Mesas, Mountains, Meals, and Meeteetse, Part 3 - Sat., June 10, 2017

Continued from Parts 1 and 2...

Back in the car, we headed south to Cody, Wyoming. As we came down the hill into Cody from the north, we saw three large river rafts coming down the raging river, pregnant with snow melt and spring run-off from the Rockies. I'm thinking to myself: "These are crazy people; first, the water has got to be incredibly cold; second, there is a lot of debris in the water which could puncture a raft or, worse, knock it over, and third, what if someone fell out? Even if they were tethered to the boat, there's no telling what's lying in wait under that water (boulders, snags?)." That looked like an incredibly dangerous sport.

Our Volksmarch tomorrow will be in Cody, Wyoming. We, however, will be staying in a motel 30 miles south in the tiny town of Meeteetse, Wyoming. The reason for this is that Cody's hotels and motels are horribly over-priced. Besides, I feel an affinity for Meeteetse. 

Bob and I traveled through there on our way to Thermopolis, Wyoming, back in 2012. Two things I knew I liked about Meeteetse: (1) A master chocolatier has a shop in town; (2) Black-footed ferrets live nearby. 

As we were looking for the Oasis Motel, we turned left just a 1/2 block too soon. As it turns out, we had to drive by a historic marker about Amelia Earhart. I never knew she planned to build a summer home in Meeteetse. Interesting.

We checked in to our rooms which were very clean and roomy, and then Susan and I went to explore State Street in downtown Meeteetse. Here's photos of the motel and my room.

Oasis Motel and RV Park

Meeteetse Chocolatier was our first stop. OMG, the choices were excellent. This gourmet chocolate business was started by saddle bronc rider Tim Kellogg as a way to make money to buy a new saddle. Kellogg continues to make every single item in his store resulting in small batches with unusual flavors; for example, I bought three truffles: sarsaparilla, coconut, and whiskey flavors. 

Chocolate display case

Sarsaparilla, whiskey and coconut truffles
and a sage-flavored brownie

We learned 60 degrees is the perfect temperature at which to store chocolate. The flavors in my truffle are delicate and just melt on mytongue. I also bought a sage brownie which the salesperson said was her favorite flavor. I tried it and didn't care for it. Susan scored big time. She bought Dark Chocolate Bark with sea salt and roasted pumpkin seeds. That was sooooo good.

Susan dropped off some postcards at the post office. On the main corner in town we saw the Meeteetse Museum and decided to go in. The usual history of the town was included, but what I enjoyed was the room detailing the life of the rare black-footed ferrets and the art and animal displays. 

Beautiful saddle display

There was a whole room dedicated to black-footed ferrets, The ferrets were on the verge of extinction and are being brought back due to intense efforts by wildlife experts who locate and study them. Over the years through captive breeding and repopulation programs, the black-footed ferret has been brought back from the brink. Meeteetse has played a key role. It is a fact that all living ferrets are descended from those originally captured on Pitchfork Ranch, allowing the town to claim that black-footed ferrets are "MADE IN MEETEETSE." The two photos below were taken from a video about ferrets in Meeteetse Museum.

Black-footed ferret

A whole room was dedicated to the art of  Olive Fell...

Good cards for RVers!

While scoping out places to eat dinner, we saw this poster downtown. 

And this door handle on a restaurant...

Here's the only elk we saw (mural).

We spent the rest of our time just goofing off around town. Darren had stayed back in the motel room for some computer and personal time.

Me and my buddy, Baloo.

Jailbird Susan begging to be let loose

Gotta love a town that has a ferret park!

Basically says the town was
founded in 1879

Ferret sculpture

After exploring downtown, we headed back to the motel. If you remember, I won a basket of eclipse goodies in the silent auction at the convention. Tonight Susan and Darren are coming to my room and we're having a little eclipse party picnic! The main things we added were cheese and another kind of crackers.

I've laid almost everything from the gift basket out on the table so you can see what there is: Eclipse gum, two bottles of wine (Morning Star and Moon Shadow), two bottles of Super Nova ale, Cheddar Rocket Crackers, Starburst candy, two plastic wine glasses with white stars on them, Shooting Star Cookies (sugar cookies coated in chocolate with pop rocks in the chocolate), gold star napkins, a gold star backpack, an eclipse walking weekend T-shirt, a pair of men's rocket man socks, a star scarf, and a candleholder with an L.E.D. light. 

From the silent auction eclipse basket of goodies

Me modeling the scarf and eclipse weekend T-shirt

Pretty good cookies!

Susan, Darren and I enjoying our indoor eclipse-nic

After Susan and Darren retreated to their room, I went out in the late afternoon light and took some more photos.

Sculpture in front of Oasis Motel

The swollen Greybull River flowing next to the motel

Greybull River

Cabins at the Oasis Motel

Striking evening sky

Laundry room and lending library at the Oasis

We slept like babies after that full day of adventure! Whew. Good night. I'm tired! Three blogs for one day...it was that good.