Yellowstone Bear World

Finally on our way home!  YAY!  But first, a sidetrack to the AMAZING Yellowstone Bear World.

We packed our van and said good-bye to our temporary home in the shadow of the beautiful Teton Mountains in Wilson, Wyoming.  We had many great memories and lots of fun times, but as always, vacations need to come to an end at some point.

Because we had at least a four hour drive home, we decided to use some of that time to visit Bear World where we would be guaranteed to see BEARS! 


Before we got to the habitat for bears, we made a stop at the beautiful Rexburg Temple.  We spent some time feeling of the love our Heavenly Father has for us and admiring the beauty of such a magnificent building.  WOW!

After a picnic lunch, because we still had enough food to feed a small army, we headed out once again.

Bears - HERE WE COME!!

"No vacation to the Yellowstone National Park or Grand Teton National Park region is complete without an adventure into the wild at Yellowstone Bear World, a drive-thru wildlife park. During your visit you will be surrounded by the free-roaming wildlife of North America as you drive your personal vehicle through the park. Wildlife you will see includes Rocky Mountain Elk, Bison, White-tail Deer, Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Goats, Moose and of course American Black Bear, Grizzly Bear and Gray Wolves." (as quoted from their website)

After what seemed like FOREVER, we pulled into the park of Yellowstone Bear World.  When you first pull up to the gate, there are rules posted that must be followed at all times.  One of these rules was to keep your windows rolled up and doors locked at all times while driving through the bear park.  That way if the bears decide to attack, they will go for the park workers that are roaming around in an open-air golf/utility cart.  You also had to keep driving and not stop at any time during the drive - HOWEVER, driving REEEEEALLY slow isn't a problem.

Click here to view video of Yellowstone Bear World highlights

We saw so many bears!  It was well worth the drive!  But wait!  That's not all we saw.  We saw bears, bison, elk, an extremely rare white elk, deer, wolves (who decided napping was more important than saying "Hello"), moose, swans, deer, goats, and many other animals.  There was even a swan that tried to eat my hubby's shoe cuz it thought the shoe was food.

rare White Elk

the deer nursery

Bison

Bull Moose "Stiltz" and cow moose

here little chicky, I won't hurt you, I just want to pet you!

There was a fun little petting area where we were able to get "personal" with the baby animals.  One baby elk really liked the taste of my daughter's hand.  My hubby had fun petting the pot-bellied pig that would squeal every time he touched it, no matter how light the touch the pig would squeal.  And there was a set of twin fawns who would rub up against each other every time someone would pet them as if to say to each other, "EWE!  A human touched me AGAIN!  Please help me rub it off!"

We really loved seeing the baby bears as well.  They were exactly like little children.  One cub would be the instigator while the other cub took the "rap" for the misbehavior.  Then the "wrestling" would begin!  One cub would walk away while the other, more offended cub cuz he got blamed, would be all "don't you walk away from me!  Come back here and take it like a BEAR!"  I guess even the real "mamma bears" have their paws full when it comes to children!

Along with the animals, there were some really fun amusement rides.  I rode on all of them and had a great time - EXCEPT for the demon bear belly!  That is right DEMON BEAR BELLY!  I don't really know what they called the bear ride, but when you put a mamma with an unstable tummy into the belly of a bear that spins, and a teenager that loves to control the spinning wheel, well, lets just say I was just short of tossing my lunch.  I entered the belly of the bear with the intention of having a fun time with my daughter, then she started to spin the wheel.  If that wasn't bad enough, there was an evil ride attendant who controlled how long and fast the ride went.  Not only did he control the ride, he also controlled whether the door to the ride opened or not to either let you on or off said demon ride.  After the first time around, I was doing OK, but I really needed to get off the ride.  As the ride attendant came around to let us off the ride, my "sweet" (aka demon child) daughter convinced him to keep us on, so he walked away from us with me begging to be let off cuz I didn't know if I could keep the "upholstery" clean for very

Hey stop spinning!  You're making me sick!

much longer.  Yeah, he just laughed even harder as he walked away.  Needless to say, the ride started up and ran even longer than the time before.  When the ride finally stopped and we were thankfully allowed to exit the ride, I was really unstable and in desperate need of Pepto!

Me?  Now why would I do THAT?

All in all, this was a great adventure and a perfect end to such a great vacation.  If you are ever in the area, it is worth your time to stop and visit the bears at Yellowstone Bear World!

Now that the vacation is over, it is time to carry on with life as I know it......STAY TUNED!