Talk about whirlwinds. In addition to the (literal) strong winds that whipped my hair into all kinds of crazy knots while we were away, the past week and a half has been a crazy whirlwind too.

Since I already told you about the unsuccessful prairie dog hunting, let me recap the rest of the critters I encountered during the Wild West Trip.

On Monday, after finishing the final trash- pick-up of the rodeo, we joined one of the pastors and a few other guys to head into the mountains to fly fish. They fished. I read my book. As we drove back toward town, one of them spotted a black bear and we were all on the alert. We saw it in the brush to the left of the road, then it disappeared. As we looked for it, I happened to look back down the road and see it scurry across to the right side. I quietly motioned to everyone else the bear was on the road - thus provoking one of the men (the same who held my gun for me, incidentally) to yell, "He's on the road!" in a not-so-subtle attempt to help us find the bear again. Thanks, buddy. I got it.

The next day, A drove up from Wyoming and picked me up and we drove from Livingston, MT down through Yellowstone and into Idaho and then Utah. On the way, we saw more little "critters-" lots of buffalo, an elk, antelope, a cat riding on the side-view mirror of an RV (REALLY wish I had been quicker with my camera for that!), chipmunks/rodents of some kind, and lots of microorganisms that changed the springs in Yellowstone to all shades of pretty colors.

Yellowstone Day was probably one of my favorite days of the whole trip - it was gorgeous weather, gorgeous scenery, and absolutely wonderful to enjoy the Lord's magnificent creation with my magnificent husband, who I had been missing while we were apart!

The final creatures we experienced on the trip were those that attacked my stomach early Friday morning in Salt Lake City. I woke up feeling really restless and nauseous, and quickly started losing everything I had ever eaten. It was not a pleasant experience, let me assure you. Makes me re-think my "I want to be pregnant" thoughts! If that's what morning sickness is like, no thank you.

We're not sure if it was a mono relapse, the flu (I had a fever Friday), a stomach virus, food poisoning....Does it matter? It's not fun.

So while the trip, overall, was good, it was beyond tiring and brain-straining once we got into SLC. Needless to say, we are thankful to be home, in our own (still-defective Sam's Club) bed. I'd rather be sick and tired here than anywhere else right now. We're still seeking the Lord's direction on where he would take us and have us plant our lives. If we are called to move to SLC, I'll also be praying that whatever creatures I experienced this last time will be held at bay for the duration of our time there!

Thanks for those of you who have been praying for our trip - we know it would have been much worse, spiritually and physically, if not for the mighty hand of God protecting us. Thank you for interceding on our behalf :)

P.S. - Check the last post for the album link for pictures of the trip. More pictures have been posted!