Birthday Boy & Buffalo Bill
Happy Birthday Avett!!!
What a place to wake up on your birthday…Fishing Bridge in the middle of Yellowstone…Welcome to 8!
Throughout the trip, Avett’s sweet sisters kept tabs on things he liked and surprised him with all the things he’d been eyeing. Justin wrote him a touching note and we surrounded him with love galore.
After all the presents were open, we moved out…beginning our trek back east.
Next stop?
Cody, Wyoming, a city co-founded by Buffalo Bill.
FYI, the drive between Yellowstone and Cody is one of the most beautiful stretches of land we have ever driven.
First mountains and canyons, then buttes and cliffs on one side and the Shoshone River on the other.
God’s handiwork on all sides.
As for Cody, we knew nothing about William Cody or that that’s the real name of Buffalo Bill.
Sure, we’ve heard of Buffalo Bill, but all we knew was vague stories about him and his Wild West show. Do you know anything else?
Why was the dam named after him and why are there rumors about his body being stolen from Colorado after he died?
This led to lots of Google searches and chats with ChatGPT. Lots.
If you have a minute, go look him up and you’ll see that people really do claim to have stolen his body from Colorado and buried him secretly in Wyoming. He meant that much to this area.
But before we dove into the legend and life of Buffalo Bill, we took a three hour swim break and ate ice cream to celebrate the birthday boy!
The next two days, we spent hours at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum.
5 museums in one: Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indians Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and Cody Firearms Museum.
Something for everyone!
I didn’t even know about Golden Eagles, only Bald Eagles, until the Natural History Museum and then we got to see one up close!
Did you know about them???
They’re massive!
Despite staying in a Walmart parking lot for several days, Cody was a beautiful respite. An ideal halfway point in this fall adventure.
We filled our coolers, got some needed supplies, learned all about the area, and had fun along the way.
Plus, we got a much needed break from the camper and camper life, ie. space from one another.
It could just be me, but it seems about this time every trip where tempers start to get short, feelings start getting hurt, and I start wondering what is wrong with our family.
Which is nothing.
Nothing is wrong with our crew.
We’re moving fast, doing lots, and living in cramped space out of our normal routines.
It’s a challenge, but our crew, despite its fights and mini-meltdowns, handles it like champs.
Justin might take the kids to go do something without me so that I can reset or I spend one on one time with someone just walking through Walmart looking at makeup or squeezing stuffies.
Whatever it is, some quiet time or one-on-one time seems to do the trick and we all feel like ourselves again.
Whew.
I’m just sharing this for anyone who thinks these trips are idyllic and without blemish.
They’re not!
We are having a great time travelling together, but there are definitely hiccups. That’s part of the journey, right? We have them at home, so why wouldn’t we have them on the road?
I’m not going to write about the fights or tears shed, the kids or mine, but they happen and that’s okay. We work through it together as a family.
Now, back to Cody…I’m not saying we’re moving there, but Justin has researched the summer weather and let’s just say it sounds much better than tornado season in steamy Tennessee…
Two last stops before leaving Cody.
First up, Highland Church.
If you’re ever in the area, visit this church and stay for their weekly potluck (you know Justin loved this!).
It’s become a new favorite of ours to visit churches while traveling and see how they use the gifts and talents they’ve been given to serve the Lord and spread the gospel. And this one was great! Even the kids loved kids’ church and asked if we could go back.
Second stop? Off roading to where legend says William Cody was actually buried…
And now, we’ve loaded up and are heading east out of civilization, back to the middle of nowhere…
