The otter and the flamingo took off to parts unknown, armed with only their wits and with what they had learned watching 6 seasons of Alone. Destinations: Cody (WY), Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, Dinosaur NM, Redwoods (CA) SP, and Beverly Beach (OR) SP.
After three days of exhausting travel, which included bunking down in a rancher’s back 20 with some sort of large, fuzzy, 4-legged critters that demanded to be fed, F&O arrived strung out and exhausted at the Buffalo Bill State Park Campground, on the Buffalo Bill reservoir, just down from the Buffalo Bill Dam in Cody, WY. Having no idea what to expect, they were pleasantly surprised by their accommodations which were not nearly as rustic as one would imagine a Wyoming campground to be. Flynn had visions of Wyoming being hot (in August), dry, windy, rough, with predominately inhospitable desert type foliage. It was all of those things.
It was glorious. Cody was fabulous. They have a rodeo every single night, with cowboys and bulls and barrel racers and clowns. There were nice shops and restaurants, but not too many and not horribly touristy. There were too many references to Buffalo Bill, and the museums outnumber the gas stations. The residents were friendly, the prices were reasonable, and – get this – not one single human sprawled on the sidewalk doped out, not one single human asked F&O for money, and not one single human appeared to be living in an alcove or hulk vehicle. Flynn does wonder where Cody is hiding its dirty side (wait for it), but even with a deep dive into the outskirts and residential areas, it was free of the usual detritus. Ollie has a theory that they have very strong laws about this kind of thing, and now Flynn wants to live there. There is no downside, except of course 8 months of the year when the weather is troublesome for flamingos and otters. That is okay, Flynn and Ollie will live there in the summer, and fly south for the winter. Done and done.
Turns out there is a downside to Cody. Okay, there are actually two downsides. The first is the politics. But, since Flynn and Ollie are of the live and let live mindset, we will overlook the worst offenders. The second problem is the dirty side: Kanye West. Apparently this freakazoid has decided HE likes Cody, is going to build a company there, and hire ex-convicts. Ah, hell no! F & O cannot imagine anything worse for the image of Cody. This is a problem to be reckoned with. Bullocks.
F&O reconnoitered the residential and non-tourist areas of Cody, scoping future home sites. Low inventory, nicely kept houses, and a couple of shopping zones seemed perfectly inline with a nice town. Cody even has a small farmer’s market where F&O picked up some local honey, sourdough bread, and some produce.
Almost sad, F&O headed out of Cody, climbed into Yellowstone, and then slid on down to Grand Teton National Park where they set up camp for a few days. After all, protein supplies were getting low and rumor has it that the Snake River is a great place for fish. Flamingos and otters love fresh seafood. Ollie, who usually just cracks his prey over the head with a rock, tried his paws at fly-fishing for the first time. Success! Flynn used spinners and had no luck whatsoever. Good thing Ollie shares. Oh yeah, they saw geysers, bubbling basins, some buffalo, some otters (Ollie’s cousins), and lots and lots of motor-homes. There was no wifi, no G, and no bars (of any sort) for four days, so F&O had to entertain themselves at night by playing street hockey with the sourdough bread bought at the farmer’s market in Cody. (Yeah, it was that bad.)
From GTNP, Flynn and Ollie headed south to Green River and beyond. Next post folks, but in the meantime, here are some cool pictures for you to oogle over.
Jackson Lake & Tetons 
South Pass City Gambling 
Flaming Gorge , WY & UT 
one of a million times…. 
On the hot hike @ Big Horn NF 
Made it to Big Horn River … almost 
Cookie making beans & biscuts 
Bear! He’s not nice.
Flynn would love to type your ear off about some of the humans he and Ollie have met, as well as all the adventures they have already had, but he fears you would be bored stiff. Medicine Wheel, Atlantic City, Yellowstone, the Slippery Otter, and alpacas to name just a few – in a mere 10 days. Tomorrow there be dinosaurs!
Fin
Flynn
What fun.