Mamas and their babies

Yesterday I went for a nice long run by the Eagle River Nature Center. As I was driving home, on a gorgeous, curvy, two-lane mountain road, I saw a bit of movement in the brush. Assuming moose, I slowed down. Out in front of me, darted a huge black bear. Two, dare I say it, adorable cubs trailed behind. All three bears dashed across the road and were gone in seconds. I was left with a profound sense of awe about this amazing place that I live. Yeah, I have to make a ton of noise, aka shout like a maniac, when I'm running by myself in the woods; but how cool that I can spend the day in the office, and then spend the early evening bear viewing and running in a glacier-carved valley... pretty darn cool.

And speaking of wildlife, the other day I went to back out of my drive way. As usual, I checked my rear view mirror to see if anybody was coming... there was something coming, but not a car or a bike rider. Nope, it was mama moose and two babies that were standing in plain view of my mirror. Not a bad way to start the day, if you ask me.