DAY 25
Week 4
CODY (Wyoming, USA)
Saturday July 15th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 15 miles or 24 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 2626 miles or 4226 kilometres
Today's update takes in a few things, but I reckon it's well worth the taking the time to read.
In difference to being in what obviously is a town that prides itself on having both kinds of music - Country AND Western, I decided I needed to dress the part, lest I be tagged for a "Tommy Tourist".
To start with, I got a hold of a 99 cent John Deere baseball cap from the dollar store, tied it to the tow bar of the Trailblazer and went for a 40 mile drive on a corrugated dirt road.
Next it was the jeans. Working on my beer glass figure precludes fitting me moneymaker into skinny arse Wranglers, so Levi 501's would have to do. Sorry ladies, they're not tight enough to check my pulse through the front of them, but you can see my wallet clear as day.
The Levis were tied to the tow bar when I was "antiquing" the cap, so it was a simple matter of wandering on down to the Cody skeet club, hang 'em on the line and let fly with some 410 buckshot with assistance from some Pabst Blue Ribbon for lubrication purposes.
The shirt took a bit of working. Ever tried to knock off a tablecloth from a small town diner? I had to eat at three different places before I happened upon the correct red and white checker pattern. I paid my bill, left a good tip, rolled up the tablecloth and was off out the door like an Ethiopian after a chicken. I ducked down two alleys and hid in a dumpster for an hour before I felt like it was safe to head back to the RV. 40 feet of duct tape, a roll of baling twine, some 3 inch roofing nails and I had a shirt the befits the occasion. I think that by jumping in the dumpster had actually added a certain aroma to my threads, which I hope should help me fit right in.
Now for the belt buckle. It's simply got to be big, loud & proud and plenty shiny. I settled on a 1959 Buick Senator Roadmaster hubcap and it looks a real doozie, but I would suggest waiting until the vehicle is at least stationary before adding this bling to your thing!!!
Now for the all important cowboy boots, because as all the women know, "it's simply ain't no good - if the trunk don't match the hood". I thought about gator skin boots, ostrich skin boots, 'coon skin boots and other animals that are probably extinct judging by the prices. Oh, AND what's up with all these big, strong and plenty tough cowboys wearing 4 inch heels on their boots??? Me being Aussie and all, I decided to stick to what I know best and rocked into the French Fashion House - Target (pronounced tarr-zzay) for a pair of baby coffin Taiwanese safety boots. In English, that would be a pair of size 12 rubber thongs WITHOUT socks. Only wankers wear thongs with socks!!!
Now that I am obviously "dressed for success" and ready to face Cody (Wyoming), with the sounds of Rodney Rude's tune "I'm a well hung plough boy, sneaking up on my horse and having intercourse" to the strains of Rhinestone Cowboy ringing my ears......but is Cody ready for me???
All fun aside, Cody (Wyoming) has kept that small town feel that befits it's population of just over 8500 inhabitants. I got to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West nice and early as I hate being rushed by crowds.
Whoever thought up the idea for the center came up with a wonderful way of presenting 5 museums in their own unique settings. I visited all exhibits, which consisted of the Cody Firearms Museum, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, the Plains Indian Museum, the Draper Museum of Natural History and last but not least, the Buffalo Bill Museum.
The Cody Firearms Museum contains over 6000 firearms covering their inception, innovation, manufacture and uses throughout time. The wide variety of displays were very well done in my opinion.
The Whitney Gallery Of Western Art is adorned with numerous artworks pertaining to the Western landscape and lifestyle. Not my cup of team mind you.
The Plains Indian Museum traces the first inhabitants of the nations evolution and ever changing environment that they now live in. The presentation seemed somewhat sanitized considering some of the treatment that history upholds as being meted out to them.
The Draper Museum of Natural History would have had the best exhibit of what's in the environment with native flora, fauna and eco-system, at their different levels, from the tops of mountains down to the lake and river beds. All this is achieved as you meander down three levels from top to bottom. Very well done.
The Buffalo Bill Museum covers William Cody's life from day one until day dot. I did learn that he received a Congressional Medal of Honor for his scouting days. Buffalo Bill was also very vocal in his belief that woman should have a vote and be paid an equal wage as the men they work with. Have we progressed much since the start of the 1800's???.
After 5 hours of taking in the history of the West, I grabbed a bit to eat and headed 7 miles out of Cody to the Buffalo Bill Dam, formerly the Shoshone Dam. Completed in 1910, it was the highest concrete dam in the world. At any one time it holds over 790,000 acre/feet of water. An acre/foot of water is 1 acre of land covered by 1 foot of water.
After the disappointing hodge podge efforts of the Hoover Dam tour earlier this year, I was hesitant in going on another dam tour. The self guided audio tour is contained to the top of the dam, but is very visual in it's audio presentation. Quoting directly from the workers, managers and descendants, I felt as if I was there with them 100 years ago. One of the more memorable moments was one of the powder monkeys recounting how he got blown 60 feet in the air, after a spark ignited the powder he just planted, and he couldn't get away in time. It only cost three dollars which was a pleasant surprise as well.
7:30PM saw me cruise on out to the Cody Night Rodeo. By the sounds of it, the Night Rodeo goes on for two hours every night from the 1st of June through August 31st. The night was a down home small country town rodeo and I had a lot of fun. They actually put on a pretty good show with the announcers and the clowns. All in all, it's a pretty wholesome family night of entertainment.
The highlight for me was the under 12 kids chasing a two poddy calves to get the tag off their tail. I don't know who was more scared? The 60 or so kids or the two calves trying to get away from the throng of kids on a 2 hour sugar high, hell bent on getting one of the tags for a free ice cream. It was cute and a good giggle. Yes, I did use cute in a sentence and NO I'm not handing in my man card for saying so!!!
From there I trundled over to the Silver Dollar Saloon for a spot of people watching over a couple of beers. Needless to say, the players are the same on a Saturday night no matter where you are in the world. I was great being a social voyeur for a couple of hours. A pretty solid day to be told, but tomorrow I'm on the road again.
Nighty nite.
• CODY ~ Buffalo Bill Center Of The West (Wyoming, USA)
• CODY ~ Buffalo Bill Dam (Wyoming, USA)
• CODY ~ Nite Rodeo (Wyoming, USA)