Southfork Beauty and Final Days in Cody

What I’ve been doing since I last posted… 

There have been many more gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. One morning, I got up early to hike to the top of TAC Hill to watch the sunrise, and was rewarded with an absolutely stunning show.  

I’ve been going to more live music. One time there was a duo playing lots of country and rock – Tom Dooley, Proud Mary were sure of my favorites. A family group came in that they knew and the daughter got up and sang a few songs including a fantastic rendition of Miranda Lambert’s Mama’s Broken Heart. I also heard a jazz trio. Not usually music I listen to, but I really liked it especially when they played a few soft rock songs like Just the Two of Us and Just the Way You Are. 

We’ve had some snow on and off. One morning I went to a great coffee shop with a sweet doggie who sat near me. I had fire in the fireplace a couple times on some of the cold nights, which was fantastic. I went for a drive to Red Lodge, where I had planned to walk around for a while, but it was so cold that I spent most of the time indoors. I checked out the Carnegie Library and had a delicious Brazilian stew for lunch at Wild Table. After that I drove out to where the road was closed for the winter and enjoyed the views. 

One morning, I woke up really early and happened to catch the moon setting, and then later a shooting star! One day it was really warm, I walked around town at 6pm in a T-shirt, then, the next morning I got up and it was snowing! 

I also spent time with the horses. 

I went to my last picking at Rawhide Coffee and said goodbye to all my friends there. Right after that, I went to the No Kings protest they had in Cody which was a lot more well attended than I expected. There must have been 150 people there with some great signs. It was really impressive. I talked to some really cool people, including a woman from North Carolina who was visiting her daughter and like me was happily surprised to see a No King’s protest there. I’d say about half the people who drove by reacted to the protest – 3/4ths or more were very positive, honking their horns, giving thumbs up and clapping and about a quarter gave thumbs down or used a different finger. But everybody was very kind and respectful. 

Later that day I headed out to a ranch on South Fork Road called the Lazy DW. I was invited there by the owners, Donna and Wally, who are friends of the retreat center owners. I think Wally’s on the board of directors. They have a little in-law type unit they call the annex where I was able to stay for a couple days. The views were just incredible – those on the drive out and  from my front door. One of Wally’s 3 libraries is in a room off the annex. It’s exactly what you think of when you envision an old school kind of personal library, leather chairs, comfy couches, artwork, floor to ceiling bookshelves. Artifacts from Wally’s career as an assistant attorney general in the land use department in Washington DC back in the 70s and 80s. It was just such a fantastic spot to sit in in the evenings and read. I read a lot of Annie Proulx while I was there. Donna collects bricks – she has over 5000! I got to explore and enjoy the property. They are right on the South Fork of the Shoshone River, such a fantastic spot.

Algot their standard poodle was very sweet. I walked the labyrinth that Donna designed and laid out several times. I also got out for a short hike in the Washaki wilderness (with bear spray. It’s a little disconcerting reading the instructions on the bear spray canister that tells you to wait until the bear is about 3 or 4 seconds away from you before spraying them!) Luckily, I didn’t see any bears, though I did see evidence of bears having been there. 

The sunrises and sunsets were amazing. 

I checked out  the one room schoolhouse and the local cemetery nearby that Donna told me about. The cemetery is so amazing. You wouldn’t know it was there as it blends into the wilderness. It’s nothing like the usual manicured cemetery, headstones are in whatever way people want them. The drive out to the end of Southfork road is just gorgeous. 

We had more snow when I returned. I fed the horses carrots, and saw Earl, the owner of the horses, walking a couple of them in his four wheeler. 

I went out to Heart Mountain Museum. I hadn’t been there since my 1st trip to Cody. It was just as touching and infuriating as that first time, maybe even more so with the current debate about birthright citizenship. I found a book at TAC that gave more background to the Japanese incarceration during WWII, all the events leading up to it and what people endured at Heart Mountain and other concentration camps. It is so sad to see what our government is doing right now after learning about politicians like Norm Mineta and Alan Simpson, two men from very different backgrounds who worked together to combat racism and discrimination.

Wednesday was my final live music night. The performer was a guy originally from Eastern Oklahoma. He and his wife had been living in Texas, where she was from, and after a visit to Cody decided that was where they wanted to be. They’ve been here about 6 months, he’s getting into the live music scene.

Yesterday I went for a walk around the labyrinth in the full moon then later drove to Meeteetse to hear a talk on mail-order brides by a local historian. Women from the East Coast and as far away as Russia came to marry lonely cowboys. The cowboys had their own association called the ‘Grey Bulls’, because 100s of men were looking for women in the early 1900s when there were more than 10 men for every one woman here. Of course, I had to stop at the Meeteetse chocolatier. He was almost sold out, so I was glad I was able to get some to take home with me. 

I’ve been enjoying my last day here. It snowed a little bit last night, and some of it stuck on my car and the ground. This morning it’s just been lightly snowing. It’s bittersweet, as always, going home.