Day 17 - Cody, WY to Billings, MT

Monday morning dawned and we couldn't avoid dealing with the transmission issues any longer.  Part of traveling in a 35 year old motorhome involves the willingness to deal with mechanical issues in good humor (although, honestly, new motorhome break down all the time too!).

We called our towing service (Coachnet).  We are really glad we have them as a service to deal with.  They tow us but also provide a lot of help in finding the right shop and solution for your problem.  Greg knew, from talking to locals, that the transmission rebuild needed to be done in Billings so we arranged to be towed to Billings.  We contacted a company called Brown's in Billings.  They have a great reputation and said all the right things when Greg talked to them.

We weren't happy with the tow service, to be honest.  They showed up an hour and a half late and then before they could hook us up to their truck, they broke the truck.  It was kind of ridiculous.  They came back and hitched us up for the long trip back to Billings.  We followed the motorhome back and it was agonizing watching it bounce and jolt all that way.

Once it was there, the folks at Brown's took over and pulled it into their RV bay where it would be safe and they could start looking at it first thing in the morning.

We decided to go to Motel 6 thinking that air conditioning and our own bathroom would make it worth it.  (It wasn't!)

Day 16 -- Yellowstone

We got a much earlier start the next day and packed even more food to bring with us. We planned a drive that took us around most of the Grand Loop. We saw amazing waterfalls and canyons, hot springs and bubbling, stinky mud pits. We saw terraces where hot springs create amazing rock formations. We saw wildlife. Oh my goodness, the wildlife.

We saw tons of American Bison, Elk, birds galore, black bears, and a grizzly mama with two cubs. The wildlife is easy to spot in Yellowstone because it draws a crowd. As you are driving, you see a mess of people and cars by the side of the road and you know there's a critter there. When the critter is a bear, the rangers try to be there too to keep the people and the bear separated. We were, frankly, dazzled by the animals we got to see.

At the end of the day, the kids were sworn in as Junior Rangers for Yellowstone National Park. Love the Junior Ranger program!!!

Day 15 - Cody, WY and Yellowstone National Park

We woke up and had a lazy morning.  When Mom wakes up with a migraine, it's gonna be a slow starting day!  Once we got turned around, we packed up a lunch and drove to Yellowstone.  We knew, by now, that the transmission was not working on the motorhome so our plan to drive the FMC into Yellowstone and camp there for several days was out the window.  But this is one of the reasons we tow a car with us . . . so we aren't ever stuck!

The drive from Cody to Yellowstone is beautiful and worth it even if you didn't have a destination like Yellowstone at the end of it.  We found snow! in June which, of course, resulted in a snowball fight!  We had lunch next to Sylvan Lake which is beautiful and had more snow so of course, there was more snowballs!



Yellowstone defies description.  If you haven't been, go.  If you have been, you already know you need to go back again.  We stopped at the first visitor center we got to and got the kids started on the Junior Ranger program and then headed out to see Old Faithful.  We really only had time for one thing that day so we got that one out of the way.



We enjoyed it.  What a show.  There are so many people there all sitting there watching and waiting.  Someone had told me that Old Faithful was just a bunch of hype and sort of disappointing.  I did not find it to be so, not at all.  When it finally blew, we were thrilled and impressed.

We drove back to Cody, tired but determined to return the next day for more explorations of Yellowstone!

Day 14 -- Billings, MT to Cody, WY

Note: I am so behind on this blog it's not even funny. We're too busy having fun! I'm am collapsing into bed each night instead of sitting up typing blog posts! I'll get caught up eventually!!!

We woke up to a lovely day in Laurel, MT. We hit the Walmart for groceries and other necessities (meaning, we spent way too much money there!!!). Then, we hit the road. The one good thing about staying there is that it was the right exit for us to head on off to Cody, WY. This was the morning of June 25th, by the way.

Our drive was beautiful and uneventful. We drove around town a little bit checking out campgrounds and ended up at the one I'd picked out based on online reviews. We really like the site RVReviews.com, by the way!  Ponderosa Campground is a great spot.  We got settled in and sort of kicked back for a little while before heading out to do what you do when you are in Cody, WY and this is you buy boots.  Greg and I got cowboy boots.  We had each been wanting a pair for a long time and decided that this was the time and place to do it.  We went to Boot Barn and picked them out. Aren't they gorgeous?

And, yes, we thought about getting boots for the kids, too but they only had NICE boots at a high price and for kids whose feet are growing the way mine are, it just wasn't an option.  They weren't too disappointed, thank goodness!

We find Cody to be a delightful town -- it's very touristy but it's got a lot of character and style.  The people were overwhelmingly helpful and kind.

We also checked out an RV repair shop while we were there as the transmission had kind of kicked at Greg as we were parking in our site.  We were a little worried about what that might mean.  The guy at the shop gave us some good advice but we realized that late Friday afternoon was not the time to start worrying about it.  We opted for the strategy of "Let's deal with it on Monday!"

After dinner, we headed over to the Cody Night Rodeo.  All summer, Cody holds a rodeo every night.  It is mostly local kids and college students who compete and it's so much fun.  The kids had never been to a rodeo before and they absolutely loved it.  They particularly enjoyed the part where the kids were all invited out to the arena to try to grab a ribbon tied to the tail of a calf.  The rodeo clowns (who were awesome, by the way) had the kids warm up by doing some exercises -- this involved dropping to the ground and rolling in the dirt.  Of course, my kids totally fell for it.  Ruth told me later that she wasn't some prissy girl who's afraid to get dirty so of course she rolled in the dirt.  (Needless to say, we took showers when we got back to the campground!)  Our campground hosts told us to be sure to sit in the Buzzard's Roost section which is a longer walk but worth it because you get to sit above the chutes and have a much better view of what's happening.  Gage was enthralled by the rodeo clowns who signed autographs after it was over.  If you are in Cody, you should definitely check out the Cody Night Rodeo . . . a great evening of fun!

