Grand Teton-Take Two

We woke up Sunday morning to a much prettier day than the day before. We packed up all of our stuff and checked our of our lovely hotel. We were suppose to drive home but I wanted to drive through Grand Teton again since we didn't see much the day before due to bad weather. 

As we were driving through an area we hadn't been before we saw a bunch of cars off the side of the road. If it weren't for those people we wouldn't think any animals lived in the forest. Luckily they have better eyes than we do. We saw a bunch of excited onlookers and knew something good much be just up the hill. Sure enough it was this darling black bear. Emma wanted to run up and snuggle with it. One of the other people suggested to her that that wouldn't be a very good idea. No kidding? 

While we were watching the bear I spotted this gorgeous bird. I couldn't resist snapping some pictures of it. 

We continued through the park and saw some more of the of the beautiful world that has been created for our enjoyment.

There were a lot of Canadian Geese enjoying the warmer day.

We had spent enough time in the park. We still had a 5-6 hour drive ahead of us. We needed to start for home. I know I didn't want to leave but we had to. Our drive back was gorgeous too. We went a different way out of Jackson and it was much prettier than how we came in. These pictures were snapped out of the window while driving down the road.

I love autumn. I am so thankful for the beauty of this earth and the opportunity that we have to travel and show it to our children. It was a wonderful little getaway.

Here Moosey Moosey

On this trip I wanted to see a moose. I wanted to see a lot of animals but a moose was my top priority. I felt cheated that I never got to see the moose while visiting Emma at Girl's Camp. I even joked with the kids that I didn't know if moose really existed since I had never seen one. I said they could be like a jackalope. It could be a fictional creature for all I know. (I also thought it was a pretty realistic expectation.) One morning before heading out Andrew even prayed that mom would see a moose. The first day, in Yellowstone, we didn't see as much as I thought we would so I was beginning to think I wouldn't get my wish.

Saturday morning we woke up to much colder weather, cloudy skies and some rain. We decided it might be a good idea to stick around town for a while, do some shopping and we wanted an old time photo taken as opposed to driving for hours in the parks.   

Our morning went well. We got our old time picture made, took these pictures in town, picked up some lunch to go and headed to Grand Teton National Park.

We stopped at the visitor's center where we ate lunch in the car since it was too cold to picnic like we hoped. After eating we went in to ask some question, use the potty and look in the gift shop. I saw this statue as we were heading in. I thought I better take a picture, this may be the only moose I see.

The ranger in the visitor's center was telling people where animal sightings had been reported. She said that there were three moose that had been hanging out all day at Moose Junction. What? We had just driven by that. We didn't see a moose. We hurried to the car and headed back. There was a string of cars parked along the side of the road so we knew they had to still be there. After a  minute we could see the moose. Exciting right? Not so much. I wanted to see a whole moose, not just the top of the antlers. We watched for a while but then decided we were done. It was obvious that none of them were getting up any time soon. 

Grand Teton was a bit of a bust since it was cloudy and you couldn't see the Teton's. 

We drove to Jenny Lake. It was gorgeous and the kids were anxious to get out, stretch their legs and throw some rocks.

It really was cold down by the lake. I was done so I headed back up the trail to wait in the car. Bye family.

They soon followed. They're sweet! 

A nice person offered to take a picture of all of us. I love those nice people. Love them! 

As we were driving back to Jackson we see that there is still a string of cars on the side of the road by Moose Junction and we also see a dark blob in the field. Holy crap it's a whole moose. No antlers but hey, you take what you can get.

She only stood for seconds before plopping her but back down into the sage. Oh well. We were patient and sat in the car, along the side of the road for probably 20 minutes. Oddly, the kids didn't seem to mind.

All of a sudden Mr. Moose does this. I thought, "Woo! A face. I saw his face!"

Holy Schnikes. He's moving!

Oh my word, he may actually stand!

And then he does. He stands there for a minute.

He looks around.

Takes a couple of nibbles.

And that's it folks. He is going down.

He was done and so were we. I was thankful that we saw him. I now know moose really do exist. I told Andrew the next time he prays he needs to make it more specific. I would like him to ask for one standing in the river please, not sitting in the sage LOL! 

Back to town we went. 

Thanks again to the stranger who took our picture for us. I love it!