Day Five- Call of the Wild

The morning started with breakfast at the camp’s pancake breakfast. The older gentleman commanding the grill has obviously taken pride in his work and has become a master of the batter. Not only were the pancakes delicious, but mine were shaped like Mount Rushmore! (Other works were made upon request… we saw everything from kitties to sponge bob)

We didn’t expect much out of today. 12 hours of driving stood between us and our next camp site in Pocatello, ID so we were pretty much looking forward to highways and truck stops as being our scenery. How wrong we were…

Our first stop was innocent enough, the Mobil gas station. Carl fueled up while I went in for some ice for the cooler. That’s when I noticed the “Call of the Wild” free exhibit. Apparently the owner of the Mobil is either an avid hunter or taxidermist. The exhibit consisted of everything from polar bears to jack rabbits. There were even various staged battles… a cougar attacking a zebra, wild boars mobbing a mountain lion, etc.

Heading west once more, we were already fully aware that we would be making at least two stops before getting out of the Black Hills. First we passed through Sturgis, SD which is practically biker Mecca. We were just one week behind the annual rally held there, but the town was still recovering. Hotels were sold out, tents were set up in the streets, and there was enough discounted merchandise to go around.

Passing into Wyoming we began to scan the horizon for our next landmark, Devil’s Tower. Scientists say that it is either the exposed core of a volcano or a large amount of molten rock that was rapidly shot out of the ground. Legend claims the distinguished marks come from a large bear which clawed the rocks surface as it magically grew in order to save seven native girls who prayed for its protection. Of course, Steven Spielberg exposed the truth in his film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind;” Devil’s Tower really is the loading dock for alien visitors.

Whatever it is, it is stunning. Since we didn’t have enough time to go into the park and hike around, we stopped at the KOA parking lot right outside the park’s entrance. There we found the Devil’s Tower/Space Alien Cowboy Boot.

Back on the road, we tucked in and tried to make up for lost time; however, we were soon faced with a new dilemma… stay to the highway and go a few hundred miles out of the way, or cut through Yellowstone National Park. We knew we couldn’t stay in the park because of our tent camper, but maybe a drive through would be worth it.

An hour later, as we tore through the canyon passes of the Big Horn Mountains, I began to think that NOTHING was worth the white knuckles and road-sickness.

Conditions improved when we arrived in Greybull and then Cody, WY, which claims to be the rodeo capitol of the world. Both are great little towns, we stopped by the local reservoir to catch a picture of the water, but decided not to linger in town but rather to pressed on in order to get at least halfway through Yellowstone before sundown.

As we began our drive through the park, we were honestly not expecting to see very much. The sun was setting, and the scenery was beautiful, and we were perfectly content just relaxing and cruising along watching the sunset and looking for the steam as it rolled off of the hot springs.

Then, I just happened to look up and notice on the side of the road this huge, furry bolder. I was in such shock that it took me a moment to process what I’d seen and to yell out “B-b-bison!” to Carl.

Giddy over or find, we circled back and snapped a few shots. Little did we know that this was just the tip of the iceberg. As we came around the lake, past the hot springs, and into the valley, traffic came to a complete stop and our bison count went from two to one hundred and two very quickly. As of 1997 there were approximately 3,500 bison (sometimes called buffalo) in the park.



More amazing than the animals were the people. Traffic would screech to a halt for the smallest of things. One time the entire road was jammed because of a beaver. People were hopping out of cars, running in the street and going crazy over it. We even had one family hear us talking about it and ask us if we knew what that animal was. It was amazing to see the crowd go wild while we sat there thinking, it’s just a beaver.

Soon things began to grow dark, and as we exited the park we were certain that we had seen our last wild creature for the night. That was until I came face to face with the beast!

We had just finished setting up camp; Carl had just walked out the door and I was left alone in the camper. Next thing I know I feel something small and furry brush up against my leg. I gathered my bravery, looked down, and saw the rare and dangerous…. Camp kitty!

At least that’s what Carl and I temporarily named it. This cute little fellow wanted to bunk down with us for the night, but we sadly told it to lodge elsewhere. It’s feelings must not of been too hurt because it was waiting for us the next morning and even tried to help us break down camp (by swatting and playing with everything). We really wanted to just through it in the truck and take it with us… if we were on the way home then we might just of had a new pet.

The camp kitty is a special breed it seems. Carl isn’t really a cat fan, but even he wanted to bring it along.