On the way to Cody

Today we travel through the West Gate into Yellowstone and work our way through the park past Yellowstone Lake and Fishing Bridge out the East Gate.  We travel through the scenic Shoshone National Forest into the western town of Cody.  Its a 208 mile trip that will take us 3 hours without stops.  In Cody, if time permits we will visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, home to five museums.

Yellowstone Lake is at 7,792 ft. above sea level.  The lake is as deep as 390 feet and is too cold year round for anyone to swim in.  In winter, ice forms that is 3 feet thick.  The lake filled in part of the caldera of the volcano.  In recent years they have found that the bottom of the lake is rising, a sign of volcanic activity.

Leaving Yellowstone we travel the Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway through the Shoshone National Forest, a very remote area filled with wildlife.  President Teddy Roosevelt called this road the most beautiful 50 miles in America. 

The town of Cody, Wyoming was founded in 1896 by William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody. Cody is best known for its variety of guest ranches and family-related activities, nightly summer rodeo, fall big game hunting, and is home to The Buffalo Bill Historical Center. The museum is known for its vast collection of western exhibits including the Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, and The Whitney Gallery of Western Art. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is a showpiece of The American West and is 230,000 square feet in size.

We check in at The Cody and relax after a long day.