Greetings from Cody, Wyoming!

I arrived last night at about 5:30 pm, just in time to check into my hotel (the historic Irma Hotel) and watch the Cody Gunfighters gunfight in the street in front of the hotel. Honestly, the gunfight was a little lame, but fun at the same time. My room is AWESOME! I love my room. I have a room in the historic section of the hotel, the Irma Suite. It has a little sitting room and separate bedroom that looks out over Sheridan Avenue. For the most part, traffic noise isn't a problem, though there are tons of motorcyclists in town, they're parked on the street below my window, and they seem to like to leave late in the evening, revving their engines repeatedly before departing. That's not fun.

I got up early this morning (5am), had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then drove about 3 1/2 hours to Little Big Horn Battlefield. It was an interesting place. I haven't read a lot about the battle, didn't know much about the battlefield, so I didnt have much of a frame of reference before going. And really, all I remember about it from my high school history class is that this is where George Custer met his end. Pretty sad, huh? So, when I arrived, I bought a ticket for a guided bus tour. It was pretty interesting, led by a Crow Indian woman. After the tour, I listened to a ranger talk about the battle. The ranger was also a Crow Indian woman, and she got very emotional while giving the talk, even crying at the end when she talked about the few 7th Cavalry survivors in Reno's command.

They don't allow people to walk the battlefield like they do at Gettysburg. There are a few trails, and I walked along one on the Reno-Benteen battlefield (where the battle began) that followed along some of the entrenchments. I also saw the monument on top of Last Stand Hill which sits on top of the mass grave containing the remains of approximately 250 soldiers, maybe including some of Custer. It turns out, the initial burial party didn't bury the bodies very well, and when the army returned a year later, the bodies had all resurfaced and the remains scattered all over by animals. A very small bit of Custer's remains were taken to West Point, NY for burial, so it's likely that Custer's still at Little Big Horn.

I'm going back to Yellowstone tomorrow, most likely via the Chief Joseph Highway, through Cooke City and the Northeast Entrance. On Friday morning, I have an interview for the winter season. I've applied for the Senior Guest Services Agent position at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. For the first time in a long time, I'm having fun in my job. Sure, occasionally the guests can be a little bit annoying, but for the most part, it's a lot of fun. Wish me luck.