Meandering Magees: Cody, Wyoming

It’s a good thing I didn’t say everything I wanted to about Yellowstone in my last post because Mike read it the next morning and said it was a little long! So here are a few last thoughts and observations of our first National Park:

The weather wasn’t the greatest as we had rain, some sleet, and generally cloudy skies. But we decided it was a good time to visit Yellowstone because the park wasn’t too busy. Don’t get me wrong – there were lots of people, what with tour buses and some school groups we saw, but nothing like what the summer months would be like. And you can see so much from your car, no matter the weather.

Do you remember seeing postcards or documentaries on Yellowstone that show people sitting in their cars with the windows down feeding bears? It always appeared like the bears were everywhere. Well, those days are gone. In the 1960’s the park service began aggressive measures to stop bears from consuming human food so that they would return to their natural eating patterns. So we feel fortunate to have seen the several that we did. In fact, we were thrilled with all the wildlife we saw. We know that there would be more to see if we had hiked some of the back trails, but the weather was a factor in that. Plus, I would not want to be on a trail and encounter a bear or wolf!

As we left the park early Thursday morning, I looked over to my right and there was an elk standing in the river. I was awe-struck by the perfect solitude of that lone, beautiful creature wading in the water. I didn’t even try to take a picture. I just enjoyed the moment. (I am too often fixated on getting the picture).

And speaking of pictures, my recommendation is 1- GO SEE YELLOWSTONE and 2- take high-powered binoculars and a camera with a good telephoto zoom capability (in other words, don’t be like me and rely on your phone camera!) But don’t be like the Asian guy next to me at Old Faithful. He must have taken 200 pictures of the geyser, and 100 of those were before it erupted! And I am not exaggerating!

We made it to Billings on Thursday without the need of the wipers (you have to be thankful for the little things. . . ) even though it did sprinkle a little at times. We got there early, the wiper part made it there, they got us in early, and we were out by 3 in the afternoon. We then drove a little over 2 hours to Cody, Wyoming, where we are now. On the way we went through a town in Montana called Bridger.

The sign at the city limits said, "Home of 743 friendly people." We both thought the town looked a little bigger than that, so maybe there are a few hundred that aren't so friendly!

We are discovering that there is a big difference between the West coast and The West. The West includes the Old West and the Wild West. We saw ranch signs, along with miles and miles of fencing enclosing cattle, but no buildings. No barns or ranch outbuildings. Several times we saw dozens of deer grazing right alongside horses or cows.

Right before entering the town of Cody, there was a cowboy in full gear (hat, chaps, vest, bandana) leaning against his horse. That was a treat for me. This is The West.

We were in the town of Cody and had just pulled over to get our bearings on where our campground was when we heard a bang. A pickup truck's side mirror hit the back of our motorhome. Fortunately it only broke the plastic covering over our taillight. And we have duct tape from our broken latch incident. A nuisance, but not a catastrophe. That is how we have looked at the few mishaps on this journey. Nothing has happened that has disabled us or prevented us from continuing. And neither Mike nor I have been sick. Thank you, Lord!

When we got set up at the Yellowstone Valley Inn and RV Park, we exchanged the rain from the past few days for wind. Whipping wind like we had back in Santa Fe and Arizona. We put up our satellite (the Tigers were on TV) and immediately put it back down. We have had just enough quirky things happen that we didn't want to add "satellite blown off our roof" to the list.

Friday morning was no better, wind-wise. Mike brought in our slide-out that was facing the wind for fear its awning might rip. And we couldn't open the vent in the kitchen when I made breakfast. You have to understand- When I am cooking, Mike and the kids know a meal is done when the smoke detector goes off. In my defense, I will say the one in the RV is hyper-sensitive. We turned on the vent under the microwave, which did the trick.

