Buffalo Bill's Blog

We are SO lucky to live here in Buffalo Bill’s Cody/Yellowstone Country.  And it’s not just because of the scenery, and the people, and the slower pace of life, and the restaurants.  It’s because famous country singers come here to play their music!

Now, there are a lot of folks who live in the area who are pretty well-known – we’ve got artists, actors, WWE wrestlers, famous politicians, and other recognizable personalities who have homes here and live here either full-time or part-time.  Most of these people love the anonymity of living way out here in the mountains, but there are a few who are very visible members of the community and strive to make Cody the best little town in the Rockies.

One of these personalities partnered with the Park County Travel Council a few years back in order to liven up the slower winter months.  Dan Miller, who has been a television personality since the late 1980s on The Nashville Network, ESPN’s (now GAC’s) Extreme Bulls, The Outdoor Channel’s “Best of the West” series, and other television shows through the years, headlines a music show in downtown Cody in the summer, Dan Miller’s Cowboy Music Revue.  It’s a fantastic show!  Entertaining, funny, western and country music – everyone who goes to the show just can’t believe that kind of quality and talent is tucked away here in little Cody, Wyoming.  Anyway, Dan offered to contact his big-name country-music-star friends in Nashville and ask them to come to Cody during our slower season.  And come they did!

The Cody Wild West Show series kicked off in January of 2009 with a visit from music legend Lacy J. Dalton.  She was followed the next month by country hit-maker T.G. Sheppard.  And the next month – what a show – Mel Tillis!  Since that flashy beginning, there have been a total of fifteen different acts that have put on shows here in Cody.  Gary Morris (“Wind Beneath My Wings”) was here twice, as was the incredible Suzy Bogguss (“Letting Go,” “Someday Soon”).  Others who have shown up with fantastic performances include The Kentucky Headhunters, Asleep at the Wheel, BJ Thomas and The Bellamy Brothers. 

Dancing in the street!

The concerts take place throughout Cody, although most of them are at the Historic Cody Theatre – that concert hall’s intimate quality (just 300 seats) and amazing sound make for an incredible night of entertainment!  However, for groups like the Bellamy Brothers or the Kentucky Headhunters, other venues here in Cody are put to use.  In conjunction with the Irma Hotel, last summer the Bellamys (and special guest Suzy Bogguss) played a street dance that was sold out!  And the fabulous Texas swing band Asleep at the Wheel played at the Cody Auditorium, also to a packed house, and folks were dancing in the aisles.  The high school auditorium is also a location that’s been used frequently, since it’s a better place for entertainers like Mel Tillis, with his 11-piece band!

One of the things that I think is so cool about the concert series is how impressed the performers are with the hospitality they receive while they’re here.  As a producer, Dan treats the entertainers with genuine respect and personally makes sure they’re well taken care of.  And when I talked to Dan, he said that almost as important as the concerts themselves is the feedback that he receives from the entertainers.  He told me, “I’ve known these guys for a long time, and to have them feel as strongly about Cody as I do is very rewarding to me.” 

Dan credits the people of Wyoming and Montana, who come to these concerts, for their genuine western hospitality.  The audience greets the acts with such warmth and gratitude, the entertainers themselves have been spreading the word in Nashville that Cody, Wyoming is THE place to book a show.  Billy Dean (“Only Here for a Little While,” “Billy the Kid”) absolutely loved it when he was here in January of 2010, so much so that he recorded some video with his camcorder and posted it to his Facebook page, along with some footage from the concert that was shot by the Wyoming Office of Tourism!

The best thing is, the hits just keep coming!  Dan’s good friend Jim Ed Brown will be making an appearance in Cody at the Historic Cody Theatre on April 30.  If you’re going to be in the area, be sure to get tickets – they’re a steal at just $25!  Go to http://www.codywildwestshow.com/ to get more information.

Be sure to check the web site often for updates, too – because you never know who’ll show up next here thanks to the Cody Wild West Shows!

Until next time, I’ll be dancin’ up a storm here in Buffalo Bill’s Country!

Corrie N. Cody

Wow, I can’t believe how cold it is here!  This morning as I was pulling my little car out of its nice, cozy garage, the temperature was a not-so-balmy minus 10 degrees!  And I am SO not a cold weather girl – give me days of 70 degrees and I am a happy camper.

