IDAHO TIRE BLOWOUT! Cody-WY; Shoshone National Forest & E Yellowstone

We both woke up struggling for breath, so Holland suggested we pull stakes and move on to a cooler climate at a lower elevation.

I was all over that!

So, we both tended to our house moving chores … then, I put a dab of makeup on, and pulled the slide-outs, in.

And we were moving down the road :-)

Getting ready to slay the Day.

Not bad for an old broad. LOL

Leaving Cody-WY; seeking a cooler climate.

Downtown Cody-WY, headed towards East side of Yellowstone National Park.

Colter's Hell Trail

Bill Cody's Town ~ Historical Info

Visiting v.s. Dwelling in the mountains …

Leaving Cody, we passed through tunnels before entering the Shoshone National Forest - which butts up against the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

There were a lot of lakes in this portion of Yellowstone National Park - I saw at least 5, within an hour and a half timespan.

Twin Tunnels.

Correction - THREE continuous tunnels ;-)

Steampunk house in Wapiti-WY

Shoshone National Forest; Wapiti-WY

Shoshone National Forest Area; Wapiti-WY

Shoshone Indians:

(https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shoshone-people) 

This hill looks 'crowned'; LOL

Interesting rock formations - they look like peaked icing points.

Sculpted rock formations and huge caves-Shoshone National Forest-WY

Pretty wildflowers & Bleu trying to figure out who had passed this way before him; E Yellowstone-WY

Snow patches in higher elevations.

East entrance to Yellowstone National Park-WY

Sylvan Pass; 8,524′ elevation; Yellowstone-WY

Sylvan Lake:

(https://www.yellowstoneexplored.com/sylvan-lake-picnic-area);

Yellowstone-WY

Yellowstone Lake is a large natural lake in Yellowstone National Park, northwestern Wyoming, U.S. It lies at 7,730 feet above sea level, and is the largest body of water in North America, and the second largest in the world, at so high an elevation; Yellowstone-WY

Sedge Bay ~ Yellowstone Lake:

(https://www.nps.gov/places/000/yellowstone-lake-sedge-bay.htm); Yellowstone-WY

God always answers us; a.l.w.a.y.s.

The Tally Trio - 'On Time God' song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlR9TRs-cbM)

Thank God for unanswered prayers …

Our route … from Fishing Bridge to Madison.

Bleu talking a stroll along this fishy-smelling Lake. Holland said the fishy smell at the lake were Fall Chinook coming up the Snake River that feeds into Yellowstone; (Nez Perce Ford).

On our way out of Yellowstone National Park.

Where the wild things roam freely; probably the same buffalo we saw off-and-on, during our Yellowstone forays.

When we exited the Park, we grabbed some Chinese takeout to eat along the way: I'm glad we did! The leftovers came in handy later on, down the road ;-)

Around 4 PM we started looking for RV Parks, and found one that could accommodate our length; so, we set off in search of it.

It was not an easy undertaking.

A mile an a half from the RV Park … we had a tire blowout: and the spare tire was too big to fit! It was too tall, and add to that - our tires are 6-lug fit, and the spare was an 8-lug fit. WTHeck - what kind of idiot would confuse the two? I suspect that the 'inspector' really didn't inspect; he just wrote it off as inspected: too many things have gone wrong with this 5th wheel to have had an complete inspection. But, I am a daughter of the Most High God … and my Father is always looking out for me, and mine :-)

Elohim never promised us a rose garden - He just promised He would be for us in our hour of need.

We discussed pushing through Idaho & into Utah, tonight.

We will retrace our steps for a couple miles and plat a new route that will be new ground for both of us.

Diamond Ranch does guided horse trails.

Around 4 PM, we secured a parking site for the night. Neither of us slept much last night, and we were feeling the effects of burn-out.

GPS led us on a merry chase to find the RV Park.

Holland was not happy to be so far off the highway …

Blown tire. THIS is WHY Holland doesn't like to be too far down a country road; we're 2-1/2 miles in, at this point :-(

We were in a bad spot, driving uphill when the tire blew ; so Holland limped the 5th wheel forward, and pulled over in a driveway. We both hoped the rim had not been damaged.

I sent an SOS heavenward: Holland's shoulder was on fire, his ribs are still smarting, and his disposition was sour. He could have used some help - so, I prayed Elohim would send someone along to help him do the heavy lifting.

