Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Got Moose?






(Paul) Today comprised of the single-minded objective of seeing and/or finding a moose. It was the only way Lisa was going to let me put a sticker of a moose on our camper. Last night we met a nice couple at the Jackson Lake Lodge that told us of a great spot to spy moose. They’d been there on four different days and saw moose on each visit. So we filled the gas tank and this morning we packed the truck with food, games, books, art supplies and other things that would help pass the time as we parked our keester’s in this “primo” spot. We’ve enjoyed nine days of perfect weather. It had to rain at some point. Right! And so it rained… and rained… and rained. But we stuck to our plan. We must find moose. The elusive moose. The e-moose-ive one. We can, we must, we will. Didn’t see a moose.

We’d brought our lawn chairs but those aren’t much fun in thundershowers so we picnicked in the truck. Had a good 3G signal and played on our phones (Words with Friends is a great iPhone ap). Sat there piddling around until about 1 p.m. but then we needed a bathroom break (not in the rain though) so we drove to the nearby visitor center. Then we decided to drive some new “off road” roads in hopes of spying a goat… just making sure you’re paying attention! Shot some cool Ansel Adam’s-like pictures. An aspen grove, cloud covered mountains… didn’t see a moose.

The sun is setting on our Yellowstone/Grand Teton adventure. It’s getting late and we’re starting to loose hope. So I’ll let Lisa takeover from here.

(Lisa) So after driving some back roads, Paul wanted some pics of the Grand Teton range with the clouds hanging over them so we found a spot and waited…and waited…the clouds were not moving. It’s like 3:15 now and I was giving up all hope of the moose thing. We decided to try the Moose Wilson Road just one more time. GUESS WHAT? We saw her….a beautiful female moose…that’s right….she was eating grasses, bushes and drinking out of the stream…she was amazing! We followed her as she grazed down the stream and at one time, we were about 10 yards away. WOW!!!!!!!!! There she was…right before our eyes! We took about 75 photos and on the blog before this one are our 5 best pictures. I know, you are probably applauding us right now, that’s ok, we’re jumping up and down!!! I was soooo happy, we have seen every animal on this trip but a mountain sheep which is ok b/c they are impossible to find. We have been so blessed with the wildlife viewing.

So after watching this beautiful girl for about 20 minutes we drove back toward the campground and stopped at Jackson Lake Lodge and – that’s correct – I bought a moose
T shirt! Since we were loading up the camper, we ate at the local restaurant for dinner.

Now we are now packing and prepping for our drive tomorrow to South Dakota and to see Devil’s Tower. Paul has put the moose sticker on the camper. Life is good. Check out the blog before this one for the moose photos.

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