Sunshine and Beauty

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I hadn't expected so much beauty during our two days on the "open road", so I wondered if our time in Yellowstone would be anticlimactic. It isn't.

We passed the famous Cody Rodeo as we rode out of town and almost immediately headed up the mountain. Our first stop was unexpected: either Buffalo Bill Dam was not in our travel books or we just didn't notice it. The Korean War veteran on a gulf cart cajoled us into taking the short shuttle over to the visitor center and, as promised, we didn't regret the little detour.

The views are spectacular, and the two women staffing the desk provided great information on our park visit, as well as the valuable suggestion that we make a hotel reservation before our phones we out of signal range. I really hadn't anticipated losing connectivity in this era of ubiquitous cell service, so this information was helpful. I booked a hotel in West Yellowstone right away and, sure enough, we were without cell service except intermittently throughout our time in the park.

As if on demand, two deer a large (to me at least) bison appeared on the highway soon after our arrival. The deer scampered up a hill so I was convinced that they were bighorn sheep until I looked at the photos later on in the day. Bob, of course, thought right away that they were either elk or deer, and, as is so often the case, he was right.

The bison was walking slowly up a hill near Yellowstone Lake, oblivious to the traffic stopped in both directions. We moved slowly away after the sighting, and saw another large animal in a large grassy field that looks like bison habitat "as seen on TV".

We stopped to see the geyser pools at West Thumb and I walked most of the boardwalk, taking a lot of pictures until I encountered a large tour group. I headed back up the hill and found myself thinking that the high altitude (elevation 7795 feet) really does affect breathing until one gets used to it. A smell of hydrogen sulfide from the thermal pools fills  the air in that area of the park. I really don't mind that odor, but I think it has irritated my nose and sinuses.

On to Old Faithful, where we saw our first real crowds of the trip. People were sitting on benches waiting for the geyser's famous eruption. Bob brought his bag chair and I sat on a log, but I'm far too restless to wait patiently so I got up and took some pictures until the eruption. We were experiencing some wind, so the eruption looked more like a water main break than the straight up geyser shower I remembered from my first visit. The crowd cheered wildly and then dispersed.

We drove out of the park at the end of the afternoon and stopped at the Brandin' Iron Inn for the night. It's a clean and comfortable 50s style motel, where our vehicle is parked near the door so it's easy to move stuff in and out of the room. We had dinner at the Slipper Otter Pub -- a great house salad with chicken, shared by the two of us. The short rainfall did not last and we saw a lovely sunset behind the clouds.

Revisiting the Irma Hotel

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Bar at the Irma Hotel

We decided to have dinner out instead of the cheese and crackers we had enjoyed on Tuesday evening.

Deciding against a full meal, we stopped in at the Irma Hotel for appetizers and drinks. The famous gunfight re-enactment was going on, so it wasn't hard to find a seat at the bar. Sidebar: a few years ago, a spectator was shot at this gunfight with real ammunition.

I was amazed that my $5 Pinot Noir (Han's -- never heard of it) was delicious. We chose the appetizer plate to share and I almost immediately regretted succumbing to greasy bar food. There was far too much food for us to eat but it seemed like the easiest choice at the time.

Our server/bartender was a young woman with two children, originally from southern California. She lives in Cody because of the rodeo. She is a professional roper -- not quite sure what that means. "As seen on TV?", I asked. "No", she said. "They make $500K a year and don't tend bar to make ends meet." Anyway, she loves Cody because she and do the Rodeo thing 90 days a year.

We didn't go in the old section to see the famous cherrywood bar from Queen Victoria. We were happy to walk along the main street in the bright evening sunlight.

Crossing the Bighorns

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We chose US 14 to cross the mountains to Cody. The alternate route on Hwy 16 but it is, in theory, longer. We should have checked for road construction before heading up the mountain, as we always do when we're traveling to Florida, or even on shorter junkets at home.

The glorious vistas were immediate. Red rocks, evergreen forests, cattle grazing in the valleys and on the hills. We soon ran into road crews too, rebuilding the highway. The driver of a tour bus ahead of us was an expert at navigating the steep mountains, shifting expertly and earning even Bob's admiration. Bob prides himself on avoiding the use of brakes on mountain passes, and the bus driver passed the "brake light test" with high grades.

The dust was terrible in the construction zone. For part of it, we were at an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet and the workers were dressed warmly. A full fleet of heavy machinery was parked in a few locations spread across the construction area.

Finally, we reached pavement and moved out of the zone. The drive into Cody in mid-afternoon was on a straight, low traffic road. We checked into Comfort Inn in the Buffalo Bill Village complex and were happy to pour ourselves a drink.

This is an older building but the bed is very comfortable and the shower is great.

Sunny Skies

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Into Wyoming

We woke to clear blue skies on Wednesday and were surprised by an excellent full breakfast at Country Inn and Suites. That $104 Priceline deal got us a huge, comfortable room plenty of seating, fridge and microwave. Breakfast was served on real plates with stainless steel silverware. Homemade scrambled eggs and sausages and the usual fruit, juice, rolls, cereal and waffles. Coffee was delicious too.

We were on the road by 8:25 and rolled easily on I90, past all the Black Hills attractions and we were in Wyoming early in the morning, We decided against stopping anywhere to visit, knowing that we had almost 400 miles ahead of us.

I drove about 150 miles myself, some of it through road construction. I was starting to feel quite cocky and competent, which I was on the mostly wide open freeway. Not so in road construction, with narrow lanes and poor pavement.

By the time we got to Sheridan, I was ready to turn over the driving to Bob, who is unflappable under even the worst circumstances. We missed our rest stop so had lunch in a broiling parking lot, sitting in our air conditioned vehicle. A day old ham sandwich never tasted so good.

Rapid City: the first day

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South Dakota rest stop

This has been a very hot summer. Yesterday, the weather was oppressively hot -- so much so that I had no interest in cutting the grass before our journey. It was a good day to pack and simply make sure we got a good night's rest The evening rain broke the heat and we slept with an open window. Fitfully for me, soundly for Bob.

Jumped out of bed  at 6:00 a.m., made ham & swiss sandwiches for lunch, and were on the road by 8:00 a.m. There was a lot of traffic between St. Paul and the I90 turnoff. Rain was intermittent until we got onto I90 and then we got a few big dumps, one of the worst when I was driving. Fortunately, I have finally gotten comfortable in Bob's Chevy Traverse and so was able to adjust both the front and rear wipers fairly well, with the expert advice of my passenger, of course.

The ham & swiss sandwiches (Boarshead deluxe ham and whatever swiss was on special at Lund's & Byerly's) were absolutely delicious, accompanied by fresh carrots and celery. We  had only a half sandwich each so we have tomorrow's lunch prepared too. It will be far better than fast food on the road, as I discovered some time ago when I just couldn't stomach the idea of a Big Mac or whatever.

As the afternoon wore on, we saw the hope of sunny skies and the promise of better weather tomorrow. We stopped for the night at Country Inn & Suites on Lacrosse Road in Rapid City, a Priceline bargain at $104. The room is very big, with plenty of seating and a good Internet connection.

We've been in the Mountain timezone since mid-afternoon, so the challenge will be to stay up long enough to get to bed at a decently late hour.

Looking at the Map

It's a long journey for not very many square miles -- all the way to southern Minnesota, across all of South Dakota, and then a jagged route to Yellowstone National Park.

It's a great adventure through the American Midwest, where people are kind and upright and polite.

We have been this way before but the thrill remains undiminished.

From Minnesota to Yellowstone