Yellowstone National Park

Well we camped some more in Yellowstone, near Tower Falls. It was closer to wear we wanted to go bear spotting early in the mornings, so it was perfect. This was Kaiden and my 3rd time visiting Yellowstone so we were pretty set on what we wanted to do and see. Simon was keen to see some bears & I wanted to see a Moose (up close this time). Both mornings we got up early to go animal spotting but we really didn't have too much luck. I mean we saw Bison, Deer & Elk but when you travel through the park they are pretty common so it's sad to say they aren't as exciting as some of the other more elusive critters.

Arhh . . . snooze (joking!!)

So as I said we went bear spotting with out much luck early in the morning. In one spot though (in the Bear's territory) we saw a huge animal walking along the river. It was hard to see with the naked eye exactly what it was. We thought it may have been an Elk but then we got the chance to look through someones scope and it was a Moose. He was huge! He soon ran off under the cover of the trees but he was in view for a good deal of time. Didn't realise they could run so fast. Anyway it was on our way out of our camp ground on the last morning that we stopped by the side of the road where a couple of people we busy snapping away . . . at what . . . a Moose!! I was very excited, jumped out of the car (still in my pj pants) to see this big Bull Moose just wading in the creek & munching on some breaky. It was awesome, he was so close. Brilliant, my wish came true as Kaiden said. It was fantastic. We stood there for ages just watching & snapping pictures. It wasn't bothered at all by us. So eventually we had to leave. I was thinking of you Mum & our Moose hunt & was wishing you could see him. It was amazing!

So we headed back to Old Faithful where Kaiden completed the last task of his Junior Ranger Badge. He actually got it the 1st time we came to Yellowstone but he was keen to do it again, so he did. He was very excited when he was being presented his badge, as you can see in the picture below.



We had one last walk around the geysers which are amazing! Kaiden felt the water that erupted out of Old Faithful. He followed his Dad's lead . . . . . they just couldn't help themselves. Curiosity killed the cat so they say, but mine are safe & sound. Kaiden was fascinated as you could imagine by the Volcano & amazed that we were standing in a caldera. Pretty cool. We actually spent a quite a bit of time visiting a lot of the different hot springs & bubbling mud pits. Some of the formations are amazing.

Kelly, James & Kaiden

So it was time to head home. We went through the Grand Tetons National Park which is directly south of Yellowstone. We weren't planning to stop at all but when there is a Grizzly Bear feeding by the side of the road, what are you supposed to do. It was amazing! As we drove past I just saw the teddy bear ears poking out of the grass. So we stopped & sure enough it was a Grizzly.

We watched it for ages only retreating back into our car when it decided to get up have a shake & head for the road. Casual as you like, just wandered across the road with out a care in the world. Amazing. Well I guess you really wouldn't have too much to worry about being a bear. Seriously, who is going to challenge a Grizzly in a National Park?! Exactly. So Simon got to see his bear & Kaiden & I got to see our Moose all in one day! Not a bad days work if you ask me.

So now we are really heading home. We were heading up a mountain & over a pass to find our quickest way home when out of no where it started to snow . . . . just a little bit. Then a bit more & a bit more until we found ourselves stuck in a snow storm in September!!. We had rented a car (to save our miles) & it didn't have all wheel drive like ours does, so we had to turn around & head back to the Grand Tetons. For a minuter there I thought Simon was going to keep pushing the car up the mountain like the little red engine that could but we really had no choice in the end, we had to turn around. Simon wasn't very impressed but what could we do. That car was not getting over that mountain in all that snow. It added quite a few more hours to our trip but we arrived home safe & sound at 1 am. What a fun adventure! Complete with snow storm & all. Awesome!!

The beginning of the snow storm.