04 July 2008

Cody, Wyoming



Yesterday we left Yellowstone National Park for Cody, Wyoming. The route took us through the center of Yellowstone and across Sylvan Pass at about 9000 feet. We then began a long, slow (25 mph) descent to the east entrance of YNP. It was a great relief to finally be through the Rockies and we are thankful to have made it safely down the mountain. It is not easy to control a vehicle weighing around 10 tons down a grade of 8% for many miles. Probably burned up the brakes pretty well but we made it. The drive from there to Cody was relatively peaceful and scenic as the road paralleled a river (the Shoshone, I think) much of the way.

Cody is a small western town named after the wild west showman Buffalo Bill Cody. The permanent population is around 8850 but the tourist population is sure to double that during the summer months. The highlight of the summer is the Cody Stampede from July 1-4. We thought about going tonight but it is HOT and Grace would not do well in the grandstands for three or more hours. So we are just going to hang out at our campsite.

This morning we attended the Cody 4th of July Parade. We arrived at 8:30am to stake out a spot for our chairs downtown. The parade began about an hour later and was well worth the time. There were marching bands from across the state, rodeo outriders, politicans, and performers. Even the shriners made their customary appearance driving little turtle cars! Mom, dad, and Grace enjoyed a giant grape and red raspberry snow cone to cool off near the end of the parade.




Afterward, we headed back to camp and to pick up some much needed supplies at the local Wal-Mart. I think all 8850 residents were also there! Tonight we'll chill out and watch a movie before driving to Buffalo, Wyoming in the morning.


Cheers,


Rob

6 comments:

CR said...

If you mean by watching a movie, you mean, watching a motion picture. Go see the Hulk (much, much better than the first - which wasn't that great).

Dawg Doc said...

Probably won't be able to catch that one until we get to Massachusetts. Grace won't sit still long enough for us to go to an actual theatre yet!

CR said...

Oh, yeah, Grace, forgot about her. Uh, you definitely don't want to take her to a movie like that anyway.

CR said...

I then recommend, although, it's a 7 part miniseries, "John Adams" with Paul Giamatti. It was one of the best miniseries I saw on one of our founding fathers. It's based on McCullough's book John Adams.

Giamatti does an excellent job - I know it's hard to take him seriously, but he does do a excellent job. I always know when a miniseries or series for that matter is good when I can't wait to rent the next DVD.

Dawg Doc said...

Saw the Adams mini-series on HBO. It was well done, indeed. Anything McCullogh has a hand in will be historically accurate and Tom Hanks isn't bad as a producer.

OTRgirl said...

Sounds like you're all having fun!

I'm glad you're doing the blog so we can follow you around the country. Yellowstone sounds amazing.