Sunday - We went into the park again and traveled North to the Norris geyser Basin (named after one of my ancestors, I'm sure). We saw several more geysers there then headed farther north to Mammoth Hot Springs. We saw some pretty interesting sights and bought some gifts and souvenirs then headed back to the campground for the evening.
Monday - OMG!!!!! We had THE most awesome day today!!! We actually saw a sow grizzly bear with her two cubs!!! It was so unexpected...................we traveled up to see a waterfall called Tower Fall and on the way back we stopped off near the top of Mount Washburn at a "pull-out" to have a picnic lunch and admire the beautiful scenery. Just as we were in the middle of our sandwiches we heard a woman say something about a bear............so, we grabbed the camera and headed out to where the other people were looking. Sure enough - there was the sow bear with her two cubs!!! We just watched in awe as they crossed over a huge rock, then headed toward the ever-growing group of people watching them. They kept coming closer and closer and the growing group of people kept backing up toward the cars (except for a few people who stayed way too close!!). The bears finally crossed the highway and headed up a hill. A ranger was watching through a scope from a station at the top of the mountain and radioed to another ranger who showed up to direct traffic and make sure the on-lookers backed away from the bears. We heard a man behind us say that he had been to Yellowstone many times and this was "the best bear sighting he had ever had!!" Wow..........and we just happened to be there too!!!! We estimated that we were about 50 yards away from the bears, which is actually way too close. The literature we got says that it is illegal to be within 100 yards of the bears - oops! It was just so exciting!!!!
After the excitement of seeing the bears we headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We weren't sure what to expect and when we got there and found that the trail was 3/8 mile long and a 600 foot drop we were a little hesitant but decided to go for it anyway. Boy, was it worth it!!!!! The view of the falls with the rainbow above it and the canyon was SPECTACULAR!!!!!! The walk back UP the trail was agonizing (Bob's word) but we're glad we did it. I'm sure the pictures won't do the view justice, but we tried - you'll have to go there yourself sometime.
We had planned to go to Yellowstone Lake just to see the sights but, after spending so much time watching the bears we decided to go ahead and head back to the campground. We had already had a pretty full day.
Today (Tuesday) - We headed out early (for us) at 8:00 am. We drove to Bozeman, Montana - that's where I lived during my junior and senior years in high school. Wow! It sure has grown! We drove by my old high school and house - the high school looked about the same as far as I can remember but the house looked quite a bit different (more mature trees and a different color). It was neat to go back to a place I haven't been to in 31 years (yes, I graduated from high school in 1979). Thank you, Bob, for taking me there!!
After we left Bozeman we made the rest of the almost 12 hour trek to Custer, South Dakota. Bob was SO-O-O-O tired of driving up and then down the mountains, but it was better than driving through Yellowstone Park with the trailer. Anyway, we're here at the Custer KOA - we barely have any phone signal, no tv channels and the internet is intermittent (keeps disconnecting me). So, I'm not sure we'll be able to load any pictures, but I'll try (the bear pictures are the best!!)
See you soon!!
Miss you guys! Have fun!
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