The drive from Rawlins to Cody was pretty nice, if long. After finishing with the Frontier Prison and Carbon County Museum, I headed up Highway 287. There are tons of antelope just standing alongside the highway which freaks me out. I mean, sure, you'll see deer in the Midwest and East, but usually only at twilight or early morning hours. You don't just see a deer standing alongside the highway in the middle of summer. Anyhoo, these are photos I took while heading to Cody. They would've turned out better if not for the 10 pounds of bug guts stuck to the windshield.

After reaching Cody yesterday, I unpacked then headed into town to do some exploring. Sheridan Avenue is the main street and runs the entire length of the town. You can definitely tell it's a tourist spot b/c the streets are littered with things to stop and see plus there's the biggest Wal-Mart I've ever seen in town. It's like it's own small town with the parking lot full of RVs and campers.

Looking for some local flavor, I drove to a couple bars but they were all closed. That's when I realized that the rodeo was happening at the time so I went to the first bar that I saw a bunch of pickups parked outside and headed on in.

Bottles of Michelob Light for $1.50 each plus you can smoke in the bar. There was a karaoke machine and people were going up one after the other to sing. I started chatting with a couple locals - one fella named Bernie was a bona fide dinosaur hunter. He was pretty well-versed and pretty dirty so I believed his stories of quests for dinosaur bones. His friend Ric searches for UFOs. Yes, unidentified flying objects. He didn't strike me as a nutjob - more like those libertarians you come across every now and then. I couldn't have asked for a more colorful couple of fellas to chat with my first night in town. I had a lot of fun talking to them.

The next day I got up early to snag a good spot for the parade which happens every day July 2, 3 and 4th. Everyone I've met has been pretty nice, although you definitely feel like an outsider while they all seem like best friends (even the mayor is on a first-name basis with everyone).