
Before we left Colorado Springs and headed on down the road, we visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Linda wanted to go there to see the grizzly bears in the zoo’s North American exhibition. I tried to explain to her that we would see a grizzly when we got to Yellowstone, but she was insistent. So off we went to the zoo to see the grizzlies.

The zoo was very well done and had some other nice exhibit areas that allowed some close interaction with the animals. I particularly liked the elevated walkway where I became pretty good friends with a giraffe.
Rocky Mountain National Park

One of the things that is neat about our road trips is I am never completely sure where we are going. Yes, I know our ultimate destinations are Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, but I have little idea about what we will be doing along the way. Linda is the planner, and I am just the driver.
On this trip one of the wonderful surprises so far was Rocky Mountain National Park. What a magnificent place! We only scratched its surface with a one-day car trip that took us to the summit, but, oh my, it was just a “wow” ride. It seemed that at every turn there was a new “look at that” moment.

I took the photo of our GPS just a bit before we reached the peak. Another way to look at how high we were is to consider that it was more than two miles higher than where we live

One of the things about the mountains is how quickly the weather can change. At Pike's Peak we had a short hail storm. Here in Rocky Mountain N.P. we were in and out of blue skies and rain clouds throughout the day.

Along the way we saw some wildlife like the elk seen here. There was a small a group (called a gang) of bull elk grazing in a meadow at the top of the mountain.
This guy has lost a good portion of one antler. But it didn’t seem to be a bother as he was the apparent alpha male of the group. But the rut is still to come, and I don’t know whether he will maintain that status.
By the way, you may have noticed the photo at the top is the third panorama photo during this road trip (see previous posts). This is actually six photos stitched together through the magic of software. I like this format for an opening picture and will probably use it a couple more times. Also, its fun to do.
I'll try to post again before I lose my internet. Thanks for visiting!