Miles Driven on June 20: 379
Lodging for June 20: Pawnee Hotel, 1032 12th Street, (307) 587-2239
Today was a pretty good day. I had breakfast and walked down Deadwood's Main Street. Most of the stores were closed but it was nice to window shop. I stopped in one saloon for blackjack, but the odds weren't looking good so I played 25 cent video blackjack instead. Won $2 when I split on two aces and got two blackjacks.
From there I went to the Adams Museum, which had excellent exhibits on the development of the town, Jewish life in the town, Chinese life in the town, and photography. I said goodbye to Richard, the desk clerk at the Penny Motel, then drove to the cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried side by side. It was cold and rainy so I didn't stay there long.
By now it was 10:45 a.m. and I was running behind. I drove to Devil's Tower, WY, with a detour in Sundance; supposedly Sundance was the exit for Devil's Tower, but all I found was a library with Hotmail access. I didn't go all the way to Devils Tower, just far enough on 14 to see it and backtrack to I-90. (Unfortunately my photo didn't turn out). When I got to Buffalo, WY I had to decide whether to take the "high road" (north on I-90 through Sheridan to 14 west) or the "low road" (16 to Worland and then north to Greybull to pick up 14 west). Both routes were heavily advertised on the way to Buffalo. I decided I'd better take the one advertised as the "fast route" so I took 16 west to Worland. I ended up going through part of Big Horn National Forest. Amazing scenery, better than the Black Hills. The tall thin firs, the million year old rock formations (with signs indicating just how old they were), the snow-covered mountains, bubbling brooks...I was so impressed I stopped for an hour to do a short hike.
Once I got out of Big Horn National Forest I hauled ass to Cody, WY; stopping only for gas and McDonald's to go. I arrived around 7 pm. I called the youth hostel in West Yellowstone, Montana, hoping they would have a room and that I could get there in two hours. They had a room but said it was a 3 hour drive and some roads in Yellowstone might close at 9. Argh. I couldn't get a hold of the Yellowstone central reservations office to see if I could stay somewhere in the park for the night, so I started calling places in Cody. I ended up (once I got the right directions) at the Pawnee Hotel near downtown. Very quaint and friendly.
As I was wondering what in the world I was going to do in Cody on a Tuesday night at 7:30 with a medium, caffeine-filled Diet Coke coursing through my bloodstream, I saw the banner over the main street which said, "Rodeo Nightly at 8:30 pm. Cody is Rodeo!" Whoo hoo! My first rodeo ever. And the hotel sold tickets which made it extra convenient. The rodeo was really good. It's a lot harder than some people make it look. Riding a bucking bronco, roping a calf, riding a horse around the stable were challenging for many people, and there are very strict rules about what counts as a successful ride. In fact, nobody was able to stay on the bull long enough to win a prize.
After the rodeo I came back to the hotel and went down the street to the saloon at Irma, the hotel Buffalo Bill built and named after his daughter. Saloon #10 was friendlier.
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