Bear Story

In Yellowstone the traffic always stops for wildlife to have the right of way...it also stops when someone spots a "picture moment" alongside the road. We were stopped in a long line of traffic and I could see a bunch of people out of their cars with their cameras, taking pictures of something. We were about 5 cars back, so I said to John, "I'm going to get out and take a picture" So I jogged up to the spot, not really noticing that everyone else was on the other side of the road! A little girl started to cross over near me and a father shouted for her to stop....at that point I turned to my right to see that I was face to face with a black bear! About 5 feet away from me. I slowly raised my camera and got just two shots before it dawned on me that I was way too close! I slowly backed away, but the bear was more interested in the berries than me! Thank goodness! So that was my close encounter with a black bear. We also had buffalo walking along right next to the car. It was great!