From West Yellowstone to Cody Wy

Saturday morning started out sunny and cool.   After a quick breakfast we started our process for moving which begins by putting cloth napkins between all the plates and the pots and pans to prevent them from rattling on every bump and seam in the road.   We pack all the loose items away in their places,  sometimes a different spot and then they can be difficult to find when you need them later.    We lash  the recliners to the bulkhead with seat belts that were for the couch that previously occupied that space,  bring in the dog crate and wedge it under the dining room table.   I set up the TPMS to see if any tires need to be topped off and also fire up the Vmspec engine/tyranny monitoring system,  dump all the tanks.   While that is progressing, I move the Equinox into position for towing and let it idle the 5 minutes required prior to each day’s pull, during which I hook up the tow bar, safety cables and electric cable so the brakes and turn signals work on the TOAD.   You have to tow the Equinox with the key in the ignition and turned on one click so the steering wheel is unlocked,  also the transmission must be in Neutral.

After that is ready, it’s time to stow the hoses from dumping the tanks,   disconnect the water line and 50 amp electrical cable and wind them up on their reels.   By this time Kathy should have the inside ready to haul in the slides.   There are four of them, and I usually bring in the bedroom slides first,  then go up front and bring in the living room and kitchen slides.   Once those are in, I can depressurize the hydraulic jacks.   That’s when all the racket starts, the bells telling you not to drive away with the leveling jacks down and some buzzers telling you there isn’t enough air pressure to release the parking brake or to use the air brakes if needed.  Once the compressor gets both sides to about 60 lbs, the buzzer stops.   That leveling jack bell usually shuts up at about the same time, indicating the Jacks are stowed.  One more circumnavigation of the coach, making sure everything is disconnected, locked, and the ladder and antenna are cinched tight, it’s time to get on the road!

We head back into Yellowstone Park as that is the shortest way to Cody.   We have already driven about 2/3 of the route we will take in the car, so we know what to expect.  The last third over a pass and out the east gate will be a new road.   It’s another fairly high pass with switchbacks all the way up.  They are hardly noticeable due to slow traffic in front of us the whole way up and the gorgeous views out the front!   Going down the other side was a different story.  Very steep downgrade for about 18 miles with lots of 20 mph turns at the bottom of long straightaways.  Thank god for the Jake brake!   No way would the brakes still be working after the first few miles going down.

At the bottom was the Buffalo Bill State Park and the Buffalo Bill Dam.   The reservoir was pretty big,  went on for miles.   Once we got to the dam parking area, we pulled in and walked over to the the dam.

I couldn’t figure out what all the noise was, but as we got fairly close, I realized the water was right at the top of the dam and they must be in a big hurry to get the level down, so that must be the loud roar.

It was.   We walked out onto the top of the dam and it was deafening.  I took a few pictures, then thought I should take some video to see if I could capture the roar.    I listened to them later and it didn’t seem like a roar.  I guess the phone isn’t really suited for capturing that.

They were letting out a lot of water.  I asked inside about it and they said they were just barely able to keep ahead of the snow melt, and that all the T-Storms recently were adding more water than they could release.  She seemed concerned about that.   Note to self… don’t extend the stay in Cody past Wednesday.

The campground is pretty nice,  but not much shade.   The trees are tall but very skinny.

 

 

Can’t wait to see the Museum!

 

Leave a Reply