lots of pictures of the baby bears...

 who doesn't love baby bears!!  these guys are super cute and fluffy too.

 they came back out from the meadow and we positioned ourselves for another family of bears walking past us.  love it!!

 mama was looking for a good place to cross with the family.

 here in Anchorage it feels hot as hell.  for us that is above 80F.  so i know that sounds like a lovely temperature for many of you...for us it feels extremely hot though.  Blossom and the pups were all wanting to just quit the hike today and lay in the shade.

 we eventually convinced them all to walk far enough to lay down in the creek. that is at about 2 miles in.  then we turned around for the return trek.

 great to visit with my friend on the walk.  sadly, her dog just passed.  RIP Mandee.  she was able to help me with my crew..always great to have help out there.  we saw one huge bull moose in the distance on the way out.  he wasn't that far from the trail actually, just far from us.  i thought it was a bear since the girth was large, but just a big bull. he headed up the hill.  on the way back we saw 2 big bulls way off trail.  is it time for the rut already?  i know way too early, but this is usually a sight you see later in the fall on Powerline.  we just got lucky out there today.

 i picked Powerline trail because i thought perhaps it would be cooler in the mountains and there is usually several little water holes for the dogs....neither of these was true today. bummer.

 the dogs were all pooped out after todays walk.  i filled the puddle pool at home and we all just chilled.  i know...no sympathy from anyone who actually lives in temperatures over 100F.  believe me 80 feels hot here.

 have thought i may just leave pups out overnight for test, but each night they are ramped up and won't settle until i put them in their crates..so not ready for all  night out yet. lots of training to be done with these pups...same as these cubs with their mom.  todays lessons out there were river crossings and beginning fishing.  fun to watch this mama bear teach her charges the ways of life as a  bear.

 Republican convention is this week.  people actual take vacation time to go to these things.  i can't imagine doing that myself but there they all are with their red, white and blue hats and clothes. to each his own. i'm happy i spent my vacation time with these bears. much more relaxing and peaceful

 had to laugh as apparently Drumpf's wife's speech had some exact lines from first Lady Obama's speech from years ago.  you think they would have at least stolen the lines from a fellow Republicans wife.  it's not like i expected some amazing speech from her, i don't think he married her for her brains.  saw her being interviewed i think by Matt Lauer?  she sounded like she was saying she'd written most of the speech herself and that he'd have to wait until she gave it that night to know what she'd said in it.

 politics...pretty insane, especially this year.  i'm a bit convinced that there are some in the Republican Party actually trying to make it easier for Hillary to become POTUS.  seemed odd that within a week she was cleared on Benghazi by a Republican led investigation and also  FBI came out saying she wouldn't be prosecuted on the email stuff.  so odd i thought.  maybe they'd rather just have her in office and try to control her and keep their senate and house seats.  if Drumpf gets in they may lose some of those seats in the next elections.

 of course, the flaw in that is that then Hillary could appoint the judges she wants to the supreme court.  maybe they can hold off on any further retirements for 4 years.  you never know what is going on in closed offices in DC. i don't trust either party.

 i'm not keen on either of these guys becoming POTUS, but the major parties both gave us crap...what is an Independent voter to do.  vote for the least damaging or potentially least damaging.  i found myself hoping they picked good running mates and then somehow die in office early.  not sure i'm too keen on Drumpfs selection and Hillary hasn't announced yet.

 there have actually been quite a few Presidents die in office.  i'm not asking for an assassination before i get some call from the CIA...sepsis or a heart attack...you know natural causes.

 someone noted that some of Drumpfs worse twitters happen late at night...that makes me think alcohol...late night consumption followed by late night twitter messages.

 that is it for politics for me...i don't like either candidate, i can't believe this is the best we have to offer up as a nation for people to run for our highest office  we are doomed i fear.

 have tried to slip in to the office here and look at more pictures from Hallo Bay. not much else accomplished today.

 she made a few runs at this river crossing before just crossing over..it was probably a test run.

 she figured they could manage it and then just crossed.  better follow mama bear or get left behind.  don't think she'd actually leave them behind, but i'm sure she wants them to just do the crossing and gain confidence.

 their return trip was fast as she got spooked and they booked back across the river.  we didn't see that part though.

 i had intended to look at new mowers and hit a grocery store. i had an old second hand mower i got free, the other day there were these ominous popping sounds and then it just stopped.  done.  i attempted it again today...no go.

 hesitant bear cubs.

 coaching by mom

 the pups went right into their crates and it is totally quiet down there now.  they crashed hard.

 i did watch a movie, "Difret".  it was about a young girl who gets taken to be made a wife.  apparently in many places a guy asks the father about the daughter, but ultimately instead of courting the young woman they kidnap her and rape her and then marry her...since the guy has taken her virginity away, well of course, they should be married...such a romantic and lovely start to marriage.  anyway, this young 14 year old seized the opportunity to leave her captor, grabbed his gun on her way out and when he decided to chase her she shot him

 he died and everyone in her village felt she should be killed. self defense wasn't seen as an option.  a female law group saw the case and got involved.  they were successful in helping her and many other women  get some basic rights.  they are still working to protect girls/women from this sort of thing...kidnapping brides.  tough to change some people though.  womens rights have come much further along in some parts of the world over other parts of the world.

 mom crossing over

 she returned to the cubs and then eventually they all crossed over.

 here are the three babies making their way across to their mama.

 mom waits for them.

 and they are out.  guess i should head to bed.  another night off before i head to work on Wednesday.

grateful for:.  A.  having a better vacation planned than the convention. B. that presidents have term limits..now can we do that for the house and senate too please.  C.  rain..can we get some please!! :-)