of the 4th of July parade at Cody, Wyoming.

Last week our dear friends Bob and Nancy visited us. Unfortunately, hot weather arrived and their VRBO did not have any air conditioning. We don’t have it either and we never had air conditioning when we lived in Gillette. Here the temperature drops as soon as the sun sets and is usually in the forties or fifties. Bob and I did attempt to go fishing at my secret fishing hole, but the altitude made the walking treacherous and so after an hour we slowly headed back to our place, (we caught and released four large trout, three cutthroats and a brown. These are all wild native fish. That evening they told us they needed to return home, but not before we taught them how to play Jokers and Pegs. Last weekend we had a record sales in the show at our park. Renita was so busy with the credit cards that I almost felt guilty, but she knows better than to let me mess things up. My job is to tell stories, which are mostly true. We may sell at another show but we really need to make cabochons to replace all that we have sold. Our biggest selling stones for this year were made of Kingman turquoise, larimar, and Wyoming jade. We usually make the stones in the summer and then finish them into jewelry in the winter time. We have also played quite a bit of Pickleball, and even though we love playing we have been beaten badly, even getting pickled, (when you don’t score a point). It doesn’t matter as long as we get our exercise and try to improve our game, have fun, and don’t fall!

Finally, we were visited by an old friend Robert Woolery. I mentored him when he was a new hire in Gillette and he told us he won teacher of the year in his Arizona and Syracuse Schools. It was so nice to see him again and to tell old teaching stories. Thanks for the visits! Clear skies

Yellowstone 2024 Grizzlies and a New Life Bird

Each year we look forward to the Cody, Wyoming Wild West Arts Festival. It’s three days of parades and fun and we set up our booth to sell our Jewelry. We always plan on a few extra days to enjoy the surrounding area by making day trips to Yellowstone National Park. This year was an exceptional year as we spotted a new bird for a life list and encountered three grizzly bears. Our friends Fred and Becky had already made a trip to Yellowstone and had encountered several Harlequin ducks. These ducks are small sea ducks that nest in areas with rapids. They had told us that the ducks were located at Le Hardy Rapids. As we drove through Yellowstone, I spotted the sign for the rapids, and we parked in the lot hoping that the Harlequinn ducks were still there. As we walked down the short trail, we could see them perched and resting on a flat rock! We were both elated to see the beautiful ducks and told other visitors, (they did not seem terribly impressed, definitely not birders).

Continuing our drive, we hoped to see some black bears and perhaps a grizzly. The day before we had encountered a bear jam where a sow and her new coy, (new cub of the year), put on a show. The bear has been given the name Raspberry and her new cub is called Snow. The sow was grazing in open spaces between fallen trees and it was comical watching the cub keeping up with mamma bear. Raspberry didn’t have any problems crossing the log jams, but each fallen tree was an almost insurmountable problem for the little cub. It would pull itself up and then lose its balance as it fell off the fallen timber.

Still, it managed to tag along, and we watched them for forty-five minutes before they disappeared in a cove of fallen timber. The next day we drove back but just missed the pair and so we headed to the Hayden Valley and Lamar Valleys. We didn’t see any bears at Hayden Valley, but it was filled with Buffalo.

Many of the bull bison were dusting themselves in dried wallows to give them some relief from insects. At one spot the bull was very near the road, and it glared at us as we quickly stopped to take its picture.

Forgetting us it rolled over in the dried ground creating a cloud of dust!

What a sight. We decided it was time to go even though we were at least twenty-five yards away, which is the required distance to safely view the huge animals. Passing Canyon Village and Tower Junction we decided to drive up the Lamar Valley looking for bears and wolves. The valley was full of buffalo herds, but we didn’t spot much else. However a coyote posed right next to the road.

Further on we used our binoculars to glass the canyon walls and spotted several mountain goats. They were so far away that you really couldn’t see much, just a white goat shaped object. Reaching the Northeast entrance we passed through Cooke City and then Silver Gate. As we left Siver Gate we saw about twenty people watching something.

