Silverfish, Beulah, Sundance

 Sunday. 64 degrees. An 8 hour bus ride to Cody, Wyoming.  Wide open plains, rolling hills. Leaving the Black Hills and into the plains. Not many trees because the Indians would burn the plains every year. New grass would attract buffalo. Natural indentations in the land, called vores, were used to catch buffalo for kills. The Indians would chase the buffalo to the vores and the animals would jump in. Then they could kill and slaughter. 

Passing thru Sundance. Sioux Indians held rituals here thanking a higher power for all the provisions given them. Rituals held in spring and summer. Also location where Sundance Kid was held in jail for 18 months. The Kid later joined up with Butch Cassidy. Lots of snow fences along the highway  

On our right side of the bus we can see Devils Tower. People come to climb it every summer. We are seeing it from 90 miles away!  If you’ll remember Devil’s Tower was featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind  

As we traveled along we rode alongside the Bighorn Mtns  I think these are my favorite so far  Gosh they were beautifully shaped  Mountains in the distance, rolling plains in the bottom  Soon we began the ascent to cross over the mountain  We went up 4000’ in 36 minutes, making 60 switchbacks  The scenery was breathtaking  I bet we were seeing over 100 miles in the distance  Lots of rock formations, sagebrush, cows and horses  Cows are let out in the summer to roam  About this time of year the cowboys round them up and return them home—-wherever that is, cause I sure didn’t see many homes!!  This particular road is closed starting in October and reopens in the spring  I wonder how long it took to build this road  Even more mind baffling is know that cattle herds were once pushed over not only these mountains but along everywhere we’ve been so far  I thought often of Saird, my fictional character in the Conrad Richter books who has been my mentor for most of my life  Saird lived a hard life and was a strong woman  

We eventually made our destination, Cody, Wyoming    A cute town with a mountain at the end of town  We stayed in log cabins!  I had a one bedroom cabin, cute as could be   We had supper at a restaurant called Granny’s   I cranked my AC down to 66 and slept like a baby  Of course I think that Bay Breeze helped with the good sleep!