Cody Nightly Rodeo

We got ready and went into Cody for dinner. After dinner we walked down to the Irma Hotel for the Gun Fights. There were lots of seats around and we thought it was going to be a big deal. For the most part it was pretty lame. The kids laughed about it. One of those things you have to do while in town but I doubt anyone goes back for a second time.

The kids were all excited about going to the rodeo. I feel sort of guilty. I kind of grew up around rodeos. My grandparents would always take me to the Canton rodeo. After college I would help at the Ambucs PRCA rodeo in Enid. Yet I had never taken my kids to a rodeo.

We got there early and got good seats. It is all general admission. They announced face painting and pictures with a bull so Josh and Jenni headed down. They both got their faces painted and up they crawled on the Brahma bull. It was so tame. Nothing seemed to bother it.

We purchased the picture and took it up to show dad. Jessi and Jake wanted to go get their picture too. So off we went. They declined getting their faces painted but they crawled up on the bull.

During the middle of the rodeo they had a calf chase. They tied ribbons on the tail of three calves and asked for all the kids to come out to the arena. The idea was to chase the calf and grab the ribbon. Those who had the ribbon got a prize. We didn't win.

It was nice because they limited contestants in each event to 5 or 6. I assumed they limited it. I'm sure with it being a nightly rodeo all summer people spread their trips out to compete.

The kids really enjoyed it and wanted to go back again the next night. Josh especially liked the clown jokes. He is still repeating them!

Fishing

Jake has been begging to go fishing ever since the Twin Pines Campground with the pond that had no fish. So Tim purchased a one day license for today. At first we were going to let them go by themselves but I decided he goes to things we want to do so everyone should go with him.

We headed out to the Buffalo Bill Resevoir just on the west side of Cody. It is a beautiful little lake. We found a spot and Tim and Jake got there rods out. Of course they didn't even get a bite but it was a beautiful setting. Josh and Jessi sat in the car with their ipods and DS's.

We decided to drive on up the canyon a ways to see if we could find a spot along the river. We tried a couple of places but still no fish.

We drove on and found a neat place to have our picnic lunch. After lunch the kids played in the water for a little while.

We were driving on towards yellowstone when we saw a whole bunch of people pulled to the side of the road. So of course we pulled over to check out what the stir was. Someone had spotted a moose with a baby. They were so cute. It was really exciting.

We kept on driving and before we knew it we were back at the entrance to Yellowstone. We decided to drive on in. We took pictures at the sign and at a beautiful lake at the top of the pass. We pulled off a couple of times and got some awesome pictures.

We decided to head back home so we could get ready for the rodeo tonight. I talked Tim into getting ready early and going out to eat before the rodeo. He agreed and we ate at this quaint little Italian restaurant.

Day at the Campground

We spent today hanging out at the campground. We swam, played on the jumping pillow, watched TV and just rested. Sometimes these are my favorite days of the trip. We just hang out together with no real plan.

We had planned on going to the Rodeo tonight but there was some show premier and all the kids wanted to stay and watch it. Since the rodeo is every night and tickets are generic we can use them any night, I told Tim it is there vacation too. So we stayed home and the kids got to watch there premier. Everyone was happy.

Downtown Cody

We took our time getting around today. We really didn't have any formal plans today.

We headed into town around lunch time. We decided to try Cassie's the famous Restaurant/Bar. We thought lunch would be a good time to take the kids here. The food was really good and all the decorations were really neat. Lots of historical stuff.

After lunch we went to the downtown area and parked. The boys and girls split up and just checked out all the stores. We split up because it gets pretty hard to wind around the little stores with all six of us in tow.

We headed back to the campground and spent the evening in the swimming pool. The game room is right across from our site. They have a neat TV sitting area and Jake and Jenni love going over and meeting all the kids that are there.

Heading Out To Cody, Wyoming

Well we got up and took our time getting around. We have to be out of Fishing Bridge by 11:00 a.m. but can't check into the Cody KOA till 2:00 p.m. It is only a two hour drive from here into Cody. We made biscuits and gravy for breakfast! It was a pleasant morning.

We were all a little sad to leave this campground. We made our reservations in late January and could only get two nights here in the park. Amazing isn't it. We didn't realize at the time it would be a two hour drive back into the loops of the park from Cody. We aren't sure how many times we will drive back in.

So we headed out about 10:30. The first 10 miles or so wound on around Lake Yellowstone. Then we started climbing up the pass. Each turn we kept climbing higher and higher. Now I'm sure everyone knows the rule of "what goes up, must come down". Let me tell you I have never in my life been as nervous as I was coming down this pass. We are in a 38 foot motorhome pulling a van behind us. There is a rock wall on one side of you and a huge valley on the other. You would be going down and the road would turn around the mountain but all you could see is the open valley below. This repeated itself no less than 8 times. A couple of the switchbacks had the guardrail missing like someone had gone through it. You worry about the stress on the brakes with all the breaking going down the mountain.

