Day 34 & 35 – Good Bye Yellowstone; Hello Buffalo Bill

Today our plan was to visit the Norris Basin area and it geysers, the Yellowstone River and Canyon and visit the Fishing Bridge area before we exit the park at East Yellowstone. Jack & Jo joined us from the RV Park at our hotel for breakfast and then we all headed back into the park. Our first stop was Norris Basin to check out the geysers. There was a great view of the basin from the Museum. The Museum is the only building in the park with a breezeway. We took a walk to the view some of the geysers which were smelly (sulphur) and bubbling hot. The bookstore had the patches that Nan was looking for so it was a good stop. The new recruit rangers however looked like they were not ready for prime time.


The next stop was the south rim loop along the canyon. This was one of those areas where the views got better with each stop. The lower falls was spectacular as it fell in the deep canyon. We stopped at each viewing location and found the photo ops great. we did the same for the upper falls loop. We all walked down to the brink of the falls and it was again a must see.



The drive down to Fishing Bridge was loaded with Elk and Buffalo, actually lots of Buffalo. At one point I was leading and had to stop to make sure they weren’t going to move or charge the Model A. Fortunately they stayed put as I passed by….slowly!



At Fishing Bridge, Dick wanted to change his carburetor, while we got some lunch. This solved his idling problem. The drive by Yellowstone Lake was very picturesque. In fact the wind was blowing so hard waves were crashing on the beach. It was a long ride to the East Yellowstone exit but very scenic. We stopped for a photo op at the park exit, which was a little cloudy due to the control burn forest fire the park was conducting.



Once back on the road we stayed on US RT 20. In case you weren't aware, RT 20 is called the Yellowstone Highway and goes from Massachusetts thru Yellowstone and on to Oregon.http://www.yellowstonetrail.org/index.htm) We decided on staying in Cody, WY. We just cruised along as the road was pretty straight. We got a call from Jack that we might like to stop at the Buffalo Bill Dam, which we did. We got some good travel advice from the “Dam Guy” on duty at the visitor center. Leaving the Dam we noticed the tunnels through the rocks which impressive.

Cody is a town founded by William F (Buffalo Bill) Cody. He had the Irma Hotel built for tourists when they came by train to visit Yellowstone. The bar is a beautiful Cherry piece and the focal point of the hotel. The costumed players of Buffalo Bill, the Sheriff, the bad guy and the barmaid were all part of the fun. Oh, BTW, the food was good too.

Tomorrow we will visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center before heading east.