Tuesday, June 20th

We left Red Lodge this morning after saying good-bye to Shackelton and his daddy, Mack, at The Yodeler. Shackelton has a red rubber ball and is waiting patiently for someone to play with him. I don't get to see Sawtooth; but I do remember that he came from Ted Turner's ranch!

We also say goodbye to our new biker buddies. We ran into them and their friends a couple of times yesterday and were surprised to find that they were staying at the same motel as we! The lady showed us her Harley jacket that plugs into the bike so the heater keeps her toasty warm! As they are leaving we notice that all four couples' bikes have a stuffed animal strapped to the back! They are going back over Beartooth Scenic Highway and down Chief Joseph to get to Cody. We are going straight down instead of doubling back.

On the way out of town we notice a furniture company with an elk and a moose outside, both made of what appear to be juniper limbs or perhaps roots. They are marvelous and remind me of James' work. There is a sign on the door naming the artists whose work is sold there, and one is an Oleson - although he spells it wrong!

Coming out of the high mountains into the foothills is a real change of scenery. I have to admit I miss the snow and rugged peaks; but the farm and ranch land is beautiful. The crops are such a vivid shade of green set against the stark dun-colored scrub brush.

Along the way we stop at the sight of the Smith Mine disaster in which 72 coal miners lost their lives, in 1943.

Closer to Cody we can see the Dead Indian for whom the pass is named. A lady in Cooke City had told us that they call it something else, now, because it isn't PC to call it Dean Indian. It might have been Dead President, I'm not sure. But it sure looks like an Indian!

It is time to harvest the hay and it seems that after the big rolls are harvested, they go back and make little rectangular bales out of what is left. You can see both kinds in the same field. That might not be the way it works! Maybe we'll find a farmer or rancher to ask.

We know we're in Cody when we see the statue to Buffalo Bill and pass the Cody High School where the sign identifies the state championships won by the Broncs and the Fillies! We pull into a parking lot to eat our sandwiches and grapes before exploring the town and finding our motel. Across the way is a house with a large fenced area next to it. There is a deer nibbling her lunch, too!

We check into America's Best Inn and after dropping off our cooler and stuff we go to check on our reservations for our whitewater rafting trip tomorrow with the Wyoming River Trips company. Good thing we did, too! We thought we had requested the one o'clock trip and they had us down for the nine o'clock one! We agreed with the young lady manning the desk that the morning one would be better - cooler and more chance of wildlife. She suggested that we go next door to the Wal-Mart to get water-proof cameras. We agree that she had an excellent idea! They will take a photo of the full raft that we can buy afterwards and if we do they will also email us a copy so we can do what we want with that!

Across the parking lot we go to buy our 27-exposure Fuji cameras. I really want a second one but Marilyn reminds me that I will be paddling most of the time and not have a lot of photo opps! The lady in the processing department says we can go to Walgreens to get our photos developed quickly and she also recommends the Sunset House for dinner when we ask her thoughts on the subject.

We stop at the Walgreens to make sure that we will be able to get our photos back before we leave town and I notice that they sell bear spray! Not something we'd find at home! It reminded me of the story that Marshall Mark told us about the Japanese family that had bought bear spray and just before they entered the park, the dad sprayed his wife and the kids! I guess they thought it was like mosquito repellant! It's really a lot like mace for bears!

With all the business out of the way we go exploring. I'm hoping to find a potter who used to be here twenty years ago. All I remember is that there was a wooden sidewalk with several shops around the corner from a hotel. Believe it or not, we find the place! It's called the Buffalo Bill Village Gift Shop. There isn't a pottery shop there any more, but when we ask inside the huge gift store, the older gentleman behind the corner says he's been there a LONG time and remembers the potter. He says he left about ten years ago. Oh well. I didn't really need any more pottery!

While we're there, though, a saleslady named Judy shows us some of the store's treasures and we wind up spending a lot of time, and money, on Christmas presents and remembrances. It is a blast and she is a delight!

Back to our room with the two double beds, a small fridge and microwave and our own bathroom (funny how important that now seems!) and we try to catch up with the world via gmail and facebook, before leaving for dinner.

The Sunset House is popular! We are told there will be a twenty-minute wait and after ten minutes we go back inside to check, only to find that the hostess is just calling our name! Dinner is served by another Judy and she is wonderful, too! We both get salads. Mine has raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, spiced pecans, marinated, grilled chicken and a hard-boiled egg over salad greens and is superb! Marilyn says hers is great, too, and we're thinking of coming back tomorrow night! There is also fresh-baked bread and we are really annoyed that we are too stuffed for dessert!

The girl at the cash register likes my shirt about talking to your cat about catnip and we exchange cat stories briefly before we head outside to get warm (it was chilly inside) and head home. We blog, check out gmail again and get to bed early so that we can eat our free motel breakfast and hit the river!