Resolutions

New Years Resolutions

A New Year's resolution is a commitment that a person makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. This goal must be reached by the next New Year. Keep in mind that this is a goal, not a wish and should be something that you as a person could strive for- Wikipedia

So we asked around our hotel & found more people are scared to make resolutions for fear of failure. Pretty interesting. As for the rest of us, we thought we'd share.

"To have a healthy baby"- Steph

"To get out of Cody, WY"- Aerial

"Work less & Get paid more"- Bonnie

"Have a HEALTHY Year"- Shelley

"To be more organized"- Natalie

"Be a better person"- Amiee

"Do more with my dog"- Maeli

"Be more physically active & get out of the house more"- Amy

"Have a year of less stress & worry, not to sweat the small stuff"- Celes

"To except life on lifes terms"- Maureen

Our Desert Contest Winner

AMIES WINNING DESSERT

And the winner is....

AMIE LUTHER

A big congratulations to Amie for winning our desert contest here at The Cody! She did a fantastic job, AND she is willing to share her winning recipe. Feel free to test it out & post a little something on our facebook page & let us know what you thought.

Amies S'More Marshmallow Madness

Ingredients

Cooking Spray

2 cups crushed graham crackers

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

8 ounces marshmallow cream

1cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Line a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with foil, with the ends of foil extending over the sides of the pan. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Mix graham cracker crumbs, butter, & brown sugar in a bowl. Press firmly onto the bottom of the prepared pan & bake for 10 to 15 min.

Remove crust from oven & lower temp to 300 degrees.

with an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, marshmallow cream, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Add the flour & mix well. Pour over crust & bake for 50 minutes.

Remove cheesecake from the oven & top with chocolate chips & mini marshmallows. Using a handheld torch, char the marshmallows and lightly melt the chocolate. Remove the cheesecake from the pan using the foil handles before cutting into squares. Garnish each bar with a sprinkling of coarse graham cracker pieces.

The Cody Christmas Party 2011

This year's Christmas party was a hit and definitely a little something different than what we've had in the past. With a dessert contest, a few games and an awesome staff, how could you go wrong? Become a fan of "The Cody Hotel" on Facebook and check out our photo album with a few pictures of the great get together this year. You can also vote on your favorite Gingerbread House. Tell us who you think should have won and then we'll tell you who actually did!  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cody-Hotel/210364677517?ref=tn_tnmn

Christmas Treasure, St. Nick Knacks

Last week, we took a trip out to Ralstons awesome Christmas store, St. Nick Knacks.What a surprise! For such a small place, they have a plethora of items. If you love Christmas decorations, well, they have everything you might desire! From beautiful Christmas trees to Christmas nightshirts, the staff was very friendly & would help you find anything you needed. They are open year round, and for now they are here to help each day until 7:00pm. You can reach St. Nick Knacks at stnickknacks@gmail.com for the time being.

Sleeping Giant Ski Area

Yesterday’s adventures took us up to Sleeping Giant Ski Area, about 50 miles from Cody. It brings back lots of memories for me, as it was the place where I re-started skiing after taking a 7 year sabbatical and it’s where my children learned to ski.

Sleeping Giant has been around since 1938. It was originally called the Red Star Camp and is one of the oldest ski areas in the country, located just 3 miles from Yellowstone National Park. It’s a small area but the terrain is very challenging and it’s a wonderful place for families to come together and enjoy some winter recreation! The mountain is typically opened from 9 am – 4 pm Friday through Monday and ski and snowboard rentals are available in the lodge. Nordic Skiing is an option, as well, with almost 16 miles of classic ski trails and if you’re a snowshoe enthusiast, there’s room for you, too! More information about Sleeping Giant and the Park County Nordic Ski Association can be found on the web.

“Skiing is believing” at Sleeping Giant, so bring your family up to the hill for some great winter fun!

Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center

At the end of this summer, we had a group staying with us that filled the hotel. They came from all over the country for the Grand Opening of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center. This musuem was built on the site of the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp - one of ten internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese/Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. These Japanese citizens were made to pack only what they could carry and move out of their homes and neighborhoods (mostly on the west coast) to be interned in what was essentially concentration camps for the duration of the war.

