Yellowstone

This is how we roll. On the way to Yellowstone.

I love the Yellowstone Inn.
The wood and stone interior is unique and something that wouldn't be built today; it is one of the largest log structures in the world. Many of the rooms share a bathroom down the hall. They are small, dark and historic. After all the place was built in 1904. My goal is to stay there one day.

We were there on a rainy overcast day. Luckily it cleared up later. Fall in Yellowstone is colder, but much less crowded than in the summer. We could actually find parking and didn't get caught in traffic jams. The lodges and places to stay were closed or closing, but the scenery was still there and it was beautiful. Most of the fall color was visible on the bushes near the river as we zipped by on the road, but trust me (you'll have to-I have no pictures), it was the best time so see the park.

Hot pots near Old Faithful.

It took us 3 tries to see Old Faithful. The geyser was going off just as we arrived. We decided to wait around and eat lunch. Lunch at the Inn took just long enough that we had just missed it when we came out again. Oh well, we weren't trying to see everything; we were trying to have a relaxing weekend. I have been to Yellowstone so often (my grandpa and grandma worked there during the summers) that I don't feel the need to see it all every time we go.
But the third time is the charm and we finally saw the most famous geyser in the world. Old Faithful was faithful once again.

Mud pots and Grafs.

This buffalo was on the side of the road, beefing up for the winter.
This is known as the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The canyon walls were steep and colored from the minerals from the geysers.
Here we are on top of the 300 foot waterfall that you can see in the previous picture.
Yellowstone and the Tetons in the fall. Maybe next time we'll see the park in the winter. Riding snowmobiles through the park would be amazing.

Bear World and the Tetons

For Fall Break we were supposed to be here,

but a flood left the camp ground damaged and the canyon closed. Since we had it in our minds that we were going on a vacation, we had to choose a different place. We haven't been to Yellowstone for a while, so we decided to go north. First stop, Bear World! We drove through this park near Rigby, Idaho, and saw bears, wolves, elk, turkeys, deer, and mountain goats all living in their separate fields.A rare white elk.
Bears galore.
After driving our car through, we hopped on a big truck where we were given food to throw out to some of the animals.
Even the grizzlies came over for a donut. All the bears are putting on weight for their winter hibernation.
This is Big John, the biggest black bear of the group. All black and brown bears are called black bears no matter their color.
All of these bears were born in captivity. The cubs have their own pen to keep them safe from the male bears. The year old bears wrestled and played until it was time to be fed.
This cub is sucking on the trainers arm just like a baby would suck on a pacifier. He was making a happy "nuk, nuk" sound as he sucked.
The bears ate about 8 bottles each. But they are old enough that they were going to be weaned the next week.
Bear World had a great petting zoo. The deer were especially soft. Ironically, this is usually the time we are out in the hills shooting them.
Rachel loved this fawn and spent a lot of time with it.
It is so cute eating out of her hand. Oh my goodness, can we get a pet deer?
This little piggy, the one with the fur, followed us around wagging it's tail.
There were also mountain goats, regular goats, and chickens. One mountain goat named, Butthead, had been taken out of the petting zoo because he had a habit of butting his head on the small children. Hence the name.

One dear with a deer.
Another dear with a deer. Bear World was a lot of fun and highly recommended. We saw more wildlife here than our two days in the Tetons and Yellowstone, so it's a good thing we got this in. It was closing for the winter just two days later.
We ended our day with a view of the Tetons,
and a pose under the Antler Arch in Jackson, Wyoming.