CHIEF JOSEPH SCENIC BYWAY (WY)

SUNDAY - Including the 2-nights we spent in Soda Butte Campground, we can now add Montana to the list of states that we have explored. We define "explored" as having spent at least 30-nonconsecutive nights in a state, which brings our total to 35 such states.

With a 12:00 NOON check-out time, and us not being in any particular hurry to get on the road, we hung out at Soda Butte Campground until 11:30AM before beginning our rather short 78-mile moving day. We don't have a very exciting destination in mind for tonight (the Walmart in Cody, WY) but the route to get there should be pretty spectacular.

Just 4-miles from the campground we crossed back into Wyoming and continued on US-212 for another 9-miles. During this short stretch of the route I kept seeing a pointy topped mountain peak in my sideview mirror everytime I checked behind us for traffic.

See! I told you Tricia, I wasn't hallucinating! She stood in the open sunroof for this photo.

Just another mile up the road there was a "scenic pullout" where we thought we might finally get
a photo of the river that's been paralleling the road. Yeah, that didn't happen, too many trees.

Soon we were turning off of US-212 (aka The Beartooth Highway) and turning onto WY-296 which is called the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. The middle 46-miles of today's 78-mile route will be on this scenic byway, which starts at an elevation of 7100' before it drops down to 6500', and then peaks just short of 8100' before finishing at 4900' just 17-miles north of Cody, WY.

This roller coaster ride is going to be fun for both me (the driver) and ROVER.

CHIEF JOSEPH SCENIC BYWAY

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Just before turning onto the Scenic Byway there was an electronic sign reading,
"Expect Delays, Road Construction Ahead". My first thought was it's Sunday! Nobody's working.
Sure enough, not a road crew person in sight, but the road is freshly paved.
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That lasted about 5-miles before the new pavement stopped and the new grated road began.
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There were numerous ponds along the roadway, but no reflection photos, it was too windy.
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We were driving along the bottom of a valley between two mountain ridges.
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This was the scenery on the other side of the road.
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This bridge goes over a deep narrow gorge. There was a large parking lot for people
to pull over in and walk the bridge, but the lot was too narrow for us to turn around in.
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With a little elevation gain we could look back and see the road we just traveled on.
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I promise you this photo is perfectly level, the mountains are at 45°.
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We found these two metal sculptures at 8100' at the Dead Indian Summit Overlook.
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It's where we pulled over to give ROVER a much needed rest and where we ate lunch.
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We drove all the way up here from the valley floor.
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These views made the trip up here worthwhile.
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We were the only RV in the parking lot, but others were driving by on the road.
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There was even a pair of vault toilets on the edge of the parking lot.
Wait a minute, what does that road sign say?
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Well ROVER's engine and transmission got us up here safely,
now I hope ROVER's brakes will ease us down to the bottom just as safely!
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This doesn't look so bad, I think we got this!
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Not all of the remaining roadway was downhill.
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Cows on the loose! Just what I needed, one more thing to keep an eye out for.
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Again, the photo is level, the terrain is not!
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First look at the valley floor where we are headed to.
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Same mountain as before, we're just closer now.
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Anybody know what these streaks are on this hillside?
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I know what they are, cow trails.
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We made it through the Scenic Byway safely, that road will take us into Cody.

By 2:00PM we had arrived at the Walmart Supercenter in Cody, WY to spend a FREE night in the parking lot.

Well our FREE night ended up costing us $136 worth of yarn and stuff, which should keep Tricia busy until Thanksgiving.

We also later spent $235 on groceries and 12-gallons of drinking water, we were completely out.

We're parked on the outside edge of the Walmart parking lot, just like we were told to do.

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