Hot Dang It's HOT!

[gearhead]

Southeast Texas...100 and 90. Temp and humidity. Heat index of 118. Walked out in the garage and it was 100. Been jacking up the run times on the sprinklers but the grass is parched a day later. Cucumbers are still putting on but peppers are dying on the vine for lack of picking.
I'd pack up and get outa here but the Montana is in the shop. The first grandbaby is due anytime in the next 3 weeks so the wife wont go anywhere.
So here's my plan....but I might have to wait until next spring, grandbaby and all. Many years ago, maybe 35, I was sitting in a Yellowstone Park traffic jam. I looked up and there was a highway sign saying "US 287". US 287?? Baby, look at the map..surely that's not the same US287 we know in Texas?! Yes, I believe it is. Well where does it go? Almost to Canada, looks like Browning Montana. Naw, really? Yeah from Port Arthur Texas to Canada. So this afternoon I'm trying to find something to do inside...looking at Google map. DW sitting in the recliner next to me, asks what you up to? "HWY287" Huh? HWY 287..I'm thinking of my next adventure...drive 287 from Port Arthur to the end. Yeah you've been talking about that for years.
Don't that sound like: "OK go for it" to y'all?
So I've been looking at accuweather temps for Wyoming and Montana. Dang it is cold up there in February! Maybe I'll have to sacrifice fishing time down here in March and go a little later. I'm thinking the recently acquired Bigfoot with the cargo carrier on the back with the gen and the bike on the front hitch (that I haven't installed yet...remember the 100 degree temps?)
No, I'm not crossing into Canada. Sam Colt and all.
Any ideas and/or feedback on what to not miss??

[Tbos]

Sounds like US287 will be a nice trip. Make sure you let know how it goes. Congrats on the upcoming birth. Our 7th grandchild arrives in September. They are much more fun than our own kids were. Enjoy.

[CaptnJohn]

Sounds like US287 will be a nice trip. Make sure you let know how it goes. Congrats on the upcoming birth. Our 7th grandchild arrives in September. They are much more fun than our own kids were. Enjoy.

It has been said grandchildren are God's gift for not killing your own....

[gearhead]

^^^^I hear that is true. Also hear the DW ain't gonna want to go anywhere anytime soon.

[bsmith0404]

Wyoming and north in March, don't miss the wind and snow....

If you plan on going up 287, you won't be far from Thermopolis WY, it's worth a slight detour. While we were in Yellowstone, we did a day trip to Jackson and went white water rafting in Jackson on the Snake River. Spring is the best time for it, but probably more late April/May, March may be too early. You could rent a snowmobile and explore Yellowstone during March. Here's a link for some reviews on that experience.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g45399-d1590727-r188086311-Rendezvous_Snowmobile_Tours_West_Yellowstone-West_Yellowstone_Montana.html

[hankaye]

gearhead, Howdy;

I just peeked at the temp. in Yellowstone, 32ºF and the expected high
of 72ºF. Make sure the furnace is working and take warm clothes.

Two years ago the end of June, I visited up there and enjoyed the Winter
we didn't have here in Southern N.M.

hankaye

[byrdr1]

sounds like US-52 here in NC. it runs from Charleston, SC to I know at least Bismarck, ND. what a road trip that would be.
I also ran across US-70 from here in central NC to at least OKC the other weekend. Every time I looked we were either crossing or near US-70. So I know it runs along the I-40 east to west route.

HAVE fun.
we are having the higher temps and high humidity also in central nc.
ALMOST unbearable.. real feel temps are going to be like 105 this weekend.
randy

[gkainz]

If you want to fish Montana or Wyoming in the spring, you need to be prepared for hard water fishing. :) Not that there's anything wrong with that - I love it. :)

[allmi01]

I can;t speak to the trip from Teas up to I80 but I have driven US287 from I80 north to Yellowstone. Very nice drive and no major grades either up or down. If you are riving a gas TV you will definitely feel the reduced HP from the altitude.

Again, I have not driven between Yellowstone and Browning, MT but definitely go up US89 to St. Mary's MT and see Glacier NP. US89 from Browning to St. Mary' sis slightly more than a cow path with lots of turns but worth the drive. We spent a few days there and then across US2 to Washington.

My .02 cents worth. Enjoy that trip. Well worth the time spent.

[gearhead]

I will have to do some fine tuning on the schedule regarding the weather.
But that snowmobile sounds cool, so to speak. Last time (only time) we were in Yellowstone was before the fire. I took some Chinese waders about paper thick, some high top basketball shoes, and a flyrod I didn't know how to use. Parked next to the Yellowstone River in between the Volvo station wagons. Saw guys with nets swatting them in the air and sitting on park benches tying flies. I didn't have a clue what they were doing. I waded off in the river with my 6 foot leader and flayed away. The guy next to me must have a 15 foot leader and I'm dumbfounded that he can cast it. In about 30 minutes my legs were frozen. I left and went to the Firehole or Madison, can't remember which, and caught stupid cutthroats. A moose ran me out and I quit. So I owe the Yellowstone another try.
Hwy 421 through N Carolina looks like a good adventure too. We stopped in around Yadkinville chasing dead ancestors a few times and I kept bumping into 421.