May 20, 2010

OK, I turned the corner on Yellowstone! I arose at 6 am and left the campground to make my way east to Cody, Wyoming. The grey-velvet clouds of yesterday were drawn open today, like theatre curtains, to reveal an uncommonly beautiful stage: 360 degrees of Yellowstone splendor! I did not know what I was missing yesterday. The river! The snowy peaks! The elk and bison!  Plus, I was almost the only person on the road. There were several long delays, but they were only to wait and watch, transfixed, as bison walked along the highway, indifferent to my presence. I watched with reverence as one old guy walked up to the Motherload, sizing her up for ramming potential. Then came a magic moment when his gaze shifted and he looked me straight in the eye! A moment so crystalline I could almost hear the “chink.”

The entire drive to Cody was just breathtaking. I could almost “see” Butch and Sundance flying off one of the cliffs to the Shoshone River, below. Miraculous landscapes. Impossibly blue skies, putt-putt clouds. Just grand.

I intended to stroll around Cody for the afternoon, which I did, then make my way back about 15 miles to the Buffalo Bill State Park, where I had scoped out a wonderfully grassy, wide-open campsite, which I didn't. After browsing around the Old Trails Ghost Town and walking a long way along the river and reservoir, the wind came up so strong it nearly air-lifted me. I don’t know why, but wind like that drives me straight to madness or motel-land. Like an outlaw, I retreated to a hovel on the edge of town. After dark, I  braved the wind one last time and stole into town for a prime rib dinner at the famous Irma Hotel, built by Buffalo Bill Cody in 1902. After the crime against my body, I took apple pie to go and am now holed up with Jubilee in our teensy room, sharing the spoils. Together we make our own little Hole-in-the-Wall gang.