Travel Channel 

A Bear of a Time in Yosemite
On a beautiful, July night, my family and I were driving along the winding road out of the valley of Yosemite National Park after watching the sun set against the mountains. All day we had been touring the park, listening to ranger talks, shopping in the gift stores and just enjoying our time in the incredible wilderness. We were all astounded to hear the stories of campers leaving food out and then were "visited" by bears. Although we really didn't expect to run into any, we were a little wary of being surprised by a bear while walking through the woods.

As dad drove our rented minivan through the pitch blackness, we stared out the windows entranced by the full moon and stars, mountains and the occasional animal scurrying across the roadway in front of us. At one lookout point, Dad swung the van into a deserted parking lot and said, "We've got to get out and look at this moon." We all slid out of the car and stood outside in silence staring up at the sky. We were totally entranced. I felt an extreme sense of peace and beauty and solitude. Suddenly, a deafening "ROOOAAAARRRRR!!!!!!!" came from behind us and something jumped up and descended on my mom, sister and myself. Screaming, we jumped into the van. As we struggled to close the doors, we saw Dad bent over at the waist, laughing like a hyena. He was the "roar" and the creature that had jumped up behind us.

He pulls stunts and pranks all the time, but only a few are this good. We still talk about this incident, it's one of my favorite family vacation stories and it is still one of Dad's best stunts.
Raighne R. Davidson-Edwards
Austin, Texas

A Life Begins at Yellowstone
My greatest memory of the national park system is from Yellowstone National Park. While driving through the park on the way to Illinois, I stopped to take some pictures of a herd of elk. After I had taken a few shots, one of the female elk turned away. That's when I noticed she was giving birth! It was fascinating to see the birth of a young elk … talk about nature at its best. In the national parks you can witness nature at its greatest and most amazing moments.
George Weber

A Night in Yellowstone
A friend and I backpacked through Yellowstone for two weeks one June. One of my best memories of the vacation was a cold, wet night when we were camping. The sound and the smell of the crackling fire from the camp, the coolness of the night and the eerie howling of the coyotes was something that I'll never forget. The next morning when we awakened, a herd of elk had camped out too, in a clearing at the edge of the forest. There were hundreds of them and not far from where we were camped. For two women from Indiana, it was an awesome sight.
Kathy Beaver
Connersville, IN

A Fond Memory of a Visit to the Grand Canyon
In March of 2000 we were blessed to be able to visit The Grand Canyon with our 21-year-old daughter, Beckie, who had been given only a few weeks left to live. Her cancer had returned and there were no more treatments to try. One of her dreams was to take a trip around the United States. It took us five weeks and almost 10,000 miles, but we were able to visit many friends, relatives and beautiful sights in our great land. At the Grand Canyon, we only had two days to see the vast land. It was so huge that we just couldn't believe it. While there, we took a helicopter ride over the Canyon. That was one of the most wonderful experiences of our trip. Beckie was thrilled and the view was magnificent. It was so awe inspiring that we wished we could stay up there much longer than we did. The Colorado River wound through the canyon and looked so small from the air. The colors of the rocks and the different formations were almost impossible to comprehend. God's great creation left us speechless. It was a thrill of a lifetime and a memory to cherish forever.

We were also able to stop at Mt. Rushmore. The immense figures were so detailed that it was like looking into the face of history. What a memorable experience for us.

Beckie died on April 28, 2000, only three weeks after our return home. We recently watched our video tapes of that trip and the memories were very vivid.
Glenda Tickerhoof
Lake Milton, OH

A Bear and a Bathouse
In 1959 my military family (consisting of my father, mother, two grandmothers, myself and my 9-year-old sister) were camping across the country on our way to my father's new assignment in Hawaii. My father had bought a very small trailer for my grandmothers, my sister and myself to sleep in, while he and my mother slept in the rear of the stationwagon.

We got to Yellowstone National Park around July 1st. My dad and I went fishing and ended up catching a substantial amount of trout. Our campsite was located nearby the bathhouse and after one of the most delicious fish dinners of my young life, my mother went to the bathhouse for a shower. My father and I sat on the tailgate of the stationwagon watching the campfire burn down slowly when a very large bear and her two young cubs came sniffing around the fire. I'm sure it was the delicious aroma of the roasted fish that they smelled. Just as the mother bear became very engrossed in the fire, my mother came out of the bathhouse - hair wrapped in towel. At the same moment, the mother bear and her cubs and my mother spotted each other, and fled in opposite directions into the woods. My dad and I saw the whole thing and laughed until we cried. It's still a wonderfully happy memory after all of these years.
Wanda Towles
Laurel, Maryland

First Visit to Yellowstone
I first learned about Yellowstone, the geysers and Old Faithful when I was in the second grade. We watched a film - one of those films on a reel - and I remember listening as the narrator spoke about the number of people that visited Old Faithful every year, knowing I would never be part of those statistics. I was the first born in an immigrant family that did not believe in traveling for entertainment. My parents spent all their time working very hard to support our family. So, I had no hopes of visiting Yellowstone and witnessing its awesome beauty and power.

