Happy Fourth of July!

I love this week in Cody. While this year, Cody may celebrate a bit differently, there’s still a ton of red, white, and blue – Stars and Stripes around. In this post, I want to share a few photos from over the years.

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I’ve celebrated the 4th of July here in Cody for more years than not. And the few years I wasn’t here, my heart certainly was. Cody does it up well. The Cody Stampede Rodeo (101st this year) and parade started initially as a celebration of the opening of the road to Yellowstone. In those days, the road was opened by hand. The men from Cody would head out to dig the last bit of snow by hand. The park service would be on the interior of the park, working their way east, also digging by hand.

Over the years, I’ve watched two parades in the snow and many more in the blazing heat. There used to be water fights on those hot days between the rafters and the fire department. There has always been Old Yeller – one of the original tour buses in Yellowstone that Cody repurposed over the years. It used to pick kids up to take out to a local swimming hole. The Lion’s Club now owns and maintains it – bringing it out each year for the parade and other events. “The Pink Lady” still walks the entire route – though Hope is getting up in years, I bet she’ll be there.

This love of the Fourth of July may be part of why I subconsciously ended up decorating a house in red, white, and blue. I didn’t realize that until one of the neighbor kids referred to our home as the red, white, and blue house – that made me giggle when I realized he was right.

Yesterday morning was the Kiddie’s parade. Today is the “practice” parade, and tomorrow there will be the main parade. I plan to be around, taking photos as usual. I hope you have a great holiday weekend celebrating the best of the freedom our country offers!

Be Outside • Take Notes