July 20 Dubois, WY
Long day. Very long day. Even without the traffic and construction. Which sure as hell didn't help.
Slept well, although I had to pen Puck in the kennel since he was chewing on things he shouldn't be chewing on, so he spent part of the night alone. Then when I let him out he curled up against my stomach, which made me feel quite guilty.
We left around 8am. Nevada City is a gold-rush town made up of buildings that have been moved here from elsewhere, conserved, and created a little town that's been used in some movies. It's also closed off unless you pay money, so I just looked in from outside. Virginia City (the first territorial capital of Montana) is a bit more open and original. There's a main street with historical plaques on pretty much every building. It was still too early for anything to be open, but I don't need to buy anything anyway and I again walked up and down the street and read everything. It was nice to see the Opera House that a friend of mine worked at for a summer, but I don't know what the hell he did in his free time, because there's NOTHING here.
I then drove through Ennis and up the Madison River. There were flyfishermen everywhere, since the Madison River is apparently one of the big-time fly fishing streams anywhere. They were in boats and in the river itself, trying like mad to catch something. I stayed on the road and wound up in the 1959 earthquake area, where I stopped at the Visitor's Center. After a 7.3 earthquake, the whole side of a mountain avalanched down the slope and halfway up the other side, killing lots of people and blocking the road (and the river) for a good long time. I mostly remember it because of a book we bought back on the 1975 trip: The Night the Mountain Fell. Which they still sell at the gift store. I'm not sure what it is with me and national park disasters: my favorite Glacier book is of course "Night of the Grizzlies", and I loved the Grand Canyon books that told all of the gruesome/horrible/stupid ways people have died there. Hmmm.
I then drove to West Yellowstone. I had decided to see if there were any campgrounds open, but since it was noon they were all full, so I just drove. Lots of traffic, not many animals (I did see an elk, and a deer tried to commit suicide in front of my rig later), and I didn't get to see much. I tried, but there was rarely parking open for my RV, which is a downside. I did get to see the Black Sand Geyser basin, and saw some hot pools and a little geyser that tried hard. I also ran into huge traffic backups before the Fountain Paint Pots, which gave me a chance to eat my (very expensive) sub sandwich from West Yellowstone.
In case you're wondering, I've discovered what your stimulus dollars are doing: road construction in Wyoming. Not only was there construction between Yellowstone and Grand Teton, but there was more construction on US 287. It was all of the "we had to destroy the road to save it" variety: ripped up asphalt, corregated bouncy dirt, lots of lovely gravel, narrow lanes, cliff edges, and in the second case following a pilot car for about 10 miles (including up to the highest pass I may have ever driven over: Togwotee pass, 9658 feet above sea level). I am so tired right now. If you asked me what the Grand Tetons look like, I'm not sure I could tell you. I wanted to stay at Colter Bay, but it was completely full. I'm now at the KOA in Dubois, which I was hoping would be wooded and cool and moist, and is not. But I do have a fairly-level spot, with full utilities including cable (I need some TV). I suppose it's nice here, but I'm really really needing someplace cool and green and shady around now, and I don't think there is any. The campground does back up to the Wind River, and I'm going to go wade in it a bit and hope I feel better before I take a shower and collapse.
And I'm not sure the cats like me anymore. They were in their kennels for a whole lot longer than I intended, and Nell in particular is not particularly forgiving. I hope I can catch her tomorrow to put her in her crate. I'm hoping to have a short day tomorrow, and then stay a couple of days somewhere, but we shall see. At least she's letting me pet her; I guess that's something.
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2 comments:
Ah, cats. They do know how to let their humans know their displeasure, don't they? My chemistry teacher's cats were so angry with him for leaving them alone too long that they peed all over some tests he was grading. Of course, he tells us this as he is passing back these wrinkled, yellowed tests....
Yep, mine are pretty good about using the litter box as intended, unless it's really filthy. I think I'm going to stay here another day; they have shaded sites next to the river, and sitting there and reading and then wandering this little town sounds better than driving. And it's only supposed to be 80 today!
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