Visit at Buffalo Bill Historical Center on the way to Gillette, WY

We got up at 7:00 (early for us) this morning and saw a beautiful sunrise over the desert. Mike went out and took photos of the campground since we didn't take any yesterday and got some of the sunrise.

From Driving from Cody to Gillette

We left Yellowstone Valley RV Park at 8:30 and headed east on US-14 to Cody. We passed Old Trail Town where several historic buildings from around the west can be visited. It will have to wait for another time, since we only have time today to stop at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody.

From Driving from Cody to Gillette

We stopped to get gas in the RV at a Shell station on the west side of Cody (37.5 gallons at $3.839 gal). We passed by several sculptures on the way to the museum including this one of a cowboy lassoing a deer.

From Driving from Cody to Gillette

We arrived at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center a little after 9:00 and parked the RV in the RV parking lot. We saw several more sculptures on our walk to the museum entrance.

From Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

From Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

The admission for seniors is $16 each and is good for 2 consecutive day's visits. There are 5 galleries in the Center - Buffalo Bill, Cody Firearms, Greater Yellowstone Natural History, Whitney Museum of Western Art, and Plains Indians. We only had a few hours to visit there, so we didn't get to see all of the museums (that's a good reason to come back another time).

We started first with the Buffalo Bill Museum. We saw exhibits depicting life in the old west,

From Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

exhibits about Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show,

From Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

household items belonging to William F. and Louisa Cody.

Our next stop was at the Natural History Museum where we saw wildlife exhibits

From Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

and this sculpture depicting a buffalo jump.

From Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

Our next stop was at the Cody Firearms Museum which has 1,500 firearms on display.

From Cody Firearms Museum at Buffalo Bill Historical Center 9/26/11

We first saw displays of firearms from 50's and 60's western TV shows such as Gunsmoke,

From Cody Firearms Museum at Buffalo Bill Historical Center 9/26/11

Annie Oakley, and Bonanza (just to name a few).

From Cody Firearms Museum at Buffalo Bill Historical Center 9/26/11

We saw firearms dating from Colonial times up to the present time. The Cody Firearms Museum has the most comprehensive collection of American firearms in the world. We saw displays of Winchesters, Colts, Rugers and Smith & Wessons just to name a few.

From Cody Firearms Museum at Buffalo Bill Historical Center 9/26/11

From Cody Firearms Museum at Buffalo Bill Historical Center 9/26/11

Our last stop was at the Western Art Museum where we saw art by early western and modern artists.

From Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

We stopped at the Gift Shop to purchase a few souvenirs, before leaving the museum. Since it was now 11:30 we decided to fix lunch while we were parked at the museum.

When we left the museum parking lot, we passed the Foundation for Wild Sheep and I saw this deer standing near these Big Horn Sheep sculptures.

From Driving from Cody to Gillette

After leaving Cody we headed east on US-14 and passed by the Museum of Flight & Aerial Firefighting​ near Greybull.

From Driving from Cody to Gillette

This part of US-14 is the Big Horn Scenic Byway and we drove through the Big Horn Mountains

From Driving from Cody to Gillette

and the Big Horn National Forest where the aspens were getting their fall colors.

From Driving from Cody to Gillette

We connected with I-90 at Ranchester, WY and took it east to Gillette. We stopped for gas at the Flying J (41.8 gal at $3.549 gal after our $.02 a gallon discount). We were only a couple of blocks away from the Wal-Mart Supercenter where we're spending the night.

We arrived here at the Supercenter about 5:30 after driving 274 miles from Cody. After discussing what we wanted to have for dinner, I suggested that we walk over to the Perkins Restaurant near us since Mike had been wanting to eat pancakes. Mike had pancakes, eggs, hash browns, sausage and toast. I ordered the French Dip sandwich. After the long day we had had sightseeing and then traveling, it was nice to have someone else cook dinner, serve it and then clean up!

After dinner and before returning to the RV, we went shopping in Wal-Mart to get a few things we needed. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Rapid City where we're going to stay for 4 days.

Driving through Yellowstone National Park on the way to Cody, WY

We left the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Idaho Falls this morning around 9:00 and drove north on US-20 and entered the Targhee National Forest where the trees are beginning to get their fall colors.

From Idaho Falls to Cody

We entered Montana about 11:30 and drove through the town of West Yellowstone about 10 minutes later. West Yellowstone began as a terminus for the Union Pacific Railroad line built in the early 1900's to bring tourists to Yellowstone National Park.