Day 13 - Devil's Tower, WY to Billings, MT

We woke up to another beautiful day in Wyoming and it was Greg's birthday.  Happy birthday, Old Man!  We tidied up camp, packed things up, and got on the road by around 11am.  Greg had some work to do so he wanted to get some of it done while we were still in free wifi land.  We got on the road to drive back to I-90 and up to Billings.



This route was actually a schedule change.  There were two reasons.  First, we really wanted to see the Little Big Horn National Monument.  Greg and Gage were fascinated and wanted to see it.  The other reason was that we'd been warned that the Little Bighorn Mountains have some intense passes in them.  We've been babying the FMC's transmission so it didn't take much convincing for us to decide to go around the mountains instead of through them. It didn't take much convincing for me to drive through Montana. It's where I was born and I haven't been back since I was 3. It felt pretty cool to drive into my home state even though, as an Air Force Brat, I don't really have a "home" in that way.

Little Bighorn National Monument is a sobering place.  The Park Service has done a good job, in my opinion, in not belittling either side in telling the story of the battle.  I grew up hearing that Custer was a hero and then later a fool.  After being at the monument, I think both are true.  He was a good general but he underestimated his enemy and they all paid the price.  The monument has a visitor's center where we watched a film and the kids did the Junior Ranger program.  We learned a lot there.  Then we did the drive.  You drive out 5 miles along the battlefield.  There are markers that explain what happened at different points and somehow seeing the grounds really helped me to understand what happened there and why certain things happened.  Most poignently, there are also white and red stone monuments that mark where soldiers and indians died.  In certain areas, you read that a particular plan failed and then you look down at the valley and see 25 white markers.  It brings it all home in a very real way.

We were running a bit behind our schedule after this stop.  We wanted to have a nice dinner in Billings for Greg's birthday before settling in at our Walmart parking spot for the night.   I had researched restaurants in Billings on the internet and hadn't been too impressed -- I'm sure there are great restaurants but they weren't reviewed online.  The one that came up with glowing reviews over and over again was Famous Dave's BBQ so that was where we went.  Greg loves him some BBQ.  It was fantastic.  Ruth, our picky eater, decided she loved ribs and we all feasted.  We took home plenty of leftovers for lunches in upcoming days.

We had read online that Billings doesn't allow overnight stays at their Walmarts so we opted for the safest decision and went further down I-90 to the town of Laurel.  A couple of commenters on a Free Camping site had recommended it.  Personally, I think the should also have mentioned that it was *right* next door to a train station and an oil refinery.  It was a LOVELY night.  Ahem.

Day 12 - Hill City, SD to Devil's Tower, WY

We had an easy and pretty drive to Devil's Tower.  We drove through the historic town of Deadwood.  We thought about stopping but with a motorhome and tow vehicle, it just wasn't easy so we kept moving.  We drove up I-90 and then cut across to go through the town of Sundance, WY on our way to Devil's Tower.  What a beautiful drive!

Greg had work to do so after we got settled in at the Devil's Tower KOA (which is at the base of the tower), the kids and I drove up to the tower, did the Junior Ranger thing, and went on a mile long hike around the base of the Tower.  It is so beautiful there.  The Tower is amazing . . . you are definitely filled with awe when you look at it.  While the kids worked on their Jr. Ranger booklets, I sat in front of the Visitor's Center and just stared up at it.

When we got back, the kids did the playground thing while Greg and I wrangled dinner.  The Devil's Tower KOA shows Close Encounters of the Third Kind every night around 9pm.  We all bundled up in blankets and watched it.  Really fun to watch that movie, knowing the actual tower was looming over us.

Next stop ... Billings, MT.

Day 11 - Mount Rushmore

We headed out to see the sights around Hill City today.   We started by leaving Hill City and driving to Custer State Park.  It's a beautiful park.  It has an amazing road that enters the park called Needles Highway - it goes through some amazing rock formations with these tiny one lane tunnels.  Another time to be really glad you are towing a car and not trying to do it all in your motorhome.

Once we got in the park, we decided to do the Wildlife Loop.  The paperwork we were handed at the gate promised us all sorts of animals and wow, did it ever deliver.  We saw deer, coyote, bison, wild burros, pronghorn, and lots of birds.  Did I mention the bison?

From there, we took the Iron Mountain Highway to Mount Rushmore.  Iron Mountain seems simply designed to be fun.  It's got what they call the "Tunnel Run" so that as you approach Mt. Rushmore, you drive through tunnels and see it framed in front of you.  Furthermore, there are these road looping bridges that don't seem to serve a purpose other than having a blast. Definitely another I'm so glad I have a tow vehicle drive.

Mount Rushmore was just very cool and inspirational.  Gage did the Junior Ranger program.  We learned a lot about the history and lots of technical stuff about how Mt. Rushmore was built.

We headed back to our campsite and gathered a few items like water bottles, snacks, sunscreen, and our lightweight backpack.  Then I drove Greg and the kids to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  There was a thunderstorm coming in so we saved the actual memorial for another visit (!) and got the bikes down off the Suzuki and Greg and the kids took off on the Mickelson Trail. This is a hike/bike trail that runs 150 miles through the Black Hills on an old railbed.  They took out all the rails and ties and reworked the bridges.  They rode 7 miles (mostly downhill) and returned to our campsite just about the time I got there with fresh groceries!  They were tired but very happy!