20070705 Thursday
At Moran Jct, WY (Grand Teton Park RV Resort)
Warm

Some days just work out better than you'd hoped.

I remembered last night that the maker of the custom exhaust on the truck is located near here (Dubois, WY, about 50 miles). The tailpipe doesn't extend out far enough - I get black soot buildup on the right rear corner and bumper. So I called them during breakfast and set up an appointment to go there and get an extender put on. I was told to come on over about 3pm.

So we went out with the truck and found a couple more roads in Tetons National Park we hadn't been on (including one I don't need to travel again). Didn't see a whole lot, but it was interesting. We came back to the trailer at noon.

We went to Dubois going east on US26 over the Continental Divide (again) to the eastern side and into the Wind River range. Lots of construction on the road. We got there early and were greeted and asked to wait a bit while they cleared the hoist. So we played with the house dog, who wanted to retrieve thrown things like small chunks of 2x4. After a few minutes, the guys pushed a dead truck off the hoist into the lot and out of the way. I drove onto the hoist.

I told the Jardines that I'd bought the exhaust as part of a group purchase last year, and that my local shop (I don't do welding) had a few problems with it and pieced together the best they could, and that I was happy with it but wanted to get an extender. I knew that the Jardines hadn't had a truck like mine to perfect their kit, so things like that could come up. One Jardine son called the other, who came over quickly. They decided that my setup wasn't the sort of thing they wanted their name on.

So they cut out everything ahead of the muffler and everything back of the muffler. They installed a new 4" downpipe, pipe ahead of the muffler, the not-very-old muffler, tailpipe, and a new tip to deflect the exhaust down. Charge? Nothing.

Two and a half hours - two experts - nothing!

I pressed some money on them and told them to give it to their favorite charity. I told them I'd sent a note to TDR regarding the support. I solicited some bumper stickers so I can help publicize their shop. That's good support!

We asked (since it was 5pm) where we could best eat. The Cowboy Cafe was the recommendation, so we went into downtown Dubois, made a huge U-turn in the main intersection, and parked across from it. Most of the customers wore jeans & shirts, some shorts & sandals like me, and some mixed up motorcyclists. We took a table on the boardwalk as opposed to sidewalk (really - the boards each had the names of donors on them, which must have been some improvement project). The temp had cooled some and it was downright comfortable.

D had minestrone and trout, I had minestrone and a German sausage mix with sauerkraut & potatoes. Both were very good.

The town has a population under 1,000, but has a neat downtown shopping and dining block or two. It looks western. Period. And so much unlike Jackson with its crowds. We'll have to come back here again sometime.

Back through the construction zones on US26, over the Continental Divide to the west side, and then one last circuit of the roads to look for animals. No animals. Not one. Well, there were some bison way out in the reserve. There were some antelope way out there. There was one bison up next to the road with a few folks taking pictures of it. But nothing really befitting a last night. So we headed back to the trailer. Two miles before the trailer, we stopped at a turnout for one last look. Sure enough, the elk were cautiously coming out of the trees to feed in the meadow. We watched them for a while with some bikers. Finally, we gave up and went to the little house to wrap up our stay here.

Off to Yellowstone in the morning. No internet, let alone wifi, there. So we'll get this out tonight.