Day 15. To Cody, WY

On the move again today, thankfully not too far as, unfortunately, the weather is a disaster right now. The weather radar shows almost the entire USA to be clear except for where we are. Here, there is a massive system that seems to be slowly rotating on the spot and not moving. Thankfully there was a brief lull when we were able to motor out of Red Lodge, back across the state line into Wyoming and meander through some spectacular countryside into Cody.

We came across this "ghost mine"just outside the tiny town of Bear Creek, MT. This area is full of black gold (coal) and is known as Carbon County. This mine, the Smith Mine, was the site of a terrible tragedy in February 1943 when an underground explosion trapped 74 miners. None of them made it out alive. The mine closed soon after. A tiny community still exists - population 83.

I'm sure our surroundings would be even more spectacular if we weren't covered in cloud. But we made the best of the day and poked around Cody for a few hours until we felt we could decently check into our lodging. Cody is a real Wild West town, holding nightly gun fights and a rodeo. The main reason we are here though is the fact that Yellowstone National Park is just a few miles to the West of us. We are doing a tour tomorrow - rain or shine!

 Lunch at the Proud Cut Saloon

 It would seem that every town has a Harley shop!

We are staying at the Cody Cowboy Village - in a lovely little log cabin. I think it would be an understatement to say that there is a slight Western theme going on.