x-sno snake
Senior Member
Registered: Feb 2005
Location: So. cal., Vta Cty
Posts: 126 |
So. Cal to Mn to Yellowstone and home
We started out July 24th headed for points East, namely Minn-ee-ah-sota and all points ‘tween ca and there. The 03 Ody was feeling fine, tank was full, the oil fresh, the tires (with 72,000 miles were still good) rotated and balanced and the brake pads with 122,000 miles and still with just under half of their material intact and all other systems “Go” and we were off. The trip E. was to be brisk and the return trip the leisurely run. All was well until the 2nd day when the Wife rounded a bend in the high country of Wyo. and our world turned white. Everywhere we looked – White. She said “snow”, I said “Can’t be”. Well, it was white but it was not snow (See, I’m right occasionally); there was 3 or 4 inches of hail on the ground. Wy-Dot even had a plow up there already. (Well, there were these Elk on the freeway the night before but I eluded them once again
Shortly thereafter it was time to change drivers. A stretch, set the mirrors, move the seat, light it up and start up the ramp and – Whoa – lights on for the TCS and engine, both. What the heck is this – close enough to what I really said. Pull over, shut down and pop the hood. A visual search – nothing, check fluids – all just fine, look under the beast – nothing abnormal, fire it back up and listen – purring like a big cat. What the hay, lights are still on. What’s plan “B”? Well, it’s running ok and there’s nothing to be done in the middle of nowhere, Wy. Drive a few miles and pull off and recheck everything – same results. Hummm? Put the Wife back behind the wheel, pull out the manual for the Scan-gage ( I like you Scan-gage) and pull up the engine code, ok, so now we have the code while slightly E. of the middle of nowhere, Wy. Navi, where is the nearest Honda dealer and what’s their phone #. The Nav pulls it right up. Call Laramie, Wy Honda on the cell phone. Don’tcha just love this modern high tech stuff?? Very pleasant guy in the service dept. shuts down what he’s doing, pulls up the codes and tells us it’s the EGR valve and don’t sweat it. No hard sell at all. I like Laramie Honda. So we churn on Eastward. Next fuel stop, fill with premium. Start up and lo, the TCS light is out, that’s a good omen; onward E. Stop for fuel, dinner and the night – another fill of premium – and on start up the EGR light is out – All right!
Next morning, the panel is back to normal and other than more rain, the run to Omaha and into Des Moines, then N. into S. Mpls. Is just fine. Do some visiting and head more North up to the tip of the Iron Range in Mn. for a family reunion. Fun time, lotsa good food, catching up, the weather god was kindly and we had cooler than recent temps. Hardly any of the various winged blood suckers either. Outstanding!! I brought Smore fixins for around the campfire the last night, boy, did that bring up a lot of reminiscing – most of us hadn’t done a Smore in years. Yum! Spent a week up there visiting family, friends and classmates and headed back to the Cities. Sunday at my sister’s place in N. Mpls. for a mini reunion. More food, fun, swimming, and catching up. My camera is starting to get heavy with all these pictures in it. That evening we head back to S. Mpls. where we are staying and cross the 35W bridge as we have many times before. Next evening it crashes. Based on the condition of mn. freeways (terrible) it has to be the maintenance. A lot of bad people should be going to prison for that, but what kind of odds will you give me that there will be a tax hike (for the roads of course), the same evil people will be re-elected next fall and it will be business as usual??? Don’t let me get started.
The TCS and engine lights came on for a couple days while driving around in the rain around the Cities. (Is the rain somehow responsible for this?) Had several helpings of Byerley’s Wild Rice soup, good stuff – going to have to try making that at home. Still running premium gas, even when it jumps 15 cents a gallon every Thur. to gouge the weekend traffic in both cities. Wait for Tu. they keep the price up till then to get the returning weekend traffic. Or fuel outside the Cities, they don’t seem to be playing that game 50-60 miles out.
Then it was time to bid everyone adieu and head back to points W. Wanted a change of scenery, so picked up I-94 Westbound. Besides, had promised the Wife she could check out the “Black Hills Gold” shops in Rapid City. What had I been drinking that day? Hope the Ody can haul it; gold ain’t big but it sure is heavy. Well, she spent somewhat less than a new Ody, but then I had been talked into stopping at Wall Drug in Wall SD, so the Ody was already pretty full. I did get a 2008 calendar tho. Turns out the stops in Rapid City were relatively uneventful (and inexpensive).
