Day Six - Wall (SD) to Cody (WY)

A day that was winged just a bit. Sometimes those are the best ones. Sometimes not. This one worked out pretty well.

I did have a plan, to go to the Devil's Tower National Monument and then to Yellowstone National Park. One out of two isn't bad. It turns out that Wyoming is a pretty windy (as in twisty) state in places. More on that later.

We got up and started in a timely fashion. I had spent a good hour or so getting the blog post written - writing it in a text document in the room before heading to the office to upload it and the photos. The main manager was there and while I was in the lobby, she called her IT people to take care of making the internet work throughout her property! Good for her. A little late for me, but oh well.

Mom had gotten up and gotten dressed and started to pack by the time I got back. I had made her some coffee, and we decided to also partake in the provided continental breakfast. I am glad we did, as I got to speak with some more of the other guests. I like speaking to people in passing. Breakfast was not all that exciting - we both had some applesauce and a piece or two of doughnut - not a great doughnut, though. I took a picture of mom that makes me very sad - it will never see the light of day - neither here nor on Facebook - at least until mom passes.

On that note, I would like to say that I miss my autonomous mom. Not that she is completely unable to make decisions or to do things for herself. But she doesn't make decisions easily. And I feel she is needing more help in basic decisions - like whether or not to take a sweater. Jumping ahead a bit, I asked her to make a suggestion or two from a list of dinner options and she fought the entire notion. I don't know if that was solicitousness, the desire not to be "wrong," or just plain fear of making a decision. It makes me sad.

We got on the road, stopped for gas in Rapid City - where I cleaned a few days worth of bugs off of the car's windshields. First stop of the day, as planned, was Devil's Tower. It was only a couple of hours drive and was well worth the visit! The park ranger at the gate was great! I mentioned that mom was looking for a pit-stop and she suggested an alternate set of restrooms that were rarely used. Good thing, because the ones at the visitor's center were down about 30 steps. Mom would have hated that, big time! I would have liked to have done more walking - maybe hiked up to where I could have touched it, but that didn't happen. On these sorts of stops, I am torn between sticking mom on a bench somewhere and doing what I would do alone, or doing what mom can do with her and moving on. The latter usually wins. We bought a couple of postcards, stared at the pair of climbers making an ascent and then got back in the car and headed off.

Having put Yellowstone into the GPS, I knew that it was a long way away - time-wise. So we weren't going to accomplish two adventures in one day. But I didn't have a clue where we were stopping or what the options were. So we drove a little way and stopped for lunch in Gillette, WY at a Village Inn. I didn't realize it was a chain, otherwise I might have looked further. But it was a decent place. Kind of like a Denny's or a Perkin's. Mom and I shared a sausage crepe (Sarah the server's suggestion). It was pretty good! And the hash browns were great. I wish I could make hash browns like that. I wonder what their secret is. Hmm... Later mom and I shared a piece of peanut butter pie! It was pretty good (apparently Sarah's favorite).

I didn't really focus on the food, though. I was trying to plan our final resting place - for the night, people! With a combination of my phone, computer, GPS and Atlas, I ended up deciding to wing it and drive to Cody, WY and hope for decent, not too expensive accommodations. The one Choice property in town - a Comfort Inn - was fully booked. Oh well. I am sure we will eventually stop somewhere else and get points and stuff.

The drive was boring for the first bit - a lot of freeway - Route 90. Eventually, about 9 miles shy of the Montana Border, we got off the Freeway and got onto Route 14. We had been eying some snow covered mountains to the West for quite a while. Mom kept hoping that we wouldn't have to cross them. Hahaha! Of course we would have to! Before we did that, though, mom was super worried (she gets that way sometimes - daily) about the possibility that I might run out of sunflower seeds. So when we stopped for gas, I also got two bags of sunflower seeds. There were about 8 varieties there - the most I have seen in a long while and I was tempted by a few of them. I opted for regular and dill flavored. We shall see if they are any good. Or just sticky, like the flavored ones I tried a long while ago. I don't like sticky too much.

The drive to Cody was half just about the twistiest roads I have been on in a long while and half the straightest roads I have been on in a long while. The windy ones took us up into the mountains and a national forest - I will, perhaps remember which one sometime soon...I think the highest we got was 9000 feet. Snow was still present up there. Mom didn't recall having seen high dessert before. I think we actually saw a few moose grazing. Very pretty - amazing views! The drive down the other side got mom a bit nervous. I thought it was fun.

The next bit was the straight bit. I swear we had at least 5 miles in a row without so much as a slight swerve in the road! Still, I like the the scenery up there. Reminds me of the Southwest, actually. But higher.

We eventually made it to Cody. I stopped at the Comfort Inn, thinking I would ask them if they could squeeze us in somewhere, but someone else happened to be asking just as I got there and that was definitely a no go. So I wandered to the Hilton next door - they also were filled, as were the Cabins in the property next door - where I think Mark and I stayed back in 1997 when we stopped in Cody. But a gentleman there suggested the Budget Host down the street. Good thing he did. Very nice place - the owners were from Salem Mass and the desk clerk was a nice guy, I am guessing from Wyoming. The internet is strong, the room pleasant, beds comfortable. All in all, a lucky find!

Our dinner location was hesitantly put forwaed by mom - Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant. It was only a block away, but I drove it anyway. We had a great time! I spoke a little Chinese, we had some crab puffs - mom asked me six times if they had any crab in them (no, not really very much at all) and a happy family entree to share - chicken, shrimp, scallops, fake crab and lots of veggies! We had a nice chat with the owner, Jennifer who had been in the US for 20 years and has learned most of her English at the restaurant. She gave mom a hug as we left. Mom was curious why people seem to want to hug her (other people that is, not me...).

After dinner, I got mom settled and took a little walkabout in Cody. The main drag is less than a mile long - but there was a lot there. No place called out to me, so I just walked out and back. It felt good to get some exercise! Back in the room, mom and I watched Dead Reckoning starring Humphrey Bogart on TCM. Fun stuff!

All in all a good day.

Wow!

Yum

Wow

Comfortable!

Dinner