Jellystone Park, oops, I meant Shenandoah Park

I had my first bear sighting in a long time outside the Shenandoah Park. Over Labor Day on the way into the Swift Run Gap entrance of the Shenandoah Park we saw a bear in a tree. It was thrashing in the tree eating wild grapes. It was so close and seemed so tame that it made us think we were looking at a mechanical bear. It even parted the tree limbs to look at us. It was as if it was playing peek a boo. It started a bear traffic jam and people were jumping out of their cars to get as close as they could to the bear. When we moved up to pay we told the ranger there was a bear in the tree. She didn’t believe us at first. We think she either thought we were joking with her or that we asked if we would see a bear in the park. She looked at us like we had some nerve and said, “What do you people think this is, Jellystone Park?” Once we got her to understand there really was a bear, her expression changed to panic. She thanked us and went off to deal with the people by the tree. She probably had to remind everyone that even though the bear seemed tame, this was a wild bear and they needed to get back in their cars before someone got hurt. For a short moment in time, the Shenandoah Park became Jellystone Park.