day 7 & 8 ... Peterson Sojourn West 2011

day 6 ended with a late night ice cream run into Gardiner. Took a country road that leads out of the park to our cabin... spotted a baby elk, trailing along after it's skidish mama, my Kansas cowboys predicted the calf to be a day old... the circle of life.

day 7 - We loaded the Yukon early, just after rising and drove out to the Lamar Valley, saw a cluster of cars & trucks, one being a Ranger in the 'Bear 2'.... they all had their super-duper telescopes & had spotted a grizzly and her cub... only the second cub sighting this 'spring'... I met a woman wearing a ball cap with the Emporia State 'E' on it... that's where I'm starting a distance graduate school program in August... she is a retired professor, runs their arborarium. Such a small world ... she shared the view of the grizzlies from her Swarovski telescope... we were all four amazed.... at the circle of life.

Farther up the Lamar Valley we spotted a black bear stalking close to a herd of bison bison, with more than 3 dozen calves in tow, sunning themselves in the valley ... a bald eagle soared in the heavens above.... then through our mini scope we saw it fighting off an attacking hawk at a stream.

We hiked a short trail to see a 15 million year old petrified redwood tree... we hiked a hilly trail just a mile in from the North Gate Entrance.... as we acended the hills of the Yellow Stone River, we came across several bone piles.... a former dinner for a wolf or bear.... our youngest nicknamed the spot, carcass city... more proof of the circle of life.

Headed 'home' for a much needed nap... the boys and I sacked out for nearly 3 hours... a much needed rest after several days filled with hiking.

After our midday shut eye, we put on our bathing suits and headed to Pray, Montana.... home of the historic Chico Inn & a 100+ year old hot spring.  They pump the near by spring water into a large sitting pool. We relaxed... the boys 'splished & splashed' until close to midnight... the boys made up water games... 'wack a fish,' modeled after wack-a-mole.... gave tug boat rides.... What is it about water?  It induces smiles, giggles & grins.... it relaxes the body... and soul too.... a much needed respite from out physically active days of sight seeing.  Our spirits were lifted, our tempers cooled, our bodies extremely relaxed (much needed) .... we decided we need a hot tub, soon....

day 8 .... We packed up... the Yukon filled to the brim, with laundry, left over groceries & left the Electric Cabin (named after the view of Electric Mt.) .... we made a pit stop at the Grand Canyon visitors center, for the boys to earn their Yellow Stone Jr. Ranger badges they had worked for....

We wanted to spend some more time taking in the geysers and springs surrounding Old Faithful.... we drove the 2 hours to the southern end of Yellow Stone... we walked the wooden/trex boardwalks, seeing an amazing wonder of this land...

We saw Morning Glory... Castle Geyser... Spiteful Geyser... and dozens more.... their golden & turquoise beauty.

The boys were thrilled with the 'chick-munk' sighting (as my youngest calls them) ... my boys loved the chipmunks that burrow under the Old Faithful boardwalks... even got within arms length of one....

We drove upon a buffalo traffic jam, slowing us to a crawl for 10 minutes... once there was a slow moving vehicle lane, they moved to the right, allowing us to pass.... modern day wild life, conforming to being surrounded by moving vehicles.

On the drive out of Yellow Stone & into Grand Tetons Natl. Park we took in the splendor of the middle Rockies, reflecting on Colter Bay....

We found our new casa ... headed into the Jackson Town Square for some BBQ... the boys were in heaven, devouring ribs, rootbeer & corn-on-the-cob ...