July 14, 2008

Today we have enjoyed the beauty of the amazing country around Yellowstone and experienced a little bit of the Wild West Culture. We headed out early to make the drive to Yellowstone. It is about a 50 mile drive from Cody to the East entrance of the park. The drive to the park was beautiful and it just got better. As we drove through Sylvan Pass, we saw wildflowers carpeting the ground. We stopped at several spots as we went seeing mountain blue birds, dear, elk and even a BEAR! The bear had just been swimming and was walking towards one of the many steaming fountains in the park. My pictures aren't that good, but the sighting was amazing. As we drove further into the park past Yellowstone Lake, we began to see lots of bison. There were many mother and babies. We even saw some swimming across the river. We went to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and saw 3 mighty waterfalls. Yellowstone is really amazing. It is such a blessing that we still have wild places like this to explore. On the way out of the park, we drove out the Northeast exit and through Cooke City on the Beartooth Highway and the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. This was an absolutely amazing drive where switchbacks seemed to climb to the very top of the earth. There were lots of really interesting rock formations and the beauty of the wide valleys, box canyons and snowcapped mountains was absolutely breathtaking. We made it back from Yellowstone in time to have a nice dinner and catch the Nite Rodeo. Each night during the summer, Cody has a rodeo. It had been a long time since either of us had been so we thought we would check it out. What an interesting sport. I spent a lot of time cringing afraid the horse was going to turn too sharply and fall or a bucking horse or bull was going to stomp on a fallen cowboy. I especially had trouble watching the cattle roping. Poor little calves. But all in all, the rodeo was entertaining and very much a part of the Cody scene.