This event brought over 1000 people to Cody, many of whom were at this camp as children. The had sad and wonderful stories to tell and one women told me that she had planned never to return to Cody because of the way she was treated. I think being back here was very cathartic for these folks and they were able to do some healing while they were here. The community welcomed them with open arms, unlike during the war.

Some of the speakers at the grand opening were Tom Brokaw, Jamie Ford, Alan Simpson, Norman Mineta, as well as former internees. Today we went to learn more about the way they lived and were blown away by the fantastic displays at the Center. As you enter, you hear recordings simulating people's feelings about being at the camp - they don't want to be here, they're worried about what will happen to their homes and businesses - it's all very sad!

We met Christy, the manager of the Center, and she gave us a quick tour - from the small apartments that were remade with personal belongings of the internees, to the model of the actual camp. It sat on 124 acres and housed more than 14,000 people. The museum is set up in a way that you can experience life in the camp. Even the latrines have been fitted with mirrors on the side walls to show the lack of privacy that they lived with.

We had a great time, look forward to going back and can't wait to send our guests to the Heart Mountain Interprative Learning Center!

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

Imagine sitting on your porch enjoying a refreshing beverage, cool ocean breeze blowing gently through the yard. Now, imagine that same scenario in Wyoming! Well, millions of years ago, this could have been a reality if we happened to have people, porches or yards. Yes, it’s true; Wyoming and Montana were covered in about 5 inches of water and were considered a tropical marsh land, with dinosaurs feeding on the conifer trees!

Our most recent outing from The Cody brought us to the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area outside of Lovell, Wyoming. Our first stop was the Visitors’ Center where display cases exhibited the many fossils found  15 miles upstream from Yellowtail Dam in Fort Smith, Montana;  including shark’s teeth, marine corals, brachiopods, crinoids (tiny star shaped fossils), and mollusks.  Also at the Center, are displays of dinosaur bones, petrified wood samples, enormous wasp’s nest that can still be seen outside in the trees, and mounts of the native animals seen in this region today.

The focus of this area is the 71 mile-long Big Horn Lake, created by Yellowtail Dam in Montana. Dedicated in 1968, this dam provides electric power, water for irrigation, flood control and recreation. The main attractions of this area are boating, fishing, waterskiing (my favorite) and swimming. “Time and water are keys to the canyon, where the land has been shaped by moving water since upheavals of the Earth’s  crust built the Pryor and Bighorn mountains millions of years ago.” The canyon walls are magnificent and wildlife can be seen at every turn! If you have a chance to take the trip from Horseshoe Bend to Fort Smith, it’s totally worth the time. As a matter of fact, a good friend of ours runs Hidden Treasure Charters & Wyoming Eco-tours, which offers summer scenic boat tours of the canyon.

From Lovell, we took the scenic drive up Hwy 37 to The Lockhart Ranch in Montana. Along the way we stopped at Crooked Creek hoping to see some of the wild mustangs found in this area. The Wild Horse Range was established to provide a well-maintained sanctuary for wild horses, which boasts a herd of more than 140. We then headed to Horseshoe Bend – one of the boat launch sites along the canyon and from there drove to Barry’s Landing - another launch site - still not seeing any of the horses.  Along the way we passed the Ewing Snell Ranch, which is one of four historic dude ranches found on this rugged landscape.

Next stop was Devil Canyon Overlook, which in a word, is stunning! After parking the car, we walked about ten yards to look down hundreds of vertical feet to the shimmering waters of Bighorn Lake. To understand how the river carved the canyon over millions of years, this spot is a must see! “Here the canyon cross-cuts the gray limestone of the Devil Canyon Anticline, a 1,000-foot high segment of the fault blocks that makes up the Pryor Mountains.”

There are over 25 miles of hiking trails running throughout the South District – one of which is the state line trail which straddles the Wyoming/Montana border and leads to amazing views of the canyon. We were unable to walk any of these trails on this adventure and didn’t make it to the dam, which can only be accessed by boat on the South End or a drive to Fort Smith, MT. Maybe next time…..

Stay tuned for more exciting trips around the Big Horn Basin…