On the road home

September 7 – We only drove 247 miles, but they were hard miles!

We left Valley View at 9:06 after filling with propane, hooking up the car, saying our good-byes to some of the staff and the super nice couple we met, The Carpenters, from Tennessee.  They’re the couple on the motorcycle with the neat little tent trailer.  They invited us to come by or call if we’re close to Jamestown, TN and they have relatives in Florida so they may get the chance to come our way! Like I said, you meet the nicest people camping!

The trip through Yellowstone was what took so much time.  We didn’t see a single elk today

but we saw buffalo, and even saw a pair rutting!  Bill missed it of course as they were on my

The  Old Faithful Buffalo

side.  We saw a few more buffalo here and there and one was only about 20-30 feet from us when we made a quick stop at Old Faithful Inn for a couple of things we saw there but didn’t buy and never saw again.  We almost got to see Old Faithful erupt as it was supposed to be while we were there but since I was blocking traffic in the RV while Bill went inside, we didn’t think it was wise to linger.

The road around Yellowstone Lake is a bit up and down and at the northern part of

Sylvan Lake

the lake there are those sad looking burned out forests that stand vigil over the tiny little trees trying to survive and replenish the forests.  We hadn’t been to this part and the hills looked like old bald men with spiky sparse hair.  Once we passed Yellowstone Lake we stopped at Sylvan Lake and took a few photos with those mountains in the background.

Then came the ascent and descent to get

The bald old man

to the East Entrance.  Going up didn’t seem bad at all but going down was another story.  We had unhooked the car and Bill drove it and I drove the RV and he stayed right behind me.  The grade was 7% and very curvy.  Most of it was 25 – 35 mph.  We were glad to get to the bottom.  We stopped at the entrance gate to see if they had a passport stamp and all she told Bill was go to the Visitor Center.  Well, there wasn’t one for the east entrance that we saw so we headed on into Wapiti Valley in the Shoshone National Forest.  What a beautiful drive!   We went through a trio of tunnels, 1 long and 2 short ones.  The river ran along one side of the road and later along the other.  The hills were rugged peaks with angular layers of the rock.  There was little civilization except for forestry campground and some ranches that advertised trail rides, hunting and fishing guides.  I did see 2 more buffalo on the forest property.

Buffalo Bill State Park was right along the road and had 2 really nice campgrounds.  Bill applied there for us one year but was too late or there were no openings.  One campground runs right along the river.  At the east end of the river is a huge blue lake from damming the river.  Once you go through the mountain pass after the dam, it opens into a huge farming valley like so many places we’ve seen in Idaho and Montana.  There were many more ranches and fields of cattle and horses.   I also saw a male pronghorn antelope and in another spot 2 females.

Once we reached Cody, WY we pulled into the Wal-Mart.  Bill had called in a prescription to pick up there and we needed some produce so we parked, had lunch and went in.  His med had not come in since today was a holiday so he had them cancel it and he called the Wal-mart where we’re going to be camping later in the week.

Road to Thermopolis

Bear in mind, that all of the roads we were on today were 2 lane, so no interstate speeding along!  From Cody we headed south on 120 and were back to pretty boring landscape until we were close to Thermopolis.  Then the landscape changed once again with stone and soil layers exposed from ancient earthquakes. 

In Thermopolis is the largest thermal spring in the world.  It was only released by the Native Americans with the stipulation that it remain free forever for American people to use.  It’s now a state park and the bathhouse is still free to the public.

Our campground, the Eagle RV Park, is just south of town and we have a nice pull-through space but it was not long enough for the car so we had to unhitch it.  We decided to drive into town since we were unhooked and have dinner and see a little of the town.  It didn’t’ take long!  The first place we went was closed but I had read on Yelp that this one place, Lil Wrangler was one of the only places open for dinner during the week, so that’s where we went.  Bill enjoyed his sirloin steak, salad and potato salad but I was less than thrilled with my liver and onion, salad and potato salad. The onions were barely cooked and the liver was too thin to be cooked so much!  But, I was starved so I ate it, every last bit!  Well, not those raw onions!

Now we are settled in for the night with a long day ahead again!