Cody Parade

This year for the Independence Day Holiday we went to Cody. We were invited as Patriot Guard Riders to participate in the Cody Parade on Friday and Saturday. We escorted the Grand Marshall's of the parade.

Gary and I left Hardin Thursday evening as we had to be lined up for the parade at 8:30 am. It was nice to be able to visit the Grandma's on Thursday night. We met them at the Elkhorn for dinner, then later we had a nightcap at the Cowboy. We outran a storm on the way to Meeteetse from Billings. There were times when we thought we would get caught, but we made it. Even though it was a short visit, it still was good.

In Cody we stayed at the KOA, our first night was in a cabin and our second in our tent. Because we aren't having a real summer, just a cold rainy one we wanted to be dry. Normally I would pack everything needed for sleeping in a KOA cabin and a tent, but we are very limited on what we can back on the bike. We were able to pack the tent and the air mattress in the trunk along with our rain gear. We had to leave our leathers at home, just didn't have room. I couldn't pack the sleeping bags, so we just packed a couple sheets and sweats to sleep in. We figured that would keep us warm enough. Did I mention that this has been a cold summer.

Friday morning we left Meeteetse early so that we could stop in Cody and get a quick bite to eat. We stopped at McDonald's and each at a cinnamelt and I had a cup of hot coffee. It was a chilly ride from Meeteetse to Cody that morning. It was only 55 degrees when we left. We put on our rain coats to keep warm. We had to meander around Cody to get to our line up spot as the main streets were closed in Cody. We had to line up by the hospital. Good thing that we kind of know the back streets to Cody. We met up with the other Patriot Guard Riders. Most were from Wyoming, but there were others from Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Iowa. It was a bit cloudy and not too hot for the parade. On Friday we escorted the parents of PFC Chance Phelps who was killed in Iraq a few years ago. He was from Dubois and the movie "Taking Chance" is based on his final homecoming. The float from the VFW also honored all the military men who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan from Wyoming.

We met and visited with the parents, receiving hugs from them. It is very humbling to realized that their son is the same age as Jason and how very blessed we are that Robert came home in the same state that he left. I did tell Robert that I expected the Army to return my son in the same condition that I gave them. They listened well to me. We made our way down the parade route. Since we were at the very beginning of the parade, we were able to see the parade.

The VFW gave us Patriot Guard Riders a free lunch, so we ate there. They announced at 12:30 there was going to be a wreath laying ceremony at the Veteran's Park and we were invited to go. We decided why not had nothing better to do. First we checked into the KOA and unloaded our stuff. By this time the clouds had darkened up a bit and was starting to rumble. We made our way to the Veteran's Park for the ceremony. As we were standing there, this woman just walked up to us and introduced herself at Bobbi Barasso. She talked to us for a while and then we told her that we didn't live here we are from Montana. She didn't stay long after that, she moved on to talk to potential voters. We also met Senator Barasso and Representative Cynthia Lummis. They were very nice and welcomed us to Wyoming when they found out we are from Montana.

Just before the thing started it began to rain. It was a nice ceremony and the good thing about the rain was that it kept all the politicians from talking long, they had to make it short. Once they laid the wreath on the memorial it really started to rain. We made our way back to the cabin and let me tell you, raindrops hurt. Later in the evening there was a street dance in front of the Irma, but they charged you to get in as it was a fundraiser for something. We stayed and listened to the band for a bit. They were pretty good and played a mix of country and rock music.

It rain pretty much off and on the whole day so we didn't get out much. We were so glad that we got a cabin for that night and prayed that Saturday night would be nicer. It was cold but once we got up and moved around we warmed up.

Saturday morning we met some of the Patriot Guard Riders at Our Place for breakfast, it was a cool ride into town. Not very many were there, but we ate with the Idaho bunch as they were staying at the KOA too and the man from Cody who arranged it all. The sun was shining so that was a good sign. After breakfast we went back to KOA to check out of our cabin and set up our tent,which took about 10 minutes. Made our way to the parade line up.

There were more people in town on Saturday, we had the same amount of riders for the parade but there were a couple different ones. The sun was shining, it was turning out to be a real nice day, no clouds. After the parade Gary made his way down some of the side streets to get closer parking in town. You can park a bike just about anywhere, so he found a good parking spot next to the park. We walked through the vendor tents, didn't buy anything because we don't have space for anything. Most of the stuff is the same thing you see all the time at parades and carnivals.

We took a ride up the North Fork, but only to the end of the lake. Just before leaving town we saw a real bad accident. A SUV type vehicle had hit a deer and the deer was laying on the hood of the SUV and the windshield was shattered. This was right in front of the Health Center. The passenger in the SUV did have some cuts on her face from the glass. They must have been going pretty fast to hit that deer that hard. We did stop at the Buffalo Bill Dam and Visitor Center. There was a lady at the parking lot with her golf cart and gave us a ride to the Visitor Center, that was nice. We strolled around and looked at stuff. Took some photos. Went back to town and had an ice cream at the DQ. Told Gary to watch out for the suicidal deer. Sitting there the dark clouds rolled in. Made our way back to the KOA and waited for rain, but it didn't come. Thank goodness. We took advantage of the hot tub and pool, felt real good. We spent the rest of the day relaxing.

We skipped the fireworks, didn't want to deal with all the traffic on the bike in the dark, besides we didn't have any chairs to sit on. It was a cold night and we about froze, so glad that in the morning the sun was shining and warmed things up fast. We ate breakfast at the KOA, all you can eat pancakes for $2. After breakfast we took down the tent and got it put back into it's bag, only took two tries. Repacked our bag, which didn't take long.

Gary did fold the air mattress different, it was flatter but wouldn't fit into it's bag. We had more room this way. We got home about noon, stopped at McDonald's to let Jennifer know we are back. She gave us the good news that she doesn't have to open anymore but she will be working more evenings. She is happy, doesn't have to wake up at 4:00 am anymore.

We left the air mattress and tent in the bike as we will be using it this weekend again. We had a good time and I even manage to take a couple videos in the parade while on the back of the bike. Will post those later when I get them all edited and sorted.