I finally did get to visit Yellowstone. My field area was not far from the park, so we planned a visit. The awesome beauty I remembered seeing in the film as a child paled to what was before me. The buffalo, mud pools, crystal clear boiling waters that seemed so inviting, but are so deadly, and the signs directing us to stay on the walkways due to the dangerous thin crust were all so amazing. Understanding what was occurring beneath the Yellowstone caldera made it even more impressive. And then it was before me - Old Faithful. My crew and I sat there waiting for this famous, well-known geyser to display its magnificent power and beauty. As I sat ready and waiting with my camera, I stopped and thought back in time for a moment. I looked around at the many, many people from different parts of the country and world. I thought about the time I was a seven-year-old girl wanting so desperately to see this place, but thinking I never would. I realized that at last I was part of this natural wonder … this beautiful place that I had longed to see my whole life. I cried. I just cried … for me … I cannot put into words how being in Yellowstone moved me.
Elisa D'Amore
Revere, Massachusetts

Visitors From the Past at Stone's River
Probably what is most significant about my national park experiences is that they have been universally good. The National Park Service does a magnificent job preserving our nation's heritage.

One particular memory is of an experience I had while reenacting a Civil War encampment at Stone's River National Battlefield. We bedded down in historically accurate Civil War tenting in the vicinity of the visitor's center. It was right at the site of the most brutal fighting of the battle where the Federal army finally fought off attacking Confederates and prevented a disastrous defeat.
What made it memorable was the sensation I had that night. Knowing the history, I developed the peculiar feeling that we were not alone. I did not and do not believe in ghosts. Still, as I tried to sleep that night under the stars (I elected not to use a tent), I sensed the presence of the dead and wounded of that long ago battle on ground once stained with their life's blood. William John Both, Jr.
West Hempstead, NY

The Painted Desert
When I was 12 years old (I am now 61), my parents and my grandparents and I took a six-week tour of America, in one car. My grandmother had never been out of Columbus, Ohio and was in awe of all the sights we saw along the way. When we arrived at the Painted Desert, there was a guide standing by the signpost giving a lecture. After he had completed his talk, he asked if anyone had any questions. My grandmother, never being bashful, asked "How often do they have to paint the desert to keep it so pretty?" That is one memory that is permanently etched in my mind.
Karen Y Redding
Monterey, CA

Berating the Bears in Yosemite
In late fall one year, my wife, two small daughters, and I were in Yosemite. It was the last weekend the park was open before closing for the winter. Hardly anyone else was there. One evening, on the way to the dining hall, we were a little more than halfway there when two bear cubs rounded a corner of a building. They were about 150 yards away, and saw our two girls immediately. I felt that I could read the expression on their faces, "Kids! Other kids! Let's go play!" And off they galloped - straight at us. "Uh oh," I thought. "Mama has to be somewhere nearby. I'm in deep trouble here."

"You take Laura and go on ahead," I told my wife. "Don't stop. Don't look back. Just go." She was closer to the dining hall and could make it. Becky and I weren't as close. I scooped her up and held her tightly. As they got closer, I thought, "Well, if they try to climb up I'll just have to stand here and let them claw my legs. Maybe they'll get bored and go away." As I watched them get closer, all the while bawling their "Waghhhh" cry, I realized that they were just kids themselves.

A flash of inspiration and desperation hit me. I stomped my foot, pointed at them and yelled (as best as my memory serves), "Now you go back home! You can't come over here." A scene from "To Kill a Mocking Bird" flitted across my mind. "Go on now, or I'll tell your Momma." They stopped and looked at me and then at each other. "The last time you were over here you ruined my flowers. GO! Scoot!"

Darned if they didn't turn and run back the way they'd came. By that time the mother bear had rounded the same corner of the building and was watching the whole thing unfold. I swear, she looked at me, nodded her head up and down, spun on her heel and disappeared, followed by the two cubs.

Dinner tasted pretty good that day.
Kayak Jack