The Atom and I are back at home. We’ve actually been here since Wednesday, but I’ve been taking time to clean up the car in preparation for a photo shoot this weekend. Right now the car has 12,113 miles on it. I think I’m still the US Atom mileage record-holder.
Party time! Excellent!
I’m in Aurora, Illinois (home of Wayne’s World) tonight. Tomorrow I’ll spend the day at Aurora Bearing talking about Atom suspension components. Tonight I stopped at the Roundhouse for dinner and it was most excellent. Highly recommended if you’re in the area. The odometer says 11,128 miles.
Not much to report today. It was quite chilly and overcast when I started out, and didn’t get any warmer. The highest temperature I saw along the way was 56 degrees. Of course, moving at 70MPH in an Atom, there’s wind chill to consider. I stopped at a discount store and purchased a second heavy jacket which I put over my original jacket, and that helped a bit. 10,709 miles so far.
Not much to report – a relatively long drive today en route to the Chicago area. 10,407 miles.
Today started off quite chilly in Cody, Wyoming at 43 degrees at 10:30 AM. It was also quite overcast, so I didn’t get any heat benefit from the darker colors on the Atom. My route took me up Highway 14A into the Bighorn National Forest, at elevations approaching 10,000 feet. Click here for a map. At those elevations, my breath was condensing and freezing on the inside of my helmet visor. 14A doesn’t really use a pass through the mountains – it just climbs to the top via switchbacks, runs along the top for some time, and then descends via switchbacks (you can explore the link above to see what’s down the road if you want). There were a number of great photographic opportunities, but I was concentrating on getting down off the mountain before I froze.
Tonight I’m in Gillette, WY which is about 60 miles from the South Dakota state line, near Devil’s Tower National Monument. I passed 10,000 miles today – the current reading is 10,048.
I’m in Cody, Wyoming tonight. Tomorrow I start the long (1300 mile or so) run to Chicago. There probably won’t be many pictures along the way (I’m taking I-90, despite my pre-trip plan to take I-94 – I expect this will be a bit warmer). Right now the car has about 9800 miles on the odometer.
Today was another day of driving around Yellowstone. This time it was taking the north loop. Lots of pictures.
One of Yellowstone’s many waterfalls:
Bacteria growing in a thermal spring. The different colors represent colonies living at different temperatures:
Constant Geyser. So named not because it goes off continuously, but because it is one of the few non-periodic ones with frequent eruptions:
Black Growler, a steam vent:
The Dragon’s Mouth, a vent that is receding into the hillside, forming a deepening cave:
A bison with places to go and things to do (so he’s taking the highway):
Yellowstone Lake:
And my Atom, in case you’ve forgotten what it looks like:
Today I spent time driving around Yellowstone National Park. I have about 9600 miles on the car now.
First, the obligatory Old Faithful shot:
It didn’t shoot as high as other times, but I wasn’t going to hang around another 92 minutes (I just missed the previous eruption as I was parking the Atom).
Here’s one of the park’s inhabitants keeping an eye on the Atom. Note that this is dangerous – don’t try to replicate this shot unless you have one foot ready for the accelerator. Yes, that blur on the bottom is the side of the Atom’s frame:
This really is an alien landscape – look at the crystal clear blue water. It is boiling and giving off sulphurous fumes:
I’m staying at the “Hibernation Station” (for those of you who know me, that’s appropriate) in West Yellowstone. I’ve decided to stop trying to drive like mad to make Chicago on Thursday – instead, I’m going to take my time, slow down, and spend more time taking in the sights.
Another very long day today. Quite chilly. 9270 miles. I’m heading to Yellowstone tomorrow.