As the prayer was hanging in the air between Earth & Heaven, over the hill came 2 cyclist guys; a direct answer to my prayer. I considered them angels in disguise.

And another angel appeared; all were friendly, helpful, generous with information & physical aide that was helpful: they were truly God-sends ;-)

The Calvary is on it's way … the cyclists were very helpful though much couldn't be done with a mismatched spare; and we were thankful. Hugs were exchanged by everyone, and they went on their way. Holland called Les Schwab, and it was arranged for a fella to come up with a new tire, and replace the blown one.

Three guys from the Redrock RV Park drove by to ask if we were okay, and Holland said, "Yes"; that's God looking out for us. The people here are really nice - thank You, Elohim, for bringing us to this place of caring, compassionate people.

If you are going to have a tire blowout, have it in Idaho ;-) The people are friendly, helpful, and truly caring.

On the other hand, I mentioned to Holland again that I feel oak point devilry is behind everything that has been plaguing us since we started building our life together. Those  people are just plain hellish; starting with 'the board', and it isn't too much of a stretch (as far as I am concerned), for them to have slapped a whammy on us - me, in particular.

That's my thought, and I'm sticking with it.

Nothing else (considering all that has been happening - weird, unexplainable stuff) makes any sense. And I don't give a rip what anyone else thinks about what I think - correction: what I know.

I am familiar with the Book of Job … and I've read the back of The Book: I know they lose, and I win :-)

The Oak Point whammy can't seriously hurt us; jeannie paulson was just plain mean-spirited/cruel/malicious, and has a devil riding her - and she was angry I wouldn't let her touch, or hug on me: I didn't want the transference.

Another person from Redrock RV Park to ask if we needed anything.

God send comforters; angels with human faces.

Elohim brought us together for His purpose.

New tire in place; the rest will be switched out tomorrow morning.

7:30 PM: Safe and sound tonight - on the move again, tomorrow.

Redrock RV Park-ID is clean, & the people are very personable.

CODY-WY~Big Horn National Forest & Rural America

We left Buffalo-WY this morning, for Cody-WY: from there, Holland wants to canvas Yellowstone again from a different angle; then turn towards Glacier National Park.

But, first he had planned a little {bending} surprise for me :-)

And I, in turn, spent a little extra time getting dolled up for him - it's a good thing we both like a colorful life ;-)

Sparkling in a bold way, today ;-)

88-degree weather calls for low-key eye color, short daisy-dukes & a light gauzy top.

Sparkly from head to toe: glittery eyes, glittered glasses, and sparkling sequins.

Holland rerouted his original route …

MAP Sheridan-WY from Buffalo-WY; 37 min (35.3 mi) via I-90 W

While we were mainly passing thru on the freeway, it was interesting to finally see this place.

Back on track …

Most of the drive today went through rural areas. I liked that.

We stopped in Ranchester-WY (a little rural community) to read a roadside plaque, and watched a man and two boys target shooting; it reminded both of us of the America we grew up in. We both felt a bit sorrowful that those days are long gone - but for this one brief moment, we relished watching our Constitutional freedoms in action.

A rural American Dad showing his boys how to line up a shot for protection - life, land, family, neighbors.

Historical Landmark Plaque; Ranchester-WY

Arapaho:(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arapaho)

Rural America still believes in God-Country-Family; I love seeing giant crosses in towns we pass thru.

A short distance down the road, we came to Dayton-WY; and old west cow town that still had a comforting throw-back vibe: I was happy to be enjoying rural America today :-)

A bit out of Dayton, we started our journey into the mountainous region of the scenic drive, which took us through the Bighorn National Forest: The Bighorn National Forest is 30 miles wide and 80 miles long, and the scenic highway has a very steep 10% grade, both ways.

Dayton-WY from Sheridan-WY; 28 min (23.2 mi) via I-90 W and US-14 W

Steady elevation incline …

I felt we were living 'The Long, Long Trailer' movie; which by the way is a favorite I do like. LOL

Our Scenic Route passed through the Bighorn National Forest.

Holland assuring me that we can safely cross - the incline was seriously 'straight up'.

Holland tried to get me to 'peek over the edge' several times~NO!

I only 'peeked over the edge' here because of the roadside Plaque.

