Saturday June 29, 2013- Cracking the Cody

Saturday June 29, 2013
Buffalo Bill State Park, Cody, Wyoming

Restorative Day

24.2 miles driven to Cody and back.

Boy, did I wake up to a ruckus! The screaming! The shouting! The carrying on! Who did they think they were to make such a commotion while we are on vacation?!

At first, I thought it was prairie dogs outside my window. I took a peek. Holy crow! Birds, and look at the size of 'em! Good looking, but way too noisy. Three of them. Got out the field guide. It’s 7am, for crying out loud! Magpies. Just like Heckle and Jeckle. It looked like a union meeting. Smiling, I went back to sleep for another hour or so.

After a glorious night’s sleep and a shower in the RV (hallelujah), I had the most delicious breakfast of Pork Roll, Scrambled Eggs and Pancakes with Maple Syrup in the most beautiful outside café I have ever been in. Beachfront property overlooking the Absaroka Range of Mountains and the Wild Bill Reservoir all for just $17 per night. Incredible. All around the reservoir is driftwood like you’ve never seen. After breakfast, Millie and I took a walk to ‘the beach’ and put our toes in and played with driftwood. Nature’s Arts and Crafts class!

AND THEN THE THOUGHT HIT ME: “I really deserved this vacation. Pete really deserved this vacation. This is the life.” The feeling of peace is one that everyone deserves. At times, it is so hard to come by. Some of us have to work really hard to learn how to relax. And even when we’re working on learning to relax and we desperately want and need to relax, the luxury of ignoring schedules and commitments may elude us. We are really enjoying this vacation.

After breakfast and cleanup, our family loaded the RV and took a ride into Cody to replenish food supplies and do a few loads of laundry. I spent the downtime writing some postcards, uploading a blog entry. Allow just over an hour for this activity. Well worth it!

Millie with the White Bison of Cody

CODY IS THE TOWN FOR ME!! I don’t even remember why I decided to stay in Cody an extra day. Perhaps that’s what Mike and Donna did on their trip. Originally, I thought we’d spend the day at the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center. Admission is $18 per person, but the complex is comprised of 5 different museums, all of Smithsonian quality. I would have liked to see the Native American Museum, but between sleeping in and replenishing, we decided to stroll into Cody and then call it an early day.

The atmosphere in Cody is beautiful. There are some accessible souvenir shops, some saloons with gunfights (we left before then) and some shops with affordable-to-high-end-priced merchandise. Gone is the crazy chaos of Wall (Of course, you’re here! It’s Wall! Everyone needs to see this!!) and the slight-dumpiness of Deadwood (Yeah, it’s a slow weekday. We still don’t really care if you’re here or not, eventually the action picks up. We’re a saloon town that caters to locals).  In Cody, the overall feeling seems to be, “Welcome to Cody. We’ll be so nice to you that you’ll wish you were a local.” A woman in the Cody grocery store recommended I visit a shop in Cody called “B-dazzled…too” for jewelry. She told me that the trading posts have nice jewelry, but it’s mass manufactured. The stuff in B-dazzled is purchased, by the owner, directly from the Native American artists. So, we put the shop on our list.

Greg Koschtial of B-dazzled...too.

And what a treat! Owner/Silversmith Greg Koschtial spent a hearty amount of time with us in his cozy, well-appointed shop. We all got an education in turquoise (Who knew there were so many different kinds? They are all unique!) and Native American styles. He is a charming man and an exceptional artist. I chose a pendant and silver chain (I narrowed my choice down from 5!), Millie got some earrings and we found a few gifts/souvenirs for others that are perfect. All from a local business in Cody.

I thought I might take a swim in the reservoir before dinner, but a storm and our hunger rolled in like a vengeance, so we called it a day. Dinner, relaxing, card playing, etc.

Dinner: Chicken and Beef Tenderloin Fajitas, Grilled Fresh Sweet Corn, Mango Margaritas.

Today was the best vacation day because: We all had a really good and relaxed time in Cody. Mr. Koschtial treated Isaac perfectly when Isaac returned to look for a piece of jewelry for himself but did not find a good fit. Plus that view and Breakfast with a handsome man.

Would I spend a week in Cody? AB-SO-LUTELY. When Pete and I discussed this, his answer was, “Well, we don’t have hookups, but sometimes you make your sacrifices.” This is a place I look forward to revisiting someday.

Tomorrow: Off to Yellowstone!!