The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

(Friday, July 17, our 10th anniversary through lunch)

So last summer on our big trip I had a close encounter with a bear. You can go back here to read the full story, but the super short version is that a huge black bear ran in front of the Highlander while I was driving I-68 in West Virginia. Since that time I've been leery of large animals crossing the road in front of our car. So the day before when a buffalo crossed the road three cars ahead of us, I remembered thinking, "Wonder what it feels like to be that close to a buffalo?"

As luck would have it I wouldn't have to wonder for long. Friday we were about 25 miles into the park and while our speed was only about 35 instead of 70, we were in a rented Rav-4 instead of the Highlander, and Ian was driving (while I was watching the ever changing landscape and looking for wildlife for the kids) instead of me, we did have a buffalo who decided it was time to cross the road just in front of us.

These are really big animals and I remember thinking at the time that these pictures were for Cindy (who was so disappointed that she missed recording my bear experience...)

"Holy buffalo, there's one crossing the road in front of us!"

"Did you see the size of that thing?"

Just had to include this shot as it closely shows the buffalo's unusual coat. Funny how they looked shaved down in the back and fuzzy in the front. Of course I wouldn't tell him he looks funny...

We had our buffalo encounter just as we were approaching the South Rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Our first view was of the Lower Falls.

Some folks choose trips to resorts sipping frozen drinks with little umbrellas on the beach sans kids for big anniversaries, we decided to "rough it" with the kids ~ and while it was not the most relaxing of vacations, I wouldn't change a thing!

While not quite as deep, wide, or colorful as the Grand Canyon, this one was still breathtaking!
A funny sibling moment as they were admiring the view. Caleb had been turning his head away from the camera and Kylie decided to take matters into her own hands to speed up the picture process!

We hiked around to check out many of the vantage points on the South Rim and then headed up to the North Rim and views of the Upper Falls.

The falls didn't show up very well, but it was a cute shot of the family with "the boys can be together and the girls can be together" as Kylie suggested.
Caleb admiring the falls.

We spent a lot of time (and took a LOT of pictures at the canyon). Both kids were captivated and we wished they had been up to just a bit more hiking so that we could have hiked down to the lip of the Lower Falls. (Luckily our dear friends Kate and Andy were there just a few weeks before us and they did make the hike and videoed it. Check out a few clips here).

All that walking made for some hungry folks, so we stopped for lunch on our way to Tower Falls. It was another nice stop and after getting enough food in their bellies our kids decided to do a little exploring around our picnic area.

"Hey Kay-ub, sit over there on that spot and drink your duce box!"
"O-tay Tie-yo!"