Month: July 2021

FMCA Convention and moving to the Badlands

We left Cody to head to the FMCA convention. As always there was way too much to do, and we were able to get about half of the seminars we wanted. So many seminars, so many at the same time! We only bought a nice T-shirt for me, but we enjoyed just looking around the vendor area. No pictures of the campsite because it was an empty field with lots and lots of rigs around, parked quite close to each other. They had around 1,300 rigs plus a number of rigs from vendors, so it is always a bit crowded.

We left on Sunday morning, and we had an easy drive to Badlands National Park. We are staying in Cedar Pass campground inside the park. There are only a few spots that can accommodate a long, wide rig like ours, but we reserved this site months ago. They are just wide spots along the entry road, and we had to drive the wrong way on the one way road to have our steps face the picnic table instead of the road.

It is moderately spacious with great views

As we drove to Rapid City to pick up my medications at one of the only CVS pharmacies in the state, we stopped just long enough for a small sampler of photos.

Just a sampling of the area

The smoke haze makes it harder to enjoy the vistas. Can you see the hills in the distance? Normally those are quite visible. We are due for some rain tomorrow, so I intend on heading out after that to get some clearer pictures.

Lots of haze from fires in Oregon

And of course we had to stop at Wall Drug for donuts and coffee. These are hands down the best cake donuts I have ever had, and we make sure to stop every time we are nearby. They are what makes the tourist trap worthwhile.

Wall Drug has the BEST cake donuts!

Kevin went out last night to take Milky Way pictures, but I stayed in the MH to sleep. Hopefully he will get some processed and I get post a few soon. It is very windy and hot today, and so we are just going to do town stuff. He is hoping to get out again tonight for a few more pictures, but it depends on when and where the clouds come in.

Cody, National Byways, and Yellowstone -good stuff!

We are in Cody at the Ponderosa Campground. The sites are tight, but that is to be expected in a town where the emphasis is on tourist activities away from the RV. Fun town, but too many people here on this holiday weekend for us. We are enjoying our time with the Diesel RV Club, but we had yesterday off to do sightseeing. We decided to drive the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, the Beartooth Scenic Byway, and take a detour into Yellowstone since we were nearby.

I am first going to show you some pictures of lovely tundra flowers since they were out in full bloom. These are found more abound 9,000-10,000’ this time of year. They are all incredibly small, the tallest poking their heads up 4”, but most 1-2”.

Entire plant maybe 2” high
Another 2” high plant
This is a big one – 4” high
Very small, maybe 1”
Clumping, low growing, about 2”
Small white clumps of 2-3” tall flowers

Around 8000’ the meadows were awash with larger flowers due to their milder conditions. White, shades of purple, pinks, yellows – a riot of color.

The meadows around 8000’ were awash with flowers

Oh, and the roads themselves? Marvelous as usual! I never get tired of the views.

Looking down on the Beartooth Scenic Byway
Near Dead Indian Summit on the Chief Joseph National Byway

The Yellowstone detour didn’t get us a lot. We did see only the second moose we have ever seen in the park itself only a few miles from the northeast gate. We have seen a number of moose outside the park, but they stay pretty hidden inside.

Only the second moose we have seen in Yellowstone NP proper

And of course we had a bison jam. It was a small group with a bunch of cows, yearlings, and a few calves.

Red dogs (aka bison calves) have a nickname that is descriptive

The bison slowed us down for about 20-25 minutes, and just as it cleared we were stopped by tow trucks removing three wrecked cars just a few miles down the road. That took 45 minutes, so we just took a bit more sightseeing and turned around. We finished our drive back to the campground from Red Lodge on the flat roads, and the entire trip took about 8 1/2 hours.

And yes I know this is terse, but the data service here is dreadful! I can’t get anything more than 1-3 mbps down and 0.5 mbps up even sitting right outside the campground store. Our phones and hot spot are only picking up LTE signal, and everything is painfully slow. Maybe we can find better service soon.