August 10 - August 11, 2005 Cody
| In a perfect world, this cross-country trek would be comprised solely of local roads, not interstates. That way, I'd be gifted the opportunity to drive through many more little towns like Belfry, Montana on MT-72, where children play in fenced in yards and folks volunteer to spend a perfect summer day repainting St. John's Lutheran Church. |  |
| To enter Wyoming is to slip across a border. There are no big signs welcoming you. One farm is in Montana, another is in Wyoming, and the road suddenly changes to WY-120. |  |
Anytown, USA |
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| The skies looked threatening for a short while, but it soon passed. | |
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| I spent some time in here, looking at guns, and wandered through all five museums: the Draper Museum of History, the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indians Museum, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, and the Cody Firearms Museum |  |
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| Scenes from downtown Cody. |  |
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| The first sign of the Sturgis bikers that would make my trip to South Dakota so annoying. |  |
Cody is pretty cool during the day. They stage gun fights, drink constantly, and treat outsiders well. But the town doesn't really come alive until after sunset. Every summer night there is a rodeo in Cody. I guess that's how they came up with the motto, "Cody Is Rodeo." |
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| A dwarf horse. |  |
| Mountains just outside town. |  |
| Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to rodeo. |  |
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| I enjoyed seeing the children stare in abject horror when that first young steer is roped around the neck and dragged down in a cloud of dirt. |  |
| Goodnight, Cody. |  |
| The road back into town. |  |
| There is nothing left to do but stop at ever saloon between the rodeo and my hotel. |  |
| Cody at night. |  |
| Best BBQ in the country? |  |