It was a BEARY good day!

Before leaving Ogden, UT this morning, there was something I just had to do. My groupie mobile was a bit dirty, thanks to the dust of Monument Valley and the overnight snow in Monticello, UT. I did a Google search and found a pretty good car wash just a few miles from my hotel. Ten minutes and $7 later, the Blazer looked great! They do things right at Supersonic Car Wash!

I drove north on boring I-15...yes, most interstate freeways are boring...then switched to the more pleasant Hwy 26. I stopped briefly in Idaho Falls for gas, and picked up a salad for lunch. I wasn't quite ready to eat, so I continued on until I reached the town of St Anthony. Right off the highway, I found a quiet little park. I ate my salad with the sight of the raging Henrys Fork...a tributary of the Snake River...roaring in front of me.

I pulled into West Yellowstone, MT mid-afternoon and headed over to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. This facility houses grizzly bears and grey wolves. The bears featured here were either orphaned after their mothers were killed or abandoned them, or were captured after they became habituated to human food and failed relocation efforts. There are also two wolf packs whose members were all captive bred. I had never seen such beautiful specimens of both species up close. I guess it helps when they're living basically in their native environment. Plus, the center makes extra effort to feed them properly. For example, the wolves eat elk and deer meat.

I have a big day tomorrow. Yellowstone National Park is officially opening their west entrance and the northern half of the park to vehicles for the season. And, I'll be there at 8:00 am when that happens. The last (and only) time I visited Yellowstone, I was only 12 or 13 years old. I remember very little...Old Faithful, paint pots and another geyser or two. That's it! I'm expecting to see so much more tomorrow. And, I think I'll appreciate what I'm seeing a lot better than before. My LONG wait to see Yellowstone again will finally come to an end!