We had a little time in between the FMCA Rally and Yellowstone so we decided to check out Cody, Wyoming.
First on the agenda was dumping our tanks and laundry. We had that night and a full day. I know that’s not a lot of time, our plan was to cram in as much as we could. While the washer and dryer did their thing, we laid out our day.
Tonight, was all about the rodeo. Cody bills itself as the Rodeo Capital of the World with events all summer long including a nightly rodeo from June 1-August 31. Even with our limited time in town, we were not going to miss it.
We weren’t the only ones not missing it this night. The stands were full! Linda, Kelsey and I found a spot on the other side at one end while Mark and Keith got our drinks. Even though we weren’t seated in the center of the stands, we still had a great view of the action. We had the rider entrance right in front of us and had a birds-eye view of the bronc and bull pens.
Mark and I have been to a few rodeos, mostly the July 4th one in Springerville, AZ when we camp Cousin Eddie style in the front yard of our friends’ cabin in Greer. We’ve been to a handful of others over the year, they are always fun.
The announcer and the clown were as entertaining as the animals. They bantered back and forth the entire night making us laugh out loud a lot.
Every rodeo event was represented this night. We saw young cowboys and cowgirls as well as seasoned veterans. As always, the broncs and bulls always put on a good show. Only one person managed 8-seconds on a bull. We had major excitement in the middle of the bull riding. The cowboy was bucked off, as was every rider before him. The clowns got the rider to safety while the wrangling cowboys tried to get the bull over to the pen. That bull was having none of it. He broke away and JUMPED THE FENCE! Thankfully, this was on the opposite end of the arena from our seats. Just to our right was a large section of kids all night, playing and practicing their roping. They were fun to watch but would have been a disaster if the bull jumped that fence.
The area where the bull jumped the fence had a small elevated area and beyond that was a maze of pens. We sat in awe at him, did we really just see him jump a 6-foot fence?! He stood there on the platform, kind of looking around in a “what now” sort of way as every single cowboy and ran his way. Almost every cowboy was running rope in hand. Then the bull jumped back into the arena and the cowboys froze. The wranglers quickly gained control and got the bull into the pen while the cowboys walked back to the fence ready to watch the next rider.
It was wild. All five of us were in awe. That huge animal was surprisingly agile, and fast. Kelsey said they were agile but even she’d never seen anything like that before. We all were so shocked at what we were seeing that none of us thought to take a picture or video. That huge white bull jumping the arena fence only lives in our memory.
Our only full day was a busy one. It’s a good thing Keith and Linda are used to our fast pace.
We started our day at Old Town Trail. Bob Edgar gathered historic buildings and relics piece by piece and reassembled them together. started in 1967.
Bob chose this spot because Buffalo Bill & associates had designated the first townsite of Cody City in 1895 at this very location. The townsite was later moved to its current location.
There are 27 buildings which date from 1879 to 1901, 100 horse drawn vehicles, lots of memorabilia and Indian artifacts. It was super cool to see it all. This site is also the largest collection of its kind in Wyoming.
Some of the notable items are Hole in the Wall Gang hangout, Jeremiah Johnston grave and McNally Cabin.
We all got a kick out of the items in the general store. People were much smaller back then; I think I’d finally be tall! Even my feet would be super-sized.
The old barn was full of buggies and other early transportation items. Linda and I decided we would not have liked that mode of travel.
The brothel is being reassembled with each piece numbered so it goes back in the correct spot. It’s going to be a great addition when it’s finished.
Up next was a drive up the road to see a waterfall along the Shoshone River we’d been told about. Unfortunately, we were well after the peak waterflow but we did find a fun spot nonetheless. The Buffalo Bill Dam & Visitors Center turned out to be what we call a “fabulous fun find.” We walked out onto the dam for a spectacular view down river and got to see the log debris stacking up on the lake. We even got Keith to peek over the edge for a nanosecond. Inside was a mini museum of the area and dam construction. All in all, it was a nice pre-lunch detour.
Lunch was in downtown Cody at The Irma Hotel. We found a spot in the bar area and had the funniest server in the place. This was Keith’s birthday and she got the whole room to sing to him! I’ll spare you the video because of the bad singers but trust me, it’s an instant family classic.
The only thing we saved for next time was the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Post lunch, we walked up and down Sheridan Avenue getting some shopping done. It was late in the day and we didn’t want to rush so we decided it was best to leave it for next time. Maybe next time we’ll have grandkids in tow; it would be awesome to see it through their eyes.
We were up bright and early for our drive into Yellowstone. We were excited to be back after 20 years while Keith and Linda were excited for their very first visit.
Cody is on our list of return visits to make, sooner rather than later for me. We’ll be seeing you Cody.