Cody, WY

Back to Cody, where we parked the airplane a week ago.

A friend had told me that the Buffalo Bill Museum was a "Must See". And he was absolutely correct!!

You probably know that I'm not a big history buff - didn't really know much at all about "Buffalo" Bill Cody - but the museum was fascinating. I learned a lot about the famous "showman/star" of the day.



Lots of neat Native American items, clothing, etc. A wall of Stetsons were available for modeling!



Outside I spied this plant - a border plant that my mom has at her house. Never heard it called this, though.





Wow...so many guns you can't imagine how many!! I tired of this quickly - after the really old guns, the displays went on and on and on with every manufacturer's lineup. Gun buffs would love this! I think I saw that there were over 3000 guns on display.


After the museum we had to see the street play - done every night outside the Irma Hotel, built by Bill Cody and named for his daughter (Irma, of course!)


A rather contrived story line about robbing a bank and a wedding ring....




Cute, though - and the price (free) was right!!!







I think we all know the ending, don't we?



Yup....somebody's gotta die!!

Thermopolis, Wyoming

Really, I didn't make up the name!!! We decided to stop in Thermopolis - it looked like a cool town. The first hotel we stopped at was full! We had been driving for hours - and this town seemed small, so we were surprised to be told that the hotel was full....but they told us the number to a Days Inn about a mile away. This was lucky - because it was a really interesting place. The owners apparently are avid hunters - the hotel is populated with 100's of mounted animals. I think it's a popular hobby out west.




The town itself is named for the hot springs that run thru the area. The Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians have a treaty with the US Govm't that says that the government will provide perpetual free access to the hot springs.....lucky for the public!

The "public bath house"


You can soak in the indoor mineral tub-



The water comes from the spring at 127 degrees .....they let it cool to 104....



There is a large outdoor pool also - notice the milky water - - that's the minerals...


We needed to move on - back to Cody....again, the terrain changed as we drove.



Pretty, though!

On to Jackson, Wy then Wind River

Next stop Jackson!


I guess I was expecting a really "Ritzy" town.....Jackson Hole.....jet setters going skiing. And I'm sure that's available if you want it.....but the town itself is just a really neat, western town. The "arches" are made of antlers collected by the local Boy Scouts. There are 3 1/2 of them on the 4 corners of the "Square". The last one is still "under construction".



A big change from all the trees in Yellowstone and Teton.




Stage coach rides available.....probably more comfy on a city street than the real thing!


We went to the "Million Dollar Cowboy Bar" - just because it looked too cool to miss! Been a long time since I've sat in a saddle - actually since we went with the boys on a trail ride on our Grand Canyon trip about 10 yrs ago! It was actually a pretty cool and comfortable bar stool.



From this point on, we didn't have any reservations - so we stayed at a local motel - one with the art-deco bathroom that was just a beautiful, original specimen - very clean and comfy & right downtown. We walked to dinner and then to the local theater to watch the latest Pirates movie. Enjoyed that - gotta love Johnny Depp - I don't care what the critics say....


On eastbound thru the Wind River Indian Reservation - this is the area south of Yellowstone that is inhabited by the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians.

Traveling out of Jackson - the terrain changed several times - snowy and cold -


Then dry and rocky





And you just never know when you happen across some wildlife. Beautiful area.

The Tetons

Leaving Yellowstone, off to see the glorious Tetons!







Did a hike to a beautiful lake...on to Jackson Hole!

More Yellowstone

Today was geyser and thermal feature day. There are several different areas in Yellowstone - amazing how different they are.

Driving south towards the "Old Faithful" area - we happened upon a elk. Cool to see them up close.





When you travel most of the way across the country, you just have to see "Old Faithful" - luckily, we arrived just 10 minutes before the predicted next eruption. Neat to have seen it - but several of the other geysers were actually more interesting.




Love, love, loved the springs and pools.



Crossed paths with some more bison - this time a bit too close!



We waited about 2 hours to see the "Grand Geyser" - well worth the wait - it was spectacular! Plus, we were allowed to be very close to this one (we were a long way from Old Faithful).


The Old Faithful Village was lovely - look at that beautiful blue sky!!



More thermal pools - we saw what seems like millions of them!



Took a hike along a beautiful stream...


More thermal pools....


And more bison on the way to our next room in the park - this time at Grant Village.


View of the Yellowstone Lake....



And this deer was grazing as we approached our room.