To The Grand Tetons (day 11)

Another day, another mountain pass to cross. And once again, we did the drive in 29 degrees and snow flurries.

This time we crossed the Continental Divide. There are few jobs I would want more than to be a roadwork flagman at 9600 feet in the snow - but there they were, stopping traffic on the road while they rebuilt the road from wintertime damage. The dirt road coated the front of the T@B with mud, never mind the van.

We’re now in Grand Teton National Park. The campgrounds here are huge, and we had to decide between parking chock-a-block in the “RV park” section or in the more rustic campground. The difference? The RV park has hook-ups (including electric) but costs a steep $50/night. No hook-ups = $19 a night.

So, we jumped out of the car into the rain and walked all through the two campgrounds. Wanting something a bit more private (and wanting to save nearly $100 over three nights), we skipped hook-ups.



Walking through the RV park did serve another useful purpose; we spotted another T@B. This one is owned by Sue and Rich, a couple we met at a T@B rally in Connecticut back when we were deciding what trailer to buy.

Of all the cars and campers I've researched, Sue was the most positive vehicle owner I've ever met. "You won't regret buying it - it's so much fun!" she said about the T@B. They’re taking a several month-long trip - far more adventurous than us spending a mere five weeks in a 15 foot trailer with no bathroom. We caught up with them through a combination of high-tech (email) and no-tech (leaving notes on our trailer doors) and chatted for a while - a pleasant crossing of paths.

Once again, the weather is changing frequently, and clouds obscure the high peaks.



Dinner was surprisingly good Mexican (fresh ingredients, not Taco Bell) at the park’s concession stand. No new ribs or pie today, so we've been rationing the full pie we bought a few days ago.

Tom

Passing the Day (day 10)

Today was a day that could have gone wrong in quite a few ways, but worked out pretty well in the end.

We left Custer State Park in the mist and rain, heading off to do 320 miles. Normally that wouldn’t take all that long. But driving on the windy, climbing roads around here slows our speed.

We eventually made it to Gillette Wyoming, the nearest “big” town on our route. The big draw for us: it had a Wal-Mart, so we could do some grocery shopping (like buying fruit and salad to counteract all of the ribs and pie). I also figured that they should have a little plug-in ceramic heater to make up for our inoperative furnace.

Seems they think it’s summer in Wyoming, despite it being 38 degrees and misty. Wal-Mart had rows of air conditioners, but no heaters. Oh well. Happily there was an Ace Hardware next door where we picked up this spiffy little number:



We almost ate at our first big fast food chain (I’m not counting Starbucks) today - but the line was too long. Good for us - we wound up at a local Mexican place, where the bill for the two of us was likely less than what we would have bought at Wendy’s. (Too bad the cute doughnut shop next door had just sold their last one when we got there.)

The temperature has been dropping during the day into the mid-30s. This was a worry, since we were finally going to climb into the Rockies. The “easiest” route involves climbing to 9666 feet through Powder River Pass, and then dropping back down to 4500 feet.

This had a few worries: the biggest was that the rain was turning to snow.



Even though the thermometer in the car read 28 degrees at one point, the road had been treated so there wasn’t ice. But even without the snow, this is a steep hill to climb with a trailer. I was waiting for our hard-used Odyssey to falter, but it pulled strong. I could maintain 45-50 all the way, only briefly dropping into 2nd gear. Coming back down the mountain, the brakes worked fine as did the transmission’s grade logic at slowing down the van. Surprisingly not bad at all.

This mountain climbing and descending sucked up a lot of time, a problem given that we had a bit of a deadline at the end of the day. Our destination, Thermopolis, has the “world’s largest mineral hot springs” and their public hot spring baths close at 5:30.




But it worked out: we got there at 5:05, and they only suggest you spend 20 minutes in the sulfurous hot water anyway. The public pool wasn’t anything special, but it was free, unlike the theme park-like places on either side of the state park property.

