Woke up early on Sunday morning and saw a gorgeous sunrise from the backyard, then looked out through the front window to see all the horses standing near the irrigation canal in what appeared to be some kind of gathering.
Today Lisa and I drove to Thermopolis, a little over an hour away from Cody. It is so nice to not have to worry about traffic or parking or crowds, even on a holiday weekend. We arrived at Hot Springs State Park, got the lay of the land and drove around to the bison pastures where we saw the bison herd happily eating their breakfast. They were a little ways off the road, but we could still see the babies wandering around and the huge imposing bodies of the adult bison. I am not sure how to tell the difference between females and males, assuming that the largest of the adult were the males. The background was of the red rust-colored mountains and further away, snow capped peaks. It was just gorgeous. Lisa was thrilled, having never seen a bison before, her giggles were infectious.
We headed back down to walk along the walkways amongst the hot pools and terraces, the water in the hot spring was a gorgeous shade of green, and the seaweed-like growths in the water waved lazily. We marveled at the gigantic fish in the creek, (possibly trout?), then made our way to the bathhouse.
When Wyoming turned this area into a State Park, it was with the agreement of the local Native American tribes that access to the soothing Hot Springs water would always be free. So you can use the hot spring pool pools (one indoor and one outdoor) for 20 minutes at a time every couple of hours. It was so soothing, much better than any hot tub I’ve ever been in, I think, in part, due to the fact that there are no chemicals, it’s just completely natural. After our 20 minute soak, we were very relaxed and ready to head onto the next part of our exploration. We ended up talking to a couple who had been in the pool at the same time we were, turns out they were three weeks into a trip in their camper from Florida, headed up to Montana for a granddaughter’s college graduation. They were intrigued with Lisa’s stories of her travels, and wanted her contact information so that their other granddaughter, who loves to travel, could connect up with her and learn more about workaway. They told us about all of their travel adventures, including the annual 6-day horse ride across Florida that she has done every year for the last 13 years. I want to be that active when I’m in my mid 70s!
We headed into town, hoping to check out the bookstore/café and the health food grocery that we had heard such good things about, but it being a Sunday the only place that was open that was open, was the Black Bear Café. We weren’t hungry for lunch yet, so we wandered around looking in store windows, both of us were fascinated by the old school taxidermy shop, then we headed down the road to Legend Rock, an area with petroglyphs.
The drive to Legend Rock from Highway 120 felt like we were going into the middle of nowhere, but we eventually found it. It was a short walk from the parking area to the cliffs where the petroglyphs were, and they were a really cool site. Most of them are 275+ years old, but there are few that are thought to be much older than that.
Our next stop was the tiny town of Meeteetse, where we were in search of the local chocolatier. Luckily, his shop was one of two places open in town on Sunday. It seems that most places, at least that aren’t part of a chain, are closed on Sunday in Wyoming’s small towns. There were also two ladies set up with card tables near his shop. One was selling hand loomed potholders and placemats, and the other selling a variety of slices and full pies – strawberry rhubarb, blueberry and fireball apple. I just had to buy a slice of the fireball apple pie!
Inside the chocolatier, we were not disappointed. It’s a beautiful old store, with a wide wooden plank floor and old wood-burning stove on one side and a comfy looking seating area. The temperature controlled cabinets held an amazing assortment of truffles, which, when I ate some later, proved to be absolutely the best truffles I have ever eaten. There were some standard varieties, but I decided to go for the more exotic or local ones, such as the Meeteetse honey, sage, Wyoming Whiskey, huckleberry, mango habanero and cucumber and mint. This is your real deal chocolatier, he studied in both Paris and London, and makes his truffles fresh every day using no preservatives, so told us to make sure that we ate them within five days. We both knew that would not be a problem!
By this time, we were hungry for lunch and luckily, the local bar and grill was open, so we headed there and both ended up ordering the rodeo burger, which was delicious. I had to laugh when on the menu, it said that burgers came with fries, soup or potato salad, and that a side salad cost extra! As seems to be the case in most old school Wyoming establishments, there were mounted heads all over the room, as well as a bear skin and a couple of stuffed wild animals. I also saw a sign for someone who specialized in cleaning animal bones.
The main street of Meeteetse has old school saloons, a Mercantile and other stores with wooden walkways and overhangs. The Cowboy Bar and Café even had a shotgun mounted as a door handle.
Our final stop on the way out of Meeteetse was at Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, an adorable little white church. Since Saint Theresa is my name sake saint and I was raised Catholic, I knew I had to get a picture there.
We headed home as the skies were getting dark, then later, I went out for a walk around the labyrinth, and on my way back ran into the two resident hares on the road. They were very unconcerned as I walked by, just looking at me but not running away. Later in the evening, Erin happened to look out the window and saw the horses next door heading through the irrigation canal and up the hill, so we all ran out to watch them gracefully go through the water. Such an amazing sight.
