Cody, Wyoming - June 2017


After nine days of travel, we settled in Cody, Wyoming for two nights.  There was lots of laundry to do and we also wanted to rest up for Yellowstone and Grand Teton.  The night before, we had traveled over the Beartooth Mountains and then swung south down the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.  It was well past 10:00 pm by the time we checked into our hotel in Cody.  As always on our trips, we seek out the local Lutheran church on Sunday mornings.  Thank you to Christ the King for welcoming our family and getting our day off to a great start.

The next stop on the agenda in Cody was to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.  What an amazing place!  There are five museums under one roof - Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and the New Cody Firearms Museum.









Each museum was unique and fun to explore.  The Firearms Museum was especially amazing and had some of the most rare guns ever produced.  Many of the exhibits were interactive and we learned a great deal about the history of the area.

We spent some time outdoors by the pool relaxing in the sun before heading west of town to the Cody Stampede Rodeo.  What a fun-filled night!  We cheered for the barrel racers, buckin' cowboys, and rodeo clowns.  Paul and Tabitha even attempted to try and take the ribbon from calf's tail - but no such luck.  It was another late night but a great memory maker and highly suggested if you stay in Cody.









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Winning New York! Feb 2015

Image
This was a whirlwind trip with lots of thrills!  There's nothing quite like New York City. Prior to this trip, I had been to Manhattan twice before, so I felt comfortable heading there with my two oldest kids in tow.  Anna was 8 and Paul was 6 and we had the time of our lives! It all started when an amazing deal for airfare showed up from Spirit Airlines.  The three of us were able to fly round-trip from Detroit to NYC-LaGuardia for $75/ea!  We had one backpack each as a carry-on but that's all we would need since we would be in NYC for about 44 hours total!  The flight left Detroit at 6:00 am  and we were fortunate to stay with Aunt Katey and Uncle Rich the night before.  The flight was on time and we were on our way! We touched down at LaGuardia at 7:30 am and hopped a cab to our hotel near Times Square.  We were staying at  Staybridge Suites Times Square  and were able to check our luggage for the day.  This hotel was perfect for us - and the receptionist even offe
Read more

Old West Dinner Cook-out Yellowstone National Park - June 2017

Image
Our first night in Yellowstone was one to remember!  We had made reservations long in advanced for the Old West Dinner Cook-out  and we were very excited to take the wagons out into the wilderness.  You could also choose to go there on horseback if you'd like, but we opted to keep the family together since we all hadn't reached the appropriate age and/or height to ride the horses.   The wagon ride, although a little dusty, was a lot of fun.  Each of the kids were able to help "drive" the team across the prairie and the driver pointed out all sorts of wildlife and geological features.  We saw lots of yellow-bellied marmots and bison. The cook-out was nestled in a little grove of trees in a location that seemingly felt in the middle of nowhere.  There were quite a few people attending but we still felt the remoteness of the location.  They had some interactive animal skulls and antlers for the kids to touch and observe.  When it was time for dinner, the li
Read more

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument - June 2017

Image
Day 8 on our 2017 out west vacation was one of our longest days on the trip with over 7 hours of driving but with some amazing memories.  I've broken this day into to two posts.  Our first planned stop that day: The Little Bighorn Battlefield and National Cemetery. BUT....  thanks to reading through my favorite resource - Moon Yellowstone/Grand Teton Guidebook  , I had discovered something that by pure coincidence would be a memory our family would never forget.  The Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand) occurred on June 25th, 1876, and every year on the weekend nearest that date, the Real Bird family hosts the Battle of the Little Bighorn Reenactment .  The cost is very reasonable ($20 per car) and the history and entertainment value is tremendous.  There are bleachers for spectators to sit in and a narrator reads the story of the events leading up to the battle.  Actors posing as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Two Moons, and General Custer among others bring the bat
Read more