Day 5

Ahhhhh......waking up in the pine forests of Yellowstone. I could hardly believe it. We grabbed breakfast at an old time restaurant-the Timberline, although it is nothing like I remember. Then we headed into the park for some wildlife spotting. We were greeted pretty quickly by some buffalo along the road, sandhill cranes and an eaglet in a nest.

We drove up to Mammoth Springs, a small historic community within the park. The hot springs area was other worldly and the town like something from a story book. For whatever reason my dad would never take us up to this location..........are you seeing a trend here? A traffic jamb developed in Mammoth because a herd of elk had made their way into town, some even hanging out on people's front porches.

From Mammoth we drove to the high elevations in the park and took in a waterfall and hiked some tundra area known for bears, then down to canyon village and the picturesque lower falls of the Yellowstone River. The weather turned kinda gray. I've also noticed from the picture at the top that my 6 pack is verging on keg status.....I need to get back at it!

We drove back to West Yellowstone and since my son likes to check off states he's visited, drove on to Island Park, Idaho, about 30 minutes away. The plan was to have supper there.....Island Park is essentially an incorporated town along a highway stretching maybe 10 miles with only maybe a dozen establishments. We were fortunate to find a nice log cabin restaurant and enjoy a nice meal. Then we went on a wild goose hunt for moose in the Quake Lake area of Montana. Thanks brother.