April 27, 2010 Part 2

Okay, so this is pretty much going to just be a lot of pictures.  We drove the Southfork road that everyone here said we needed to do.  We had hoped to see lots of animals but pretty much all we saw were deer and one rabbit.  Perhaps if we had gone earlier or later in the day we might have had better luck.  I have to say it was a beautiful drive of about 50 miles.  I am not sure what altitude we climbed to but we were definitely going higher…not like 8,000 feet or anything.  

This was as far as we went as it started getting dark and the wind really started blowing.

Can you imagine why there might be livestock on the road?  Notice the open gate and I got out to check and there was no cattle guard. Duh!

We did see deer…they almost looked like mule deer but not quite.  They were beautiful and jumped the barb wire fences like they were not there.

Moving on.

April 27, 2010

We were up and about early this morning as we planned on doing some sightseeing.  We drove about  31 miles to Meeteetse, WY.  Meeteetse has a population of 351 people.  This very small community has only a few businesses one of which is Lucille’s Cafe.  We had eaten breakfast at home but decided to go in for coffee and a soda.  And as this was the only business open it was a good thing we chose Lucille’s.  The gentleman in the picture below seated across from our table is a local rancher.  Remember we are in Wyoming…lots of cowboys and ranches.  He was very nice and answered many questions we had about the area. He was the only other customer that came in the whole time we were there.         

It seems Lucille ran this cafe for many years but has since gone on to the big pancake flipper in the sky.  Her daughter now runs the place.  Meet Lucille.

And this was where she ruled from when she was unable to be in the kitchen.                     

Some pictures of Meeteetse.     

The outdoor museum.

What drew us to Meeteetse originally was the idea of visiting the shop of the Cowboy Chocolatier, a young man by the name of Tim Kellogg.  He is a real cowboy that works on a ranch in the area and is a rodeo bronc rider.  As a young boy he learned the art of making truffles from his grandmother.  A few years ago he needed money to buy a new saddle and his mother suggested he make and sell his truffles to his friends.  Well, long story short, he has opened his own shop in Meeteetse…which happened to be closed yesterday.  Story of my life, a day late and a truffle short!  He still works on the cattle ranch and continues to grow his business and is making quite a name for himself in the world of chocolate.  Please Google Cowboy Chocolatier for more information.  We will return to Meeteetse soon. This is Tim’s store.

So this was our morning.  Gotta go but will return with the afternoon’s adventure later.

Moving on.

April 25, 2010 Cody, Wyoming

We spent last night night in Billings, MT.  Montana you say…we thought you guys were in Wyoming!  Well, we were but…in order to get to Cody we would have had to traverse a mountain pass that none of us wanted to try so we headed north to Billings.  Billings is the last large town we would see…it is about 2 hours north of Cody.  Goodbye Red Lobster, Fuddruckers and Sam’s Club.  See you soon.  From Billings we went south to Cody skirting around the mountains.  Buddy and Cissy are always ready to move!  Bud says he thinks he can drive this thing.

Want to see why I love Wyoming?

And Sunday afternoon we finally arrived at our destination for the summer, Cody, Wyoming…population just over 9,000…elevation just over 5,000 feet.  This is our space at the Blair Hotel campground for their employees.  Kind of tight but okay.

This is to the front of us.  There are still empty spaces waiting for more workampers. 

We start our training on Wednesday morning and it ends on Wednesday afternoon.  We are going to be working the evening shift for Blair Hotels at the Buffalo Bill Village cabins.  BH owns BBV, the Holiday Inn and the Comfort Inn.  They are all grouped together.  We are supposed to have a full house this weekend and our boss will be gone…pray for us.

Can I still say…Moving on?

April 23, 2010 Battle of the Little Big Horn

Before going our separate ways, Joy, Bo, Bob and I stopped at the Battle of the Little Big Horn National Park where Custer’s last stand took place.  Markers have been placed where Custer’s men fell.  Custer’s is marked in black.

The remains of the soldiers were placed at the base of this memorial.  Custer’s remains were moved to West Point, NY.

And of course there is a memorial to the Indians that were involved in this battle.  It was a very nice memorial but I am afraid my pictures don’t do it justice.

There is also a National cemetery here.

Not much to say after that.

Moving on.