Friday, July 25

This was the view outside our motel window this morning.

With sunrise just a bit closer.

Before long the hills were covered with sunshine.

When we told the desk attendant that we were hoping to seen an animal or two in this landscape, he said, “You never know what will show up in summer. Last week there was a moose out there at 2:00 in the afternoon. If you really want to see animals, you must come back in winter when this area is filled with thousands of elk.”

We were on the road only a few minutes when we saw this buffalo walking near the edge of the road. I thought he looked nice being silhouetted by the sun.

A beautiful view of the Tetons in the early morning sun.

You probably didn’t notice these pelicans in the previous two pictures, but if you go back and look closely, you can see them in the upper left-hand section of the lake.

There were several kayakers. These were just to the bottom left of the first lake picture.

 I didn’t realize that we would be driving through Yellowstone to get to Cody.

The scenery made me anxious to take time to explore this area early next week.

I didn’t notice the ant until I looked at this picture on the computer.

We traveled at a very high elevation where there was still some snow beside the road.

I find it amazing at how the scenery and rock formations continually change during a few hours of driving.

We arrived in Cody a few minutes after noon.

We stopped here for a light lunch.

After lunch we stopped at the Irma Hotel where we had reservations for the next few nights.

The Irma Hotel, shown here around 1920, opened in 1902. It was named for the daughter of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody.

We thought it would be fun to stay here and learn more about its history.

It is obviously an old building, but the rooms are fairly modern ~ along with air conditioning, TV, and Internet.

We like the old water closet ~ a reminder of days gone by.

This is how the toilet is flushed.

We spent the afternoon browsing through stores on the block next to the hotel.

There was a blacksmith working from his truck.

The Wyoming Made store included a replica of John Wayne.

I do not enjoy shopping, but I do like to browse through antique and second-hand stores ~ especially in a new area.

 Cerwin liked looking at the guns, pistols, and music instruments in this store.

Second-hand stores in the west have a different variety of things than stores in the east. There may be one or two pair of cowboy boots in our stores, but out here most of the “shoes” are boots.

We had a delicious buffet supper here in the hotel, then walked across the street to Dan Miller’s Cowboy Music Revue. They turned the old Cody Theatre into a music theatre and perform six nights a week (every night but Sunday).

What a refreshing, fun evening. Their style is cowboy/folk.

I have been humming the chorus to “Home On The Range” the past few days as we saw buffalo and wide open spaces, so it was nice to hear it sung in full tonight.