Mmmm, Buffalo.

Day 6: Yellowstone National Park, WY to Jackson Hole, WY, via Cody, WY and Grand Teton National Park. Trip Total 2,067 miles.

We survive another night in the tent, and are up early in the cold, packing up camp and trying to cram everything back in the car.

I’ve got sunburned arms and forehead, Katie is fine, but my brother is worse. Or at least he's whingeing more. The plan for today is to head out of the east exit of the park and go to Cody (about an hour outside the park), then head back into Yellowstone then out the South entrance and into Grand Teton National Park. Depending on how the day goes, we may camp in the park, or given we’ve now been in a tent for 4 nights straight and Katie really wants a bath, we may make it down to Jackson Hole.

Again, we refuse to stop for buffalo, but just before we get to the park exit, there are a couple of moose grazing by the road.

We stop and take a few pictures, until they run off across the river, then we continue on towards Cody. The mountains get more rugged, and in one valley we drive through there is what looks like a Bofors gun up on a hillside. My brother doesn’t believe me when I tell him that’s most likely used to trigger avalanches in the valley, as is common practice in a number of areas in the Rockies. Either that or it’s just for display. Or hunting buffalo.

The drive to Cody is scenic, crossing a dam, going through a couple of tunnels (Katie loves going through tunnels), through valleys, with the occasional unusual piece of architecture:

Then into the historic town in Cody, whish is basically a bunch of decaying wagons, and a number of period buildings. Some are famous (like a Hole In The Wall Gang hideout), some with bullet holes, which have been relocated there from the surrounding areas to be preserved. Plus the obligatory pile of antlers.

From there we head a little deeper into Cody, and find a Super Wal-Mart. Still no cell phone signal, but they have a Super Wal-Mart. My brother gets excited because he finds some cheap T-Shirts & underwear, and goes off to find some after-sun for the sunburn.

We grab a Subway for lunch, and meet back at the car. The first thing my brother does is address his sunburn – pulling out this big jar of moisturizer. Instantly from the back seat we get “That’s a girls one! It’s got a purple lid and smells nice, so that means it’s for girls!” All illusions of a macho camping trip in bear country fly out the window. Things get worse about half an hour later, as we are driving back towards Yellowstone: My arms are hurting a little, so I decide to use a little moisturizer as a precaution. At the same time, my brother decides to apply a 3rd, or is it 4th, layer of moisturizer to his arms and face. And while this is happening Elton John comes on the radio, and my brother comments this would be a very bad time to be pulled over for speeding.

Moving on rapidly, back into Yellowstone and the buffalo, drive straight through and out the south exit, into the Tetons. The weather is a little too hazy, not a particularly good day for taking photographs of distant mountain ranges, but we make numerous stops anyway. Our first stop somewhat limits our access to the lake:

A bit further south and the road runs along the edge of the lake. It’s still too hazy but we take some pictures anyway.

A little further south and we see a bunch of cars stopped by the road, so we pull over to see if it’s another bear. It’s not:

The cell phone signal finally returns, as we keep heading south, we stop every few miles, trying to get more pictures as we pass through.

Then late in the day, we pull into Jackson Hole, and find a room at the Virginian Inn – a place I stayed on my first visit to Yellowstone seventeen years earlier. It hadn’t changed much, possibly busier due to the fact they were hosting a gun show that weekend.

By this point we are all hungry, and after several days surrounded by big animals I’m desperately craving a mixed game grill, so look for the meatiest looking place to take my veggie brother, who is still moisturizing every 30 minutes. We end up in the Silver Dollar Grill, which doesn’t have a mixed game grill, but I eventually choose the buffalo over the elk. My brother has some kind of fish, and Katie gets adventurous and goes for Mac & Cheese.

After a good dinner, we take a look around town – past the stacks of antlers in the town square, and most of the shops are still open. For a mere $19,500 you can purchase a stuffed grizzly bear. For a much more reasonable $699, you can purchase a stuffed rabbit, wearing a hat and paddling an 18 inch long wooden canoe. For $599 you can get a stuffed hare wearing a Denver Bronco’s football helmet. I am not joking. Perfect for any mantelpiece. And just about every animal (or just their heads) in between is available for a price. My brother questions who on earth would want these in their house. I tend to agree. Unless it’s a giraffe head/neck, that would be kinda entertaining with a high enough ceiling. We go in more tourist-trap shops selling overpriced souvenirs, local artwork and stuffed animals, and eventually head back to the motel, where Katie goes off for half an hour for the bath she’d been asking for all day.

Then after my brother had moisturized again, off to bed, a real bed for the first time in five nights. Wasn’t as comfortable as my sleeping bag.