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ROO developed a misfire this morning on the run north from West Yellowstone.  Stopped at the I 90/287 junction, got out some sandpaper, new plugs and dielectric grease and cleaned up dizzy cap and all connections.

Old plugs looked good, no fouling, light tan colour.

Ran like new...but developed a very slight misfire which went away after another fuel stop.  Guessing bad fuel taken on in West Yellowstone.

More rain this evening so smoke flaps on the tepee are closed...now high winds have developed.

2nd last night in the USA as we are off to Browning, Montana in the morning to sleep in a tepee on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation before crossing the Rockies on the 'Going to the Sun Road'.  Approx. 1,100 miles to home all in.

Spent the day in Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks and dined at the Geyser Grill on Hwy. 20 in West Yellowstone.

No broken windscreen...but in keeping with our run-ins with rain, we got hit again tonight after dinner with heavy rain falling briefly out of a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.  I guess not done with us yet!

ROO continues to roll along...averaging +30 miles per US gallon.

WiFi does not permit upload of photos.

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Yes Dan...3 very large eruptions...and the Firehole Lake Road is closed because the pavement is melting!

Wifie, the 4 boys & I were here before the 1988 fire, swam in the Firehole River, and afterward...missed the quake.

Watched three 4-point Mule Deer bucks (Americans would call them 8 pointers) eating the motel shrubbery across from our Cody breakfast restaurant early in the am.

Took the Yellowstone north loop today.  Saw lots of Bison, Black Bear (older brownish sow without cubs, was apparently seen mating with a dark boar last week), Elk, Pelicans, Trumpeter Swans, very large Cutthroat Trout...and Canada Geese (which naming may in part have seen the Robin renamed the American Robin).  No Pronghorns, no Moose, no Grizzly, Coyote or Wolf.

Heading into the south loop to see Old Faithful and the other sites in the am, then on south to Moran Jct. so Ken can see the Grand Tetons.

ROO coped just fine in getting up over Sylvan Pass at +8,500 feet and just keeps chugging along.  Our laugh of the day was removing the Nestle water bottle water shield from the coil in the morning only to have hail & heavy driving rain hit just before reaching Yellowstone's West Gate.  ROO did not die but we holed up in a rest area until the rain abated.

Will post more photos tomorrow...WiFi very ssslllooooowwwww.

Rick, you realize, don't you, that Yellowstone is one gigantic volcano caldera? Some say it is due to erupt, and when it does it will change the world like a giant meteor impact. (and you thought you had heat problems...)

If you make it out of Yellowstone, check out Virginia City Montana - a ghost town.

On the way, you should pass Hebgen Lake and just beyond, Earthquake Lake. In 1959, Yellowstone had a 7.5 earthquake, which sloshed the water of Hebgen Lake, killing 28 people. Part of the mountain collapsed, creating earthquake lake. My family was camping in the area, below a cliff. My parents were sleeping in the station wagon and felt it, and my brother and sister in camp cots felt it too. But it was my turn to sleep on the ground, and slept right through it. With no local radio service, e had no idea it had been so serious. I don't think the '56 dodge had a radio anyway.

Enjoy the trip!

Rick, you're going west.

That blonde in the short red skirt( in the Field of Dreams picture)  is the real reason..."they came" when they built it!

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Yes Steve...and she took good photos!

Spearfish, S. Dak. to Cody, Wy....

ROO did very well yesterday climbing continuously over the northern pass through the Bighorn Mountains from Sheridan to Greybull...almost 5,000 feet to cross the 8,347 ft. summit.  (NOTE: Hwy 14 is NOT recommended for RVs)

Only one minor issue, fuel boil after we stopped briefly at a viewpoint.  Cranked a bit of fresh, cool fuel and off we went uphill.

Good to have the 8.4" disc brakes up front as we descended on the western side.

We stopped at Patty's diner in Belle Fourche for an early breakfast, then on to Bear Lodge (misnamed by a non-Native American as Devils Tower) then on to Buffalo, Sheridan and west over the mountains.