It got me to thinking, though, about the things we do around here in the winter when it is uber-cold outside.  We, of course, have the Buffalo Bill Historical Center – that’s the first place that comes to mind.  Five museums, all indoors, and all chock-full of interactive displays, fabulous artwork, photographic archives, and opportunities to learn year-round.  It’s fabulous!

We have an almost-brand-new library here in Cody – it was dedicated about a year and a half ago, and is state of the art.  It’s got a reading area with a fireplace, computers, magazines, a children’s library that almost makes me wish I was a kid again, a teen room, meeting rooms, and the “warmest” atmosphere!  They’ve even got a little café there – they call it the “Biblio Bistro” that serves sandwiches, soups and coffee.  It’s a great place to just chill out in a relaxed, nicely-lit, quiet place that looks out over a duck pond and has a wonderful view of Heart Mountain to the north.

The Paul Stock Aquatics and Recreation Center is another place to spend some quality indoor time. Racquetball courts, fitness classes, basketball courts, two huge swimming pools and a water slide, along with exercise equipment and an elevated walking track – if you’re looking for a place to get in shape for the new year or spend some great time with the kiddos, this is the place! 

Dining out in Cody – what a great way to spend an evening in the winter!  We’ve got restaurants of all kinds here – steak houses, oriental restaurants, bistros, cafes, sandwich shops, contemporary cuisine – something for every taste.  Dinner and a movie sounds good to me… or maybe dancing at Cassie’s Steakhouse!

We’re so blessed here in Cody to be a stop on the tour circuit for several major musical acts.  As part of the Cody Wild West Show concert series, Cody has hosted acts like Mel Tillis, Riders In The Sky, Asleep At The Wheel, the Bellamy Brothers, Suzy Bogguss… the list goes on!  The concert series started out as the brainchild of Dan Miller, television personality and talented musician in his own right, to bring many of these acts to Cody.  I can’t wait to find out who’s coming this year!

Well, looks like I’ve outlined my to-do list for the next few weeks…  I’ll catch up with everyone again next week!

Lovin’ life in Buffalo Bill’s Country,

Corrie N. Cody

As 2010 comes to a close, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on what this year has brought to us here in Buffalo Bill’s Cody/Yellowstone Country.

We celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the Shoshone Dam, now called the Buffalo Bill Dam – that structure completely changed the economy of Powell and Cody and the geography of the North Fork highway!  

We had some top-name entertainers come to Cody this year for the Cody Wild West Shows – Billy Dean, the Kentucky Headhunters, Bryan White, The Bellamy Brothers, Suzy Bogguss, Asleep At The Wheel and Riders In The Sky wowed local audiences throughout the year.

Sleeping Giant Ski Area was featured on National Geographic Channel’s “The World’s Toughest Fixes” – ever seen a ski lift being built?  Watch that episode!

We learned to be careful around wildlife – several grizzlies went haywire this summer…

Our local air service board negotiated a great deal with United Airlines AND we have a new terminal at Yellowstone Regional Airport – so flying to Cody is easier and more economical than ever (hint, hint)…

The 4^th of July Stampede Celebration once again brought thousands out to celebrate the western way of life – and it was televised, too! ESPN broadcast the Cody/Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls in July.

The National Park Service unveiled its new Yellowstone National Park visitor’s center at Old Faithful – beautiful! 

Yellowstone National Park set attendance records AGAIN this year – over 4.5 million people had visited the park as of the end of November.  Amazing! 

For the first time, the Capitol Christmas Tree came from a forest in Wyoming – and the tree’s stop here in Cody was cause for celebration on a cold November day!

And 2010 brought me, Corrie N. Cody, an opportunity to express my enthusiasm for this amazing place!  I love to be able to blog about all there is to do and see here in Buffalo Bill’s Cody/Yellowstone Country.

So, until 2011, I’ll be…

Lovin’ life in Buffalo Bill’s Country!

Corrie N. Cody

Winter has come to Buffalo Bill’s Cody/Yellowstone Country, and I, for one, couldn’t be more tickled!  It’s a marshmallow world out there – or, at least, until it gets all melty and muddy – and those crazy folks who love the winter sports are having a ball! 

