Yipee Ki Yay!

Left Evanston and started our drive on I-80, destination, Cody, Wyoming. We decided to go to Cody instead of going to Casper, because I read that Cody is the home of the rodeo.(and, Casper is the home of Dick Cheney) My father loved cowboys and the wild, wild west and just abut anything to do with that time period so, when I was a kid, we watched a lot of Bonanza and Gunsmoke and Wyatt Earp, so I grew up enamored of cowboys as well. Hence, the decision to detour for the rodeo.

We had an interesting drive. We got off I-80 after about 100 miles and drove the rest of the way, about 300 miles, on secondary roads. At times, it was kind of a pain because they are all 2 lanes and passing can be death defying at times, especially with Guy at the wheel, but it turned out to be a great experience.

At one point it was actually a dirt road for a couple of miles and Guy was getting a little tense thinking that it was going to be like that for awhile, but it eventually became real road again and we were on our way to the most incredible scenery ever. We drove through the Wind River Indian Reservation. It was spectacular and I wish I could describe its beauty. It's one of those places that always make me believe in God. I tried to take some pictures, but they don't even begin to depict its majesty. We also drove through some towns, which I love to do. One of the towns was called Atlantic City!! I try to imagine what it would have been like to have grown up in places like that. The streets, for the most part, were pretty empty and most of the businesses looked closed. The shitty economy has shown no discrimination.

We stopped for lunch at a place called the "Hitching Post" in Lander, Wyoming. I always get a little uptight going into really local places and its one of the things that Guy absolutely loves to do. This time, he was totally right and it was the best hamburger I have ever eaten. Cooked to perfection, juicy, just the right thickness, Guy had french fries (of course) and I tried the potato salad. The fries were amazing and the potato salad was as good as any homemade I've ever had.

We had driven through rain most of the day and then about 20 miles outside of Cody, the sun broke through and when we arrived at 5pm, it was sunny and warm. We checked into the Best Western and again, not so bad. So far we haven't had a repeat of the first night. We went into town and yes, we did it, we bought cowboy boots! There's just no way you come to a place like this and get away with not doing that. After all, this town was founded and named for Buffalo Bill and the rodeo began as his "Wild West" show. It would have been un American not to buy a pair (that's what I told Guy anyway). Then off to the rodeo.

As we were getting in the car to drive the 2 miles to the rodeo, a huge storm blew up and it started to pour. Being the hard core cowboys (I always wanted to be a cowboy, not a cowgirl) that we are, we went anyway and we froze our asses off. It was totally fun. It is the only sporting event I've ever gone to where they not only sing the national anthem, first they play this tape of John Wayne talking about the greatness of our country and then they actually said a prayer to Jesus. It kind of freaked me out a little. Anyway, the rodeo was a blast although we only lasted an hour(its 2 hours long) because we were so cold. We stopped off at a barbecue place on our way back to the motel and had some barbecued chicken and ribs. Kind of the perfect ending to a real cowboy kind of day. My father would have loved it.