Cody WY

We came close to our targeted departure time when we left at about 8:15 yesterday morning. With stops at the gas station and mini-mart for some snacks, it was closer to 8:30 by the time we headed toward Cody. Of course, the skies opened up just as we left and we drove through rain the whole way through the Tetons until we got to the southern entrance of Yellowstone. This is what the mountains looked like as we drove through the park:

 

Even with the rain, we spotted several animals along the road to Yellowstone. The usual location for the bison herd contained a couple huge herds, including this one:

It wasn't too much further on the highway when we saw this deer that was walking right out onto the highway:

We had almost reached our turnoff in Yellowstone to take us to the eastern entrance and to Cody, when we spotted lots of cars on the side of the road - of course, a wildlife sighting of some kind. It turned out to be this small group of elk, grazing about 50 feet off the highway:

We arrived in Cody at around 2 PM:

and by then the rain had stopped and we had some sun breaks. It had been a long time since we visited a Walmart, and Cody has one. We stopped to pick up a few items before heading to the Buffalo Bill Village to meet Karen and George and to check in. The downtown hasn't changed much, and we remembered the nice, wide street that was the main street through town:

We met Karen and George at the cabins check-in location in the gift shop and, fortunately, our room was ready for an early check-in at 3:30. This is a shot of our cabin:

We agreed to meet at 5:30 for dinner which gave us some time to shower and get settled in at the cabin.

Our dinner was at a new restaurant in Cody - Chinatown - that was a restaurant we used to visit with Karen and George located in Powell, WY, when we worked together in 2010. This new location was much nicer and we all ate a huge meal that was buffet style. It has been a long time since we had such good Chinese food.

We took a drive around town following dinner and spotted these deer, just nonchalantly grazing in yards:

One last stop was made at the gift shop to say hello to our other dear friends, Hank and Brenda. We worked with them in 2010 in Cody, and again at Amazon.com in Kentucky the same year. This is a shot of the three ladies - Karen, Josie and Brenda:

Hank was working, along with Brenda, so we all agreed to meet today for lunch before we head home to Jackson this afternoon.

It was a terrific day with some terrific friends and we look forward to our lunch with everybody today...