National Park Road Trip: Devils Tower and Onto Cody, WY (Part 6)

After our first couple days of being in the parks, we were excited for just how much grand the scenery ahead of our journey would be for the next couple weeks. We got up early from our hotel in Keystone and headed out towards Devil’s Tour.

The journey would take us over two hours to reach Devils Tower. Unfortunately, Devils Tower is not located close to I-90, which means an extensive drive on back roads to the park. Although it is pretty cool to see the Devils Tower butte appear out of nowhere on the horizon.

Having never been to the park, we had no idea what to expect. After showing our National Park pass, we proceeded to drive to the base of Devils Tower and the Ranger Station. The kids acquired their Junior Ranger badges and we were off on the 1.3-mile loop around the base of the formation.

Seeing Devils Tower up close was quite impressive and a nice, casual hike for the family with nice trees from the surrounding forest.

Devils Tower is also a great location to pack a lunch and eat at the base of the monument. Just pack plenty of water, as it was hot during our summer visit.

Drive to Cody, WY

Following our departure from Devils Tower, we began the long journey to Cody, WY, where we would spend the night before heading into Yellowstone National Park.

This drive was a shockingly barren landscape with few, if any exits along I-90. At some point I remember seeing we had approximately 1/3 tank of gas left and figured we would stop at the next exit. Yet it never came. Or if there was, it was a dirt road with no gas stations within site.

At one point panic began to settle in as van computer said we had zero range left and were riding on fumes in the dessert heat. So at that point, we pulled off the freeway onto another dirt road that just so happen to have a single farm house.

Knock, knock, knock. No answers. However, there was a gas tank onsite, and at that point in the middle of nowhere, we had no other option. So we filled the van with a couple gallons of gas to get us the 30 miles or so to the next gas station, and then left cash on their front door. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and calling AAA would have taken hours. Since we had cash, I did not feel guilty buying a couple gallons off the unknown farmer. However, we learned a valuable lesson. For the rest of the trip, the gas gauge never went below a half tank to ensure we always had plenty of fuel to get to the next town.

On the drive, we happen to go through Bighorn National Forest, which was absolutely beautiful! We had no formal stops, but did pull off and take some pictures at Shell Falls Interpretive Site which was gorgeous!

It was also quite serene in that for the most part, we were the only ones within Bighorn National Park, or at least it seemed that way. With the peak summer travel season, we expected to see lots of people, but up until this part of our travels, we had not really experience much, if any people. Very cool.

At that point of the day, the kids were hungry and had been asking for Asian food, which was an odd request given we were in the middle of nowhere U.S.A. However, as we pulled through small town Greybull, Wyoming there was a small restaurant called Beijing Garden, so we made the stop.

The town of Greybull, and even the restaurant, was a ghost town. So we had no idea what to expect. However, the food at Beijing Garden was really great, offering a wide selection of menu items for the family’s tastes.

Cody, Wyoming and Big Bear Motel

Then it was on to Cody. More barren landscapes. No cars. Long, straight roads. Then it happened.

Going 7 mph over the speed limit, I had that Cars movie moment. The State Trooper was on me. For 7 mph…really? In Ohio, cops do not even look at you going 10 over. Heck, my driving instructor told me at 16 you need to drive at least 7 over the speed limit and you were safe. However, in Wyoming, they are strict dogs. We found that even more prevalent within Cody. While we remained citation free for the remainder of the trip, they took speeding seriously we noticed in Wyoming with lots of signs telling your speed.

Ticket in hand outside of Cody, we eventually rolled into our hotel for the night, the Big Bear Motel.

Coming highly rated and cheap by National Park standards at $149/night, the motel was really cute and clean. Despite dropping temperatures, after being in the car all day, the kids insisted on jumping into the pool.

The Big Bear Motel was nicely located on the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park, and while we were out the door early in the morning, seemed like a nice facility that we really did not get to experience to its fullest.

When we initially made reservations for the Big Bear Motel 7 months in advance of the trip, our thoughts were to take in the nearby rodeo, as our in-laws really enjoyed it on a recent trip. However, as luck would have it, the rodeo, which performs every night, decided to have a Clint Black concert on the night of our visit. So no go for us.

At this point in the trip, everyone was pretty excited for the next day in Yellowstone, as it was to be the highlight of our National Park tour.

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National Park Road Trip: Devils Tower and Onto Cody, WY (Part 6)

Drive to Cody, WY

Cody, Wyoming and Big Bear Motel

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