After some lightning, thunder and rain in Spearfish during the wee small hours yesterday, we drove through the tail of another storm on the way to Cody.  Fine overnight, bright & sunny this am.

Will spend the day in Cody's museums before heading for Yellowstone tomorrow morning.

I enjoyed meeting and talking at the camp site. I don't recall seeing that girl with you guys at the track. Were you glad to see her? Steve (CTR)

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We are in Spearfish, South Dakota after a day in the Black Hills.

Yes we spotted Mike, Terry & Linda going in the opposite direction on the bypass in Hot Springs...if not getting a tire puncture repair we might have been at the Mammoth site with them!

Visited the Fort Dodge site in...wait for it Fort Dodge. Was worth the visit.

Survived being run off the road going 55 mph at the top of a hill 25 miles east of Sioux City.  Managed to keep the left wheels on the pavement but was afraid the trailer was going to knock us right off.  Grant driving behind us saw a roll over coming...NOT if I could help it!  To prove no accident, the same trucker ran a man & woman in a sedan off the road at the top of the next hill.  Trucker was speeding...but a red light on the highway of all places allowed us to catch up and photo the tractor info.

Overnighted in Yankton and headed west across South Dakota the next morning.  After dinner walk in Yankton saw us stroll the high & low level crossings of the Missouri River on the 1924 bridge, now dedicated to pedestrians/cyclists.

Stopped at Wounded Knee where Big Foot's starving band was massacred by the 7th Cavalry in late December 1890...poignant to see the grave markers of the Sioux who served the US in the World Wars, Korean War, Vietnam....

Stopped at Rosebud & Pine Ridge.  At both Native American towns the locals were keenly interested in the Mini, wanted photos and demonstrated simple courtesies like opening doors.

Off to Wyoming tomorrow...headed to Cody.

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OOPs...last post must have had too many photos...

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Whoa...MMEMW is over...friends have said their good byes and headed on home.

We had a good time pitching in as volunteers for the Registration on Wednesday night at the Radisson and to setup the Car Show site at Mount Mary University...a show held on beautiful grounds and under a perfect sky!

We also helped push our bus out of the deep ruts it dug on the Ferry Terminal lawn after the July 4th Fireworks (on July 3rd naturally).

Bunked in to the Mount Mary dorms for the meet...affordable...site of the Car Show, Funkhana & Banquet...perfect!

Headed out from Milwaukee about 10 am today, crossed the Mississippi and headed for the Field of Dreams at Dyersville, Iowa.

Had a hiccup just before pulling into our last fuel fill up...lost the clutch, rolled in for petrol, rolled past the pumps, popped the bonnet.  Jam nut had fall off the throw out and the stop had turned inward.  Took the stop nut off, adjusted the clutch and we were off in minutes.

Made Fort Dodge by 6:45 pm, dinner and in the sack shortly.

Tomorrow must swap the front/rear tires.  The new Falkens that went on in Brisbane are almost toast after 10,000 miles/16,000 kms.  About the same life new Falkens had up front on the One Lap of Oz.

Guess who took my pic with the Ghosts at the Field of Dreams?

Exciting stuff and great photo log Rick! Thanks for posting it all. Sorry about the weather. It looks like you deserved that rest that Deb posted. Wishing you happy trails and lots of sunshine.

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Chicago...celebrated CANADA DAY with a day trip by bus into Chicago yesterday and ROO rested!

The bus got back to The Clocktower in Rockford at 12:15 am.  Off to Milwaukee in the morning.

Oh...yesterday's rain wiped out the Sox vs. Angels game, raised the water level in the canal 4 feet, killing tour trips by the bigger vessels...reducing us to water taxi rides and the 2nd game of today's doubleheader started late!

awesome reading Rick!! enjoyed all your posts!! you'd make a great story teller grandfather!! if not already!

