Bear World!!

Our Yellowstone Trip: Part 1. Austin and I went on a little get-a-way before school starts. We saw some pretty awesome stuff! First we went to Bear World in Rexburg, Idaho. I've always heard of the place and kind of chuckled at it. Now I'm telling everyone to go. This place is totally rad!

Besides the obvious, Bear World also features a petting zoo. Aus and I spent some time gettin' down with friendly goats, deer, chickens, a huge pig, and those types of aminals. Unfortunately our favorite buddies were later given to us in chunks to feed to the bears on the feeding tour...(NOT, but wouldn't that be funny).

Bear world is kind of like Jurassic Park. You drive through the enclosure in your own car, and it's kind of cool to be the ones in a "cage", so to speak, while the animals just do their thing in an open area. Before you get to the bear area, there are other animals like elk, turkeys, mountain goats and deer. They used to have a bison, but it recently got struck by lightning and died. (Sounds fishy, I know). They boast about their white elk, who is not albino, because it has blue eyes instead of pink, which means it still has some pigment. They also have a rescued moose at the end of the drive-through area.

Okay, now for the good stuff. Before you enter the bear part of the enclosure, you are told you are not allowed to feed the bears or roll down the windows of your car. Also, you are not suppose to come to a complete stop. Austin and I have never seen a bear, except at a zoo, so we were totally stoked and scared. Not 5 seconds after the gate closed behind us we saw some grizzly bears and lots of black bears all over. I was scrambling all over inside the car to get good pictures. You can pay extra and go on a "Curator Tour" to feed the bears bread and dough-nuts. It's so worth the extra money. If you ever go to Bear World, you have to go on the Curator Tour.

They have a bunch of baby bears in a separate enclosure. They were soooo stinkin' funny. They were fighting and playing and climbing all over stuff.
Some sweet videos:

Hilarious.

My sister-in-law Ruth just sent me this video. It's too good not to share.

My Brother
My brother Nathan has been fighting Melanoma cancer for the past six months and on Wednesday the 6th 2008 that fight came to an end with his passing at 7:00 am. I was able to see him the night before and for a moment he opened his eyes, looked at me and said "what's up Aus". Watching him lay there in bed was difficult knowing that there was nothing I could do to help. Nathan was a great husband, father, brother and friend. I love him and am thankful that he was and still is a part of my family. I am sorry that Nathan will not be able to raise his two boys or be there to take care of his wife Julie. I look forward to the time when I can see Nathan again and put my arms around him and tell him I love him. Until that time I love you Nathan and miss you.
Love your little brother
Austin