Day Five...

Oops - it's a late night and we accidentally posted the pictures in reverse order again... apologies!

Day 5…

July 10, 2010

We decided to start off our day with a good hearty breakfast since we would be camping the next two days, so we headed to the main street in Cody to fill up at “Irma’s” – at Buffalo Bill’s Original Hotel. The hotel had its tourists, but definitely had its share of local flavor as well – many cowboy hats and friendly bikers. Our next stop was “Old Trail Town” which was made up of original restored frontier homes, furnishings, and home goods. Original frontier wagons lined the streets and we got the feel of what it would actually be like living in a frontier town out west. There was even a restored schoolhouse complete with desks and classroom supplies from frontier days. On our way west toward Yellowstone we stopped by Buffalo Bill Dam Historic Site. Just as we go to the dam site, it started to drip huge drops of rain and we sprinted back to the car (albeit feeling the altitude as we ran!)) The rest of our drive through Buffalo Bill National Forest was beautiful. Wyoming is just amazing – the incredible rock cliffs, winding rivers, and the contrast between the brilliant blue skies, green trees, and yellow-flower-spotted countryside is just stunning. Yellowstone proved to be another natural wonder. We barely made it a few miles into the park before we saw our first buffalo! On the way to our campsite we spotted some deer and got some great photos of a huge elk (with the help of Jenn’s great new telephoto lens!). We set up camp to reserve ourselves a site (Yellowstone is quite busy on weekends in the summer we found out!). We heard Old Faithful was due to put on her show within the next 40 minutes, so we hopped in the car and headed back up. While waiting patiently for the famous geyser to erupt, we saw more wildlife – a chipmunk munching and an osprey circling above. Old Faithful turned out to be a bit late, but the show was worth the wait. We then headed back to the campsite to make dinner and get some sleep. We are continually amazed by how tired we are after our days of travel, and we are reminded that the pioneers walked alongside their wagons, slept on the earth beneath them, and got up at sunrise to do it again. Our comfort is knowing that we have a bed and shower awaiting us at the end our journey, whereas the pioneers had the duty of building a home when they arrived. What an amazing fete they all accomplished in reaching Oregon.