08-01-09

I was excited to get up and day-trip into Yellowstone. All of the RV spaces big enough for me in Yellowstone were booked. I left the bus in Cody, about an hour away. The drive is the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway. Dubbed the “Sweet 16” by Theodore Roosevelt its US highways 14, 16 and 20. It’s a mind-trip to me that it’s the same US Highway 14 that I lived on in Rochester, rode my bike to work on and drove countless times on to my parent’s on. I’m way down the road.
Right before we left I accidentally dropped a lighter down the bus toilet. It has a 3” hole, so it fell right in. I could see it, about a foot down, floating. “It’s no big loss“, I thought, “but what if it plugs something up?” I tried to think of something I could use to reach in and grab it, but couldn’t think of anything. I decided to leave it in hopes that my brain would eventually think of something.
The drive to Yellowstone was gorgeous. I’m worried I’m becoming desensitized to the splendor of the mountains. Everywhere I’ve been lately looks like a post card almost whenever you blink your eyes. This was no exception.
There was a small line-up of cars at the gate to Yellowstone. We got through quickly with my Annual National Park Pass. We drove by Lake Yellowstone and stopped at Mud Volcano where there are bubbling mud pits. Then we drove north next to Yellowstone river. We saw an elk. There was a herd of about fifty buffalo grazing way off in the distance. Sometimes there were tire skid marks. We joked that they must be from tourists over excited to see wildlife, “BUFFALO! Screeeeeeeeech! I found the easiest way to spot wildlife was to watch the humans. If you see a gathering of humans taking pictures…well they must be taking pictures of something. It doesn’t always work, like the Japanese taking pictures of the Canadian Geese. I’ve had enough goose poop flung in my face off of my bike tire in Rochester that I don’t feel I would want a picture of a goose. There were more people speaking foreign languages than English. At least 50%/50% anyway. Truly a world of diversity traveling to the park.
At the Canyon Village area we spent a great deal of time hiking and looking at the river and waterfalls. The hike down to the Lower Falls is a steep foot trail. You could usually see 3 levels of the path through the trees steep down below you. I assumed it was about 4 levels, but it turned out to be 10. I knew we were in trouble when we started the decent because everyone coming up was extremely winded, almost comically so.
The hike was worth it. The view was spectacular. We hiked a mile or so on a trail running along the top of the river canyon in the woods to the Upper Falls. It too was an awesome sight. By the time we hiked back to where level 9 meets level 10 we were exhausted.
We drove to the Norris Geyser Basin and saw hot springs, steam and geysers. Its like being on another planet. Geothermal activity is art in motion. There is form in function.
Before the whole place blew up we headed back to Cody.
The “Sweet 16” was even sweeter on the drive back. I originally didn’t like back tracking and repeating a drive, but I learned that the view going the other way has its own treasures to offer.
As I gazed at the scenery, exhausted, it hit me, “The BBQ grill tongs”! If I squeeze my hand through the toilet hole I could probably reach the lighter with the grill tongs. Gross, but sometimes in life you have to step up and be a man. I guess this, unfortunately was my time to shine.
When I opened the lid, the red bic lighter was still there, floating exactly where it had landed that morning. I turned off the pump to stop the water flow, grabbed my BBQ tongs, squeezed my hand through the hole and felt around. It WAS gross, my hand and arm were touching God knows what on the sides of the pipe. It was wet and clammy which was enough for my mind to imagine the worst. I grabbed and grabbed with the tongs. I felt it lock on to the lighter and I pulled it out. I threw the lighter away, “but what to do about the tongs”, I thought. “Surely I can’t cook with them again…but really, if I wash them good with dish soap does it really matter?” “Know one could ever find out.” I thought. “Can you imagine cooking for people and they find out those had been in the toilet?“
I washed them off and called it a day.