We left Lander and headed northeast to Bonneville on Highway 789 and turned northwest to drive up to Cody.  When we came through Wyoming on another of our road trips in 2010 I wanted to go to Cody but it was too much of a southern detour for the rest of our plans.  It worked out well that we were going through the middle of Wyoming this year and are able to stop.

As usual we stopped at all the historical markers along the road.There was a cache hidden about 50 meters from the road along the fence line. The Boysen Dam created a huge resevoir and lake that is enjoyed by many.  There was even a fellow out fishing today. We drove the Wind River Canyon through some sharp cliffsides and tunnels. This pillar is just standing out all by itself.We followed the Wind River for miles. It is amazing what some water will do. We stopped to get a cache called Amelia Earhart #2 in the little town of Meeteetse.  We were wondering why the cache was named for her way out west.  We got our answer. This was a nice golden hill.We arrived in Cody at 2 pm and drove right to the Buffalo Bill Museum Complex.  There are actually four museums (each with two floors) and an art gallery. The place is so big your ticket is good for two days. As usual I took a photo of the things I found most interesting and I am just going to insert most of them in the blog.  We were 2 1/2 hours in the museum.  We did a quick tour of both levels of the Natural History Museum as we are very familiar with the animals of this area.  We did not go to the Plains Indian Museum or the art gallery. We spent the majority of our time in the main Cody museum. These are Annie Oakley’s, saddle, outfit, rifle, pistol and trunk. Some of Bill Cody’s clothing items. We stopped about half-way through the Firearms Museum.  It was huge and after awhile they all look the same to me.  I just keep wondering why we have to make so many different versions of the same thing used to kill animals and people.  Some of them though, I will admit, were beautifully made. The museum was very busy.  I was surprised at how many people were wandering in each of the galleries.  Also downtown when we went for dinner.  There was a constant stream of people entering our restaurant while we were eating and the streets had cars parked on both sides and many people walking on the sidewalks.  We have both commented several times at how many people are still about doing the holiday thing even though school has started.  Although, a lot of them are retirees like us that travel when school is in to avoid all the crowds.  I am not sure that is working now that so many baby boomers are retired.

Tomorrow we head west and into Yellowstone National Park.  I am going to try very hard to be good and not ask John to stop everywhere. We are really only passing through on our way into Montana (Yellowstone is located in the far northwest corner of Wyoming almost at the Montana border) and it is not another sightseeing trip in Yellowstone.  We only have about 200 miles to drive to Bozeman, MT so we will have some time to see all the wonderful sights in Yellowstone.  I do hope the smoke continues to stay away.