Parade and Roadtrippin'

The parade this morning was great - true Americana! Lots of cowboys, cowgirls, rodeo clowns, school marching bands, model T cars, an Indian on horseback, a 102-year old Cody resident, firetrucks and Wilford Brimley, the Grand Marshal. There was a float with cloggers, Calamity Jane's great-great niece, and a few little kids riding ponies - very cute! Henry got to shake the hand of Uncle Sam - who was on stilts! Lots of candy was thrown and appreciated by the kids. Domino's handed out free water and the Cody High School swim team sold parade programs to raise money. Tons of American flags waving, and honors to military and those who lost their lives in service of their country.

After the parade, we drove out to the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. History lesson for the day: Chief Joseph led a band of Nez Perce Indians in war with the U.S. in the West, and in 1877, his band was forced to retreat from an area called the Wallowas, traveling 1,800 miles with U.S. Army in pursuit. The army caught up with the band in Montana, and Chief Joseph surrendered. The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway goes from north of Cody into Yellowstone National Park and it's highest point is as the summit of Dead Indian Mountain, which gave us an incredible view of snowcapped mountains in the distance.

The road merged into the Beartooth Scenic Highway, which, as I wrote earlier, Charles Kuralt called the most scenic road in America. It was not only scenic, but a bit scary at times. We climbed winding roads up and down mountains, sometimes hugging the edge. This was not a road for a motorhome, and we were glad to be in a SUV. Unfortunately, it was our first cloudy and rainy day in Wyoming, so views that would be incredible on a clear day were quite foggy today.

We could still see patches of snow and lots of mountain streams and waterfalls created by melting snow - the sound of the rushing water was thunderous. On the ride down the mountain through Beartooth Pass (elevation 9,104 feet after we started our descent) we could see areas where there were lots of mud and rockslides - probably caused as snow was melting, carrying dirt and rock downhill with it - and a few places where the road was partially worn out. It was disappointing to get out at scenic overlooks and not be able to get a good picture of the mountain lakes created by melting snow far below, but what we could see was amazing. I had also hoped to find a spot where the kids could get out and play in the snow, but with the rain and the curves in the road, there weren't alot of places to do that.

 
At times, at higher elevations it was raining pretty hard. As we crossed into Montana, the kids ran out to get their pictures taken at the welcome sign, and their expressions and body language was hilarious.

All in all, it was another good day on our roadtrip.