Hogback Plaque:

(https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/bighorn/recarea/?recid=30986)

I talked for a few minutes to a couple from Sheridan who come up to this high pullout every weekend, to take a look over the valley. They've been doing this since they were dating (they are our age, now). 

The steep Scenic Byway highway was very narrow; and Holland had to use both lanes in certain hairpin corners, to get Independence through.

Very steep - very narrow road, VERY CLOSE to the edge - those rusty guardrails did not comfort me at all!

OMG … 'he's pulling over, again!'

The scenic route was very scenic - and I did really enjoy the drive when my heart wasn't in my throat.

And … road construction; always at the busiest time of the year, and in the diciest places.

The only serious complication happened around Burgess Junction and the only reason it had anything to do with us, was when we were inadvertently sucked into a dicey situation through no fault of our own.

We had just passed Burgess Junction, when a motorcycle pulled out in front of us - didn't check his sideview mirrors, turn his head or nothing - and almost came to a total stop in front of us; neither one of us were sure the pickup or RV would stop before running over them! The motorcycle was coughing and gasping - it acted like it had been flooded, or needed new spark plugs (probably why it had been on the shoulder of the road, in the first place). We managed to avoid a horrible outcome, but our hearts were in our throats before that junky thing caught a spark, jumped a few feet, and finally took off. We had 2,500 pounds pushing us from behind … and Holland was doing his best to keep us safe in the 4x.

What a scary moment!

When we came to where the junction forked, Holland veered to the left trying to stay clear of that sputtering death bike; we were so busy watching what that moron in front of us was doing, we weren't sure we had made the right move. Thankfully, we had.

Burgess Junction-WY from Dayton-WY; 1 hr 5 min (50.2 mi) via US-14 W

After that hair-raising experience, it was a comfort to know we were on the right road …

The brakes all the way around got a serious workout this afternoon; steep 10% grade incline, coming and going.

Adventuring through the Bighorn National Forest though was "interesting" at times … and there were some things we had to forego because Betsy & Independence were just too big to be accommodated :-(

Shell Canyon is worth the chaotic drive; it's ruggedly beautiful, and there are opportunities for picture taking if you are in a smaller vehicle towing a smaller RV.

Bighorn Scenic Byway~Shell-WY:

(https://www.theoutbound.com/wyoming/photography/drive-the-bighorn-scenic-byway)

Shell Falls; Shell-WY - we only got to see this in passing …

The Bighorn National Forest roadway was the toughest we've been on to date - the grade was extreme for 17 miles of kiss-ass corners and very steep grade both ways: 1st-2nd-3rd gear was as fast as we could go with a 10-speed automatic 4x; and there were times that was even dicey. But Holland did it - I have no fear as far as knowing my life is safe in his hands: he's a good driver.

Leaving Shell behind, we came to Greybull-WY, which is a fair size town of about 1,000 people. And that death-wish motorcyle moron that narrowly escaped a catastrophe a while back, came up alongside us before moving on down the road - away from us, thank God!

By now, we started thinking about someplace to hunker down for the night: we needed to relax our thoughts, muscles, bodies; and refresh our spirits. We checked several RV Parks - but always go tthe same reply: "Sorry, we're full up."

I started praying and asked Elohim to open something up and guide us to where he wanted us.

My cell phone got a text - we had a place for the night :-)

We couldn't believe it when we saw the biker that almost has us cashing in our chips earlier; Greybull-WY

Psalm 54.4

Greybull-WY:

(https://nwc.edu/about/location/bighornbasin/detail.html?id=103074)

Greybull-WY from Shell-WY; 16 min (15.3 mi) via US-14 W

YES! Thank You, Lord.

Cody-WY from Greybull-WY; 52 min (53.1 mi) via US-14 WUS-16 WUS-20 W

Nothing much to see in Emblem - but it did grab my attention …

Population TEN count - my kind of place to live ;-)

A place to hunker down for a bit.

Into downtown for Supper - then back Home; we'll be here until Tuesday afternoon.

We unhooked and set up; then drove into town to grab some tacos from Taco John's - brought them home to eat, took showers, walked the dog, and relaxed: it's now midnight, and very windy - the RV is rocking and rolling; wind gusts are slamming against the sides and lightweight debris is pelting the sides: hopefully there will be no pinging rocks :-(

Tomorrow we will explore Cody-WY.