Antelope Island

On Friday, the kids had a random day off of school so I took PTO to spend the day with them. James' alarm (me getting out of the shower) didn't go off so he slept in and ended up staying home too. We took the opportunity to drive out to Antelope Island, the largest island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. We've never been before since it's such a long drive (lol, not really but James hates to drive anywhere). This island contains the largest herd of bison and once a year, they round up the herd to vaccinate them and make sure all are healthy. Well, they were doing the round up this weekend. We saw at least 15 of them free roaming and then the rest of the herd in the corrals. We also saw lots of birds but didn't see any of the populous mule deer.


First we stopped at the potties outside the main entrance. Here we posed near a bison statue. Only after we took the pictures did we see the sign on the back, "Do Not Touch". Oh well...















Then we drove over the causeway and to the Visitor's Center. Before we even got there, we saw a few bison grazing outside.






They are huge creatures, it really is amazing to see them so close. They seem so docile but they weigh 2 tons and can run pretty fast so it makes you wonder if they've ever gotten mad and charged people or their cars.

We explored the Visitor's Center and the kids posed with another bison statue :)














Lastly we went up to Buffalo Point, a nice lookout over the lake. We took a self family portrait by placing the camera on a rock and using the timer. Ah, modern technology. It's actually a pretty good picture :) When we got home, James was outside with the kids while they jumped in the leaf pile and he snapped this gorgeous sunset. Such a beautiful fall day! We'll enjoy it while it lasts....