Why not Wyoming: Rallies, Rodeos, and Ranches

We left Keystone/Rapid City early Sunday morning for our long drive across Wyoming. But we still had one stop to make before leaving South Dakota--Sturgis, home of the world famous motorcycle rally. Our first stop was the Sturgis Harley Davidson. Alas, it was Sunday morning, so it was closed, but we parked in front of the Motorcycle Musuem Hall of Fame, and crossed the street to Hot Leathers to pick up a few t-shirts for the Tolley boys in Salt Lake. The roads were blocked off for a street festival--just a warm up for the big rally in August.

It was a stunning drive through the Black Hills National Forest into Wyoming. We traded farm land for horse and cattle ranches. Stopped in a little town called Ten Sleep for lunch at a saloon, and after five extremely scenic hours in the car, we arrived in the rodeo capital of Cody, Wyoming. Home of Buffalo Bill Cody and the Cody Nite Rodeo. To honor local tradition, we did indeed go to the Cody Nite Rodeo and spent the night at the Bill Cody Ranch. Both were a wonderful surprise.




The Bill Cody Ranch was a wonderful and friendly ranch tucked away in the Shoshone National Forest. We stayed in a rustic cabin and had an incredible meal in the Ranch's dining room. The highlight for the girls were the horses. . . .dozens and dozens of them. More on them later.

After dinner we just had time to get into the town of Cody to see the nightly Rodeo--complete with bucking broncos, barrel racing, roping and team roping, and to top it all off, bull riding! Initially, the girls weren't too sure about the rodeo, and didn't really get the politically incorrect jokes of the rodeo clown co-host, but they were soon won over by the girls on horseback roping and barrel racing. And the excitement was infectious as the cowboys rode on the broncos and finally the bulls!




Early to bed Sunday night, for an exciting surprise on Monday morning!