From Wild Bill to Devil`s Tower Day 5

DAY 5, Monday, August 25, 2014

I am so thankful that we went through Yellowstone Park yesterday! God is merciful! It was the one day that we needed truly decent weather to see the park. Today, we are driving from Cody, Wyoming to Devil’s Rock, Wyoming – about 313 miles. I had planned to ‘see’ Cody this morning before we left, but once again we woke up to rain or rather it was a rainy night, and now the day is drab, and the streets are wet.

Given yesterday was such a late start, and the last few nights have been late getting into our stops, I decided to get an earlier go of it today. It’s only 8:08 AM, and I am dressed, I have made a healthy vat of raisin, brown sugar oatmeal, and I have picked the dinner recipe for tonight. I am not a glutton for punishment, so when I have much to do, even at home, I let the masses sleep while I get it done. Today was no exception. Ayana, Song and I made light work of sweeping the caravan, wiping the floor, and finding the ingredients for tonight’s meal.

As each day passes, I get more organized. This space is so incredibly tiny, therefore, everything has to have a place, and everything has to be in its place! Otherwise, chaos will soon reign! When we stop for the night, Courage unhooks the power from the truck, turns on the propane, turns the fridge from electric to propane, and sets up the power, sewer, and water – if there are services. Ayana helps me get dinner, while Song and Israel make themselves busy helping. Isaiah is the ‘go-for-it-man’. He runs into Walmart to get things we forgot, or asks questions at the service counters.  Then there is the dismantling of the traveling – the things that were stowed for the road have to be put back in their places, such as mats, pillows, and blankets for sleeping, and books for reading, and cards for playing.

While I make dinner, the children usually play a game of cards, or read their books, and often Ayana can be seen writing in her notebook. 

Kids Writing Their Journals in Car

Our mornings start a bit slow because we have not yet worked out a routine, but we’re getting there. Now that we are rolling it is time to bring back a bit of what was necessary at home: piano practicing. The children cannot take weeks upon weeks on the road and not practice piano, so their teacher has prepared them with work, and plenty of theory. Today, the piano makes its grand entrance. They won’t be playing for the many hours they did each day at home, but they will definitely be able to get in at least thirty minutes a day.

My itinerary had us driving out of Cody by 11:00 am to get to Devil’sTower before 4, but I think instead we will make a short visit to the Bill Cody Museum and then be off shortly after.

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The Buffalo Bill Centre was absolutely fascinating!! I wish I had known how full of history it would be! I was visualizing a little centre with a few bits of information, but in actuality, it was five museums under one roof! We began in the Natural History Museum, and then made our way into the Wild Bill Cody Museum. There was so much to see that I could see myself getting a membership for one year and spending hours upon hours doing Nature Studies, History Studies galore!! From those two museums, we then took a break and watched the Raptor Show where a number of workers taught us fascinating facts about different birds. Did you know that vultures are very clean animals and after eating road kill, they will wash themselves? Or that the acid in their stomachs can kill cholera, anthrax, and other illnesses that kill humans? Scientists are looking for ways to learn about the acids, so that they may find ways to help humans in case of biological warfare! 

I knew we were looking at a six-hour drive, but this museum was so incredible, that I just had to stay longer! We moved on to the Plains Indians Museum, and oh my goodness!! I grew up loving learning all about the Natives, which is why when we nearly adopted Samuel and Aielah it was such a wonderful thing!! Indians had always fascinated me, and having them in our lives meant that what had fascinated me as a child was now a part of my own family. The displays taught us so much, but we needed so much more time. If I am ever to come south again, I will definitely want to come to Wyoming and the Bill Cody Museum!

Sacajawa

Buffalo Bill Cody

Butch Cassidy

Leaving the museum I intended to make lunch for the kids from a loaf of bread and some jam, but it turned out we were running so far behind that I decided to splurge, since we had already been on the road for five days, and been so careful with our funds, and go to McDonalds for a treat. Pulling into the restaurant, I had a man walk up to my passenger window and wave for me to open it. This was yet another Colourful Character.

Pulling into the restaurant, I had a man walk up to my passenger window and wave for me to open it. This was yet another Colourful Character.

 He asked me where I was from, and I told him British Columbia. He was from Upstate New York. We began talking like old friends, because you see, on the road, people who are on the same journey just get it. There is no ice breaking. There is simply – who are you? Where are you from? Where are you going? Or I love your trailer, as we have had a number of times so far. This couple had an interesting story. They had found that a number of their Christmas cards had come back unanswered, and they were checking on old friends. The man was a Vietnam Veteran, and you could see he was proud of it, as he freely told me this, and he was wearing a hat with Vietnam on it. They were kind people, and I wished them well with their friends. Before setting off they took a picture of my little trailer (and they never did know how sweet the inside was), and then told us of a wonderfully scenic route from TenSleep to Buffalo, if we were able to drive it. 

