"No, it's for my motorcycle."
"What kind of motorcycle?"
"A Yamaha FZ1."
"I always wanted a motorcycle," he said wistfully, "but my wife said if I ever got one she'd divorce me."
With a perfectly straight face I asked him "Do you miss her?"
He thought it was funny as hell, but his wife, who was standing behind me, thought otherwise. She stepped out from behind me, began smacking him about the head and shoulders, and started scolding him in rapid-fire Chinese. He just kept laughing. I hope he gets his motorcycle.
On our way through the park headed for the northeast entrance we passed black bears, brown bears, antelope, elk, deer, another one of those ostriches, and herds and herds of buffalo. There was even a valley that had so many it was called Buffalo Valley. There were plenty of signs warning people to watch out for animals on the roadway, but the real hazard was the reaction when people saw wildlife. They'd slam on their brakes without warning, or suddenly swerve across the road to the other shoulder and then hit the brakes, after which as often as not the doors would pop open and the vehicle would disgorge it's passengers and then they would start running back and forth across the road. The buffalo might be bigger, but people are definitely more dangerous.
Mostly. We came around one corner to find a mother and calf buffalo wandering around on a bridge. They seemed to want to cross, but were leery of going past the bikes even though we were sitting quietly with the engines stopped. Ray put his side stand down, and as the mother came closer he started to slowly slide off the bike away from her. But since Ray was closer to her than I was, I had a different plan, similar to the tried and true one for dealing with bears: "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you!" I turned the ignition back on, put the bike into gear with the clutch pulled in, and had my thumb hovering over the start button. At the first sign of trouble I'd stab the starter, slip the clutch, and burn rubber to safety while mom was goring Ray and stomping him to death. I don't have to outrun the buffalo........
We were rounding a corner hemmed in with tall snowbanks on our way down from Beartooth Pass when Ray almost hit another one of those strange ostriches. Ray says it was just a huge, long-legged, butt ugly turkey, but I'm positive it was an ostrich. I've almost hit big turkeys before, I even clipped one once with my head (contrary to conventional wisdom, turkeys can fly), this thing didn't look like any of 'em. But I did get it on video, so as soon as I figure out how to post it on Youtube I'll let you be the judge.
We're in the western themed Big Bear Hotel in the western themed Wyoming town of Cody, named after Buffalo Bill Cody. There must be some kind of local ordinance about every building being as tacky as possible, and western museums and shops far outnumber regular stores. But despite the first impressions it's probably the newest hotel we've stayed in during the trip. It comes complete with a shower curtain printed with biblical verses. Built in reading material!
We've crossed one mountain range, one left to go, then a whole lot of prairie.
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