California Here We Come!: Cody, WY to Idaho Falls, ID September 1

Monday
We all spent the morning catching up on chores and computer stuff and fixing things, then headed out after lunch to see the Buffalo Bill Dam on the Shoshone River. The dam is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been documented by the Bureau of Reclamation, and is included in the National Park Service's Historic American Engineering Survey. It was completed in 1910, and was the tallest dam in the world at that time at 325 ft. The dam supplies water to over 93,000 acres of farmland in the Big Horn Basin.

After touring the dam, we shopped at Wally World, then returned home for a Labor Day happy hour and steak cook out. It was too windy to get out the grill, so we cooked the steaks indoors, but they were great.

Tuesday
Ida and Joe left today to head for Salt Lake City. Safe travels to them, and we hope to meet up again in California.

The Colts have a problem with the rear air conditioner, so Steve was on the phone early to see what he could do about getting the parts and someone to do the work. After arranging to get all the necessities delivered to Cody overnight, he made an appointment to get the work done here in Cody tomorrow. Of course this means we have to stay over here two more nights.

After negotiating some arrangements with the campground, we headed into Cody for dinner at the famous Irma Hotel, Restaurant, and Bar. This is a quaint place named for Buffalo Bill's daughter, and it was once his headquarters in Cody. The food was the best we have had on this trip, and the ambiance was superb.

After dinner, we attended a "Wild West Shoot Out" in the street outside the restaurant. As a former drama teacher I was unimpressed, but the intent was good. We enjoyed the spectacle.

Dinner at The Irma

Steve's phone died during the last couple of days, so we visited the Verizon Store and he is now one IPhone ahead of me with a new 5S.

Wednesday
We spent most of today waiting for Park County RV to let us know that the necessary parts had arrived and that they were ready to work on our air conditioning. Bonnie and Larry went to Cody to The Old Trail Town and The Living Desert Zoo and shopped in the downtown area while we waited.

Old Trail Town

The Living Desert

After we were finally summoned at 3:30 PM, I followed Steve into town in case the dogs could not stay on the RV while they worked on the AC.

Going for AC repair.

Since the dogs were fine, Larry, Bonnie, and I decided to have happy hour at the Irma Bar while Steve waited with the RV. We even got to see the "Wild West Shoot Out" again, and three elk crossed on a busy street in town right in front of us!

At the Irma Bar

In a field near the campground. I don't know why.

Once the RV repairs were done, we all returned to the RV's in time to have an excellent dinner at the Yellowstone Valley Inn and RV Camp restaurant. The wall-eye there is wonderful.

Thursday

Grand Tetons National Park, September 4, 2014

We were on the road bright and early, headed for Grand Tetons National Park. We had to go through part of Yellowstone and we admired the beauty one more time. The view from the RV was very nice, but we were too big to pull over for animal sightings.

The Tetons are the youngest mountain range in the U.S., and they are still growing at the rate of about 1 foot every 200 years instead of eroding. They are truly magnificent. We had hoped to take a narrated boat trip on Jenny Lake, but arrived too late to get tickets, so we made do with scenic overlooks and the visitor center before driving on to Idaho Falls.