Yellowstone National Park, Buffalo Jams

Last Monday we were coming into the Mammoth area from Norris. As usual it was busy, lunch time. Lots of elk in the grassy area by the hotel and across the street in the brushy area. There are quite a few pedestrian crossings in the area. I am pulling up to a x-walk and here is an elk standing between two parked cars and in the x-walk area like he was waiting to cross. So of course as I stopped, we are laughing, the elk crosses, after crossing it turned it's head back as though to say "thank you"! There was another retiree standing about 100' past the x-walk. He was waving us down, my wife puts the window down and laughingly he says " at least it was in the x-walk". All of us just laughing away. We got parked on down by the courthouse, walked back up by the dining room and hotel and there were three elk grazing in the grass beside the steps going up to the dining room. As luck would have it, the gentleman who flagged us down was still standing nearby. I said "the dining room must not open until noon and they are waiting to get in for lunch. Again more laughs.