Happy Mother’s Day! Being a mom is the best in the world and there is no better way to celebrate the day then to head to Yellowstone National Park. My mom and I both decided that this is what we wanted to do. Because it was going to be another gloomy and wet Spring day, we decided not to get up super early and just make the day a more casual one. We took our time getting to the park and even stopped to pick up some lunch in Gardiner.

With our lunch in hand, we headed in to Yellowstone in search of a place to eat our lunch. We were hoping to find a picnic spot, but unfortunately many of the covered picnic areas had a lot of snow around them. After trying several places and failing, we decided just to stop and picnic in the back of our cars. Abby sat in Grandpa and Grandma’s car with them while Jillian and I hung out in the back of my car. While it might seem like an odd place, it was pretty fun! One of the many perks of owning an SUV! Abby had a blast as well and stayed warm and dry as the rain started to pick up.

Once lunch was finished we hopped back into our cars and continued on our way out to Lamar Valley. As we entered the valley it was obvious that people were stopped and looking at something. Down along the river was a bison kill and coyotes had just been on it feeding. While everyone was focused on that, along the hillside across the road we saw three or four wolves running along. It appears as though they were heading to a den way up in the hills. I couldn’t catch a picture of them, but I was so excited to once again see wolves that close in Yellowstone.

As we continued on, we ran into a few visitors who had just come from a spot where two Grizzlies had been. Not being in any hurry, we decided to head out that direction to see what we could find. A lot of people had stopped in one spot, but we could not see what everyone was looking at. We decided to turn the car around and head back to Mammoth Hot Springs, taking another quick look to see if we could spot anything. Just as we came up on the popular spot, two sub adult male Grizzlies came darting across the road and onto the hillside! It was amazing! Once across they stopped and continued to forage for more food. Luckily I was able to snap a few shots.

After our two in one Grizzly bonus sighting, we headed back towards Mammoth with big smiles on our faces. As we headed out of Lamar Valley and close to Tower Junction, we ran into another large furry friend. This time, our Grizzly was walking down a small creek just outside of the Slough Creek area. I was able to snag a few shots but unfortunately the rude wildlife photographers were out and ruining everyone’s photo ops. It was still fun to see this guy and once again we were on our way with smiles on our faces.

The remainder of the day was quiet in regards to wildlife, but still beautiful. We drove down through the west side of Yellowstone to Old Faithful. There we stopped for a break and to look around the inn before taking off and heading home.

Our drive home, after a stop in West Yellowstone, was pretty for what we could see. The sun was setting fast but we took in all that we could see. Once the sun had set, the drive became a little bit nerve wrecking as there were animals everywhere! But, we made it home safely with another day of great memories.