Monday, September 10, 2007

Day 13 and 14: Saints, Lamanites, Coyboys and Brother Browning

Greetings from Cody Wyoming!

Deb and I visited Cody 3rd Ward yesterday morning and enjoyed the report of an older couple that had just returned from their second mission in Alabama (the first was to Nigeria).

After church, we took a beautiful drive up the Shoshone River Canyon and visited the Buffalo Bill Cody Dam. It is amazing to see the height of this dam knowing how and when it was constructed. The dam is over 350 feet high and was built in 1910 in sub-freezing weather. I took this photo while standing on the edge of the dam looking over the edge.

After visiting the dam we decided to go back to our motel and just chill for the day. On the way we noticed a place that had a huge miniature old west display that covered 7000 square feet! There was also a very impressive display of Native American regallia and artifacts. The museum was free and was run by a guy that used to be a firefighter in Pennsylvania.

We hung out at the motel until we went to dinner where we shared our table with a couple from Klamath Falls named Ken and Virginia White. Ken just retired as the band director after 30 years at Klamath High. We had a very nice visit and then went back to the motel for the evening.

Today, we woke early so we could spend the day at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. This museum was incredible... actually five museums covering over eight acres! We started in the Cody Firearms Museum... the largest collection of firearms in the world... we saw over 2700 firearms on display and they were all in amazing condition! I especially enjoyed the Browning display and the Remington Firearms display... examples of every handgun they have ever produced. They also had a special exhibit honoring Herb Parsons... one of the worlds greatest exhibition shooters of all time.





We spent nearly eight hours in the museums...







Plains Indians,







Buffalo Bill, Natural History, Gallery of Western Art, and the Cody












Firearms Museum.

After dinner, we had dinner in the Irma Hotel... the original hotel owned by Buffalo Bill's daughter.






The hotel is like being in Disneyland but you realize it is real and authentic. The hotel is still in use and still very period including actors that roam the dining room after a shootout reanactment in the street in front of the hotel.

This has been a fun couple of days in a very Western town. By the way, the weather was beautiful today, cold and wet yesterday... 39 degrees this morning.

That reminds me... today Deb was sitting out in the courtyard in the museum after lunch trying to soak up some of the sunshine (I was roaming the basement floor of the Firearms Museum) when she was approached by a guy that works with dermatologists and she got a lecture about sunbathing... something about that is not a suntan, it is skin damage... he then said, "Honey, when you turn 40...", Deb said it made it all worth it!

Well, tomorrow we are driving to Rapid City, SD. to visit with John and Sue. We will stop along the way to visit Devil's Tower. We will visit Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments with John and Sue.

We miss all of you. Goodnight.

2 comments:

Joy said...

Sounds like a fun day! I wish I was there!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Scotty & Deb!
Would like to see that huge museum with all the guns,etc. Must be a job maintaining all of that. Yesterday, at conference, Bro and sis. Dahling talked about their experience while on their mission at the Nauvoo Temple. Afterwards she talked to him and he said he doubted that he would get her to go on another mission because they have a new home and she loves it and wants to be there.
Glad you are enjoying yourselves. Isn't being retired fun?! We will be going South this winter, no doubt. Have a good visit with Deb's family. Drive careful. We love you and miss you.
Dad and Mom