Cody to Buffalo, WY

Awoke this morning to clouds, drizzle and a chilly wind. We had planned to spend an hour or so in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center-which is actually 5 museums in one, but once we got in we realized that we'd need a bit more time to see even a portion of it! We first went through the Buffalo Bill and American West exhibit-you could spend a whole day in there! Then we went into the Plains Indian Peoples exhibit-well done as well. Then Hank had to go into the Firearms museum-huge display of weaponry. There is even a Sturm-Ruger exhibit and a picture of Bill Ruger, Sr. Then we explored the Nature of Yellowstone-a wonderful place for children-and adults. By now it was after noon and we needed to get on the road if we were to go anywhere today. Our next "planned" attraction is Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse and we knew it was more mileage that we wanted to attempt in one day and as we had already spent the morning in the museum so the afternoon would be spent making our way to Buffalo, WY. Once out of Cody there were miles and miles of nothing but open rolling hills covered with sagebrush, a few horses here and there, a few buttes and mesas reminding us of western Texas. At one point a deer with a nice rack almost ran in front of the car, but changed its mind just before jumping into the road-he was so beautiful. We had to descend into the Tensleep Canyon-no idea how far we descended, but it was a long,long way then we had to climb out of that canyon and make our way up to Powder Pass at 9666" in elevation. Going into the canyon we were in sunshine, but as we rose up to the pass the clouds thickened and we experienced drizzle and the temp. dropped to 40 degrees at the top. Going down the other side it was incredibly foggy in places. Saw 5 or 6 more deer on the side of the road and fortunately none of them wanted to get to the other side of the road. We made our way down to Buffalo, WY which is at 4500' and found a campground where we are settled in for the evening. There is a heated pool and kids were having a great time, but with temperatures in the low 60's it wasn't very tempting to us. Tomorrow we will push on to Mt. Rushmore, but as it's only about 200 miles it will be another easy day distance wise!