A Tale of Two Bison

#1. We spent the 4th of July weekend in Yellowstone.

We stayed in little cabins at Mammoth Hot Springs.

We were repeatedly warned about the wildlife that wander through

and to stay away if any came around.

So we spent our time practicing for our

4th of July yo-yo contest instead.

(Jake-L and McKay-R practicing on their yo-yo's)

But then one evening a bison came wandering through!

He just moseyed down the hill and walked around the cabins

and sniffed a fire hydrant and then straddled the hydrant and gave it a new scent

and then climbed back up the hill.

We were charmed, delighted, terrified, horrified and grossed out

all at the same time.

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#2. We were driving from one spot to another

planning to catch up with the others

when we found ourselves stopped on the road

in a long line of cars.

We sat there and sat there and sat there.

Something was obviously going on, but we didn't know what.

It's common for people to drive R-E-A-L-S-L-O-W

past wildlife while in Yellowstone

but this was nuts.

And there wasn't any traffic coming

from the other direction, either.

I finally got out of the truck to take a look-see

and I snapped a photo of what was happening down the road:

What you may not be able to distinguish in this photo

is that a bison was just meandering down the road

taking his own sweet time

and holding up a very long line of traffic behind him.

I hopped back into the truck and told Abbie

to climb into the bed of the truck and take a picture

when he lumbered by.

And she did!

It was a little terrifying

but very awesome

to be so close to that animal.

You should have seen the expression

of the driver in the camper

who was first in line following this animal.

He did not look happy...

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They were everywhere,

those buffalo were.

It was pretty cool-