Cody WY

We've made it to the foothills of the Tetons and just a stone's throw from Yellowstone (ok, you'd have to be a good stone thrower...).  But we are here!

We had a full day planned in Cody WY!

 And then life happened...... hey - a little transparency is good!  Our fabulous big blue machine (aka - the van) evidently ran over something sharp and pointy during our trip and spring a leak.  We are soooo thankful we realized how bad it was BEFORE heading into Yellowstone.  And even more thankful that Cody has a fabulous Walmart with a car center!!!!  So in one stop we..... got a tire fixed, ate lunch at Subway, and got all our shopping done for our 3 days of eating out of the van in Yellowstone!

 It was quite the windy day here - but it still feels nice at a lovely 74 degrees.

With the tire issue - we did have to change our plans a bit in Cody.  That "full day of plans" became a relaxed day of seeing a few sites and relaxing.  Honestly - it was just what we needed so that we can push strong into our days in THE park!

We did go see the Old Trail Town.  Really its a collection of original buildings from this  old west era.  Kinda of neat - we didn't go in the museum portion since we didn't have a lot of time.  Once again, we spent a lot of time imagining what it must have been like to live back then.

 This area is also known as Colter's Hell Trail. Colter was one of the men on the Lewis and Clark exploration (are you seeing a theme here).  He explored more area here after leaving the Corp of Discovery.  This area used to be an active geothermic area - meaning there used to be a lot of geysers and steam vents here.  Now it is inactive - but back in the day, he described this to Lewis and Clark as being a Hell trail because it was so hot and dangerous.

We also got up and close and took at peek at the Irma Hotel.  This is Buffalo Bill's hotel - named after his daughter Irma.  Buffalo Bill Cody was one of the original founders of Cody in 1895.

 We also found the BEST ice cream ever!!!!!!!!!
So if you find yourself in Cody - you really really need to stop and get ice cream at Peter's Café!  It's on main street, not far from the Irma.  Personally I'd recommend the "Moose Moss Grass" and Tom would recommend the homemade strawberry.   So good!!!!!!!  I don't think you could go wrong with anything there! 

Now... we are packing up and getting ready to head to Yellowstone bright and early tomorrow.  We are staying in the park and I know they have spotty cell reception and wifi - so you may not get a post till we head out on Monday.  But just so you know - the fire in the area  isn't really affecting Yellowstone - it's in the Tetons currently.  And we are staying Friday night near the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Saturday night near Mammoth, and Sunday night near Old Faithful.

Here's to adventuring!!!!!