Cody

Far too soon our time with family ended as each member headed back home. Chris and I stuck around for just a few days to complete some errands down in the big city of Logan. I mention it here only because we accomplished all of our errands and never left highway 91 other than to enter the parking lot. It was a pretty good analogy of the internet with us on the main connection, only branching off when we had something to get or it struck our fancy.

Before we left we stopped and visited Chris' sister. In their living room was a stunning picture of a flower in sunlight that initially I simply noted its presence thinking it was merely a print or one of those computer painted pictures. Imagine my surprise when I found out my niece had painted it from a photograph! To have such talent. We were fortunate to see some of her other work (actually class assignments since she just graduated from high school) and all had this vibrancy that I simply can not describe..

Our next destination was Cody Wyoming with an over night stop outside Shoshoni at the Boysen Reservoir. Coming up through Lander, we could have pushed it and gone the remaining 2 hours but after a day of several altitude changes from 4000ft to 8000ft and back to 4000ft again we were a bit tired. Not to mention having ears that continued to pop. What struck us the most was the vastness of the area. 

 
Miles and miles of miles and miles with hills that changed colors seemingly on a whim. A light, ash colored hill would be right next to, and sometimes part of, a blood red escarpment.

We were very thankful Wyoming has numerous pull outs along the road to allow us to stop and admire all of the scenery, including some wildlife neither of us had seen before.

Cody, like its namesake embodies showmanship and grand entertainment. Featuring nightly gun fights and a rodeo, the town seems to be centered on tourism however that is not quite the case. Just beneath the surface there lies a dedication to preserving the culture and history of the west and this breaks through fully at the Buffalo Bill Cody Center of the West with its 7 acres of museums, art galleries, and a research library.

The tickets were cheap; $19 at the door, $17 online, especially when you consider they are good for 2 days; which is barely enough time to really see it all. On our first day if it wasn't for getting hungry we would have lost track of time entirely. Luckily the center has a small cafeteria so we didn't have to leave the complex. I'll let some of the pictures tell the tale.

One of the most surprising things for me was learning Buffalo Bill Cody was not just a showman, he was a strong, vocal advocate for developing the west, more specifically, around the town of Cody. A good example is the Buffalo Bill Cody Dam. I was amazed to find out this massive concrete structure was built in the early 1900's and that the Hoover Dam was modeled after it. Standing on top and looking down it is very hard to imagine most of the materials were hauled to the site by horse and wagon.

We have really enjoyed our stay here and we will be returning in the years to come. Today we'll head east towards Sheridan to visit the lesser known Massacre Hill memorial.