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Hey Rick and Ken, thanks for the hot water for our coffee. It was fun camping all together on Canadian hill. Belated happy birthday and here is a picture of Rick resting before the big SVRA dinner on Saturday night. Stripping the Mini for racing parts.

Deb

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Good to see you Big Al and so many others...great to catch up!

Another day...more severe weather.  Fortunately, the first storm hit while we were at the Brickyard on a tour.  Thunder shook the museum building (as it is here now in Rockford, Illinois as I write and flash flood warnings repeat on the telly), lightning lit (and lights) up the sky.

Later in the day it cleared a little and we headed for Rockford, skirting Chicago to the west.  On our way north ominous clouds spread across the northern sky and sure enough the rains & winds came...I had used an empty water bottle in the morning to make a sleeve over the coil wiring so we felt confident.

Again the rain & wind were brutal and the big spray from the trucks caused a few hiccups so we hid under an overpass to let the weather abate...with ROO ticking over nicely.  Given a big gap in the traffic, we climbed back out onto 39 North and headed on to Rockford, however, in the torrent, we spotted a restaurant at 39 and state 111 so stopped for dinner.

After dinner I soaked all the ignition wires and solenoid connections and off we went on the final short leg to The Clocktower on State Street in Rockford (where MMEMW was headquartered in 2004).

Now just after 9 pm, we are watching the weather reports for updates on rain, wind, flooding.  ROO will stay put but we will head into Chicago by bus for the day tomorrow.

Hope things improve for MMEMW in Milwaukee!

Glad to have seen you again after so many years (Magog)

Your mini travel stories were great, glad to have been able to have ROO parked front and centre at the Ohio Barb B Q, it deserved to be there, people can only dream about any mini doing a 23,000 K or M trip around Australia or even across Canada for that matter-So they saw the details on your window card and they were just blown away- Safe drive back home to B C-

BIG AL

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Out of the Internet loop while at Mid-Ohio but right in the mix with old friends and new.

We made it south from Mackinaw City, Michigan to Mid-Ohio by 4:58 pm Thursday, June 26th to claim our crew passes and get into the race team and crew campground.

Marvelous to see so many Mini warriors young and old out to celebrate the Classic, to honor Charlie Pollet and to see so many brilliant drives yesterday.

Special notes - ROO donated the auxilary radiator to Dyrk Bolger after his developed a leak on the ex-Miglia car (reinstalled in ROO before heading for Indianapolis).  ROO's spare ignition set got donated to the Bob Polak Mini Marcos, a trailer but running better on Sunday after a look by Keith Calver.  Geoff Tupholme brought a well prepared M3 Mini (actually based on the 1st new car he bought as a youngster) but forgot his torque wrench so borrowed ROO's for the event.

Murray & George left Calgary on Tuesday for Mid-Ohio arriving Friday afternoon with things still to do on Bruce's race Mini.  The Slark head cracked on Saturday, a new head was sourced from Bolger and the install went on into the night (with ROO's big magnet on a stick finding the fallen bits in the grass)...not sure that the libations sped up the process.

The line up of the field on Sunday was spectacular.  The drive by Nick Swift was brilliant, topping all but one GT5/Lite Mini, the Huffaker Mini.

On leaving, we headed south on 314 from Steam Corner to I71 for I70 west and Columbus, Dayton and Indianapolis.  ROO continues to run very well in the dry.  Sagging rubber mostly overcome for now but the Falkens up front showing significant wear (after less than 10,000 miles).

We were hit by heavy rain driven sideways by high winds on ...and ROO lasted only a few hundred yards before dying on the I71.  Not a drop of moisture in the dizzy so soaked the coil wiring with WD 40 and it fired right up as the wind driven rain abated.

Off to the Brickyard this am then on to Illinois & Rockford to spend Canada Day in the Windy City.

I actually DID used to wear knee highs over my lower breeches legs so they would slip into my High Browns (the inside leather is unfinished and rough & grips any cloth surface) ...but only knee highs...and only so the boots would fit....and only at work! 

So how do you like wearing the pantyhose?