W is for Whoa Wyoming
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2009
1
7
19
Trip End
Jul 05, 2009
Evanston,
Wyoming,
United States
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
On the way out we ate at Irma's Grill(?), which is a historical land mark in Cody the rodeo capitol of the world. It was great, all Buffalo bill stuff and I had a salmon that was so meaty at first try i thought it was a pork chop!
Vanessa was checking for a campground in the park and found only one that has the RV hookups we've grown accustom to. They take our reservation but insist that all campers be hard-sided, meaning no pop ups or canvas of any kind
Cody, Wyoming
. We got registered without any one noticing, then we headed to the thermal springs.They had a wooden walk way built over the pools which bubbled and steamed. Some were clear and blue, others were milk and smelled strongly of sulfur. We saw all kinds of steaming patches all around the Yellowstone lake, which was a sight in its own right. I wanted to rent a boat and paddle around but it was too late and too cold. So we headed back to camp.
As soon as we pulled in to our spot, some campers told us we were going to get in trouble for the pop up, which we hadn't even raised yet. Their son-in-law just heard it about his pop-up and he was only visiting. The rangers made him move on. The worry is that bears can get in, but every other camping site in Yellowstone allows tents, so i don't know, but the ranger spotted us as soon as the campers moved on.
As he approached, i immediately told him we planned to sleep at the table and booth in the camper and would keep the camper in the pop-down position. He quickly said that was fine and was getting back in his truck when Vanessa asked if we might just pop it up to cook dinner. the ranger said we could pop so long as it wasn't overnight
Irma's
. That was a huge relief because it was cold outside and uncomfortable sitting and eating crouched down in the un-poped camper.The furnace would not work again. I could get the pilot lit, but it would not kick on. I fought for another hour and was pretty mad because tonight was COLD. But there was nothing I could do about it know so we hunkered down, un-poped the camper as promised and buried ourselves in blankets.
Our sleep was very uncomfortable. Vanessa offered to sleep on the table, which was lowered to meet the booth-type seat, but it lacked the cushion. She piled the only blankets we could spare from on top to cover the bare, cold wood. The next morning when i asked why she didn't let me take that spot (as i had half-heartedly offered to take it) she said she didn't trust me to keep the blankets from falling to the floor leaving us both to freeze to death, then I remembered that all night she fought that heap of blankets. I would have surely froze us.
The next morning it was hard to get up and face the cold. It was snowing and we had no heat. We skipped making breakfast and all morning activities to get into the front of the truck, turn on the heat and see what we could in the sleety weather
On the drive into Yellowstone
. We had to go see Old Faithful.As we wondered the walk way around the geyser, the rain picked back up so we hurried to lodge for coffee and hot chocolate. We watched the geyser erupt from a roofed balcony. Then, while it was still early, we high tailed it out of the mountains. They might be beautiful, but they make for slow travels. We drove all day and just barely got out of the mountains. We were in Idaho for a couple of miles, we were Utah for a couple of miles, but some how we are still camping in Wyoming tonight.
Anyway, we are headed to Salt Lake City tomorrow to check it out and definitely to hit a Mexican restaurant called the Red Iguana. Talk to you soon...