We finally made it out the East entrance and there was a cute little gift shop/restaurant/gas station. We stopped here to let the brakes cool and my nerves settle back down. The rest of the drive into Cody wasn't near as bad. Beautiful scenery in every direction.

We pulled into Cody and made our way through town. The KOA is out the East side of town a few miles. We arrived a little after 1 p.m. but our site was ready. We got parked and everything set up. The kids went to check out the playground and pool.

They have a jumping pillow. This is a cross between a trampoline and the big blow up air jumping things you rent. It was totally awesome. The kids had a blast. We just enjoyed the afternoon and evening and rested up for tomorrow.

A Full Day in Yellowstone!

We were up and out the door early this morning. We headed south on the Grand Loop toward Old Faithful. We followed the lake back around to where we came in yesterday then headed northwest. We stopped at a couple of times to view some waterfalls. I like these the best. The sound and views are just so relaxing. Even with the people around I enjoy the peaceful sounds.

We made it to Old Faithful and only had to wait about 30 minutes before it went off. The sky was overcast so the pictures didn't turn out to great but it was very impressive. After viewing the geyser we headed into the Lodge. This is what Tim remembered most from his childhood when they came. It was gorgeous on the inside. All the old timbers. We milled around in here for an hour or so. You could spend a day in here just checking it all out.

After we finished here we headed out to complete the lower loop. We stopped at a neat little area with picnic tables and had our picnic lunch. This really is the best way to eat here. Each of the little villages usually has a little diner type place but they are packed and it is so much more fun to have your picnic out with the beautiful scenery.

Next we hit some more of the geysers and steam pots. These are interesting but not near as pretty as the waterfalls and canyons. These areas are very hot and I worry about the kids getting too close. We always left Roxi in the car when we went to see these features just in case she broke loose. Yikes!

We went on a little turn off that had a gorgeous waterfall. We saw some deer along this turnoff.

We rounded the lower loop and were back in Canyon where we went yesterday. We took a different pull out and had a beautiful different view of the upper falls. It was called Artists point and you can sure tell why.

We headed back to the trailor. It was around 6 but we were exhausted again. The kids watched a movie and Tim and I went to bed! It was quite cold at night. We all fought over the extra blanket! Daytime temps were pleasant. We wore shorts but kept a jacket close.

Travel Into Yellowstone - Revised

Made it to yellowstone.

Lots of road work is the theme for the day. The grand Tetons were beautiful. We are by yellowstone lake with gorgeous snow capped mountains.

We headed out this morning about 9. We should only have about 5 hours driving. The first couple went really well. Then we entered into the Grand Teton National Park. There were lots of winding up and down roads. To top that off we had lots of road construction. You would wait for about 15 minutes for the pilot car to bring the traffic from the North and then turn around and lead you into the one lane dirt roads that were on the side of the mountain. It made for some very interesting travel.

We entered into Yellowstone National Park and had some of the same road work. But only for a short drive.

We pulled over at a beautiful waterfall. Jake and Jenni got out with me and we took some pictures.

Our next stop was along the southern shore of Yellowstone lake. This was the last spot we had cell phone service for almost two weeks. We followed the lower loop around the lake up to Fishing Bridge. There are several little villages in YNP (Yellowstone National Park) situated along the two loops. The loops form a figure 8 we were on the bottom loop. We headed into the campground and checked in. They directed us to our site. The part I thought was funny was you have to pay extra for the showers!!! As I said before we always bathe in the coach. I just had never seen that before.

We headed into the campground and I was amazed! The sites are packed in this place. This is the only campground in the park with full hookups (electricity, water, & sewer). You back into your site. Directly behind you is the car of the camper that is backed in right beside the back of your trailer. You have about a 6 x 6 little space to put up chairs etc. There was not an open space in the whole campground. It was a tight space but you aren't at your trailer much while you are here and we do like our electricity and water!

As soon as we were set up we jumped in the Van and took off North on the Grand Loop. The first spot we came across was the Yellowstone River. There was a nice little wooden deck trail down to the water with some gorgeous rapids. The kids felt the water and said it was really cold.

Our next stop was some of the Geysers and steam pots. The kids really thought these were interesting.

We drove on the the Grand Canyon at Yellowstone. Talk about a beautiful view. The wind was blowing pretty hard but boy was it gorgeous.

We drove into another spot and walked down to view the Upper Falls. The kids wanted to hike down but I had my flip flops on and I think I would have died coming back up.

We then made it to the next village called Canyon. They had some cute shops and a restaurant. We looked around for a while then headed back down to Fishing Bridge. We saw some Bison along the way which the kids thought was really cool.

We went into the little store where we ate at a little diner type thing. It was pretty good.

We went back to the trailer and all fell into bed from exhaustion. It is so beautiful here. There really isn't a way to describe it. Everywhere you look is another beautiful view.