A Girl, A Guy, Two Pugs and a Fifth Wheel: Custer to Yellowstone (6/25

The time to drive directly from Custer to Yellowstone is around 10 hours. As we prefer our drives to be between 3 to 5 hours with a maximum of 8 hours, we decided to break the drive into three parts.

The first stop was Devil’s Tower, WY. Devil’s Tower National Monument was the first declared National Monument. You may remember it as a key plot feature in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (For fans, in September, the movie will be re-released for its 40th anniversary http://io9.gizmodo.com/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-is-flying-back-into-1796651191

Our campground (the KOA Devils' Tower) was next to the gate to the monument. After setting up the 5th wheel, we visited the monument and walked around it. Devil’s Tower is a sacred site to several Indian tribes. During our walk we saw numerous prayer bundles, which represent a person making an offering, a request, or simply in remembrance of a person or place. Climbing is a very popular activity at Devil’s Tower. As June is a culturally significant time to the tribes for which the butte is sacred, the National Park Service asks visitors to voluntarily refrain from climbing Devil’s Tower during the month.

We left Devil’s Tower the next day to stop in Billings and stock up before driving to Yellowstone. Billings is the fastest growing city in Montana, and the only city in the state with over 100,000 people. William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition stopped in Billings in 1806. Since we were only there for a night, we didn’t get to see much of the city. However, I can see visiting in the future to see sites like Pompey Pillar and Pictograph Cave.

From Billings, we drove to Valley View RV Park in Island Park, ID, which is about 30 minutes west of Yellowstone National Park. It was the nearest place we could find that close to the 4^th of July holiday weekend. Because specific sites had been booked at different times halfway through our stay we had to move to a different site. That move led to a slight hiccup to our plans to be at Yellowstone by 9.

We were able to raise the stabilizers hook up to the truck, move 50 yards to the new spot, lower the stabilizers, and unhook. Then the challenge arrived. After Deb pressed the autostabilizer button, the front stabilizers lowered Beauty (the nickname of our 5^th wheel), stopped, then began making a loud clicking sound. As you can imagine, that is not supposed to happen. Checking the control panel, I saw a “low voltage” error message. I did a Google search for “LCI electronic leveling low voltage” and found that the culprit could possibly be a shorted out control panel or a loose wire in the system. Neither of those problems were ones I could repair. Talked to the park manager, who gave me the card of a mobile RV repair technician.

Called and left a message for Randy. His greeting noted that he often was in places with no cell coverage and it might be a while until he returned the call. While waiting for Randy to call back, we tried several different things to no avail. After 30 minutes, Randy called back to say he could fit us in but would have to charge a premium since it was a Saturday and he was trying to get home. Considering living in an unlevel 5^th wheel is no fun, I told him I understood and would happily pay. He told me he would probably be at our spot in two hours.

Relief that a possible solution was found apparently opened my mind to thinking. After ending the call, I went to the trailer’s battery storage area and inspected the cables. I found that one of the connections had become loose. I tightened the connection by hand, then tried the autostabilizer. It worked. Can I get a Hallelujah and an Amen. Relief swept over me. Deb was much happier. I immediately called Randy to tell him I found a solution. Again, reached his greeting. He called back ten minutes later and was very gracious. Before hanging up he asked me to thank the Valley View managers for him. I told him I had already done so, and that they loved him.

As for Yellowstone National Park, what an amazing place. After visiting I can easily understand why Theodore Roosevelt worked so hard make it the United States’ first National Park. The variety of topology and the vistas are majestic.

Yellowstone has the largest population (approximately 5,500) of free range Bison in the United States. It is the only place where Bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. Bison are very quick and agile animals. The Park Service tells visitors to stay at least 25 yards away when viewing a Bison. However, many Yellowstone Bison don’t know this rule.

It appears that Bison have become so used to people in the park that they pretty much understand that they have the right of way.

During our visit, we saw all the required highlights:

Old Faithful