Yo Cow!!

Hello friends. This is Amie, sitting in my tent in the Walmart parking lot in Cody, Wyoming, using the computer of some RV friends we just made!
Lucia wrote something in West Yellowstone, so here's a quick recap of what happened since then!

We rode into the park from West Yellowstone around 5 or 6 PM, 14 miles up to Madison Campground. We saw a bison and some elk right off the bat, and luckily the heavy traffic was all on its way out of the park, since it was so late in the day. The campground was full, but the camp is required to accept cyclists and hikers, so they took us in for $6 per person per night (ouch). We met some ex-marines named Brad and Tony, headed north on their bikes, and four other guys who were actually headed to Maine, though on a very roundabout way.
The next day we decided to take a rest day, and we left most of our gear set up at Madison camp. We loaded just what we needed for the day onto our bikes and decided to explore some of the geothermal stuff on the way to Old Faithful. We spent some time at Firehole Canyon swimming hole, where the river is fed by hot springs, warming the snowmelt. We wound our way along, stopping at mud pits, "paint pots," and geyser basins. Watching the droves of tourists was at least as exciting as watching the features themselves.... Yellowstone is a collection of thousands of the worst, most distracted drivers from all over the world, but luckily we all made it out alive.
We ended the day at Old Faithful where we ate some ice cream and met some folks from Rapid City who we might call to sleep in their yard, then we booked it back to Madison campground and ate dinner. We made some new biking friends that night, the coolest being two guys named Henry and Sam, who just graduated college (Franklin Marshall?? something like that..). They're headed to Seattle and then down to San Diego, raising money for a non-profit. Their blog is 4walls4all.worldpress.com, check it out.

Our next morning was very sad... We had to say goodbye to our favorite three Ohio boys :( We woke up early to head to the other side of the park. We left each other with lists of 10 things that must be completed before the end of the trip. If I remember correctly, we must stealth camp, ranch it, cause a stampede, kill a snake, sleep past 9:30, eat donuts for lunch... and some other things they love to do. They have to try tofu, sell snake meat to tourists, get pictures of Chaz with 4 12-year-olds, etc.
Tears brewing, we decided to head across the northern road of the loop, and we stopped at some of the features along the way. We even got to ride past a bison that was standing right in the middle of the road! Then we swung past the yellow Lake Lodge, to get a quick taste of what we absolutely can't afford, before heading to Bridge Bay campground, where we managed to camp without paying :) (how's that for stealth camping??).
Finally, today, we woke up early at Bridge Bay, and made a break out of the park. We spent the morning climbing through winding, mountainous roads before we crested Sylvan Pass at 8500 ft. The scenery was spectacular, and our hard work was rewarded by a wild, terrifying, gorgeous descent through massive canyons down toward the East Entrance of the park. The rest of our day was mostly downhill, and the scenery rapidly changed from snow-covered mountains and alpine meadows to rocky cliff faces and arid plains.
That brings us to Cody, Wyoming. We rolled into town after 80 miles and had a fruitless search for a campsite under $22. While grocery shopping at Walmart we remembered that you can camp for free in their parking lot (though it turns out tenting is actually illegal... only RVing is permitted. Yet again, stealth camping). We went out for some tasty Mexican food, paid for one shower at the nearby RV park (but took 3 :), and then pitched a tent on the pavement. We were going to pitch it in a grassy patch, but the sprinklers here turn on at 4 am, and we got yelled at when we tried to build rock fortresses around them to stop the spray.
Fortunately, however, we made a friend named Frank, who is here in his RV with his wife and daughter, finishing a year-long boat/RV tour (they're headed to California). Frank gave us drinking water, introduced us to his daughter and his cat, gave us his old maps, and let us use his computer!
So now it's time for tent snacks and journaling. Tomorrow we head through Greybull, and then probably south (not north, as originally planned), eventually headed to Buffalo, where Lucia has hooked us up with a ranch she used to work on.
Hasta Luego!