Surprise!

July 18
   Cody, Wyoming was about a four hour ride from the Tetons. Back through part of Yellowstone National park we went. It seemed all roads anywhere led through the Yellowstone National Park. We originally had not planned to go to Cody, Wy. But, twice we had folks we met along the way tell us to visit Cody and see the Wild, Wild, West history this town holds. Wow! We were in for a surprise. Actually, several of them!

We get into town through, guess what?  Yes, more mountains!  I am not sure how many mountain ranges or National Forests we have been through on this trip yet. Later, I will count. However, right at the end, close to town, Cody has three tunnels. Guess where those tunnels go?  Yes, you're right again, right through the mountains. It was so cool!! We are talking about rocky mountains, not tree covered mountains like the Appalachians of North Carolina.

Our first stop was the visitor center. The lady was very helpful. She was a native of Cody, so had lots of good information. I asked her about food and lodging. We were looking for a good steak restaurant, since we are in "beef" country! And, we hoped the corporate lodging had rooms available. She told us to call Comfort Inn for the best corporate lodging rate. And, lo and behold, she was right. We got the last room- at a rate of $ 155 a night. You heard me right. $ 155 a night. This was the first HUGE surprise. I called several other hotels to no avail. All were more than that. Norm and Pat said go for it. It is warm in that part of the country right now so the hotel was a great choice. She also told us to go eat at the Irma Hotel for a great prime rib. We thanked her and took off. First, to the hotel to check in. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we decided to go eat supper and then go back to check in. The Irma Hotel was quite a treat. It was saloon at one time and still had the saloon decor-- mounted deer and buffalo heads all around the room. It also had an old timey cash register. Pat could identify with that because her father had one just like it in the store they ran as a family. How cool! She went over and checked it out while were waiting for food.  It was too early for the prime rib buffet, but we decided to go ahead and eat something from the menu. WOW! Richard and I had sirloin, Norm had rib eye and Pat had a prime rib sandwich. All were quite satisfied with their meals. It was good for me to be able to  have something other than a sandwich. I have not had corn or green beans since we left home. As soon as I get there, I am cooking cheese steak, mashed potatoes and creamed corn or green peas. YUMMY! So looking forward to that!

The Comfort Inn had a great room, a pool and breakfast each  morning. We enjoyed all the amenities while staying there. It was adjacent to a Holiday Inn and Buffalo Village, a village full of cabins to rent.

Riding into town, we saw the Stampede Rodeo Grounds. WooHoo!  I leaned forward and asked Norm if he and I could go to the rodeo that night. He agreed. I'm going to a rodeo.... I am excited.

We were able to purchase our rodeo tickets at the hotel. It started at 8:00 pm so we took off down there about 7:15. We wanted to be able to get seats in the "buzzard roost". They were supposed to be the best seats because they had backs to them and were over the pens with the bulls and horses so you could see the cowboys getting ready to ride.  The most fun part of the rodeo was the clown. He kept things moving between events and got the crowd riled up and involved. They had all ages riding the horses and roping the calfs--girls and guys. During intermission, they had all the kids 12 and under go to the field. The first two to pull a ribbon off the two calves they released won blizzards at the local Dairy Queen. Very entertaining night!
We were glad we went.

What a day it had been--riding through mountains, expensive hotel room, delicious meal and now the rodeo. Time to call it a night. Tomorrow was a new day.