Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 20:05:49 -0800 From: Charlie Ford Subject: Crater's to Yellowstone I woke up very early on Friday morning at Craters of the Moon. The monument had a really glowing dark look about it under the full moon. I looked at my watch and it read 5:00 AM. Damn, I hadn't been up this early in ages. Because I have been in Seattle so long I had started to take root in my bed. I decided to stay up although the bed did look very tempting. I checked my oil and fixed me a cup of coffee with the new 12 V water heater thing I bought on my way across Idaho. It works really well and all you do is plug it in to the lighter and put it in the cup of water. In five minutes or so you have steaming water to call your own and do what you will with. (this commercial message brought to you by KRUD Radio) : ) I started the bus and headed out into the darkness. The road was totally empty except for a few coyotes and rabbits that were getting an early start. either that or they were finishing quite late. Nevertheless it was a good cool morning to be running around, animal or human. I stopped in the little town of Arco. This little city is the first city in the world to be powered by nuclear energy. hmmm.... I wandered what that mysterious glow across the desert was). Just outside of town you see a small building about the size of a small factory. That is the reactor. It sits in the middle of nowhere just like it should. Today's goal or destination is Yellowstone National Park in the extreme northwest corner of Wyoming. I have always wanted to go here since childhood. When I was a child I thought that this was where Smokey the Bear lived. I knew that Yogi and Boo Boo lived in Jellystone, but Smokey "the real bear", so real that he worked for the forest service, lived in Yellowstone. The terrain I passed through to get there was not bad at all. the inclines were slight and the road was smooth. I drove and watched the houses farms and fields ease by my window. About ten miles outside of West Yellowstone "the city", I started hitting a third gear type grade. I had no problem making the incline at all. The Mothership was firing on all four and I shifted to third and added light throttle. of course Fords, Chevy's, dodges, and Ramblers passed me at blazing speed, but I just smiled and waved as they passed. I saw two of them pulled on down the road by the County Mounty's so I just smiled and waved as I passed. It is truly a pleasure to pass someone in a VW bus. Even if they are sitting still, at least you know your moving forward in class. Finally after about three hours drive and three cups of coffee heated by my mighty 12V water heater, I made it to Yellowstone. At least the gate anyway. I went in and ask the guy where the hell I was. He laughed and said he knew exactly what I meant. I think he meant that this part of Idaho was next to nowhere. I told him that nowhere is where I wanted to be. I paid my $20.00 outrageous fee and picked me up some maps and headed back out to my bus. In the parking lot and surrounding region there must have been twenty million RV's. All of them were filled with the smiling faces of folks with all sorts of things on their mind. They were on vacation but I am sure most of them had cellular phones and dishwashers and cable TV. I scanned my maps, cranked the Mothership and proceeded to find gas before entering the park. gas in this part of the country either comes at a bargain or a premium. The price can vary .20 cents over the distance of 20 miles. I have found that most of the time the closer you get to a place that there is more traffic, the higher the price is. Here at Yellowstone it was $1.54 cents a gallon. Down the road 50 miles I was buying it for $1.18 a gallon. I think greed has something to do with this phenomena of modern business practice. I put in ten dollars worth and hit the road, making sure I commented on how proud these folks were of their gas to the store counter help. He smiled and said "come again". I think he may have been the owner of the store. I headed toward the gate where you enter this marvel of modern nature. I drove up and stuck my little yellow slip of paper out the window so the girl inside the booth could verify that I had paid my dues to be here. She, like the others smiled and waved me on through. I was proud to be here. I immediately entered into the wilderness with all the other touring fools that had gone through he gate before me. We drove along the road that had a posted speed limit of 35 mph, yet no one really saw it and our little convoy of cars proceeded along at 45. Hey, we were all just to busy looking at "nature" to be interested in any speed limit sign. the fire of the 80's really did Yellowstone a job. The forest that once stood tall and thick now lay thin and withering on the ground. the most promising site is the new growth that has sprouted and reached the fine ensuring height of 8 feet or so. I believe that in twenty years this park will once again be at the stage of beauty it once was. Now someone traveling through the park, or at least the part that burned, will have to imagine what it once looked like, or somehow find beauty in the re-birth that is taking place even as we speak. it truly is a beautiful park to behold. I rolled about twenty miles up the northwest road to Norris geyser Basin campground. I turned into the little road that takes you by the Rangers Museum and then into the campground itself. I turned and went down loop A which is the first loop for those of you that may have not figured this out yet. I drove along slowly and rounded this little corner and lo and behold, there sat a 91 westy. I am very partial to air-cooled but what the hell, it was a Volkswagen. I pulled up along side and ask if they were coming or going. The gentleman packing stuff in the car answered that they were leaving. he told me "go on up and fill out your paper work. By the time you get back we will be ready to pull out and you can have this spot. I looked it over and upon realizing that it sat right on the creek and had a great view of the meadow that this would be perfect. I went down and signed my name on the dotted line, leaving my $11.00 in the envelope. I went back to the site and sat and talked to the folks that had been so nice to me. The guy said they were from Jersey and had come out here on vacation. They had been traveling about two weeks and had camped each night in the westy. he said they were having a great time. I am not sure that was the opinion of the wife, she seemed to be working quite hard keeping the two kids in line. I do know that he had been fishing with the young boy when I had arrived the first time so I figured she had just been away from home just long enough to miss it and for that "missing it" to become annoying. They left after a little while and I pulled in. I found that the bus had a slight lean to it so I took out the trusty Bilstein Jack and jacked up the corner that had the lean. I then grabbed my jack stand and placed it carefully under the car. I let the jack down and seated myself in a very level Mothership. I stared out on the meadow and listen to the birds for a while. The days traveling had been done and tomorrow was another day. That evening I saw a bear, a grizzly bear. he was far enough away for me to remain safe, and he was close enough to peer at through my binoculars. he and I both had a great time doing what we were doing. I had a buffalo and three elk walk right through my camp. I had seen the signs early on of a bunch of wildlife, but I did not realize it would be so close. it was as if the parks service had certain animals on salary or something. They just seemed to graze around like people weren't even close. The buffalo that came through was really interesting. He had to weigh upwards of 2000 lbs. and when he walked he just sort of lumbered along. I read at the campground bulletin board that this animal could spring up to 30 miles an hour from a dead still start. his front was full and muscular but his butt was small and lean. I know now what people are referring to when they say "buffalo butt". They don't say it about me because I have no butt, I lost it in the war I was never in. That night I fell asleep in peaceful bliss. I dreamed of an old girlfriend from Georgia that I never quite got out of my mind and woke up the next morning wandering why I would dream of her. I summarized that it was just another thing I could unravel while driving. it would give me something to think about in days to come. Thanks for tolerating my rambling's. Charlie Ford "79" Transporter, dressed for the road The Mothership The"Turning 40 Nostalgic VW Service Tour, and Search for the Beginning of Wind". http://www.armory.com/~y21cvb/charlie/charlie.html "Wider still and wider.....shall thy bounds be set"