I was starting to feel a little housebound and had ordered food for Tinker from a friend in Great Falls.   So when the opportunity came up that I could get out and drive up there with another friend (the wildlife whisperer one) on a day that was supposed to be sunny and warm (well warm up there) I took it.   

We have been stuck with a stinky (and it is) inversion in our Helena Valley and while the rest of the state seems to be benefiting from the chinook winds and warming up we haven't broken the single digits in the past week.  It sucks!   So when we left town about 10 a.m. it was -12 in the valley.   Just to show how crazy it is, within 50 miles (up over the mountains) the temperature jumped 50 degrees.   When we arrived in Great Falls the wind was howling but it was 35 degrees and since we arrived about an hour early we decided to go see about some photos up at Giant Springs State Park.

Great idea - freaking freezing cold.  The wind coming  off the river was not only enough to blow you over but it was frigid.  Enough that I think we made the photo rounds in record time (like 10 minutes) and were relieved to get back into the warm truck with the poodles and Tinker.    Still some shots were taken and well even a few were worth sharing (I may have been shivering too much to make the other clear).

I kind of thought this one below looked like maybe she was giving him directions!  LOL

A looooong lunch with my friends and good food and a marvelous time was had by all.  We didn't leave town until 2:30 and by golly it was 45 degrees there!   So we decided to drive home on the Recreation Road for a more scenic view and see if we could get some scenery photos and maybe some wildlife.  BOY did we see wildlife and I will show you those shots in another post since I really need to figure out which ones are favorites to share.  Meanwhile here is one o the Missouri River shots.  Those are ducks and geese skittering away on the water.