Day 67 Mile 920-940

We’re up early for our 9 am river trip from River Runners! This is the first time mom has done anything like this before and she is all nervous and wants to switch to the shorter trip but I talk her into the long one. We get our life jackets and hop on the bus that takes up back up Route 20. Our trip will take us down through the Shoshone Canyon. The rickety old bus is from 1983 and the vibrations tickle my feet through the floor boards. We get to the put in spot and I lift up the front end of our boat and head on down to the water. They ask who wants to be in front and I raise my hand up so fast that no one even stood a chance! I love river rafting and have been down the stilliguamish river back in Arlington probably 30 times so I was the best choice to be up front anyways ;-) The water was low already because it had been such a dry summer so it was not bumpy, but it was just perfect for mom and we got wet a few times and I even fell out once. Up front next to us were two travelers from Denmark, Andreas and Freja. Andreas had been here in Cody working for the river runner company for the past month and Freja his girlfriend had just joined him and now he had quit the job and was starting his exploration and travels. They were going to head out to the northwest and then down to San Francisco and were asking for the best spots to see. After the trip I sat down with them and planned out a wonderful itinerary for them as I have been up and down the West Coast many times. Vancouver, San Juan Islands, Pike Place Market, Olympic Rain Forest, Oregon Coast, Red Wood Forest, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, then into San Fransisco. (I have since learned that they stopped and spent three days visiting with my parents on the farm in Arlington and had a wonderful time and were following the itinerary we had put together. They have become close family friends, and I look forward to visiting them next time I hop the pond :-) The raft ride was great... I really dug it in when the guide said to paddle and we could really move! The scenery along the river was spectacular and visiting with Andreas and Freja was a delight. After we disembarked form our raft we all had a picnic lunch together by the bus. Once we returned to town we headed over to the rodeo grounds to see if we could still buy tickets and we got some real good ones up close. We had a few hours before the rodeo started adn we went back to the museum and explored the cowboy and Native American history presented there. The art gallery was spectacular and is one of the best expositions of American art work. What a time we had at the Rodeo! The whole show opened in prayer and the national anthem as cowgirls presented all the various flags from American History. The rodeo Clown was very talented and did all sorts of gymnastics and they made fun of Democrats and especially Hillary Clinton. Great Reverence was paid to the great state of Texas and there was almost zero diversity of ethnicity or culture in the show or in the audience. This is Cowboy Country! There were bull riders, calf ropers, gun fighters, lasso tricks, horse races, and calf wrestling. Afterwards we went back to the Geyser Restaurant for the second night in a row. We headed back to our hotel at the other end of town and met a family in the room next to ours and visited for a while before going in to watch the fireworks from other cities on the TV and thought that I saw the same park in Marina Del Rey from which I watched the Fireworks last year with Sheava and her mom. Then the fireworks started in Cody and we all went out to the street to watch them go off on the other side of town. A beautiful display and such a full Western Cody 4th of July!