Anette and I planned a trip to Cody Wyoming over Memorial Day weekend. The only complications were that we had to squeeze in a wedding at the Billings Montana temple and Anette had to work until noon on Friday, which was the last day of school. I stayed home from work and got the car loaded and ready to go. So we left right on time.
Initially we planned to go east to Evanston and then through Rock Springs before turning north to Cody. But after some research into alternate routes, I decided we would go north through Idaho to West Yellowstone and cut through the park to get to Cody.
The Yellowstone route is actually the shortest, but not by much. The day before we left, I called Yellowstone Park and made certain all the roads were open.
We had a pleasant, uneventful drive even though it rained most of the way. We got to West Yellowstone at about 6, grabbed a quick dinner and started into the park We figured we’d be in Cody by about 9. At the entrance to the park, we told the ranger we were headed to Cody and asked about snow. They said all the roads were open.
We made it to Old Faithful about 7:20. Just past the campground, there was a gate across the road. We immediately called the park and learned that the road we wanted to take was closed at 7 p.m. The road to the east entrance of the park had also been closed.
They said the closure was for snow. We were still seeing only rain, but the temperature had dropped to about 39.
Our only recourse was to head back the way we had just passed. We tried to hurry, but we hit a traffic jam at Madison Junction—14 miles from West Yellowstone. There were bison on the road and they were not moving off. Those last 14 miles took two hours. We literally travelled the whole way at the speed of meandering bison.
We needed to be in Billings, Montana the next morning for the wedding. With the park closed, the closest route to Billings was north through Bozeman. We got to Billings about 1:30 and started looking for a motel for the night. By 2:30 we realized we were not going to find an empty room. So we went to Wal-Mart, bought a couple of blankets and spent the night in a parking area next to the temple. We didn’t sleep much. The seats in the Corvette don’t really recline.
In the morning we found a McDonald’s for breakfast and used the bathroom to get ready for the temple. The ceremony was nice and we went to a wedding luncheon afterward. Jake, Lindsay and their children met us in Billings and after the luncheon we followed them to Cody and to their new home. It is only about a 90-minute drive.
Jed and Cally were also their with their boys. Jed came and built a swingset for Jake and Lindsay. So we had a nice family gathering in Cody. The cousins really enjoyed playing together and Saturday night we celebrated Katie’s 5th birthday.
Their new home is nice and they have a great barn with a couple of acres in pasture. The scenery is beautiful. They are just a few miles from part of the Nez Perce trail. We saw all kinds of wildlife everywhere we drove. We found time for a long-range shooting session. We will have to make time for fishing in the future because the area has some of the best trout fishing in the country.
There was an abbreviated church session on Sunday morning. Anette and I didn’t make it because we were catching up on some needed rest and our Sunday clothes had been through a lot.
We didn’t get to stay nearly long enough because Anette and I both had to work Tuesday. We drove back via Riverton, Lander, Rock Springs and Evanston. It was a much shorter trip coming home and we did not have to sleep in the car.
Jed and Cally drove home through the park with their boys. They made it without incident. They also saw tons of wildlife, including a couple of grizzly bears.