As we left the springs, Juliet picked up a booklet describing what was in this one horse town. Restaurants that are open on Sunday night aren’t among them. But we spotted a truck parked near the road with an Open sign in the window, selling a familiar food:



Being late in the day, they were out of a lot of stuff, but we picked up a beef BBQ sandwich and some ribs:



They were great - we ate dinner in the trailer of ribs, salad, and some of yesterday’s pie. Tonight’s campground, Eagle RV resort, isn’t fancy at all:


At least the bathrooms are very clean, they have wifi, we have a pull-through spot (we stayed hitched up tonight to the van, speeding our exit), and the staff was friendly. As if to show that that the day turned out pretty well after all, the sun came out briefly and a rainbow appeared.

Not too bad at all. Off to Grand Tetons (and likely less regular web access) tomorrow.

Threading the Needles (day 9)

When I wrote the last blog, sitting in a comfy leather chair in the Sylvan Bay Lodge in Custer, I figured that would pretty much sum up the day. We’d sit around a while, have an early dinner, and that would be that.

Well, the fickle weather that had changed from sun, to rain, to hail, back to rain - it reverted all the way back to sun. Juliet wanted to make another go at driving some of the scenic routes around Custer, so back in the car we went.

Good thing we did. We drove the Needles Highway, which is far from a highway but does have rock formations that look like needles.



Well, some look more like straight pins, but this one had a needle’s thread hole and all:



One neat part: there are several one-lane wide cuts through the rock, just big enough for an RV to fit through.



But the weather had the last laugh. We tried to return to Iron Mountain Road, the scenic drive we tried to do first thing in the morning. Turns out it had fogged over - again. Back to the main camp area for dinner.

Custer is a great state park. Lovely public campsites complete with electric hook-ups (hard to find in the East), plenty of well-marked hikes, a fairly open policy towards where you can hike and bike (a rarity) and have alcohol (even more rare.) It was a good three days there. But we’re off the next day, heading towards the big national parks.

Tom

Hail to the Peak (Day 9)

Well, to be honest, we didn’t make it to the peak we were climbing. And we didn’t visit Mount Rushmore either. But I’ll explain the title.

The day started with lousy weather: 38 degrees, and on-and-off downpours all night. We were dry and warm inside the trailer though. Not wanting to hang around on a gray morning, we drove the Custer wildlife loop again. Saw more buffalo and their young, all before having breakfast at one of the lodges here.


Afterwards, we decided to drive on one of the designated scenic drives here. Only one problem: it was so foggy, it was hard enough to see the road, much less the distant scenery. We turned around early and headed back to the trailer for a break.

Needing gas, we drove into Custer. There we had lunch at the Purple Pie Place.

The pies were fantastic. Juliet had strawberry/rhubarb, and I had chocolate. (We couldn’t resist from trying them before taking a picture.) We bought a whole blackberry pie to go.



By this point, the fickle weather was improving to 60 degrees and partly sunny. We decided to try and hike up Little Devil’s Tower. As soon as we started, the weather turned and the rain came. Since we had raingear, we pressed on up. A cloud front passed through, cutting off the view of the surrounding hills.



Still, by this point, we wanted to make it to the top. The trail changed to being a nearly straight up scramble through the rocks, the pathway sometimes narrowing to a slit.

We were one final rock scramble away from the top, and then we heard thunder. At that moment, we simultaneously said “We’re heading down.” Good thing we did, because a few minutes later, M&M sized hail pelted us. It hailed on and off for about ten minutes, partly coating the ground.



We headed down as quickly as we could while being VERY careful not to slip. As usual, it takes a lot less time to go down than to go up - but my knees were quivering from the constant descent.

Today’s good thing: A tie between pie and waterproof/non-cotton hiking gear.

Today’s bad thing: The furnace in the trailer isn’t lighting. (I had checked that out before we left and it worked fine in the driveway.) Not a huge issue: we have warm clothes and bedding, and the insulated trailer is warmer than a tent. Still, if snow hits Yellowstone, members of my family may collect on the betting pool of when we’ll wind up in a hotel. (Not that a hotel would be a horrible idea…)

Tom

Bike and Hike (and Wade): Day 8

We spent the day in Custer State Park. Happily, the rain held off and “partly cloudy” meant just that.

