CODY, WY

Greetings from Cody, WY, known as one of the top five towns in the U.S. for hunting and fishing.  Since that isn’t our bag, we went to the 300,000 square-foot Buffalo Bill Historical Center, one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections of Western Americana.  It is often referred to as the ‘Smithsonian of the West.’ Buffalo Bill, himself, was there to greet us and shook Mike’s hand!

There are five different museums in the center which include thousands of artifacts and works of art.  We were there 4.5 hours and enjoyed it all, although we were tired.  One part focuses on Cody and his life, another features a collection of more than 4,000 vintage firearms and weapons. Another houses the Gallery of Western Art which is a collection of paintings and sculptures by artists ranging from Frederic Remington and Charlie Russell to contemporary painters.  Another part is the Plains Indian Museum which is a showcase of regional Native culture.  For lunch Mike tasted his first buffalo burger and enjoyed it.

Touring the downtown area we visited the Irma Hotel, which Bill Cody owned at one time and was named after his daughter.  We went through part of the hotel and saw the cherry wood bar which was a personal gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill.  Our downtown tour was cut short when the wind picked up and it began to rain.

Mike had heard that Cody’s annual Wild West Balloon Fest is this weekend. Friday night a balloon-glow, when they inflate the balloons and light the gas burners was scheduled at one of the parks.  After dinner the weather cleared up and he went to watch the balloon glow while Judy guarded the trailer.  Due to the earlier gusty weather only 2 balloons showed up, but it was fun to see.