Yellowstone 2007

What an adventure! On June 7th, I met 9 other RV's at Statesville, NC for a 8:00 AM departure. Destination: Cody, WY, almost 1400 NM away. Most of us were from the Carolina's, but two flew up from Florida the night before and we were joining up with another couple from Virginia and other from Maine while enroute. Last but not least, Pam was going to meet us in Cody via a commercial flight in a couple days. All together, eleven RV's and seventeen people!

Day One - The weather was perfect leaving the Carolina's. We divided into groups of three and found a smooth ride at 8,500 and 10,500. Our first stop for gas and to meet the Virginia RVer's, Stormy & Miriam, was Lawrenceville, IL. The winds were starting to blow and would only get stronger as we went toward the plains. Winds were gusting into the lower twenty's, but they were right down one of the three runways. Planning pays off.

After a short break and fuel we are off to Ottumwa, IA. By the time we got there the afternoon storms were starting to pop and the winds were gusting to 40 knots, but again, down the runway. The last group of three made it in just before the thunderstorm to the west. We all gassed up, wiped down, and pushed into a huge hanger -- all ten of us.

The thunderstorm was a real gully-washer, but the planes were tucked away and we were shuttled to a hotel in town. A couple drinks, a meal and it was time to hit the sack so we could do it all over again tomorrow. I shared a suite with two others. The junior guy got the sofa bed which was torturous, so I took its mattress, put it on the floor, and slept like a baby.

Day Two - Some more winds and bumps at altitude, but not as bad as the first day. Lots of farm land in every direction. Our fuel stop was at Valentine, NE. The intersecting runways helped with the wind. We met our RVer from Maine here, Capitan Ron. After a quick turn there, it was off to the Badlands & Mt Rushmore. Definitely getting into the higher terrain now. The Badlands looked interesting, but I wouldn't want to land there!

It was cool to see Mt Rushmore from the air, but we had to maintain a 2000 ft vertical and horizontal separation. Between that, the turbulence, and the nearby granite, I did not get a picture. After that we went over the hill another five miles and landed at Custer, SD for the night. Custer was the highest elevation airport we used during the trip at 5,602'. This was new territory for a couple of us, but we studied up by using AOPA's online mountain flying course and several other resources. The RV's performed fine at the higher density altitudes, but even so, it's important to have a heightened awareness of the challenges of flying in the mountains.

While in Custer some of us visited the Crazy Horse and Mt Rushmore monuments. Others toured Deadwood, SD. Afterwards we all met for a nice dinner. I had the Elk steak and a micro-brew called Sweaty Betty. I was going to have another called Moose Drool, but Betty kicked my butt.

Day Three - Today's first destination is Devil's Tower. Impressive, but we had to maintain a three mile radius around it. Each group did one lap and then continued northwest.

Fifty or sixty miles out we started to see some high clouds on the horizon. Turns out these were actually the snow-covered tops of the Big Horn mountains. Impressive beauty.

Over Fort Smith, MT we turned into the Big Horn Canyon at 8,800. Everyone got real quiet for a moment because their mouths were hanging open...it was an awesome sight. Pictures and words don't do it justice. Someone broke the silence by suggesting we call the trip "Cappy's most excellent adventure", as it was Cappy who did all of the planning and investigation for the trip. Seems appropriate. :)

We really lucked out with the weather and winds. It was a smooth ride through the canyon into Cody. Shortly we had 11 east coast RV's on the ramp at Cody. Amazing.

Two hours later Pam's flight arrived. Everyone's here. We finished day three checking out downtown Cody and having a nice meal.

Day Four - We split up into groups of four or five. Each group shared a car to do touristy things, like Yellowstone, which was 350 miles worth of driving. All done by Ben in our car. He had been to Yellowstone before, so he was a great tour guide. Lots of amazing scenery. We got back to town after dark and had a late dinner.

Day Five - We walked though town and checked out the shops, etc. Everyone was very friendly and curious about where we were from and so on. In the last shop the owner was very interested in our journey and insisted that we contact the local newspaper for an interview! Why not?! The next thing we know a local reporter meets us at the hotel to get our story. Her last name is Cloudwalker -- seems appropriate!! So we spend an hour talking with her and later met the photographer at the airport for pictures of the planes. It was fun!

Day Six - Several people had additional plans after Cody. One plane was going to the Grand Canyon, a couple others to Denver, etc. The rest, including myself, were headed back east. There was some concern about the weather in the plain states. MVFR, showers and storms were forecast. We dropped off Pam at the terminal for her flight, returned the cars, packed the planes, and were wheels up before 8:00 AM. Within 150 miles we were already getting some lower weather. We dodged a couple showers enroute to our first fuel stop at Valentine, NE. We pressed on from there as a gaggle of four to O'Neill, NE which was suppose to be 1700 and 5. By the time we got there is seemed to be lower than that so Bill and I stopped while the others forged ahead. After a short break we continued on to Ottumwa, IA and caught up with Ben & Katie. Tad & Terry had turned for St. Louis after clearing the eastern edge of the weather. It was only mid afternoon and the weather was good ahead so we pressed on to Taylorville, IL. 965 NM behind us for the day, we hangered the planes, borrowed the car, and got three rooms at the very nice Market Street Inn. After a nice meal downtown I slept like a baby.

Day Seven - Down to the home stretch, only 3.3 hours from home. We were back in the air as a gaggle of three by 9:30. We leveled at 5,500 at first, but eventually had to go up to 9,500 as the cumulus started to build near the mountains. As we crossed the mountains the storms were really starting to pop. I climbed as high as 12,500 trying to top the last build-up, but in the end I had to dive down to 5,500 and go around. (Ironically, I had to go higher to clear the Appalachian Mountains than I did the mountains out west!) This is one of many examples of the value of having terrain and XM weather in the cockpit. It earned it's keep on this trip!

Once clear of the mountains and the storms we split up for the final sprint for home-base. As fun as traveling is, it's always great to arrive back home.

Day 8+ The adventure is continuing a little longer than expected for at least three of our group. At press time James and Cappy were waiting out the weather in Nebraska and Captain Ron had some weather delays in New York. Hopefully it will clear soon.

In Summary -

+ 21.1 flight hours
+ 3022 NM
+ 165 gallons fuel
+ 2.5 quarts oil
+ 11 great airplanes
+ 16 great friends
+ 1 wonderful wife
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1 Fantastic Experience

More pictures here & here.

Extra thanks to Cappy who spent many hours planning the details of this trip.