Cody, Wyoming; not their first rodeo

We visited two museums in Cody; the first was in the historic downtown area and called The Dug up Gun Museum.The visit was suggested to us by a cowboy re-enactor. The cases are filled with guns, shrapnel, shell casings, buttons and badges all found buried around the U.S. and Europe. The guns date back to before the Revolutionary War. We met the owner/collector Hans Kurth and listened to his life-long passion and fascination with the history behind each discovery. He imagines and tries to research the back story of each gun owner, military or civilian.

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is five museums in one. We did not make a whole day of it. We spent time in two of the sections. First, the Buffalo Bill Museum: it gives a complete history of the life of Bill Cody with remarkable memorabilia. This led us to the Draper Natural History Museum: which covers wildlife and fauna from below 5,000 feet to Alpine life over 10,000 feet.We had lunch then walked out of town and up a moderate hill to Beck Lake and Markham Reservoir. There was a paved trail around the city reservoir providing us with views of several mountain ranges, a neat mountain bike trail and of course the inviting reservoir on such a hot day.We ended our day in true western style with the Cody Rodeo. We were seated above the pens and watched the handlers and riders ready themselves and the livestock for each event. We watched cowboys and cowgirls compete on bucking broncos and steer, single and pairs calf roping and barrel racing. There was a rodeo clown who told corny jokes and encouraged the audience to cheer on the contestants. The rodeo offered up several hours of skills, thrills and sheer entertainment. The crowd was composed of local supporters as well as tourists from around the world. We all cheered the Wild West Wyoming Rodeo.