The something was the largest Grizzly bear we have seen in quite a while. It was grazing about one hundred yards away and we didn’t get a great image as it was surrounded by bushes. It finally disappeared into the brush and several people decided that they would try to push the bear back into an open area for more pictures. What could go wrong? We decided to leave as we didn’t like their idea. Continuing we turned right and drove the Chief Joesph Highway. At a rest area you can walk out to enjoy the view of a steep and narrow canyon. It had been a great two days with new life birds and a huge grizzly bear. Of course, any trip into Yellowstone is always filled with memories of wildlife and scenic views to calm ones soul. Clear skies

Alpine Mountain Days 2024

Our summer shows schedule started with the Alpine Mountain Days, in Alpine Wyoming. It’s a well-run three day event and we look forward to it each year. One of the highlights is the Native American dances.

This year we were so busy at our booth that I couldn’t break way to watch as many dances as I would have liked. Still, I was able to watch the Children’s dance where Native American invited nonnative children participate! The kids had fun and it was a great dance that everyone enjoyed.

Later I was able to watch a traditional family dance, followed by a nontraditional dance. The main difference was that the outfits in the nontraditional dance contained modern materials and designs. The dance I was able to watch was the Women’s Dance.

The last dance was a male dance. It was obvious that all the dancers were caught up in the excitement of the performances. Thank you to all the dancers and drummers, for sharing your culture! Finally, a thank you to all the people of Alpine, Wyoming who made the show such a success! Clear skies

Six Grizzlies in one day at Grand Teton National Park

Usually, we don’t see bears. Our average is about once in every three visits. However, we sometimes have amazing days, one of which was during our last visit. On that day we saw six grizzly bears, all of which were sows with cubs. Arriving at the GTNP we always stop to get our cameras ready. Several times we waited till we accidentally saw bears and by the time we got the cameras ready it was too late as the bear, (bears), had disappeared into the forest. We also check to see if there are any bear jams and plan our drive accordingly. On this day we saw a huge jam that was probably from a bear, (they usually show up as a red traffic congestion warning). Some people have scanners turned to the parks frequency and get the warnings at the same time as the wildlife management team. Renita took over the driving and I got ready to bail out the door, after which she finds a parking spot.

It wasn’t very far to before we saw a lineup of cars. Parking a good distance away, we both walked down the ditch until we reached the point where we could see the two grizzlies. It was 399 and her yearling Spirit. They were both grazing like cows and occasionally digging up tubers and grubs. They ignored all the people and slowly grazed to the highway. The bear management team ordered everyone to clear a path for the bears to cross. They kept all of us at least one hundred yards away for our and the bears safety.

It got to be a mess as they crossed but Renita managed to get several great pictures of them on the pavement. My moment came when they started to feed in the roadside ditch, and I got a picture of Spirit with a mouth full of flowers!

There were so many people that they often got in my way, ( I always try to keep a buffer zone of people between me and the bears). They continued feeding and 399 would sniff the air, perhaps she smelled the odor of Bruno. He is the dominant boar grizzly that kills and eats cubs so that the sow will mate, (dominate lions do the same thing, regardless of what you saw in Lion King). As we watched another photographer told us that grizzly bear 1063, (Bonita), was putting on a show with her three new coys. That’s a name given to brand new cubs and is an acronym for cubs of the year. It is her first litter.

Just as we arrived people were picking up their cameras and starting to leave. We had just missed them as they disappeared from view. We decided to sit still and hope they would reappear. Almost three hours later they had not shown up and we were getting ready to leave when we saw several people taking pictures! We could just see her back, but she moved to the south and climbing over a small rise came into view. Again, they decided to cross the road and so the Wildlife Management Team cleared a path for the bears. While we did not get a good shot of the crossing we were able to get pictures as she grazed.

The three coys stayed near their mom and we didn’t get very good pictures, but we did get some and the one posted was our best! They finally headed into the forest, it was probably feeding time, and so we left and drove to Leeks Marina where we fed on an excellent pizza!

From there we drove the Teton Park Roadway but didn’t see much of anything.

It didn’t matter as we had a great day watching six grizzlies, (our record is eight in one day). Now we are still working on our new park model. Our first big show of the year is next weekend at Alpine Mountain Days. Hopefully we will have a good three days and start to put more money back into savings. Clear skies