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Headed out bright and early for Cody, Wyoming via Big Horn National Forest. Another amazing day full of new sights and experiences. We stopped at the Wyoming Visitors Center first, and then headed to Sheridan, home of Buffalo Bill. M had gotten a great tip from the volunteer at the Center, so we lunched at Sheridan Inn where ol' Buffalo Bill himself was rumored to favor the third barstool from the left. Fantastic venue with really delicious food.

From there we hit the Forest. Holy cow...what incredible scenery. We stopped at Shell Falls and just about every scenic overlook possible. Upon exiting the park we hit Dirty Annie's for our daily ice cream cone. (That's gonna be hard to give up once we get back home. Salted Caramel Nut? Caribou Caramel?! Yeah.)

Finally, we rolled into Cody, where we checked in at Cowboy Village for the night. I've always wanted to stay in a little log cabin cottage place...check! It's adorable and so much fun.

We went to dinner next door at the Cody Cattle Company, which we learned is owned by the same cowboy who is our cabin proprietor. The place had incredibly good food served buffet style. The brisket was so good we went back for more. And the setting was just perfect...if you've ever seen The Blues Brothers movie (the original, first, and best one - and greatest movie EVER) imagine Bob's Country Bunker. This place was almost identical except there was no chicken wire in front of the stage.

"So, like, what kind of music do you play here?"
"Oh, we have both kinds: country AND western!"

After dinner we walked a half mile or so up a field to the Cody Nite Rodeo, which is two hours of excitement and fun. I had never been to a rodeo before and may never go again, so I'm really grateful we went tonight. Some of our group stayed back and we debated not going ourselves...we chose wisely. I had such a good time I ponied up 15 bucks for a t-shirt commemorating the 75th anniversary of the event this year. We saw bull riding, bucking broncos, trick riding, calf roping, barrel racing and an awesome rodeo clown named Gizmo. Fantastic night.

Tomorrow we're heading out bright and early for Yellowstone. All this time I was expecting Yellowstone to be the highlight of the trip and I'm sure it will be. But I've had such a great time so far that our trip could end tomorrow and I'd be thrilled with what we've done and seen so far.