Kearney Vacation

This is my answer to the question that I ask my students---
Have you ever had any "wild animal encounters", and have
you ever visited any zoos, aquariums, or wildlife
preserves?

My wife, Sue, and myself have 3, now grown, children.
When we were younger our vacations were to go camping or
renting a cabin in Wisconsin or Michigan. We would see the
"native wild animals" for that area. Another place that my
kids really liked when they were younger, was the Indiana
Dunes.

When our kids were getting high school age, we took a week
long cruise to the beautiful islands of St Thomas and St.
Martin. This was my first opportunity to snorkel and scuba
dive, and then be able to see the colorful assortment of salt
water fish. This was truely a great vacation.

Probably one of the places that both me and my wife really
enjoy the most is Yellowstone National Park and the
Grand Tetons. We have seen Moose, Elk, Coyote, Deer,
Rainbow Trout, Black Bear, Bald and Golden Eagles,
Osprey, Beaver, Buffalo, and countless varieties of
different birds. Besides the animals---there are the sights
of the great mountains and landscapes .

One summer we went to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
Whale watching, puffins, seals, lobsters, and all kinds of ocean
birds were are main attractions for us. We went deep sea
fishing---I even caught a cod. A great place to sit on the rocks and
really relax with the ocean breeze and pounding of the surf on the
rocks. Don't be fooled by the height of the tides.

Vancouver Island trip started in Seattle, took a ferry
boat to the island itself. A truely beautiful and different
island. Orcas, seals, dolphins, and eagles were the
animal highlights, but also the beautiful temperate
forests and ocean shorelines. The towns of Victoria and
Sidney were a trip within themselves.

We took a short trip to Cancun over our Christmas
Vacation. We stayed in a small resort and our room
opened up to the ocean and a mangrove forest. Besides
the relaxing on the sandy beaches, we took a small side
trip to see a Mayan ruin in Tulum. Snorkling in the coral
reef was a great experience, and even the circling of the
baracuda gave us some "excitement". My wife took some
great pictures of a brown pelican as it would dive for food
and then come back and sit on a old ocean wooden fishing
rowboat.