The recent purchase of a Toyota Corolla inspired me to get out of town briefly last weekend. Thanks to the always amazing Parkers for taking such good care of me.

Shreddin’ on the last day of the season 2011.

A typical Bozeman evening. Cold. Snow everywhere. And delicious meat. Al killed those 2 deer with one bullet! The man is that awesome. This was the first time I’d ever been involved in skinning a deer.

Our last day we were fortunate enough to be escorted by the Parkers.

One last set of pictures from the Indian Council Pow-Wow.

Hold on to yer butts because school is coming down to the wire. Less than a week and I will be done. If you are reading this and you think about it, send some good test vibes my way.

These are from a hike a couple of weeks ago before winter made its return.

This is what the scene looked like last night at about 11 pm. They found the body of the woman who had been missing today.

This morning at 8 am an explosion completely demolished several buildings in downtown Bozeman. Five businesses were completely destroyed, including the Rocking R Bar, a fairly popular destination in downtown Bozeman.

I went downtown twice today to see what was happening. It was definitely a dramatic scene, centered around a giant column of dark smoke. Police officers and firefighters were all over he place as crowds gathered at every street corner to try to get a better view.

A before and after picture of the area.

The day after Yellowstone we went snowshoeing again at Hyalite Reservoir, where there is still some winter.

Happy Birthday Davy!

On the plane flight home I managed to grab a couple pictures of Bozeman and the surrounding area.

Last Friday we had the annual Christmas Party. A plethora of goodies always insures a gala event. It was the final hurrah before the cold, stark reality of finals week set in.

The interweb claims it is negative 11 degrees outside right now, with wind chills tomorrow possibly reaching minus 35 degrees. There is about 8 inches of new snow on the ground. The temperature is the kind of cold that makes the snow squeak when you walk on it. The sun is supposed to rise at 7:57 am and set at 4:40. Brrrr………Good weather to be inside finishing your schoolwork for the semester.

Every year on the first Saturday in December Bozeman has a Christmas Stoll where they block off Main Street, the stores downtown stay open late, vendors sell food and various charity fund raising events take place.

The last two years the Christmas stroll has been one of the coldest nights all winter. This year it was about 50 degrees.