June 14th we left Deadwood, South Dakota and headed for Cody, Wyoming. If you are in the Deadwood area there is a must see scenic drive you should take. The highway through Spearfish Canyon is amazing. I probably would not have taken this side trip out of Deadwood, but a friend who used to live there told me about it. Amazing deep canyon with to die for scenery. Then it was on to I90 and heading west . You leave South Dakota and enter Wyoming in a short distance. But before I leave South Dakota I want to say what a great vacation destination South Dakota is. I wished I could have spent an entire summer exploring all the great attractions across the state. I will be going back. If you are planning to go, send for the South Dakota Tourism guide. A great resource to help plan a trip. I used theirs for planning my trip. It is free if you call or email for a copy to be sent to you. Here is there link. http://www.travelsd.com/
Driving out west is a really an enjoyable experience for me. I love to drive, and the scenery and wide open spaces make it a relaxing, stress reducing pleasure. I was constantly wanting to stop and take photos but I knew I would never get to Cody before dark. So I had to limit myself, but it was difficult.
This is the Big Horn Pass on I-90 through the Big Horn Mountains. Elevation is about 9700 feet here. Still a lot of pockets of snow even in mid-June. Storm clouds were building here.
Sometimes I got a little carried away chasing down a good looking landscape scene I wanted to photograph and got off the Interstate and started driving down some roads an overloaded Ford Tarus probably should not have been on. But hey, anything for the shot! Right?
As I was approaching Cody Wyoming late in the afternoon I watched this developing storm moving across the vast open plains. The clouds were only a couple hundred feet off the ground at this point. I pulled over to take some photos. There was some awesome lightning striking the ground, but I could not time it right to capture that. (Oh to have that Lightning Trigger)
Cody, Wyoming is a really great place to visit. I was actually staying a couple days here because there was more that I wanted to do than I could squeeze in with just a one day visit. One of the most famous landmark's in Cody is the Irma Hotel. The original owner of this hotel was William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. If you know anything about the history of the American West, he is one of the biggest names.
Interior shots of the Irma show what a historical place this is. Listed on the National Historic Register, you can stay at the Irma and stay in rooms that were occupied by some very famous figures in American History. The all Cherrywood Bar was a gift to Buffalo Bill from the Queen of England. Probably the most photographed thing in Cody. Here is a direct link to the Irma. http://www.irmahotel.com/
The Cody Gunfighters put on a nightly show outside the Irma that is free to the public. Another must visit attraction is the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Way to much there to cover in my blog, but I added a link to the center. Plan on at least a half day to see it all.
The sun is setting on another day, but the action will pick up again tomorrow!
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