Yellowstone Day 3 - A Side Trip to Cody

In just two whirlwind days, we had managed to visit pretty much all of the areas of Yellowstone Park that we had planned.  Granted, we were merely scratching the surface as there is so much more to see and do in the less touristy areas of the park.  We considered doing a long hike, but the forecast called for sporadic rain throughout the day.  Therefore, we considered doing something indoors.  But we were in the middle of Yellowstone Park, one of the greatest outdoor areas in the world.  Where could we be entertained indoors?

One of the towns right outside of the park is Cody, Wyoming.  Founded in 1896 by the famed frontier scout William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Cody has long been a popular launching spot for visitors to Yellowstone Park.  It has an airport, hotels, shopping, etc.  It is also home to the Cody Nightly Rodeo, a popular event that runs daily during the peak summer months.  The Kids had never been to a rodeo before and we were tempted to go just for that.  However, we didn't relish making the two hour drive back through Yellowstone in the dark of night.  Instead, we decided to make the journey to Cody to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

After a quick breakfast of eggs à la Instant Pot, we drove south past the GCY and stopped at the Mud Volcano Area.  This area is another major geothermal location within the park.  It is named after one geyser that when first discovered in the late 19th century, it would spew mud which coated the surrounding trees.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), the mud volcano eventually exploded leaving behind a pool of bubbly mud.  Visitors now do not have to worry about being covered in mud.

Another notable geothermal feature is the Dragon's Mouth Spring.  This was formed from erosion as hot water created a large cavern into the side of a hill.  The rushing water supposedly causes a roaring sound that resembles that of a feral animal.  The spring got its name from an anonymous tourist in 1912 who likened the emitted steam and noise to the smoke and growls of a fire-breathing dragon.  We saw plenty of "smoke," so much that we couldn't even see the opening of the Dragon's Mouth Spring.  As for growling, we couldn't really hear much noise coming from inside.

There were several other large springs and geysers in this area.  They all had sinister names that alluded to fantasy fiction--Black Dragon Cauldron, Churning Cauldron, Grizzly Fumarole, etc.  Unlike the clear blue pools that we had seen further south a few days before at the West Thumb Basin, the geothermal features here were all muddy and foul-looking.

 

We continued south until we reached Yellowstone Lake and turned and drove to the eastern entrance to the park.  The terrain here was much hillier than the flatter western portions of the park.  This just made for better views of the serene waters of Lake Yellowstone.

Eventually, we made it to Cody, Wyoming.  It seemed to be a nice, affluent town with large houses on the outskirts.  The Buffalo Bill Center of the West was not very hard to find in this small town.  The museum is divided into many sections covering topics such as natural history, the plains Indians, Western Art, and Buffalo Bill Cody himself.  However, my sole purpose of coming to the museum was to visit the Cody Firearms Museum.  This is the largest collection of American-made firearms in the country with over 30,000 items related to firearms.  In fact, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company donated their entire museum collection to The Buffalo Bill Center about three decades ago.  As an unabashed, dorky gun nut, I had been itching to visit the firearms museum for some time.

In the front lawn of the Buffalo Bill Center, we visited a display of Indian tepees and chuck-wagon cooking.  "Cookie," the chef, had us try some really good cast-iron baked beans.  When he heard that The Boy is in the scouts, he provided him with several must-try recipes for his next campout.

Once inside, I made a beeline to the firearms museum while The Wife made one to the gift shop.  To my dismay, I was greeted with this sign at the firearms wing.

It was pretty bad timing on our part to visit the museum while it was undergoing a years-long renovation.  Several items that had been on display were replaced with signs that read "This object has been temporarily removed."  Nevertheless, there was still no shortage of rifles and pistols on display.  They were arranged by manufacturer and by themes such as guns of law enforcement or guns of different wars.

I especially enjoyed seeing some of the rarer firearms--the bizarre cutting-edge prototypes that never made it to mass production.  There were several early semi-automatic pistols that were converted into carbines by adding a butt-stock, a Winchester semi-automatic rifle that predated the M1 Garand by 30 years, and gyrojet which fired miniature rockets instead of inert bullets.

Having satiated my thirst for gunpowder, I met back up with the rest of the family.  The Wife had been busy buying Western-themed sketches from local artists.

 We visited the other museums which were somewhat interesting.  Not surprisingly, there was plenty of memorabilia for Buffalo Bill Cody.  But there was also displays for other famous Western icons as well as props from Hollywood Westerns.

Buffalo Bill Cody's firearms and
signature buffalo hide outfit.

Annie Oakley's trunk and firearms

Colt 1905 revolver owned by Medal of Honor recipient and actor Audie Murphy

The pistol used by the Lone Ranger--the TV series, not the Johnny Depp abomination.

Having spent most of the afternoon at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, it was time to leave and head back to Yellowstone Park.  A few minutes into our drive, I couldn't help but notice a sign that advertised firing a Gatling Gun.  I pulled into the parking lot of a gun range called The Cody Firearms Experience.  The Girl was too young to participate which made her perfectly happy.  They offered a couple of other black powder and fully automatic firearms, but The Wife, The Boy, and I all stuck with shooting the Gatling Gun.  We were given a safety briefing and how to operate the firearm.  The Wife went first, followed by The Boy, and then me.  The Wife could care less about guns so she wasn't too crazy about shooting the Gatling gun.  I have to admit, it wasn't too enjoyable to fire either.  It's difficult to aim and crank the mechanism simultaneously.  Our shots were all over the targets.  However, this experience did check off one more item off the bucket list.

On the drive back to the park we faced patches of heavier rain.  It was interesting to see that the waters of Lake Yellowstone were being whipped up by the stormy weather.  The quiet still lake was transformed into an angry ocean with white-capped waves.

We used the rest of the afternoon to do our laundry back at the Canyon Lodge.  It was a bit of a hassle as we had to drive over to the main building to use the coin-operated laundry facilities.  For dinner that night, we had chicken risotto courtesy of the Instant Pot.  It was actually pretty good.  We packed up all of our gear as we would be leaving Yellowstone in the morning.