This has been the most awesome day so far. If you had asked me yesterday if I would ever ride a mule, I would have said "not in a million years"! Well, never say never, right? John and I checked out of The Cody early so that we could make our 10 a.m. appointment with the Trail Riding folks. The weatherman had predicted rain and snow flurries in the higher elevations, so I said a prayer last night to keep us safe and fortunately, there was only a slight drizzle when we started out and eventually as we were riding the drizzle stopped until well after we were through with our adventure. This is going to sound so crazy, but I was assigned to Leroy the mule and John got a draft mix named Bubba. Our able and knowledgeable guide, Christine, rode Hollywood!! Once they got me on Leroy and after I got used to the signals and relaxed a little, off we went! We took the hour ride, which, to my surprise, meant an hour out and the hour back didn't count, so we got a great experience. John's mount, Bubba, was very skittish and would spook at the least little thing. He did, in fact, got a little squirrelly a couple of times, but thankfully, when Leroy followed suit, I remembered how to get him to whoa!! I was a totally tourist and used all the phrases seen in westerns, e.g. Giddy Up, Whoa and clicked my gums. Leroy wanted to eat all the way out and would just stop and start eating. Christine said, "they don't say 'stubborn as a mule, for nothing". After having one of the best adventures in life so far, I felt like a female version of Festus and his mule, Ruth, on Gunsmoke. The last picture is one John took in Yellowstone when got out and walked into the fir forest to get a "feel" of it and found this tree that had been scraped by an Elk. Too Cool! We have arrived in Idaho Falls, ID and I must say, it is a very seedy town. We are staying at a brand new Candlewood Suites (a IHG property, so we get points)and will chill out until checkout time tomorrow before we head west along the Snake River corridor. We will be staying at a spot recommended by Bill Horton, but only long enough to get a photo or two. We are on a mad dash for Portland, OR and should reach there late Sunday. All I want to do there is go to Powell's Bookstore and buy a book and get a picture in front of the store, to prove that I went to there! I hope you like these pretty funny and awesome pictures from our exciting adventure on Horse/Mule back!!!