Anticipation

Knowing that we are going to be in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park's North Unit as one of the highlights of our Dakotas trip, I have "liked" the TRNP page on Facebook. It has been fun to see the updates and pictures they post. Feet after feet after feet of snow in the winter with subsequent park closings. Blizzards in May. Bison calves being born. Prairie dog communities coming to life with the spring. All amazing stuff.

And then today they posted this photo.

Wow. For those of you counting along at home, it is 10 weeks and a day to blast off, and after seeing this, it just can't come soon enough. My main exposure to this kind of terrain (by which I mean basically anything not temperate woodlands with a little tropical "beachy" time mixed in) has been from the window seat of an airplane. Having the chance to hike and camp in this kind of country will be an otherworldly experience, quite literally. I am awed and a little intimidated by how different this will be, but am looking forward to it very much.

This is exactly the kind of scene I envisioned when I decided it might be a good idea to finally get around to buying that new camera. I have been reading the user guide the last couple of evenings, and have been dreaming of the photo opportunities that we will have. Which reminds me of an impulse bid placed on a nice Canon telephoto lens to go with the new camera over on eBay, which I should go check on. Not that I'll win it. Nobody ever accidently wins something on eBay after a low-ball bid, right Dave?...