Saturday ~ Morning and Afternoon ~ July 26

We began our day by purchasing a combination ticket for a 9 AM trolley tour of Cody and a two-day pass for Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

We had time to relax before the tour, so went inside the dining room to order orange juice (me) and coffee (Cerwin). Cerwin is sitting at the far end of the famous Cherry wood bar that was given to Bill Cody in 1900 by Queen Victoria.

It was made in France and shipped to New York by ship. In New York it was loaded on a rail car and sent to Montana. After that it traveled over mountains and rivers by a horse-pulled freight wagon.

Cerwin likes this old cash register.

Enjoying my orange juice on the porch.

Getting on the trolley. The man behind Cerwin was our driver, Chuck.

He and Jessika shared tour guide responsibilities. They were energetic and funny.

A picture of the city of Cody and the Irma Hotel in its early days.

Buffalo Bill Cody when he was one of the best-known people in the world ~ because of his Wild West shows. It took two ships to take his animals and people to Europe, which is how he became friends with Queen Victoria.

A buffalo horn was passed around as Jessika told us about the wildlife in the area.

We saw these mule deer in yards in Cody.

It was interesting to learn many things about Cody, Buffalo Bill and his family. Our guide said that one theory about people who are immortalized on a horse statue is that when the horse has one foot in the air, it means the person died a natural death. If both front feet are in the air, the person died in battle. Buffalo Bill died a natural death following an illness.

Following the tour, we decided to go to MoJoe’s for brunch.

We learned about MoJoe’s the night before at the Dan Miller’s Music Revue, because one of the musicians, Wendy Corr is the restaurant manager.

We enjoyed talking to her a bit before taking our food to the patio.

Cerwin ordered pecan/banana oatmeal. I had a BLT wrap.

Our next stop was Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

We learned why you get a two-day pass for this place, as it is five museums in one. Since our grandson Jared is interested in museums, we thought of him several times.

Cerwin standing next to an interesting picture of Bill Cody as we entered the Buffalo Bill section of the museum. The picture was created in smoke that was coming from a machine to the right of Bill.

Imagine our surprise when we looked up and saw Kevin and Angela Nolt from our home church in Pennsylvania.

Later I was able to capture all seven of them at a display. They have five boys.

My favorite section was Draper Natural History Museum.

It was like traveling down a mountain and learning about animals and birds that live at those levels. You could see underground prairie dog tunnels and underwater beaver dams through glass.

The Plains Indian Museum had beautiful displays that gave the history of the Indians from the area.

Cerwin enjoyed the Cody Firearms Museum.

While he checked out the guns, I went to the Whitney Western Art Museum in adjoining rooms.

I enjoyed learning about Joseph Henry Sharp and his Absarokee Hut.

His cabin was moved to the museum grounds ~ just outside the art exhibit.

After spending a couple of hours at the museum, we went back to our room to relax and prop up or feet, before taking an afternoon walk to discover another block of shops near our hotel.

Cerwin found his favorite shop in Cody this afternoon ~ The Cody Dug Up Gun Museum. Many of the guns were found under ground or under water.

Our son Jeff could spend a day in this museum. He would enjoy talking to the owner, who purchased every gun in the museum.

Cerwin especially liked this 1855 Colt because he has a Shirk ancestor who reportedly designed a revolver (without the desire for a patent) and showed it to Samuel Colt. 🙂 The story goes that Mr. Colt gave a nice amount of money to Mr. Shirk in his will.

This was my favorite gun story.

This was Cerwin’s favorite story.

This was my favorite shop from our afternoon walk in Cody.

I would like a desk like this.

Cerwin checking out a $33,000.00 wooden bike. That’s more that we paid for our house in 1967.

The owner of the shop told us that he sold two of these. He has a friend who designs them.

He (owner) designs things with antlers. You can see some of his designs in the previous picture.

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After that two-hour walk, we went back to our motel room to freshen up for our evening excursion – supper, music, and a rodeo. I will post those pictures later today.