Yellowstone Adventure - Part 5

 

Day 6 of the trip, I think?

We are headed back to Salt Lake City today to drop off our 4 day friends
and continue on to Nevada.

Before we leave Montana, though, we have one more thing to do.

We need to see more animals!

A couple hours at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center will do the trick.

The animals here have been captured and for one reason or another

can not be released back into the wild. Sometimes, it's because they

get too comfortable looking for human food in human places, 

making them a nuisance (and a danger) to people. 

Rather than kill the bear, they are captured and kept here to live out their days in peace.

There are wolves here too.

We have a few minutes to grab a coffee or a snack or souvenirs in

the tourist trap of West Yellowstone, then we pile back into the van

and head off to Utah, via Idaho.

It was on the way out of town that we saw a moose and a baby mooseling!

They were in the woods at the side of the road, and looked like they had

just climbed out of the stream.

Jersey Matt decided to do everything that you are told NOT to do

when you see animals on the side of the road, so he got out of the van

and started, I don't know, stalking the moose?

He eventually flushed them out and they had to run across the highway!

For such large animals, they move fast!

A truck was coming from the opposite direction and it was

a bit unnerving watching them just get across in front of the truck.

I wanted to see a moose! I didn't want to see them endangered!

Anyway, they moved too fast to snap a picture, so imagine a moose here:

🐮

Into Idaho!

I managed to cross 2 states off of my 50-states-to-visit list.

We had lunch in Idaho Falls, on the river.

Took advantage of the dock to dip our feet in the cool water.

The falls of Idaho Falls.

Goodbye to our new friends!

The original few of us will continue on to Provo for our last night of camping.

On the road again...

Cozy.

Campfire night

Day 7. Last day of the tour. 

Leaving Utah, with a short time in Arizona, passing through the corner on the way

into Nevada. The scenery changes dramatically, returning to desert and alien rock formations.

Valley of Fire State Park, with 102° desert heat.

Last November, I remember flying over this place on my helicopter ride.

Now I'd get to see it from the ground.

We had lunch in the park, experienced some wind and ate some sand, and even saw

a sheep wandering around. We wondered where it found water.

I don't know why, but I seem to be pulled towards the desert.

Maybe it's the silence or the resiliency of the plants and animals that

manage to live there. I can't explain it.

Here we saw some petroglyphs. Ancient writings on the rock face.

Thanks for a great week!

I've seen some incredible sights and made some great new friends,

but now it's time to go home.

Keep your eyes peeled for moose!

🐏🐂🐻🐺