I am losing track of time. One day is following the previous one. Between driving, seeing sights, setting up for the night, making dinner, putting kids to bed, and packing up in the morning, and continuing on, the days are a continuous cycle. The only thing keeping us focused on dates are a few reservations I’ve made through the trip. Having experienced how tight our time has been, I am looking forward to the part of my itinerary when things can loosen up ,and we can add a day here or there. It would have been different if we had six months to make our journey, but instead we only have two.

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Today was the first hot day since we arrived on our trip. It felt absolutely like an August day should! I was told that the mountains in Wyoming were rolling hills; I beg to differ. After mile after mile after mile of sections of steep downhill driving gearing, down, tapping brakes, and times of pulling over to rest the van, I finally reached the bottom of a very long hill. But not before I had a minor concern  I felt my van not braking as it should. Upon glancing down at my trailer brake box I saw there was no light illuminated. I slowed the vehicle down a little more and then shifted into second. As I made my way cautiously down the mountain I came across a road sign on the right advising all trucks, RVs, and trailers to pull in one mile ahead to check their brakes before the next steep seven mile hill that was coming up. I hoped there might be someone with an RV there who might have a solution to the brake problem. Pulling in, I saw a police Charger, and a small semi, but no RV.

I knew from previous experience that I could make it the ten miles to the next town. Sixteen years ago, I learned the hard way to drive with absolutely no brakes - when my brake line broke when I was out in the wilderness 35 miles from a small town. With three small children and a baby in the car, I carefully manipulated the gears while I maneuvered my way down dirt roads and around twisty bends.

Today, in the brake check area I dug in my console looking for the pamphlet explaining the workings of the brake box.  After reading it and not finding any clear answers, I suddenly clued in that a likely problem would be the connection between the caravan and the van. The plug seemed secure, but I pulled it out and tightly refastened it to be sure.  I was happy to see the brake light operating when I turned on the engine and applied the brake. 

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As we were driving along today a few conversations or sentences drifted around the car. They always make for good memories!

“I haven’t met an unfriendly American!”

As we drove into a little town called Tensleep the names of certain establishments were noted:

Dirty Sally Souvenirs – to which Austin said, “I wouldn’t want to see those souvenirs!” Or the Crazy Woman Saloon.

When we saw the first sign for the Wall Drug mall, I reminded the kids of the story of the family that first built the Wall Drug back in the Dust Bowl era. They built the little drug store in the middle of the vast nothingness and found that people drove by and didn’t stop, so they decided to offer free water and ice to the thirsty travelers. This went over well, and to this day the business still offers this service, but they also offer a 5cent coffee and free donut. The little drug store? Well, it is now an over 76,000 mall!

When Isaiah heard this story he said, “ Wait, wait, wait! What did you say about donuts?” spat out Isaiah frantically. “5 cent donuts?”

“No, 5 cent coffee,” I replied.

“What about the donuts?”

“Free donuts.”

“How many are we allowed?”

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After leaving Cody, we drove for a number of hours before we entered the quaint little town of Buffalo. The houses there were historical, many had American flags flying, and it just seemed like the kind of town a person would want to live in.  We moseyed our way through the town and then found our way onto the interstate, and that was a hoot! I couldn’t stop the words that burst from my mouth:

“80!! Holy Smokes!! That’s 130!!”  My little caravan is happy to pace along at 80-100 km. To find myself on a freeway allowing 130 km was a little shocking. Thankfully, there were no big trucks pushing me along!  It wasn’t but a moment more before I had another surprise:

“The bugs are coming down fast and furious down here!! It’s like a bug slaughter house! Holy smokes, it’s like raindrops!”

I could not believe that as I entered the freeway how many bugs there were! Up to this point, it was like there were no insects in the States. In fact, Courage had told me that apparently, the bugs preferred Canada, well; we learned that was not the case. They loved Buffalo!! I had never seen so many splatters in my life!

The entire drive from Cody to Devil’s Tower was beautiful. The scenery changed constantly, and the colours, as usual, were spectacular!  As usual, we were running behind schedule. The plan had been to be in Devil’s Tower by 4:00 pm, but that went out the window with the Buffalo Bill Museum! As it turned out we ended up being misguided by the GPS, and told to take a dirt road, which we did, and then turn onto another dirt road, which we did, and then we ended up about 2miles into the middle of the wilderness!! I could see a house on the land we were on, but I didn’t want to turn around and leave in case we couldn’t find our way out to civilization again, so I sent Isaiah and Courage in to ask for directions. They came back and told me that the people had said we could drive on through their land, but it wasn’t an accurate way of getting to Devil’s Tower. I think their driveway might have been a right of way, or perhaps just a two sided driveway, but they were kind and said they had had a few GPSs direct vacationers through their land this summer!

Where The GPS Lead Us To!! Nowhere!

Isaiah Looking For Someone to Check Us In

As it was, we ended up finally arriving at Devil’s Tower at about 9:45 PM, but not before I had to find a flashlight to read some sign posts, and not being able to find one, had to use the arm of Israel’s teddy bear with a flashlight paw. Oh well, it was LCD!  It worked and we found our way in the pitch dark night.

We could see the outline of the incredible structure of Devil’s Tower against the night sky as we arrived in our campground! It is huge!  Tomorrow we will hike around the base.