Cody to Cooke City, WY

Last night, we celebrated Aunt Barbara and Shelley’s bear sighting at Yellowstone by dining on a lovely salmon dinner as they shared stories of animal encounters throughout the park. Brian and I enjoyed a needed day of recovery.

After dinner, around the campsite, we listened to "adult" ghost stories as our RV neighbors Joe and Wilda told how gusty winds toppled trailers on their ride down from Cheyenne, WY. Another fellow we met, Hardy, scared us by advising bear repellant for our upcoming trip through Yellowstone. Brian planned to offer a charging bear, for diversion, a Power Bar, Iron Man Bar, Clif Bar, Boulder Bar or energy mix. Great, the bear would be better fueled to catch him!

Wrestling with imaginary demons as we tried to sleep, I crawled under the covers for protection as the wind howled and Shelley rustled animals by the tent. Only Brian’s fears were well founded as steep hills and winds actually greeted him when he awoke. 

Leaving Cody, Aunt Barbara called her husband, Uncle Michael at work in the heart of New York City surrounded by skyscrapers. We contrasted our environs…not a soul did we see for miles as we drove thru hills and trees and a huge blue sky.

Cellular service was non-existant so Shelley drove ahead in a rental car to check on Brian, who was experiencing a rough day of hills and more hills.   This was to be his worst day, yet, as the hills continued throughout the day. To compound the rough terrain, the road was being chipped (graveled) and at one construction delay, a member of the road crew said he’d seen Brian, who had cursed the conditions. Thinking this an exaggeration, as my gentle husband would never publicly share a malicious word, I was just relieved he was seen upright on his bicycle.

We met up with Brian a few moments later, who confirmed his verbal disapproval of the road conditions. We proceeded to the adorable town of Cooke City where we found accommodations. Aunt Barbara, Shelley and I hung out on the patio of the Bear Tooth Cafe, awaiting our hero who had been riding for approximately 10 hours.

Worrying and feeling a bit guilty for not personally checking on him, I resorted to stopping passing cars, asking if they’d seen a cyclist. Yes, some had seen him, but couldn’t recollect where or when. Finally, we jumped in the search car and found him about 2 miles from town. As he slunked off the bike, he wanted food, so we again went Beat Tooth Café were we dined on smoked trout and Moose Drool Beer from a micro-brewery in Missoula.