Codycoma 2011

In 2009 three of my college girlfriends and I started a tradition of getting together every other year without kids or husbands so that we could just go into a coma. Relax, hang out, talk, stay up late and sleep in, eat good food, escape from real life...you know, a coma! Two years ago we had a Calicoma and this year it was a Codycoma. Why Cody, Wyoming you ask? It's cool. I've gotten that question a lot. :) Answer: this girl...

Our dear friend Jessica Taggart was born and raised in Cody and has since moved back to her hometown where she teaches K-12 (English and Spanish) in a small school in a town just outside of Cody, called Meeteetse. No one has hometown pride (yes, including Texans) quite like Miss Taggart. This girl LOVES Cody! So since Anna and I had never been to Jessica's hometown (Wendy went once in college) we decided it was high time we saw what she was always talking about. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Before there was Cody, there was Denver. Since Cody only has one small very expensive to fly into airport, Anna and Wendy flew into Denver a day early so they could road trip with me to Cody. The three of us went to dinner at Gumbo's and then to D-Bar for dessert. Delicious!

The next morning we headed out on our adventure. I look pretty tall in this pic huh?

Oh, that's because I'm on my tippy toes. Let the unbalanced pictures begin. :)

After eight hours of non-stop uninterrupted talking (it was heaven) we arrived in Cody. Jessica had gifts and personal size Martinellis waiting for us. Yes, she is amazing and thoughtful.

Then we grabbed a pizza and headed to the springs. This is one of Jessica's most favorite places on earth.  It's a natural water springs (not hot, but not cold, very temperate) next to the river where they've built a pool so you can swim safely. They also built a deck/entertaining area. The only drawback is it smells like sulfur and the water makes your skin tingle after you're in it for a while, but the setting really is gorgeous!

Anna set the camera timer so we could get a pic all together, but she kept not quite making it in time. I'm only including one of the mess up pics, but it took at least 4 tries before we got a good one. :)

The next morning we hit the town of Cody.

For the record we aren't so much going for Charlie's Angels here as we are trying to hold our guns out like the cowboy on the sign.

Our first stop was to the church murals, which are amazing by the way, but unfortunately we didn't take any pics there. Check out that link I put in though because I really feel like it's a gem in the church that no one knows about. The man who painted the mural wasn't even a member of the church, but he studied the church history for a year so he could do the painting. It's really a beautiful work of art.

Okay, next up we shopped!

Anna and I got into the Cody spirit and purchased some feather earrings.

Here we are standing on main street in front of the Irma Hotel. Irma was Buffalo Bills wife. Oh, have I mentioned Buffalo Bill yet? He, along with the pioneers settled Cody, WY as well as ran a huge traveling variety show. He's a big deal in this town. More on him later.

We didn't so much buy these.

After shopping we went to the Silver Dollar and watched Jessica's boyfriend, Rick, perform with his band, Rude Diary. He's the drummer. They even called Jessica up on stage to sing a few songs with them. She has a gorgeous voice! Here are Jessica and Rick singing a duet.

Here are a couple short video clips of Jessica singing with Rude Diary.

After watching the band and eating dinner at the Silver Dollar we headed to Cassie's to dance. It's a restaurant/bar with a live band and a dance floor. We were about the only people dancing, with a few odd couples here and there, but we didn't mind. We had fun!

The next morning we headed for Jessica's family cabin. Upon arrival we discovered hundreds of bugs outside and maybe just as many flies inside. There was also a distinct odor of dead animal, but we were all too scared of what we'd find if we searched for it. So we lit a TON of candles and tried to mask the smell.

Then it was time to get dinner ready and it took three of us to figure out how to get the grill working. I do all the cooking around my house except when it comes to grilling. That is totally Jeff's forte so I've never even bothered to learn how to turn it on. Sad, I know. We eventually got it going only to discover 15 minutes later when we went out to put the chicken on that it had gone out. The propane had run out. So, back to the stove the little chickies went. We eventually got everything cooked and enjoyed a delicious meal, but it wasn't easy. We realized that cabins are more fun when our husbands are there to take care of things. Who knew cabins were so much work?! :) We kept joking to each other, "where's our staff?!" I think next time we'll skip the cabin and opt for the Four Seasons. ;) 

One thing you can't beat at a cabin though is the scenery, and Anna and I even managed to get a fire going. My young women's camp skills really pulled through for me. 

Oh, and it's purely coincidental that Anna and I both brought our bYu shirts to wear at the cabin. Not that I'm above planned matching as you'll see in a bit.

The best part of the cabin experience was staying up late. My friends used to joke in college about how at 2am I would catch my second wind and get real punchy and funny. Basically that's when I'd come alive and good times always ensued. Well, 10 years later 2am Mindy turned up around 11:30pm. So sad what getting older will do to you. However, through a series of events we did still end up staying up until 3 am talking, painting our nails, drinking Martinellis, and laughing, laughing, laughing...

...especially at this. Turns out this group of 30 year olds still know how to make fun happen at 2 am.

The next morning we packed up and went back to Cody. We headed straight for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. We saw all sorts of western art, old west clothing and taxidermy animals. Sounds awesome huh? haha I'm just kidding Jessica, it really is a legit museum. I was pleasantly surprised at how well done it is and really enjoyed learning more about the old west and Buffalo Bill. And the best part is we got in for free! Turns out the Taggarts are kind of a big deal in Cody. When we walked in Jessica started explaining to the man at the counter that she was able to get us in for free and the man looked through unconvinced eyes at us until he asked for her name. When she said Jessica Taggart he immediately said, "Oh, yes, go right in." It pays to be with a Taggart in Cody. ;)

After getting cleaned up and enjoying a delicious meal prepared by Jessica's parents we got dressed up for the rodeo. But first we had to take a couple of pics in the matching shirts we all bought at a store on main street. Are we 12? I know that's what you're thinking. The answer is yes! And we don't care. :)

Now onto the famous Cody nightly rodeo!

We may have spent more time chatting and laughing and taking pics of our cowgirl get ups on our iPhones than we did actually watching the rodeo (I know, the people sitting by us hated us), but I definitely caught the bull riding. Those cowboys are crazy!

Check out the boots. Three of those four pair are Jessicas's that were borrowed for the evening, but the light tan ones on the left side are all mine. They were actually my mom's that I inherited and after carting them around for years I finally had a reason to bust them out. See Jeff, it was totally worth moving these bad boys five times. ;)

After the rodeo we took a soak in the hot tub.

That pretty much sums up our trip. The next morning our plans got ruined due to the torrential rains, so we had a quick lunch with Jessica's uncle and parents and then packed up. Wendy couldn't stay out of Jessica's candy jars even though she has them for display...not for eating.

Anna, in lieu of having a girl yet (she has three little boys), french braided our hair. We were laughing at how we ended up looking like sister wives. Yikes!

Anna flew home out of the Cody airport and Wendy and I drove the eight hours back to Denver. It's always sad to say good bye to these beautiful and amazing girlfriends. We had such a fun time all together and I'm already looking forward to our 2013 coma. Location is yet to be determined. Although, Jess, I have to say Cody was pretty awesome! :) 

Thank you SO much for being such a FABULOUS hostess!!!

I have a few more pics and experiences to share, but blogger won't allow this post to be any longer. So I will finish in a second post. Stay tuned...