We left Yellowstone Park via the North West entrance on the evening of Monday 22^nd September. It was dark by the time we got out of the park and we had only 50 miles to go to get to Cody, which we’d earmarked as our next stop.

We’d decided we wanted to see Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills of Dakota so that was the direction we were heading. We have accepted that there is no ‘logical’ route for us to take so we are going to just have to zig and zag around so we get to see the things we want to see.

So anyway, back on the mountain road leading out of Yellowstone. It was pitch dark and we were climbing up then down 9000’. I hate mountain roads on the best of days but in the dark I was gripping my seat in fear!! Not helped by 3 enormous moose running straight across the road in front of us causing us to slam our brakes on. We have driven 1000’s of miles commenting on the nature warning signs on the side of the roads that you never get to actually see the animals they warn you about!! Then suddenly they there were. I don’t think we really thought about it until we were safely stopped, parked up and nursing a nice cup of tea about how lucky we were!!

Up and down a mountain we did 45 miles in 2 hours driving through the Shoshone National Forest. I’m sure in daylight it would have been lovely.

So Cody. Home of Buffalo Bill (not to be confused with Wild Bill Hicock – more of him later) the “most famous man on earth”.  Now I really don’t know about that… Maybe in his time he may have been the most famous man on earth but I really think Cody are stretching the truth on this one…. He toured the world with his Wild West show even performing for Queen Victoria.   However, in this town he certainly seems to be the main man. The town was named after him; William F Cody was his full name. And he seems to have been the instigator of most of the town’s facilities and attractions.

It was Buffalo Bill that persuaded the government to open a new entrance into Yellowstone Park, the east entrance which would mean anyone going that way would have to pass through Cody. He badgered them again to build the Buffalo Bill Dam in 1910 to “Make the desert bloom”. It was the first irrigation system in the country and the highest dam in the world at the time at 328 feet high. Made only of granite and concrete with no steel it harnessed the Shoshone river (which was renamed from Stinking River to attract more tourists), took 5 years to complete and cost $928,000! The town still today has hugely wide roads, which again BB insisted on due to the hassle of turning his horses and wagons.  Nice work for a cowboy who started life as a rider on the Pony Express!!

We took a Trolley tour of the town, (which is where we learnt all this stuff about Buffalo Bill!!) which was great fun. More interesting stuff about Cody is that the Irma Hotel in town (named after his daughter) has a nightly shoot out and the town is apparently the Rodeo capital of the World due to the fact that they have a nightly rodeo in June July August. So we donned our cowboy hats and boots and did our best to stop the kids buying every cowboy accessory known to man – we decided Charlie did not actually need spurs!!

We visited the brilliant newly renovated Buffalo Bill museum which kept us all busy for hours. 4 sections. Natural world with tons of Animal info particularly about Yellowstone. A section about the Man himself, with all his costumes and re-creations of show etc.   The Smithsonian gun displays. By then my cowboy boots were causing me grief so I sat that section out and listened in on a fascinating conversation between a gun crazy volunteer curator and a couple of equally crazy Brit’s (not from the CCC I hasten to add!!).

There was a Raptor display taking place which the kids loved – Golden eagle, Turkey vulture and something else I forget (sorry Dad!).

We went to Cassies for dinner. She was the Madam during BB time and her establishment is now a rather good steakhouse complete with country singer wailing out one depressing tune after another. (Although slightly more upbeat than the classic Don’t sell daddy no whisky that we heard at Bentley Pancake breakfast a while back!!)

The campsite and Trolley Tour were full of Brits as we had inadvertently landed in the same place as the Camping and Caravan Club Tour we’d met in Yellowstone. Strange to hear a ‘whoopsadaisy’ in the shower block!!

We had a marvelous time in Cody and Charlie and I were very pleased to get a chance to give our cowboy gear an outing – John has been moaning about our Stetsons and how much room they take up in the boot!!

We headed out of Cody on Wednesday out on Route 14 and just 4 miles out of town we were faced with endless pale yellow prairies against blue sky. Wyoming is the least populated state in the country, with 97,000 sq miles so bigger than the UK and with a population of only 509,000!! We drove through the town of Emblem that proudly announced a population of 10…

We drove through the Big Horn National Forrest across what is aptly named the Cloud skyway.  Just as it was getting dark we spotted a campsite down off the side of the road along a creek. We quickly did a U turn (well as we were by then on a mountain road we drove 2 miles found a lay by and then turned around!) and went back. It looked completely deserted and had obviously been shut up for the season but the gate was open and it was in the most stunning of locations so we took our chance and parked up. Now this is the kind of free camping we like. A lovely evening with a fire and BBQ and totally peace.

The next morning we wandered up the creek a bit to the Ten Sleep hatchery.  A great facility breeding Yellowstone cut throat trout and redistrubting them in lakes and rivers in Wyoming. Incredibly the whole thing was just open to the public so we could wander in and look around. The kids loved it of course.

On we went on Thursday morning and the scenery changed from arid desert to alpine forest in 20 miles of an uphill climb to 9666ft. Most exciting of all at the top of the mountain suddenly we see a temporary sign saying Moving Cows. Hundreds of cattle being herded down the side of the road complete with 6 cowboys – very exciting.

We left Wyoming and entered South Dakota on Thursday, laughing at how we excitedly spotted pronghorn in Yellowstone only to drive through Wyoming and see 100’s of them roaming along the roadside. The whole wildlife spotting seems to go like that!

Just a quick note about the kids… Sat in the front writing this I was smiling to myself at the two of them cosied up on the back seat. I love how our kids have become such great friends. Oh they fight. But they are a very self contained little unit now. Anticipating each other’s moods. Like an old married couple. Finish each other’s sentences. Sing away together in the back.

They’ve started a loom band business called Loomies (set up in Canada where a loonie is a $1 coin). They sell the bracelets at campgrounds and appear to have great business sense. Charlie observed that if you find families with young kids the kids want them and the parents can’t say no. They put on their best British accents and smile sweetly. Works a treat. They’ve made a fortune. They are diligently keeping track of profits and reinvesting in materials to make more. Brilliant. Just as I was writing this they started arguing in the back. So I told them the irony of their kicking off while I write about how close they are and Will says “What? I bet you two fight when you’re at work!”  Priceless.