Bison and Elk and Bears -- OH MY!!!

My parents invited us to spend the week with them in Big Sky, Montana a couple of weeks ago (I know -- I am behind on my blogging!). Although Graem could not stay for the entire week, we had a fantastic time! The weather could not have been better -- beautiful, sunny, warm days & chilly nights!

I know from past experience that when the Ropers take a trip, they like to see EVERYTHING...but I don't think Graem and Mason realized what they were in for. We rented a mini-van and put over 2,100 miles on it. That's a lot of driving! We not only saw lots of Montana, but also a good chunk of Wyoming and Idaho. Not to mention we covered every square inch of Yellowstone. Beautiful country!!!

It is hard to say which part of the trip was my favorite. I LOVED Yellowstone. It is such a cool place. The first national park in the world is full of so many wonders of nature! It is truly the grandaddy of national parks.

I also enjoyed watching all the wildlife in their natural habitats. In addition to bison and elk and bears (OH MY!), we saw antelope, mule deer, whitetail deer and moose!

This was Mason's first airplane ride! What a great little traveler! I brought along lots of toys, books, snacks, etc to keep him occupied...but who needs those things? He spent countless hours playing with the armrest, window shade, seatbelt and tray table!

The whole family. This picture was taken in the Porcelein Basin of the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone. As you can see, there is lots of thermal activity in this area...steam vents, geysers, mineral deposits, hot springs. So cool! The ground looks white from all of the mineral deposits. This is how I'd imagine the surface of the moon to look!

Bebe and Mason spending some QT at one of our picnic spots.

This picture was taken at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The yellow color of the walls of the canyon inspired the name of the park.

What a trooper!

Lake Yellowstone

Old Faithful!!!

This is the first of many elk that we saw during our trip. Unfortunately for documenting purposes, we usually saw them early in the morning, at dusk, or at night, so it was difficult to capture them on film. What a regal animal! This one even bugled for us -- twice!

This picture was taken during a hike we took one day. I read in a guide book about some caves in the side of a mountain that had old Indian carvings in the walls. Of course we had to see them! Our little hike was a bit more than we anticipated...it was really steep in places and much longer than we thought it would be -- but totally worth it.

Daddy checking out the view from the top

Daddy climbing in to the mouth of the cave

Share the roads!

Herd of buffalo in the Lamar Valley

Grandaddy and Mason stopping for a photo with Buffalo Bill

A couple of mule deer. Aren't they sweet?

Jackson Lake and the Grand Tetons

Mama Bear. Baby Bear is hiding in the bushes. We saw them outside of the Lazy K Bar Ranch in the Crazy Mountains, north of Big Timber, MT.

Mason playing in the leaves with Bebe

Mama Moose and Baby Moose. Baby is on the right. Big baby, huh?!? This was literally in the yard outside of our condo!

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures! We definitely enjoyed the trip and recommend it for anyone!