Today we embarked on the last leg of our journey before Yellowstone National Park. We stopped to make a side trip on our long drive to Devils Tower National Monument, the first national monument in the country. It’s very difficult to describe the rock without pictures, but it looks something like a can of drinking straws without the can. The rock formed that way because it’s a leftover from a volcano of a very long time ago (just how long ago is a matter for discussion). Today, it’s a sacred site for American Indians, so they have left many prayer cloths and bundles tied to trees around the base of the rock.

After we left Devils Tower, we drove to Cody, Wyoming. Along the way, we ran into some unexpected weather–snow! It snowed fairly hard for quite a while, but the roads stayed clear. By the time we got close to Cody, all the snow was gone. We stopped in Cody at Bubba’s Bar-B-Que, which I’d highly recommend to anyone in the area–their sauce is excellent. After Cody, the drive wasn’t too long before we reached our lodging for the next three days: Elephant Head Lodge. It was nearly dark when we arrived, so we didn’t have much chance to explore the area, but we still aren’t sure which rock around here is the official “Elephant Head.” The inside of the lodge is lovely; it’s very homey and well kept-up. Tomorrow, it’s into Yellowstone.

See the gallery for pictures.