I’ve been taking some side roads on the way here and there to let Bear see a variety of country and livestock…my mission being to help him get used to the landscape of the west. He gets quite a lot of exercise on our rides as he is back and forth in the back of the Jeep…watching and looking to see what there is to see. I leave the passenger window cracked open enough that he can get plenty of scent as well. He watches with such eager anticipation…it makes me look with new eyes as well.

Early on Saturday we found this spot. It is just a few miles away. There is a paved road that winds around this small valley just a half mile off the highway. The valley is subdivided. Utilities and water are in, site markers are in place…it is just waiting for buyers. It is a perfect place for us to walk. There are 2 “courts” that have shade to leave the Jeep.

We went back early this morning, the Fourth of July, Independence Day in America. I am, of course, partial to Montana’s spacious skies.

But, I know there are beautiful, spacious skies all over the United States as well as the rest of the earth. I hope your skies are beautiful today, no matter where they are. Happy Fourth of July to all!