From Idaho Falls to Cody

Right after leaving West Yellowstone we crossed entered Yellowstone National Park at 11:45. The entrance fee for Yellowstone is $25, but since we have a Senior Pass we didn't have to pay the entrance fee.

About 10 minutes after entering Yellowstone National Park, we found a parking area alongside the Madison River where we stopped to have lunch. While I fixed our sandwiches, Mike got our folding chairs out and we carried them down to the river bank. We set up our chairs and ate our lunch sitting by the Madison River.

From Yellowstone National Park

After lunch we continued east on Riverside Drive (US-191) and then north on Grand Loop Road (US-89). Because of our travel schedule, we only had time to drive through Yellowstone National Park. We did see Beryl Spring (one of the many hot springs)

From Yellowstone National Park

and then we turned east on Norris Canyon Road which took us through the Central Plateau and then we connected back up with the Grand Loop Road. Shortly after crossing the Yellowstone River, we saw a herd of bison in the distance. We stopped long enough to take a few photos.

From Yellowstone National Park

We saw these 2 RVs from Germany that had stopped to take photos of the bison. We have seen a few of these RVs in our travels,

From Yellowstone National Park

but we haven't seen one of these before.

From Yellowstone National Park

A little farther on we had to stop because of the cars ahead of us that had stopped to take photos of the bison that were alongside the road. Tinker could smell the bison and he stood up so he could look out Mike's window and bark at the bison.

From Yellowstone National Park

From Yellowstone National Park

I even got a movie of one bison crossing the road in front of the RV. We crossed over the Yellowstone River again and saw more bison before we drove around Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake (elevation 7,733 ft) is the second largest fresh water lake in the world that is above 7,000 ft.

From Yellowstone National Park

We passed by a section of the road that had been washed out.

From Yellowstone National Park

Shortly after that we drove through Sylvan Pass (elevation 8,350 ft) and there were sections where I wished the guard rail/wall was taller - especially where there was a sheer drop down to the floor of the canyon.

From Yellowstone National Park

We left Yellowstone through the East Entrance at little before 3:00.

From Yellowstone National Park

We drove east on US-14 through the Shoshone National Forest and the Absaroka Mountain Range with great rugged mountain views.

From Idaho Falls to Cody

We now started to see more ranches and houses

From Idaho Falls to Cody

and then we passed by this HUGE pile of antlers.

From Idaho Falls to Cody

We arrived here at Yellowstone Valley Inn & RV Park at 4:00. We are in site #3 and have full hook-ups (50 amp elec) and free wifi. This is a Good Sam Park and with our discount, we paid $27 for tonight. The sites here are gravel and fairly level and we do have a partial view of the Shoshone River.

From Idaho Falls to Cody

We didn't take any photos of the campground today, we'll have to get some in the morning.

We enjoyed our drive through Yellowstone National Park today and look forward to coming back and having more time to visit and explore the park.

Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

We've had a great time visiting with Merilee and Matt, but it's time for us to leave and head east. We said goodbye to Merilee and Matt this morning and thanked them again for their hospitality and told them what a great time we had visiting with them.

We headed south to I-84 and then east on the interstate until we reached the town of Bliss. Matt had told us about the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway (US-30), so we left I-84 at Bliss and drove south on US-30. We stopped at a rest area near Hagerman where there is a large fossil bed.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

A portion of US-30 follows alongside the Snake River and we had great views of numerous waterfalls.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

We stopped at the visitor center in Twin Falls to look at the Snake River Canyon

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

and there is a monument for Evel Knievel's attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon. We didn't get to see the actual location of his jump attempt since is was about 2 miles east of the visitor center.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

We got back on to I-84 at Twin Falls and headed east until we got to I-86 and took it north.

We stopped at a rest area at Coldwater Hill and walked over to see the historic marker for the California and Oregon Trails that came up the bluff.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

Tinker was so happy to see the grass at the rest area, he had to roll around on it.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

Then 6 miles east of the rest area we saw signs for Register Rock. We decided to detour off the interstate to see Register Rock. We had to backtrack west about 2 miles to get to Register Rock. Register Rock is surrounded by a high fence and is under a covered shelter.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

We were able to make out signatures dating from 1849 up to the 1880's.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

After leaving Register Rock we got back on I-86 and drove east until we connected with I-15 and took it north to Idaho Falls.

From Thousand Springs Scenic Byway & Register Rock

We exited I-15 at exit 118 and stopped at an Exxon station to fill the RV's tank ($3.779 a gal) before driving to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Idaho Falls where we're spending tonight.

