Vacation to Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons - Days 5 & 6 Cody, WY
On our trip to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, Days 5 & 6 were spent in the Cody, WY area as was explained in yesterdays Blog. Yesterday focused on our accommodations and today I want to share some scenery and noteworthy attractions in the area. The first couple images in the slide show are images of the thunder clouds as we approached Cody on our initial drive into town. After our large breakfast at the K3 Guest Ranch B&B we went to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West which is a 5 museum complex . . . it encompasses a third of a million square feet of exhibition space. The 5 museums include; The Whitney Gallery of Western Art, The Cody Firearms Museum which holds the world’s largest assemblage of American Arms as well as European arms dating back to the 16th century, The Plains Indian Museum, The Buffalo Bill Museum and the Draper Museum of Natural History. They do have a cafeteria in the building as this is almost a day long adventure. It is recommended to leave at lest 4 hours to view all 5 Museums; we took about 6 hours. Most of the photos in the slide show are images from the Firearms Museum. It was difficult to get photos as the Center was crowded and in most cases, the lights were low.
We also toured the Buffalo Bill Dam, a marvel for it’s time. It’s 6 miles West of Cody on the road to Yellowstone. If you are going that way, you should consider a stop at the Dam Visitor Center and watch the video on the construction project. A couple interesting facts concerning the Dam . .
- Drilling to find bedrock for the foundation began in the Spring of 1904;
- Seven men were killed during construction;
- There is no Chinese steel in the dam. In fact, there is no American made steel or any steel reinforcements in the dam! It’s all concrete.
- At the time of it’s completion in 1910 the dam was 325’ tall; the tallest dam in the world and the final cost was $929,658. Today, after a 1985 renovation, the dam was raised 25’.
- The Heart Mountain power plant now operates at the base of the dam where a tunnel directs the discharge of water from the dam.
Tomorrow’s Blog will deal with our 5 nights in Yellowstone National Park . . .
Vacation to Yellowstone & The Grand Tetons - Days 5 & 6 (K3 Guest Ranch B&B) Cody, WY
Days 5 & 6 on our vacation to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons lands us in Cody, WY; a city with a population of about 10,000 and named after Buffalo Bill Cody. There is a lot to see and do here and our lodging in the ‘K3 Guest Ranch B&B’ was truly awesome; this family owned Bed & Breakfast is a ‘Destination Place’ in itself. The design, construction and decoration is all the product of the owner (Jerry). The structure started out as a bunk house although you would never know that unless related to you by Jerry. Over the years there were 4-5 additions to the property adding bedrooms and inside dining area; you would never be able to tell the structure was built piecemeal over the years. It truly looks and feels as though it was built in it entirety from the ground up as one construction project. The decorations, both inside and outside the home are authentic, not cheap replicas. Many of the items came from Jerry’s family. It's almost like being in a museum. The B&B sits in a ‘bowl area’ about 3/4 mile off the hard-ball road and it was raining when we got there; a little muddy driving in and not totally sure we were going in the right direction, but never-the-less, got there with a mud covered vehicle.
Our bedroom, the 'Rocky Mtn Room' is pictured in 3 photos in the below slide show. Every night, out of our bedroom windows as well as out of the living room windows, we watched as both deer and Pronghorn grazed and bedded down for the night. On nice mornings breakfast was outside on the patio. The original 1897 sheep herders wagon was converted to a bedroom probably more suited for the kids as the bathroom facilities were located just outside the wagon in a separate structure.
If you are going to Yellowstone, this is only about an hour outside of the East Gate. If headed this way, do yourself a favor and make a reservation to stay here; their web site can be found at http://www.k3guestranch.com/.
Tomorrows blog will cover some of the sights in and around the Cody area and the following day we will be getting into Yellowstone. Don’t forget to come back to the Blog daily for more exciting images . . .
And now for the K3 Guest Ranch B&B Photos . . .
Vacation to Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons - Day 2 & 3 The 'Black Hills of South Dakota'
Day 2 & 3 on our trip to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons was doing some sight-seeing in the Black Hills and Rapid City, SD. We stayed 2 nights at Ellsworth Air Force Base just outside of Rapid City. We were dodging thunder storms most of the day but all-in-all we had a great time. The area in and around Mt Rushmore has changed significantly since I was last there many years ago while touring on a motorcycle. We also saw Crazy Horse for the first time along with many original Indian artifacts. One scenic tour that we took for the 1st time was through Custer State Park. One has to purchase a 7-Day Pass to get in (only $15) but our several hours driving through the park was well worth the investment. On Route 16A we went through a number of tunnels cut through the stone mountain. One photo in the below slideshow was taken at tunnel #3 on Rt 16A; if you pay attention, the tunnel frames Mt. Rushmore. Tomorrow I will post photos from our B&B in Cody, WY. I'll tell you more tomorrow, but this place was definately a destination place.
Vacation to Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons - Day 1 Omaha, NE
Just got back from a 15-day adventure to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons via Omaha, NE, Rapid City, SD (Black Hills) and Cody, WY before hitting the Oldest National Park (established 1872) in the Country. We were in Yellowstone National Park for 5 nights and then on to the Grand Tetons for 3 nights before starting our journey back to Kansas City. We put more than 3,500 miles on the car and took more than 3700 photos.
I will post about a dozen photos per day for the next 5-6 days in the order of our travel so drop back daily for the updates. When finished with the photos I will put the better ones in my Portfolio Collection titled National Parks; you will have to filter that collection with ‘Yellowstone’, otherwise you will get other National Park photos shot at an earlier time . . .
The first day’s photos come from Omaha, NE where we visited the Henry Doorly Zoo and Old Market. Tomorrow will be the Black Hills . . .
The Four Seasons
If you happen to be in the Kansas City area and just looking for something to do, consider visiting the Nelson-Atkins Museum . . . Admission is free and they are open Wednesday thru Sunday. Sunday morning we had perfect weather to view The Four Seasons exhibit by Philip Hass on the South lawn of the property. Hass has created four monumental portrait busts titled The Four Seasons. The 15' tall sculptures are three dimensional interpretations of the Italian Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo' portrait series of the same name. If you have any interest in art at all, you will certainly enjoy viewing these pieces of work.
Music by:
"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
