We were making great time but as soon as we entered the park we came to a standstill. It took a while to figure out what was going on but once we did it was a perfect start. A bison crossing the road and walking right next to the cars. Granted the first sign you read as you enter says "Do NOT stop and block traffic" we obeyed and didn't stop but with traffic in front moving so slowly we had time to pray that he didn't just turn and ram our vehicle. Unfortunately our camera card went bad and we lost quite a few of our pictures. My brother in law captured the bison as well but I haven't asked for permission to use his photos.
Our first stop was around 12. I remember because it was lunch time and my son had a headache from needing to eat. Due to the delay we were about an hour behind schedule and all the food was in my brother's car...Lesson Learned! We took a quick stop to get him medicine and see if we could find a place to eat but it was pretty busy so we walked and took a few pictures before moving on. We spotted our first waterfall on the trip and snapped a quick family photo...minus me.
We are also missing my youngest brother who was not able to join us on vacation. Hopefully next time he will have some time built up.
On our way to the next picnic area which was just past the Grand Teton entrance we noticed a few cars slowing and saw a Bear! I looked down and there next to the road, maybe 5 feet from our car was a cub!
He was adorable and then ran off to join his family which was about 20 feet off the road. Mama was digging for food. We thought we were about to see a bear mauling when we saw a couple people get out of a car behind my brother's. Once they heard it was a bear they got back in but left their doors open.
Here you can see him joining mama and brother (or sister) bear. There are 3 cubs, one is on the other side of mama and you can barely see him. This was truly one favorite and most talked about parts of the trip.
I can't say what happened in my brother's truck but in our vehicle we had very little time we weren't laughing. My brother-in-law and husband really should film their interactions for youtube.
Oh and we found our picnic spot...after the bears it was just around the bend. A little scary when you think about it but we took our chances, I think because we were all starving and the bears wouldn't have a chance again our hungry group. The view from the picnic area was...well here is a glimpse.
The lake was created by glaciers. It was just a very peaceful spot to take in the view.
Although the one thing we did have to introduce the kids to the bathroom there. They were not the nice flushable ones that we had stopped quickly at near Old Faithful, or like the portapotties they use at football games. No they were more closely related to an outhouse...a very stinky and heavily used outhouse. We are thankful for Anti-bacterial wipes.
Our plan was to hike some trails but the ones we found were closed because bears were in the area (go figure) or the trail was being worked on. With how long we were already driving we were starting to look forward to heading back. So we decided to take the loop around and start heading back home, still taking our time.
Mount Moran was one of the outlooks we stopped at for the guys to get out and stretch. The kids were tired and the moms didn't want to vacant our comfy spots at the moment.
My sister and I were guarding the car ;) My mom is sitting between us and 2 of the boys were in back. My nephew and niece were in my brother's truck, the rest of the week my nephew joined our crew and my sister and mom took turns riding with my brother.
Our next stop was a quick trail walk/bathroom break. We were able to get more photos of the glaciers.
The stream which is much larger than it appears carrying water from the glacier to the lake. It was impressive site when zoomed in but the actual pictures were poor quality.
A park ranger brought a few wolf skins which the boys were fascinated with. My youngest was trying to figure out where their eyes were.
The first day we were amazed by all the animals, by the end of the trip we were saying "oh just another bison." On our trip 15ish years ago animals were very scarce so we were soaking up every one of them on the first day.
Just past where we had seen the bears earlier was this gorge. I stuck my camera out the window and started snapping, this was the 2nd picture I snapped and the only one without a tree in the way.
As we were exiting Yellowstone there was another traffic jam. This time it was harder to spot but it was an Eagle perched on a tree. So majestic looking.
After a long day, a delicious meal, and some great conversation we headed to bed ready for tomorrow...Old Faithful!
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