Day 10 is in the books. We are now at the AmericInn in Cody, WY. We only rode about 150 miles today, but they were some of the best miles yet. Wyoming is probably my favorite state for views, just breath taking.
But let’s pick up where we left off last night. After I finishing punching out the words for the daily blog, while sitting at the Oasis hotel bar, we went to dinner in downtown Sheridan WY. I don’t remember the restaurant name, but the BBQ shrimp, mashed potatoes and double double vodka for dessert filled the ticket.
After dinner we made our way to The Mint, a legendary local bar that was established 115 years ago, according to our bar tender. Pretty cool place with walls full of taxidermized local wild life. There was a rattle snake skin about 10 feet long, fileted and mounted above the bar directly in front of us. If I had seen that rattlesnake in the real world, I would still be running and probably getting close to Colorado. I hate snakes. Deathly afraid, actually. Think what you will, I don’t care. After a couple cold ones, we each got the obligatory T-Shirt from the Mint, and headed back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, a night cap was in order, and final double double was had. Our call time this morning was 8am, we have a short ride and we want to beat the afternoon heat that will be approaching 100 degrees, again.
We were close, we actually pulled out around 8:30 am and headed west. The ride was absolutely stellar. We traveled the 14 thru Big Horn National Forest. Absolutely stunning views and abundant wild life to be seen. We saw a big Bull Moose grazing in the meadow on our left, and turned around to get some pictures. This was a super awesome sight to see. And he was BIG.
After watching the moose, and listening to Hedgehog use his best moose call to no avail, we motored on down road, where we saw 2 more moose on our right hand side, grazing in the meadow. We stopped, took some more pictures, and motored on.
Along the way we did run across Bear Lodge Resort at about 8,300 feet of elevation. Pretty cool lodge for guests to stay with a nice restaurant and bar area. Looked like a great place to come stay and snowmobile out of this winter.
The twisty, canyon bordered road took us to a peak elevation of around 8,300 feet. Majestic views of the canyons and mountains, rivers and waterfalls were all around us. We made many stops along the way, to gaze and take pictures. We had a short run, and we wanted to take this national treasure in to the fullest.
Coming out of the Big Horn, we entered the small “town” of Shell WY, and stopped at the Shell Store Café for great lunch break. Monkey & I shared the Hickory Burger, Hedgehog had the chicken ranch wrap, and SkiDoo had a refreshing poppy seed chicken salad. I wish I would have snagged one of the chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting for a snack right now.
Oh yea, while we were walking to our table and awaiting for our food order to be made (you order at the counter and they give you a buzzer to notify you when to come back to the counter to retrieve your food) we passed a table of 5 pleasant ladies with a big yellow cake with white frosting and strawberries on top. Hedgehog gently inquired if they were going to share that big ole cake with us weary riders. A resounding “no” came from them all in chorus. Jeez, not even a sliver of cake and 4 forks? Stingy broads.
After lunch, the heat was rising. We stood in the small rectangle piece of shade outside the door, getting our gear together, and promptly said in unison, lets get going, its frigging hot. We had about 70 miles to get in.
The road in was now mostly straight as the eye could see, some pretty regular car activity, and quite a few semi’s blew by us going east. And it was getting hotter. I think my dash said 94 degrees when we landed at the AmericInn around 2pm local time.
We took advantage of our early arrival be doing laundry, and I am going to catch you up on pictures that I missed during my 3 day sabbatical.
Tomorrow we are headed to Yellowstone National Park, and end up in Jackson Hole, WY. One of my favorite towns to visit. I am forewarning you now, there is a high probability of no Road Apples tomorrow night. It's Friday night in Jackson Hole, I am planning on saddling up at the Million Dollar bar, throwing back a couple cold ones, and we have dinner reservations at the Snake River Grille at 7:30pm.
Before I sign off, I did get a response from the Cody Rodeo Commission regarding my request for entering Hedgehog in the amateur bronco riding event. They didn’t pass his application for approval, but did offer him a position as a barrel clown. We politely declined.
See ya when I see ya.
Bye for now
Stick