Cody is named for its founder - William F. Cody - or as the world knew him - Buffalo Bill. He was given that nickname after he killed over 4,000 buffalo to feed the Army. He started his Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1883, which he took on the road around the United States and abroad and became the most famous man in the world. He built the town to attract tourists in 1896. At that time, Yellowstone had been a National Park for 24 years and only had a north and south entrance. Buffalo Bill got the government to add an east entrance and he used some of his personal wealth to help build a road from Cody to Yellowstone. I learned all this on a trolley tour, which was the first thing we did Friday morning. Now Cody is not that big. We certainly could have driven around or even walked around it on our own. But the trolley tour hooked me with: "Give us an hour and we'll give you a hundred years!" It's all those little stories that I find so fascinating. Here's one that I'm sure you will find interesting: In 1887, Buffalo Bill gave a command performance of the Wild West show in London for Queen Victoria's Jubilee. The show always started with Cody on horseback and another cowboy riding with the American Flag, and this performance was no exception. When the flag passed by her, Queen Victoria stood and bowed. It was the first time a British monarch had recognized our sovereignty since the Revolutionary War.

The tour was very good. We even heard Buffalo Bill's actual voice on a recording made by Thomas Edison.

After the tour we went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Several local people said it was a world-class museum and we would agree. It is a showcase of The West, with five museums under one roof, and only one of them is about the life of William Cody. The other areas are the Plains Indian Museum, the Draper Museum of Natural History, a Firearms Museum, and the Whitney Gallery of Western Art. The Indian museum was my favorite part. The presentations of Indian life were interesting and heartbreaking. Listen to this eye-witness account: "I looked around at the chief's lodge and saw him standing with an American Flag tied to a pole. I heard him call to the people not to be afraid, that the soldiers would not hurt them. Then the troops opened fire." I could not read that and not be moved.

The Buffalo Bill Museum in the Historical Center was filled with many personal items of Cody and his family. A section went into detail about the Wild West Show so we got to learn about Annie Oakley, too. And Sitting Bull toured one season with the traveling show!

Another thing recommended to us was the Dan Miller Western Musical Revue, across the street from the Irma Hotel, so that was our Friday night date. Dan is accompanied by 3 other musicians and all were extremely talented. This was not country western, but cowboy western music. Songs like "They Call the Wind Maria", and "Rawhide", and "Happy Trails To You". It was quite entertaining as Dan was pretty funny, along with being a good singer. The group played a non-western song that got me singing along -

"Me and you. And you and me. No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be. The only one for me is you, and you for me. So Happy Together. I can't see me loving nobody but you, for all my life. . . "

(I put the words in so you can be singing along with me, which a friend who reads the blog says when I mention a song, she sings it to her husband!)

I thought the song was a great statement. Mike and I have been together 24/7 for almost 3 months now and we are still "Happy together"!

Although I must say, Mike walked out singing one of the other songs we heard Dan sing: "It Takes A Whole Lotta Liquor To Like Her." (it did have a catchy tune!)

I tried something new and it worked! Instead of having all the pictures at the beginning of the post, and then me saying at the end of the post what today's pictures are, I found a way to put the pics at the end and identify them individually. Hope it saves going back and forth from the pictures at the top to the descriptions at the bottom.

I'm standing on the street in Gardiner. This is how close the Roosevelt Arch at the entrance to Yellowstone is to the town.

A close up of the Arch

I took this picture in Yellowstone because there is one just like it in Michigan, on I-75 between Gaylord and Grayling.

Crossing into Wyoming. The sign wasn't very big, but at least it says something.

The view out the front window of our RV at our campground outside Cody, WY

The narrator on our trolley tour. She was really good and often held up pictures of how the town used to look.

The oldest house in Cody. It has continually been inhabited, even to this day. As Chuck the driver said, "That screen door has slammed shut a lot of times over the last hundred years."

Jane and Chuck, our trolley tour guides.

The Irma Hotel, built by Buffalo Bill Cody and named for his youngest daughter. I cut off the sign - it says, "The Irma Hotel. Buffalo Bill's Oldest Hotel in the Rockies."