Since the sun peeked through in the morning, we got up and moved quickly, going for a mountain bike ride. The path we took meandered along a fishing creek. It was very pretty - but it had fifteen stream crossings in three miles. (I counted.)

Some of these we could ride across, some of them were pretty deep. We started crossing them gingerly, balancing precariously on some slippery rocks and logs in the water. After getting our feet wet a few times, we simply resorted to walking across the creek.

After riding, we drove around the “wildlife loop,” a twenty-mile road with lots of, well, wildlife. We saw more buffalo and their young

And we got stuck in a small pack of wild mules. They unfortunately are used to cars, and come up to the windows looking for food.

We didn’t feed them but others did. A mule decided to rub its head on the side view mirror of the truck ahead of us. That seemed like a bad idea, so we slowly drove past them.

Lunch was leftovers back in the trailer, followed by a brief nap. (I love naps.) The afternoon was spent doing one fun thing - going for a hike - and one not-so-fun-thing - doing laundry. Had to be done.

A chill is setting into the air, and I’ve turned the heat pump on in the trailer for the first time. Hopefully the weather will hold for tomorrow.

Signs we're out West

- There is country music in every eatery and store. I'm catching up on my Carrie Underwood.

- Don't expect to find a bag of arrugula or cage-free eggs in a supermarket.

- I haven't seen a Honda dealer since Illinois. (Well, one that sells cars - there are ATV dealers around.)

Tom

Badlands and Bad Mileage (Day 7)

South Dakota has two things that, so far, are unique in this trip. One: They have some long constant highway grades. Two: The 75 mph speed limit. Combine the two, and you can indeed achieve 11 mpg out of an Odyssey when towing a trailer. (We’d been averaging 14-15 otherwise. I doubt the boats on the roof help aerodynamics either.)

I had wrote before that lower speeds were more “natural” and relaxing on the highway. That’s still true, but we had a lot of miles to do and sights to see today. It seemed worthwhile to blow more money on fuel (and increase our carbon footprint) to achieve them. (Hopefully, listening to NPR pod casts while we drove counterbalanced our evil ways.)

As planned, we got up early and left by 6:45. We drove 100 miles before breakfast. Their poached eggs turned out more like hard-boiled, but the pie (yes, for breakfast) was fantastic. Jules had rhubarb, me cherry.

We pushed on to the Badlands. Out in the middle of the prairie, there emerges this odd landscape, shaped by erosion. The rock formations and striated colors are otherworldly (well, unless you’ve been to Bryce Canyon.)

I’m ashamed to admit it, but the Badlands National Park seems to be optimized for the American vacation traveler. You can see a lot of the best stuff from the road. There are scenic pulloff overlooks all over. It only takes a brief walk from your parked car (ample parking, even for much larger RVs than ours) to clamber over the unique formations while watching out for one particular hazard:


Finally the park isn’t even much of a deviation from I90. All in all, a well spent three hour loop - and we didn’t leave feeling like we rushed it (much.)

Off to Custer State Park. You’re warned about “Free Roaming Wildlife” as you drive in, but that doesn’t prepare you for the first buffalo being four feet away from your hood. Buffalo are big.


Never mind the two raccoons that yesterday I swerved to miss: this is another level. Unlike Westchester and Connecticut, the deer here don’t just graze right at the side of the road, oblivious to traffic. Here they’ll take off and bolt into the road. Happily, traffic moves slow through here, and it’s normal to stop and gawk.

Our campsite for the next three days in Blue Bell Campground is beautiful, with a view of the forest behind.

One hassle: the parking spot for the trailer is far from level. I actually had to get out our bulky, expensive BAL leveling device to jack up one wheel of the trailer so we didn‘t wind up sliding to one side of the trailer as we slept.

Glad we brought it: it works like a charm. (Other trailers have all sorts of jacks and blocks of wood under them, with formations far more risky than any Frank Lloyd Wright cantilever.)

Beautiful weather today, but the forecast is worsening and looking like rain...

Tom