We found a listing for a good little restaurant in Deadwood SD (in the AAA book), where I’d never been and we can confirm the restaurant’s rating; excellent soup and fine sandwiches. Was forced to take on enough fuel to get us to Wyo. and better gas prices and took the 14 loop W. and back to the freeway – the scenery in that area rarely disappoints and made the detour extra worth while.
Rain – again – in Wyo and really dark as we left the freeway and crossed the Bighorn Natl. Forest where we found some CWS at 9,000ft. but the roads were only wet. Stayed in Cody where the motel had big wood poles with wooden bear cubs climbing them (chainsaw art?) and another fine meal downtown where there were bikers everywhere; several couples were from the SE and had flown in and rented bikes to tour the Yellowstone Park area.
We entered Yellowstone the next day at mid am, survived some highway construction, loafed along with the traffic and took pictures of several small herds of Bison near the road along the lake. Got really lucky at Old Faithful and was able to park right in front of the store and walk a short distance to our ringside bench to wait for the next eruption. Rain kept threatening but never “quite” developed. Just before the eruption a young family sat down on the deck in front of us. The boy had an orange, hooded sweatshirt on and when the skies blackened and the droplets (rather large droplets I hasten to add) started to fall, each splotch on the sweatshirt blossomed into a near dime sized white disk. We were being SLUSHED on!!! Almost hail but not quite. Fortunately it was of short duration. Think I got a photo of it on his shirt. The eruption was one of the better ones we’ve seen over the years. Hard to believe the big fires were back in 1988 but the fire killed trees are starting to fall now. The living trees are being decimated by a beetle and most areas are 25 to 50% dead and brown needled now. The outlook doesn’t look good for the rest of the forests either. A side issue: We were there last about 2000 with our Mustang convertible and my wife refused to get out of the car to take a photo of a magnificent monster of a bull bison on her side of the car. Then she proceeded to make a wrong turn (I think it was an accident) and take us out the NE entrance of the park into a little berg called Cooke. It would not have been noteworthy except the place was literally “crawling” with elk. They were wandering the streets, they were hogging the sidewalks and bedded down in yards. Again my occasionally accommodating wife refused to get out and take some photos of this never before seen – or even imagined - event (possibly due to the fact the elk kneecaps were about the same height as her eyes) so I had to get out and do the photography. I thought the “Director” called the shots, sheesh. This may be an "every spring and fall event".
We spent the night in Idaho Falls, had a nice dinner near the river with geese flying up and downstream pretty much ignoring all the foot, boat and vehicle traffic. Next day we traveled West to Boise, a few miles out to Nampa, got lost, found a brand new Costo, fueled and with the Nav. found our way to the 95 and headed South for Nevada; picked up the I-80 and made Reno before the Witching Hour. Spent a couple days and now are back in sunny (and hot, darn it) so. Cal.
The Ody goes in Tu. for it's exam. When I told the guy the TCS light came on he asked if the Ck. Eng. light came on too. How'd he know that? Obviously he's seen this before. I don't think this is a good sign Ollie. To boot, the a/c has a whine/wail to it, which I'd never heard before - of course it's kinda rare for the engine to be running with me outside the car. It’s also getting an alignment – it’s third, we drove on mn roads, remember. Still, at the worst, it shouldn't be more than two, three new car payments.
Then, it’s back to Reno for the National Championship Air Races. If you like the sound of a BIG ENGINE (piston) at full fury, (try 4000+ HP) you gotta do this show at least once in your life. There’s two added classes this year.
Formula – These are small monoplanes.
Bi Plane - Still small but an added wing.
Sport - These are the Homebuilt/Experimental a/c. 2 Classes
T-6 - A WW-II Trainer. The world’s best a/c at converting avgas to noise by one sage.
Jet - Two classes here this year too.
Unlimited – Mostly based on WW-II fighter aircraft. Painted, polished, beautiful, highly modified
and awesome.
If you enjoy racing or fast planes, this happens every mid Sept. Go to Osh Kosh Wis late July to see everything with wings. We managed to be there the year after Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager flew non-stop around the world. We went by the counter where they were autographing their book and my Wife commented, “She’s not so tiny”, and I asked, “Did you see the milk case she was standing on”?
Oops, got a bit off topic there.
Good traveling to y'all.
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OdyClub Forums > General Forums > Road Trips & Driving > So. Cal to Mn to Yellowstone and home
09-02-2007 11:16 AM
