This log is current to August 1, 2005

July 2, 2005 in Wapiti, Wyoming
This is the view from our front door looking east, toward the Buffalo Bill reservoir. Cody, Wyoming lies just beyond the canyon.

Don grew up here and is having a terrific time catching up on things after all these years. This place will be good for the souls of two weary travelers.

This area is volcanic and the topography clearly shows where lines of lava flowed in the valley -- and the unique formations created when softer materials washed away over the eons.

The Cody Chamber of Commerce calls this America’s most beautiful 50 miles (between Cody and Yellowstone). It’s great, but they exaggerate.

After all, Don’s old friend Roger Sedam is Mayor of Cody and like some friends and all Mayors, he’s prone to exaggeration.

Photo: This is our neighbor’s house, to the north.

We have no television or Internet access here. So we’ll go to Cody now and then and park in front of the Holiday Inn, where we can tap into that motel’s free wireless Internet. We’ve learned a few things traveling!

Photo: Don’t you hate when you start a home improvement project and have no plan at all? We have yet to learn about this house standing high on a ridge about two miles to our west. It does add character to our new home environment.

Today we’re off to the pig races at the Bear Creek Saloon near Red Lodge, Montana.

July 3, 2005 at Bear Creek, Montana

Pig Butts: We apologize for not getting a better angle on these racing pigs, but we’re lucky to get any shots at all. The entire race lasts only nine seconds!

This was the scene at the Bear Creek Saloon, where every fifteen minutes five pigs race once around a small track, their incentive provided not by their desire for fame but their desire for food (their being pigs and all)!

For those who think it cruel to race farm animals for entertainment, think again. These pigs are not exactly abused.

In fact, they seem quite happy -- even though their nine seconds in pursuit of treats seems to tire them tremendously. Seconds after their mad dash they were sound asleep, piled on top of each other like chord wood. We know people like that.

There is a race every fifteen minutes, but the same pigs never run two races in a row. Eighteen seconds of running in a half hour would be much too strenuous.

The fans, meanwhile, have lots of time to place their bets. Yes, it’s legal here, but only because the “profits” go to a local scholarship fund.

This does not mean the saloon sponsoring the races makes no profit. Most race fans, as they wait fifteen minutes for nine seconds worth of action, pass the time over numerous glasses of Red Lodge Ale.

Betting here is a strange affair. Not only is it not possible to bet on a specific pig, your money may not get you a pig at all. Your bet actually buys you a one-in-five chance to bet on a pig. Even then, the pigs are assigned randomly, meaning that even if you check out the pigs in advance and think you see a winner, betting on that specific pig is strictly a matter of random selection.

So it becomes a matter of luck -- and great joy for those who not only get a pig, but a winner. Winning converts a two dollar bet into twenty five big ones, which translates into several Red Lodge Beers and many new friends.

This lucky gentlemen Ken Boggio of Hardin, Montana, whom we will not name out of respect for his privacy, actually won two of the twelve races.

We had hoped to find the “cow plop” competition, but sadly it has been discontinued. In this event, a large field is marked into 100 squares. Those wishing to bet, “buy” a square. When all squares are sold, a cow is turned into the field and everyone parties and cheers the cow’s intestinal processes until it “plops” a cow pie. The winner is the person who “owns” the square into which the new pie falls.

But these aren’t the only classy things we found to do in the Red Lodge, Montana area. Don got together with two old trumpet-playing friends (Don on the far side) for an impromptu jam session.

July 7, 2005 in Wapiti
Becky has been practicing for her big float trip on the Green River from Wyoming into Colorado and Utah. Photo: Becky with friend Terry from Cody, floating the Shoshoni River near Yellowstone National Park.

July 11, 2002 in Ralston, Wyoming
We visited Heart Mountain, site of the infamous WW2 Japanese internment (“relocation”) camp.

Don has a personal tie to this camp, which he reveals in our latest Q&A entitled Heart Mountain. Please take a moment to view the photos and read the text.

July 14, 2005 in Wapiti, Wyoming
As Don’s back improves, the entire staff and management of the Gypsy Wagon Expedition are enjoying the travel break. Still no Grizzly Bears near the cottage. Our sled dog Cicely is on watch around the clock.

July 17, 2005 in Paradise Valley, Montana
Don, with his brother and his mother, scattered Don’s dad’s ashes in the Yellowstone River today. While the book is closed on a life lived well for more than 86 years, Loren Hardy’s magnificent qualities will guide those who knew him for the rest of their lives.

July 27, 2005 in Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado

Somewhere in this Canyon, Becky is floating on one of four rafts. She, her brother’s family and five others drifted into the northern end of the Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado July 26.

Don’s back has not healed enough to participate in this terrific experience, so he’ll meet the group at the south end of the monument in a few days.

Becky will soon post her own account of the adventure, with photos.

July 28, 2005 in Salt Lake City
While awaiting Becky’s return, Don has been tinkering with this website. You’ll no longer find a “Jungle Hospital” button on the home page. It has been replaced by “Mind and Heart.” This section focuses on our most meaningful experiences thus far (“jungle hospital” included).

Please go to the Next Log, which begins with Becky’s trip report.

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