June 25, 2012 Thermopolis, Wy

Today was an early start from Buffalo, about 9:00. Our route took us up over the Big Horn Mountains on the Cloud Peak Skyway in a serpentine path both up and down. Down was sprinkled with steep grades requiring the use of the two-stage Jake brake on the coach. We went slowly and as a consequence of the steep slopes our fuel mileage slipped to just over 3 mpg. Not even the downhill side could make much improvement. We got snagged by some construction which appeared that one side of the mountain was being rerouted to the other side of the road. It should make for a nice wide road when they’re through, but it’s not going to be any time soon. Once over the mountains we made our way through Tensleep, the site of last year’s 4^th of July gathering. The Ten Hoeck RV Park was pretty full. Looks like this year’s 4^th celebration will be as big as ever. I did note that Tensleep’s population has suffered this year. It’s down from 304 last year to 260.

We’ve joined up with Stan and Jerre here in Thermopolis at the Eagle RV Park. This is an older park and is very tight, not just for the bigger coaches. Rob had to back up twice to get around a big Phaeton extending out of the campsite into the roadway. When we finally got parked we were also extending out into the roadway and had no place to park the Yukon. The manager told us to park in an adjacent spot which was barely big enough for the car. Only a very small trailer would fit there.

Stan and Jerre were out so we went to the grocery and got the car washed. By the time we got back they had returned. We spent the next couple of hours catching up. After some BBQ’d Italian Sausage, potato salad and green salad, plus a couple of bottles of wine we called it a night.

Stan is fishing tomorrow with a guide so we’ll be on our own to explore a little. We’ve been to Thermopolis before since our daughter lives just a few miles away in Lander. She’s off to Eric’s family reunion in Nebraska so we’ll catch up with her in a few days.

It's nice to see real mountains again.