Small towns with big stories to tell

Travelling through these historic communities is a memorable event

On Monday of the Labour Day weekend we travelled to a little town called Thermopolis, Wyoming. As we left our campground the hills seemed to get steeper and we climbed to over 9500 feet. The barren hills moulded into the green forest then into the rocks of the Big Horn Mountains. On the way down it was equally steep and winding. There were many sharp U-turns. We could see multicoloured layers of rock bluffs all the way to the valley below.

The town of Thermopolis is famous for the hot mineral springs that flow from the rocks. The Hot Springs State Park has three large hot pools to bathe in. Even though the day was 33 degrees Celsius there were many people taking advantage of the last hours of the holiday weekend. Check www.thermopolis.com for more information.

We spent the night at the Eagle RV Park. We had planned to head south toward Casper, Wyoming, but after looking at our maps we found that Yellowstone Park was just over two hours away. We changed plans and headed north. On the way we stopped at Cody. Again, a very historic town. We had lunch at the Irma Hotel, which was built and operated by Buffalo Bill Cody. He founded and named the town—this is a place worth visiting. Many shops offer works from local artists and crafters; very beautiful work and reasonably priced.

There is a massive complex called the Buffalo Bill Heritage and Cultural centre. To visit the many displays takes three to four hours, but well worth the time.