Date: 22 May 2001 (Teusday)

Start: KOA, Hardin MT

End: Absaroka Bay RV Park, Cody WY (169 miles)

Still breezy (up to 20mph, still less than the other day), almost entirely clear. Temp was 52f in the morning and 75f in Cody in the afternoon.

We ran across I-90 to US310 south to Cody. The trip was totally uneventful.

Over the day we went from less than 3000’ altitude to just over 5000’ here at Cody. There were no escarpments, just a gradual lifting of the plains to a higher level.

About the time we reached Billings we saw mountains in the distance with snow on top, first to the west of us, then to the south. We turned off to go south and the road kept the mountains to our right (west) as we passed, and the Pryor Mountains were to our left.

As we checked into the campground, we saw the facility for connecting to the internet in the office, so we’re good on that count. The campground is across from a man-made town lake, and within walking distance of a restaurant and K-mart.

We wandered around downtown Cody during the afternoon, taking in the stores and the town. We bought a few small items and mailed postcards.

Cody’s another western town with big wide streets, some dust and lots of diesel pickup trucks. My pickup drew no comments or looks whatever; it must blend in with the locals.

Back to the trailer to put things away, then we opened a Riesling we bought on a trip last year for a quiet glass.

Then we left again to look at Buffalo Bill Cody Dam, one of the first concrete-arch dams, and the lake behind it. It’s just west of town on the north fork of the Shoshone River. The road to Yellowstone Park (US14/16/20) goes past it; after the third tunnel, you turn left into the visitors center. It’s quite a site, since the Shoshone at that point had carved a gorge 70’ wide at the bottom widening to 200’ at the top of the dam. Standing on the dam, you see a wide lake on one side and a very narrow, deep, gorge on the other.

Looking up the lake, you see the territory we’ll work our way into in two days. The road ascends to about 7000’ in 50 miles to the entrance of the park, then to 8500’ in the 26 miles inside the park to the campground.

We came back to the campground and walked to dinner at the Black Sheep Restaurant, across from the campground. It was quiet there tonight, so we talked a bit with the owner, who’s another one of those characters who has been everywhere and settled here.

The food was good and inexpensive. Maybe we’ll go back tomorrow night.

I was going to drain all tanks before settling in for the night. But I found that the black-water tank reach-rod to the valve has fallen off somewhere and disappeared. So I measured the threaded shaft coming out of the valve (quarter-inch) and went to the K-mart. I came back with a package of quarter-twenty nuts and threaded a couple of them onto the shaft. Then I could pull out the valve using a vise-grip without damaging the threads on the shaft. That’ll do until we can replace the reach-rod.

So then we settled in. Tomorrow, we’ll spend the day at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a collection of four museums (Plains Indians, Buffalo Bill items, Firearms, and Western Art).