Wednesday we drove out the East Entrance to Cody, Wyoming, another Scenic Byway. This was again a beautiful drive significantly different than the Beartooth Highway. This drive goes up and over Sylvan Pass and down past massive granite cliffs to the William Cody reservoir and then into Cody. This picture was taken a few miles before Sylvan Pass. I just liked the reflection of the trees in Sylvan Lake.

The drive into Cody was another long, beautiful drive. We left the campground about 9 a.m. and arrived in Cody about 1 p.m. One of our stops was at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. This complex houses six major museums and a number of exhibitions. One definitely needs more than a couple of hours to see and appreciate all that was on display. I spent most of my time in the Whitney Gallery of Western art. The picture was taken out the window at the back of this museum. The statue and stonework used to be in the middle of the main downtown intersection in Cody. My Uncle Perry Gillette and his family lived in Cody when I was a young teenager. On one visit some of us cousins slipped out of the house late at night in our pajamas and visited the monument. Cody was then a very small town (maybe 2,500 residents?) and Uncle Perry was a respected physician and pathologist in Cody. The town policeman reported us to Uncle Perry who came and collected us from the monument. We still laugh about it at family reunions.

In 1951 artist Edward T. Grigware painted a mural at the LDS Chapel in Cody, Wyoming under a commission from the local residents. This mural depicts the first 70 years or so of Church history. The mural was painted around the rotunda entrance into the building. Today the original building has been added to and significantly remodeled. Where the Chapel was back in the 1950’s is now a museum documenting the Mormon settlement of the Big Horn Basin. The visitor’s center is open four months of the year during the summer. Four missionary couples staff the center, each serving four days in a row followed by four days off. Their mission call is for four months after which they return home. Our guide was an Elder Cook. He and his wife lived twenty years in Georgetown, Idaho, where he served most of that time on the city council. He had some very good memories of Georgetown and his time there working for the Dept of Fish and Game.

This is the time of year when the bison seem to be on the move migrating from one meadow to another. The easiest way for them move is on the highway. They definitely have the right of way! Long lines of vehicles wait in each direction for them to cross the highway or move down the highway. Nina says this has to be a Park Ranger’s nightmare … all these crazy tourists wanting to get up close and personal with these massive animals.

These motorcycles were keeping well clear of the big bison strolling down the highway. He came from the left across the center line right in front of these bikes then strolled down the road. The bison is bigger than either of the bikes and they wisely let him have all the space he wanted.

We came home on Thursday (Sept. 3rd) through the South Entrance and through the Grand Teton National Park. We stopped for lunch in the Tetons and this was the view as we had our sandwiches. Our short respite was coming to an end. We had a very relaxing vacation and saw some stunning vistas.