Dancing Cranes...

We saw a lot of animals in the three national parks we visited this year: Moose, grizzly, antelope, mountain sheep, elk, bison and coyotes. But the one I'll remember the most for being unique is the dancing crane. We saw three cranes in the Hayden Valley (the only ones we saw in Yellowstone) and one was dancing. This display is mating behavior for cranes, and although I've seen it on television, I had never seen it in person. Awesome.

We love the Rockies and all the parks that border them, but the Tetons occupy a special place in my heart. I call them "the in-your-face" mountains. In other parts of the Rockies, you go through the hills, then the lesser mountains, while looking up at the heights. The Tetons pop up out of the prairie immediately. They don't rise gracefully, they just are. The only way to get on them is to hike, there are no roads. This picture shows an old homestead in Grand Teton National Park. How would you like to wash dishes while looking at that view?