I have to say, even though I grew up where the seasons all came neatly when they should (as opposed to Wyoming, where you can have snow in July and 60 degree days in February), I have never been a fan of winter sports.  To be honest, skiing scares the tar out of me.  But everyone around here was so excited when our local ski hill opened up again, I had to go check it out.

Sleeping Giant Ski Area, just outside the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park, is one of the oldest ski hills around.  Folks who grew up here learned to ski on it and have great memories of their families going on skiing outings together.  Unfortunately, the hill closed in 2004 and it took a humongous community effort to raise enough funds to open it again in 2009, better than before!  Last year the weather did NOT cooperate, it was a miserably short snow season for skiers around here, but this year is starting off with a bang – almost 700 skiers, snowboarders, and other crazies graced the slopes and terrain park on opening weekend this year, and by golly, Corrie N. Cody was right up there with the other nuts!

Having never skied before, I needed a LOT of help. Fortunately, there are some very skilled, patient professional instructors at Sleeping Giant who are used to the fears and follies of beginners like me. They’ve got an amazingly affordable package for those of us just learning to ski – just $39 gets you a lift ticket, group lesson AND equipment rental!  And if you’re scared of the chair lift (like I was), there’s this really cool thing called a “Magic Carpet” – it’s like the moving walkways at the airports, you just step on and it carries you right up the hill!  Amazing.  What I also appreciated was that there were plenty of groomed areas – I wasn’t too hip on sludging through the loose powder!

Well, needless to say, I fell a couple of times (okay, a few), but all in all it wasn’t as painful as an experience as I expected!  And wow, were there some AMAZING skiers on the hill that day – all ages (the little kids who swooshed effortlessly down the slopes just killed me), all abilities, and all having a ball.  What I really enjoyed watching, though, were the snowboarders who were using the terrain park!  This terrain park is really unique – it’s got 14 features, including quarter pipes, rails, boxes and jumps (at least, that’s what they say). I was told that this terrain park is one of only a handful in the country that was built almost entirely of materials found on the hill…  pretty cool!

Once I was done torturing myself on the slopes, I decided I’d better treat myself to the indoor amenities at Sleeping Giant – namely, the lodge and its “Grizzly Grill”!  I had worked up quite an appetite – falling and getting up as often as I had – so I asked the gal behind the counter what the most popular menu item was.  Right away she told me it was the “Bearito” – a tortilla stuffed with taco meat and the Grill’s awesome Black Bean Soup, reduced until it’s stick-to-your-ribs thick.  So of course I HAD to have it – and was amazed when I saw the price, just $3.50!  I ordered a cup of cappuccino from the list of beverages which ranged from chocolate milk and energy drinks to 100% juices, coffee and hot chocolate.  There were plenty of kids in the lodge chewing on cheesy fries and sipping their hot cocoa, and several adults who wanted a more potent beverage went up the stairs to ring the “beer bell”!

All in all, it was a really great day, topped off with a beautiful drive back home to Cody.  The big horn sheep are EVERYWHERE right now, so I had to be pretty careful – the deer were out in full force near Wapiti, too. And I was really thankful for the snowplow drivers, who were doing their best to keep the roads clear for all of us who enjoyed Sleeping Giant on that opening weekend!

Oh, and for anyone who wants to get out there and enjoy the family-friendly and fun atmosphere of Sleeping Giant for themselves, the hill is open from 9-4 every weekend until after the first of the year, when they’ll be open Friday through Monday for the rest of the season. 

And now that I’ve gotten a taste for snow, you’ll probably find me up there, too – hopefully tasting that snow just a little less often…

See you on the slopes of Sleeping Giant!

Lovin’ life in Cody Country,

Corrie N. Cody

Keeping with the tradition that Buffalo Bill began, the new Cody Wild West Show is sure to entertain!
Lacy J. Dalton will kick off this new concert series with a performance at the Cody Theatre on January 24. Tickets are $20.00 and available at the Cody Chamber office. Popular performer TG Sheppard will perform February 28 and March will feature the amazing Mel Tillis.  The caliber of talent that the Cody Wild West Show has scheduled would typically be seen in Branson or other, larger cities. But this small, western town is sure to give a big Wyoming welcome to these wonderful performers and to all who come to hear their music.

Lacy J. Dalton performs.