October 5, 2010: Today we leave Yellowstone and start the 3,000 mile trek home. We said our farewells to co-workers, checked out of personnel and headed back to the RV park to finish packing. The dealership in Billings, MT is about 175 miles away so we figured they would get to us around noon giving us plenty of time to complete our packing. Wrong! On the answering machine there was a message saying that they should be getting to us within the hour! This was 10:00am. Panic sets in as we still have a lot of stuff, and I mean stuff, to pack into the car and our cargo trailer. Now we are starting to look like Sanford and Son! Everything gets piled up outside of the trailer and a rush to get the inside cleaned begins. Did we finish in time? No way. The guy who was to pick up our trailer showed up but was in no hurry, so we were able to get everything out of our beautiful summer home and packed for our departure. We left around 12:30PM with tears in our eyes as we watched them take our fifth-wheel Montana trailer away. We hitched up the cargo trailer, loaded the dogs, and headed home.
Our first night was spent in Pinedale, WY. where we enjoyed a 1920's cabin in town. It was very cozy. The next morning our breakfast was in a small cowboy diner just outside of town. Southern Wyoming was very open and we saw many pronghorn antelope roaming the plains. We headed into Denver to spend two nights with Claire's brother John. The time we spent together with him and Ramona was wonderful as he was a most gracious host! Soon we were off on the road again. Our destination this night was Amarillo, TX. Why Amarillo you might ask? Well, at one point in time a wealthy farmer lived there. Big deal you might say! This wealthy farmer had an affection for Cadillacs. Every year he would buy a new car and plant his used car in his fields. When he died he had planted ten cars, nose down into the ground! Needless to say he never did harvest a crop of new Cadillacs, but this was was something every tourist should see! It was disappointing to see graffiti all over the cars.
Onward we go to Lawton, OK., about 80 miles off of our main route. We wanted to see Ft. Sill, the home of Geronimo. He is also buried there, along with many other Apache Indians. The fort is still an active military base. Many old buildings from yesteryear are still standing as well as the prison cell where Geronimo spent many drunken nights. We have heard that Oklahoma has the largest concentration of American Indians and this was pretty obvious as we passed through many Indian Reservations.
Now for the fun part of the trip! We are heading into Memphis, TN. where I will get to see Graceland. Now understand, Elvis was big when I was a teen. I had always wanted to see Graceland, but it was always out of the way from our normal routes of travel. Claire somehow just wasn't sharing my initial excitement. I guess she just wasn't a big fan of the king! However, we both ended up being very happy to have had the opportunity to see his house and the many gold records that were on display. I'm pleased to report that Claire has a new respect for Elvis the Pelvis!
Our last night was just outside of Montgomery, AL., about 700 miles from home. I just knew that once we got to Fl. there was no stopping me. With the cargo trailer in tow I preferred to do all the driving, which I did. Claire was a great navigator. We got home around 9:30pm with the mileage reading "3,000" miles.
Our adventure in Yellowstone is one that we will talk about for many years to come. We met so many wonderful people who we will miss dearly. They have become like family to us. You can never know the feeling of living and working in Yellowstone unless you experience it for yourselves. Thank you God for this awesome time in our lives, the experience of being in the "Stone".
