I started out today under almost cool weather. I was staying in a hostel in Wyoming and it had turned somewhat cool overnight. We all welcomed the 14C weather but the day was still young it promised to get hot. Due to the high elevation for the majority of my trip, the temperature for most of the day never went above 25C. Then, as I descended to Cody, it shot up to 32 again.
My good samaritan had made up 2 possible solutions to fix the oil cap leak. He was certain that Plan A would get me all the way to Ontario but he was wrong. I had barely gone more than 20 miles when I noticed I was losing a lot of oil and it was spraying on my leg and the rest of the bike. So, I brought out plan B which was a simple rubber stopper and stuffed it in. Miraculously, it survived the whole day. So, now I’m in Cody, Wy waiting for Fedex to arrive tomorrow with a real oil cap from BMW. Thank goodness for samaritans.
When I left the hostel in Driggs, Idaho, I had two options to get to Cody – one was taking a highway and entering Yellowstone from the west gate. The other option was to retrace some steps from the day before,head south and then head north through the Teton Mountains. I chose the latter and it was a wonderful experience.
I took only a few photos but the mountains are a beautiful sight to see especially first thing in the morning light. I continued to travel north and then made a western swing to see Old Faithful. Met a few bikers there while we waited for the appointed hour when Old Faithful delivered the expected spray. That was neat too. Throughout the day, I saw a beautiful red fox, and large number of bison. One bison was in the ditch so close I could almost touch him but I wasn’t stopping to get his picture or his signed picture release. There were several other sites where many people were stopped to see something but I kept motoring on. I’d like to go back though.
Making a circuit through Yellowstone made for a long trip and I was anxious to get to my destination. If the rubber stop got loose from all the bouncing around, I’m not sure what I would have done. So, I hurried through Yellowstone and didn’t stop for anything other than the odd snapshot taken from the bike and gas pitstop.
Arriving at Cody, I made use of my time by inquiring of the pharmacy whether they could give me a product for the ear and they said no. So, I purchased a bunch of heavy duty cleaning products and proceed to wash my boot, Pants and bike – trying to rid them of as much oil as I could. I haven’t kept good records of distances travelled. For the period that my GPS was running, it has recorded 2624 miles so far, or about 4000 kms on the bike. I’ll need to take apart the rear brake when I get home and clean it better than I’ve been able to so far.
I met a young couple – the fellow just left the marines in San Diego last Friday. He was doing a quick tour before returning to his home town in Minnesota where he’ll take a HVAC course starting in the fall. Here he is starting a new career and I’m still wondering if I will be starting one as well. Incidentally, one of the older BMW riders at our ‘tent city’ had told me a few days ago that he had to get home and have the doctor look after his knee that was extremely painful that he couldn’t sleep. When I asked him the following day how his knee was – he said it was still the same. He then gave me the following advice – ‘Getting old sucks: if you aren’t strong, then it will kill you”
Not sure what tomorrow will bring. As soon as Fedex delivers my package I’ll head towards the Devil’s Monument but not sure where I’ll end up for the night. Wherever that is,I’ll probably plan the remainder of my return trip.Someone told me the ferry across lake Michigan gets booked up so I had better book my return trip