Oh yes - I forgot to mention that today is my 65th birthday - I not only now have Medicare, but qualify for the "over 65 senior discounts"!!

Visiting with Matt & Merilee

We've been having a great time visiting with Matt and Merliee this week.

Matt is a terrific cook and we have eaten well this week - spaghetti with his special sauce, lamb chops, bell peppers stuffed with ground turkey, grilled tri-tip steak, and tonight fried turkey breast with all the trimmings - just great!

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

Monday Mike went with Matt to go shopping at Harbor Freight and to pick up Matt's new executive pickup truck with eco-boost engine.

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

Wednesday Matt took us to see Merilee at their store, Idaho Bag Lady. It's a really neat boutique that specializes in handbags with exchangeable exteriors (Miche Bag), Lindsay Phillips sandals and shoes with exchangeable snaps and straps, and interchangeable watches and jewelry just to mention some items there.

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

Matt showed us a marker showing where the Oregon Trail went through their property.

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

Yesterday Mike and Matt watched feed corn being harvested and mulched in the field across the street from Matt and Merilee's house. It was really interesting to see the corn being cut and then ground all in one operation. Mike took a movie of the operation and you definitely wouldn't want to get in the way of the harvester.

Then Matt took us to lunch at the Spurwing Country Club where we had a great lunch. Matt had the Dagwood sandwich and Mike and I had a chef salad - it was huge and very good.

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

Matt and Merilee have a Keurig coffee maker and we had decided that whenever our current coffee maker died, we would get a Keurig coffee maker. Well - we decided today to retire our coffee maker and we went to Costco and bought a Keurig B70 coffee maker. I cleaned our old coffee maker and we're donating it to the organization Matt and Merilee donate to - The Arc in Boise.

Today is our last day here and the time has gone by so fast. The last couple of nights we've shown Matt and Merilee some of the photos we took on our trip to Alaska. 

We're hoping to be able to have Merilee and Matt join us sometime on a trip - what a great time we would have together!

Unity Lake State Park to Meridian, ID

We got up this morning at our usual 8:00. Since we only have 125 miles to drive today, we took our time this morning getting ready to leave Unity Lake State Park.

Mike took a few more photos of the campground this morning.

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

We stopped at the campground's dump station to empty our holding tanks before driving south on SR-245 and then east on US-26.

We had driven about 20 miles from Unity Lake State Park and stopped at a pull-off on US-26 at 10:45 to have an early lunch. Once we cross the state line into Idaho, we will be in the Mountain Time Zone and we wanted to get our bodies used to a new schedule.

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

We're now again driving through the high desert

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

with the occasional farm or ranch.

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

We saw this sign for Oregon Trail Murals in the town of Vale, but the highway detoured around the downtown area so we didn't see many murals.

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

When we were just a few miles from the Idaho state line, we saw fields of onions  near Ontario, Oregon.

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

We got onto I-84 at Ontario and drove south and crossed into Idaho about 1:30. I wasn't able to zoom the camera out fast enough to get the whole "Welcome to Idaho" sign.

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

From Unity State Park to Meridian, ID

We exited I-84 at Caldwell and stopped at the Flying J to get gas in the RV and after our 2¢ a gallon discount, we paid $3.619 a gallon. Before leaving the Flying J we called our friend, Matt, and told him we were only a few minutes away from his house.

After leaving Flying J, we drove east on US-26 about 10 miles before driving north to our friends' house here in Meridian.

When we got to Matt and Merilee's house at 3:00, Matt was outside using his leaf blower to blow off the driveway where we're parking the RV while we stay here. We disconnected the Vue before Mike backed the RV up near Matt's barn. We leveled the RV and put the bedroom slide out. Mike plugged our electric cord into an outlet inside the barn, so we can run the refrigerator on electricity.

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

Merilee had been out shopping when we arrived and she came home a little while later. It is so good to see them, we had visited with Merilee 2 years ago when we stopped here with our friends Al and Symphony, but Matt had been away on business then.

Matt is a terrific cook and for dinner tonight we had spaghetti with Matt's delicious meat and clam sauce with duck and lamb sausage he had made and wine, of course.

From Visiting with Matt & Merilee

We spent the rest of the evening catching up with each other's news. Matt told us about his new job and how much he enjoys being able to work from home. Merilee told us about her new business, Idaho Bag Lady, which she's had since last year.