When we were just 8-miles from the finish line we passed through the town of Cody, WY. It was here that we stopped at a Walmart to grab a few needed grocery items and some lunch from the Subway Shop inside.
This Walmart has a very undersized parking lot and we were later informed, as we headed to THE POD with our groceries, that we would have to move from the parking spot we selected. No problem, we'll just take our lunch to our campsite down the road and eat it there.
TRAVEL DAY PHOTOS
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We didn't make it to the campsite with our lunch. Instead we pulled off the roadand ate it while listening and watching the Shoshone River pass by below us.
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As soon as we were back on the road we entered this beautiful canyon.
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I knew there was going to be a tunnel along our route today,but I had no idea there would eventually be three.
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There were no "Clearance Height" signs, but it "looks" like we should fit.If this were an Interstate Highway, it would have to be at least a 14' clearance, but this isn't.
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As you can see the first tunnel wasn't all that long.
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The distance between the first and second tunnel wasn't all that long either.
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As we exited the second tunnel I could see a very small parking lot on the right hand side.
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It turns out this is parking lot is specifically for the areas rock climbers.
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The 3rd tunnel was quite a bit longer as it passed through Cody Mountain.
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As you exit the 3rd tunnel if you quickly look over your left shoulder you'll seethe Buffalo Bill Dam and Visitor Center. Tricia wasn't quick enough to get a photo today.
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On the west side of the dam is the Buffalo Bill Reservoir.
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This will be our waterfront home for the next two days.
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We've got electric, but no water on our site.
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We positioned THE POD so we could see the water out the rear windows.
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Not a bad view! Although it is a little bit pricey at $18 a night, plus $10 for electric,plus $12 for a Non-resident Entrance Pass, which makes for a total of $40 a night.
I already mentioned the Buffalo Bill Dam and Visitor Center is located on the west side of the 3 tunnels we passed through yesterday. The Visitor Center opens at 9:00AM and we were on site shortly thereafter.
BUFFALO BILL DAM
AND VISITOR CENTER
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I'll admit, from the west side of the dam it doesn't look all that impressive.Even though when it was completed in 1910 it was the tallest dam in the world.
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All of this debris floated up to the dam in the passed few weeks. The wood is collectedand then donated to the State Park System to be dried, cut and sold as firewood.
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The east side of the dam is where the water level drops some 325' to the river floor.Notice the old stained concrete on the bottom and the new clean concrete on the top 25'.
In 1993 the dam was raised to allow more precious water to be stored in the resulting reservior.
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The Shoshone River as it continues it's route northeast to Bighorn Lake.
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That's the power plant down there generating electricity for everyone in the area.
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There is some seepage coming through the canyon walls, but nothing to worry about.
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This is the current North Fork Highway Bridge over the Shoshone River,but also notice the original construction roadway below the bridge.
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That lower roadway can still be driven (to a point) by crossing the Hayden Arch Bridge.
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At the "Authorized Personnel Only" sign we turned around and took this beautiful photo.
We spent about an hour looking around the dam and watching a short video about the construction of the dam. It took nearly 5-years to complete the project, after the first two companies failed to make progress, the third finally succeeded.
It was a tough project, mostly due to the fact no one had ever done a dam of this size before and the harsh Wyoming weather played a huge detriment to the construction challenge.
Imagine three months a year of subfreezing temperatures, sometimes as low as -15°F, then three months of summer monsoon rains that put the whole project underwater. That complicates matters at any construction site, let alone one of this size.
In the end, the project was completed, although it took twice as long as expected and cost twice as much a result of the timeframe. Sounds like not much has changed in the last 115-years when it comes to government contracted work.
After the dam visit we went into Cody in search of a laundromat, yes it's that time again! My chores were to fill ROVER with gasoline, find an Ace Hardware to pick up a few items for a project I'm working on, purchase Tricia 3-cases of her "favorite fizzy water" at the Albertson's Grocery Store and choose a place to eat lunch once the laundry was done.
When it's my turn to pick lunch I usually search out a good BBQ restaurant, if I can find one. As luck would have it, there's a place in town called Bubba's Bar-B-Que, just the name makes it sound too good to pass up.
Another benefit of eating at Bubba's was that there is a Tractor Supply Store just a few blocks away where we can fill the empty 30-lb propane tank I have in the back of the truck.
With everything done it was time to head back to the campground. On the way into the park we decided to drive down to the boat launch area to grab a few long distance photos of THE POD in his favorite setting. That would be in a previously unexplored state park campsite!
It was exactly 2-years ago yesterday that we entered Yellowstone National Park for the first time, although back in 2023 we entered through the South Entrance Station and exited through the West Entrance Station.
Also in 2023 we made a full 2-week visit of the park, whereas this time we only have 3-nights. To keep things fresh and different we're entering through the East Entrance Station today and will be exiting through the North Entrance Station later in the week.
That only leaves the Northeast Entrance Station unexplored for us, but I don't want to ask ROVER to tow THE POD up and over the many switchbacks of the Beartooth Pass (10,947' elev.) on the Beartooth Highway.
The Northeast Entrance Station will have to wait until we are in a little more nimble of a camper.
One other thing we'd like to share is just how different the same scenery changes over the course of just two days.
All four of these photos were taken from standing in the doorway of THE POD. The only thing that changes is the time of day and the cloud cover.
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