9-11-10 Traveled from Cody, WY to Cooke City, WY
137 miles from 1:15 pm until 6:30 pm
We got up this morning and walked the dogs and meet some other campers that we had talked with for the last couple of days and they had tried to go into Yellowstone at the east entrance and were told that you needed chains or snow tires because Sylvan Pass had 9 inches of snow. We messed around town, went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and there was a guy in the Wal-Mart playing an accordion. He was playing "Let the Sunshine In" which I thought was quite appropriate since that was what we wanted to clear the snow so we could go to Yellowstone and because that is the song that Mom use to always sing to us. Also, it was 4 years ago today that Mom passed away.
When we left Wal-mart we had talked with the people at the campground and listened to the National Parks recording saying the east entrance was still snowy but the North entrance up through Montana was clear. So off we go, changed our route and headed north! Who would think the north entrance would not be snowy if the east entrance was but that's what they said.
As we started up to Red Lodge MT the road was wide open and the speed limit was 70 so Joyce was just trucking along and acting like our Grandpa Adams use to do- looking everywhere except where she was suppose to be looking (at the road ahead) So what do I do but start singing! " Keep your mind on your driving, keep your hands on the wheel, keep your filthy eyes on the road ahead"! Maybe some of you remember this song but it is a real oldie goldie!
We drove to Red Lodge, MT and this little town was lovely with some beautiful old building and some trees with these bright red berries. We also saw signs about a Antique Car Run up Hwy 212 scenic road to Yellowstone North entrance. So we headed up the same way and low and behold were we in for a surprise. We thought that Big Horn Mountains were bad to drive through but we had not seen anything to compare the BearTooth Mountains! Bear Tooth mountains were the tallest we have been on and the very top was over 11,000 feet at the West Summit. The ride up was so scary that I told Joyce I wanted to turn around and go back down and she said " No Way I'm not going back down we are going one way or another". Well, we saw a lot of antique cars and other cars but we did not see any RV's so I think we made a bad choice in routes to Yellowstone. The wind was really bad, the roads were very, very narrow and the cliffs were extremely high. As we drove along the switchback curves without guard rails we both would lean into the mountain instead of the cliff side because we were so scared the RV was going to go over the cliffs. It was one of the most beautiful rides I have ever seen in all the USA but it was also the scariest due to the heights! At the West Summit I got out and took a picture of two guys that had been riding they bicycles, how they did it I don't know. It was a bright sunny day and the roads were dry and clear but there was snow all around us and on the roadside. We prayed a lot and held our breathe a lot. Once we started to go down we got to a place called "Top of the World". We bought some souvenirs and walked the dogs and had about 10 more miles to Cooke City where we had planned to stay. They said that Charles Karault said that US 212 was the most beautiful he had every seen in the USA.
When we got to Cooke City, MT just 4 miles outside of Yellowstone there was only about 4 blocks of the town and not any RV sites that we could see. We stopped at some little motel "High Country" and asked if he knew of any RV sites and he said he had one available behind the motel. So I paid him and we actually got a site that was in the alley behind the motel and hooked up to his electricity and water. He told us we had cable TV but we got a total of 2 channels one was PBS and nothing on the other channel to see but snow!!!
We had not internet service, no phone service and no TV, WOW we are actually roughing it now!
We decided after our scary trip up the mountain to go have dinner so we walked up the street about 2 blocks and found a Bar and Grill. We had 1 mixed drink each and shared a great steak, salad and zucchini blossom appetizer. The ladies room in this bar had some dirty posters on the wall so I told Joyce to go in and take a look and get a picture of them. (I'll only show those to a few people)
We used the pay phone to call Robbie and let him know we where ok and where we were staying since we had been checking in with him and the children daily.
We had to walk back to our RV behind the motel and of course it was dark by then and we were a little tipsy and a little scared we might run into a bear. We had heard that in August one of the campsite in Cooke City was closed because a bear killed 2 people and injured 4 others by dragging them out of their tents!. We took a fog horn with us and sang songs on the walk back to the RV hoping to scare the bears away. We made it safe and sound and slept great since we had one mixed drink to calm our nerves.
Tomorrow we will finally enter Yellowstone National Park!! Yippee!
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