Coming from Gros Ventre Campground in Grand Teton where the sites were so spacious it was a bit of a disappointment when we arrived here. Though the sites were all pull-through there were trucks parked behind the trailers (like ours) and this made the turn too sharp to get a good angle on the spot. We ended up having to back it in to get it centered in the spot and not park on the grass, which was explicitly prohibited. We arrived before my parents and had two days to explore as they arrive at dinner time on the second day. The park was very busy RVs coming and going every day.
The park had nice public restrooms and showers as well as a very clean, but small laundry room. It was small for the number of sites they have (81) and when I did my laundry I went into town to a laundromat so that I didn't take up every single washer. It was time to wash all the blankets and bedding so I had a number of extra loads above my weekly three load average.
The RV park did not have any kid-friendly activities - no playground, no pool, and the little grassy area by the trailer was rather inadequate for getting all their wiggles out. There was a strip of grass along the road that was considered the dog area - it was a pretty sad little dog area without any fencing so the dogs still had to be on a leash the whole time. My parents have a dog so we walked with them and observed.
The town of Cody is busy and has a cute downtown. We weren't very excited about the restaurants we ate at. I am not sure there is a great place to eat there. There is a continuous rodeo going every night, but we didn't attend. The one attraction we did see was the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This is a huge facility with diverse galleries/museums. First we visited the Draper Natural History Museum. Here Sister and I learned what it was that crossed our path on the trail at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton - we saw a yellow-bellied marmot up close! A sign in the facility said that most of the specimens in the museum were donated after being hit by a car or injured and unable to be saved. They had an amazing collection and the specimens were arranged in terms of their habitats/ecosystems/climate zones. In each zone there was a stamp that the kids could collect in a little booklet provided at the beginning so it kept their interest all the way through.
In the middle of this visit there was a loudspeaker announcement that a U.S. forest ranger was giving a talk about bears so we took a break from the museum and stopped to attend. There we learned the difference between a black bear and grizzly bear. We also saw a number of examples of these bears in the museum. We also got to get close to a moose!
Next we visited the Buffalo Bill Museum...I did not know how far and wide the show traveled. This is a strange piece of American history.
By this time the kids had seen enough, but I was not done. Thankfully, in the Whitney Western Art Museum there were drawing tables encouraging you to try your hand at a sketch. Both kids loved that and they sat there drawing while I enjoyed the art museum. Here are just a few of the best pieces in my humble opinion.
First, on two prominent walls there were two huge paintings depicting the Battle of Greasy Grass AKA The Battle of Little Big Horn. Here is a picture to show how they were displayed in the museum.
Each told a different story - one from the Native perspective and one from the American perspective. There were computers with information to help direct your attention to different parts of the pieces. It was really informative. I spent a long time looking at these and considering them. Here they are up close. First "Custer's Last Stand" by Edgar S Paxson.
Next "The Battle of Greasy Grass" by Allan Mardon
Other notable works:
With these final oil on paperboard works (details on the right if you zoom in) there is so much detail in each one. They really tell a story of a time forgotten. I think they are great.
So there were other museums to explore but at this point we didn't have the attention for anymore. The ticket gets you in for two days, but we were off to Yellowstone the rest of the time so we didn't go back, but the place is very cool and well worth the admission.
Summary of Absaroka Bay RV park.
Pros:
- In the city near shopping, laundry, & attractions such as the museum and rodeo
- laundry on site
- clean public restrooms and showers
- decent price
- good Verizon signal
Cons:
- Too far from Yellowstone (would have loved to stay in the state park west of Cody, but no Verizon)
- nothing for kids
- small sites packed together
- busy park lots of coming and going
- tiny dog grass area
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