Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Our Labor Day Vacation

This Labor Day Rob and I decided to spend it out in Yellowstone. This was our second time at Yellowstone, as we went two years ago in July. Since we saw a lot of the main attractions last time we went, this time we tried to do something different and see a different side of the park. We arrived late Friday night and the plan was to go kayaking in Grand Tetons on Jenny Lake at some point on our vacation. The first day we were there we wanted to just take it easy so we spent Saturday driving the grand loop of Yellowstone spotting wildlife and taking photos. We started at the very south entrance and went all the way up the East side to the North entrance and saw mammoth hot springs, then went all the way back down the west side and stopped off at old faithful. We were going to go kayaking the second day, but mother nature had other plans. It was cold and rainy all day on Sunday so we decided to take a scenic cruise on a covered boat on Yellowstone Lake instead. It was stormy and the boat ride was a little rough but it was still a lot of fun and very beautiful. We also spent Saturday and Sunday night in Jackson Hole.

Rob had been wanting to see bears the whole time we were there, that's all he talked about. Anytime we'd see a bunch of people pulled over on the side of the road viewing wildlife he'd say "is it a bear??". We had seen more buffalo than we could count, some Elk, a family of marmots, deer, a pronghorn or two, some swans, and we even saw an otter swimming in the lake by our boat. We finally we saw a bear way off in the distance on our way to mammoth hot springs but it's a good thing we brought binoculars or we wouldn't have seen it at all. Then, coming back from Jackson Hole on Sunday night I looked over and there was a little baby black bear only about 30 feet from our car, walking through the bushes. I had Rob quickly turn the car around and we pulled off the side of the road, rolled the windows down, and watched as two or three more bear cubs came over the hillside. We were so close and there was no one else around. It was just us and these baby bear cubs in the middle of mother nature. They were so cute and it was so cool to just watch them from our car. Being dusk at the time, the sun quickly set and the bears set off back over the hill. I think THAT bear sighting was much more satisfying for Rob. :)

Monday morning we were both just anxious to get back on the road and get home so we didn't get back late, so needless to say, we never did get to go kayaking. But overall it was a fun little weekend get away. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Old Faithful


Hot Pots

A herd of Buffalo


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