Americas Best Value Inn Cody

... pre cambian rock that was over 2.5 billion years old.
One word of caution when signs say loose livestock, believe them. Leaving the mountain, cows were unfenced and crossing the road. Our day was slowing to a crawl as we reached Cody, WY. Due to weather and possible road closures we decided to call it a day and found an amazing steakhouse. Great way to ...

... morning we got up early and made our way to Wyoming, which immediately proved Andrew's premonitions correct that it was both incredibly beautiful and desolate. We learned that Wyoming is America's foremost coal producing state and were awed by how barren the areas right off the highway were. We drove through Bighorn National Forest which took us to our first +9,000ft elevation, and some seriously scary mountain pass driving. We then went on ...

... lower back which is tight and tickles the horse making it buck.  This is the first thing the  wranglers remove when they have taken the cowboy off the horse.  The cowboy has to hold his hand in the air when he is being bucked so he does not touch the horse (all information ascertained by our neighbours in the audience. 

All the cowboys – regardless of age and there were some rugged looks – are all fit.  Slim, trim and fit and ...

... stupid people were being in trying to ascertain a photo by going so close – about 25 – 30 feet instead of over 100 feet (yes we know this as our children were now Junior Rangers and that was a question!).

Feeling happy at finding a bear we left him (or her – sorry a question on determing the sex of a bear was not in the Junior Ranger swot book and there was no way I was checking for balls) and headed off for Cody. 

We were staying at what seemed ...

... the border, with just a quick stop off for a snack at Perry's (Carolynn's childhood memory place). At the border we were asked very few questions (Carolynn none) and off we went! We made it all the way to Charlotte Michigan and spent the night.

The next morning, fully rested and ready to make headway we drove to Des Moines, Iowa with a quick stop in Chicago and a minor directionally challenged moment in the ghetto outside of Chicago (Carolynn ...

... n koe midden in de weg, die beesten kijken op z'n moment nou niet erg intelligent (ik probeer het politiek en diervriendelijk te zeggen ;) ). Het vond ons een stuk minder interessant dan wij het, want het liep ons gewoon voorbij. Wel konden we mooi zien dat alle dieren dus blijkbaar een brandmerk hebben. Zo weten men natuurlijk welke koe van wie is. Overigens toen we nummer 2 zagen hoeven we slecht een beetje gas te geven met ...

... springs so I stopped at the hot springs for an hour or two and just relaxed in the pools. There are couple of different pools available and each one is a different temperature.

By the time I arrived in Cody it was early evening so I went for a couple of beers at a nearby bar and then went for dinner in an italian restaurant, which was really good. I was expecting tomorrow to be a long day in Yellowstone so I made sure I wasnt out too late this time.

... for an elevator that was not full was worse than waiting for a subway train with room at rush hour.  We found out that Sophie does not like elevators with windows that you can look out of (she's lived in buildings with elevators all her life and has never minded), but somehow, seeing the ground made her feel like she was falling and she HATED it and couldn't wait to get out. Bob and I had worried a little bit last night about the winding road over the Big Horn mountain that ...

... other vehicles parked up, when we got back to him there were hundreds and it was only around 9.30. We drove for about 20 minutes and then pulled into a picnic area, where we enjoyed a hearty sausage and fried egg breakfast. Why does getting up early make you so very hungry? Back on the road we climbed up to Craig Pass at 8262 ft before descending down the other side to the Yellowstone Lake. Our next stop was the Mud Volcano area. Mud pots are acidic ...

... the township surrounding it is like * mini Veg*s * I w*s quite surprised to see this. We s*w the night show over the f*lls *nd got to see fireworks *lso. We then he*ded up the hill *nd went to * K*r*oke b*r. I only w*tch of coure but our tour m*n*ger, Kris, he likes to get up on st*ge. He's not the gre*test singer but he gets into it so much so with his *ir guit*r *nd f*ncy footwork th*t he is very entert*ining to w*tch. We left *t *bout midnight *n d decided to ...