Billings to Yellowstone NP 219 miles

Sat 26^th June 2010

We set off in light rain, which lasted about half an hour. The countryside was quite picturesque with ranch land giving way to mountains. Our first stop was Cody a town named after the

great storyteller and showman Buffalo Bill Cody in 1896. One of the visit recommendations was the Cody Historical Centre, which turned out to be excellent. There was, of course, a part of the museum given over to the life and times of Buffalo Bill and his remarkable travelling show, not forgetting the sharp shooting Annie Oakley, but also an art gallery with a very high standard of work. We took much longer than we thought at the Historical Centre and managed a late lunch at the Irma

Hotel named after one of Cody’s daughters. The hotel is well known for its Bar which was a gift from Queen Victoria given in appreciation of the exciting entertainment provided by Cody in London. The saloon in which the famous bar sits is a real late 19^th century cowboy saloon frequently depicted in western films. Lunch consisted of, what else but, a Buffalo Burger!

With just over half the journey to do we set off towards Yellowstone national park. The scenic run to the park got more and more dramatic, with towering cliffs, dams and rivers. On entering Yellowstone the pace became much slower with a rigorously enforced speed limit of forty miles per hour. Most people drive at a slow speed to try and catch sight of the parks wildlife, which includes Grizzly Bears, Bison and Elk. We were fortunate to see a large Mule Deer very close to the road and a few Bison in the distance. This being our first visit to Yellowstone it was quite disconcerting to see boiling water and jets of steam at the roadside.

Our hotel was the Old Faithful Inn situated next to the famous “Old Faithful” Geyser, which goes off about every ninety minutes or so. As we had arrived a little late for sightseeing we bought a beer and sat on the hotel balcony and waited for Old faithful to do its party trick, we were not disappointed; after a few misfires the geyser shot about one hundred and fifty feet in the air. Very impressive!