More Pictures of my Vacation...

Although there was a severe drought, it did actually rain one day. Of course, this was the day that lunch was scheduled to be a picnic by the river. We were driven down to the site in vans, where they had breaded fish, hushpuppies, creamy veggie soup, and other yummy dishes cooked over a campfire waiting for us. Just as they called us up to serve ourselves buffet style, it started to sprinkle. Michelle and I didn't really care, so we went ahead and got our food anyway, even though some guests decided to get back into the vans. As it started raining harder and harder, we just kept enjoying our lunch - which was getting colder and soggier! Pretty soon the only people left were the kitchen staff, a family of 3 from London (Phillip, Caroline, and their daughter Charlotte), and Michelle and me. Caroline laughed and said how English it was to stay and eat in the rain, and Phillip agreed, saying, "Yes, it's just what we would do: 'Look, it's raining, let's have a barbeque!'"

Here is a picture of us. The white spots on our shirts are the soup which splattered up from the rain falling in the bowl as we were eating it!






Once again, we had a fun conversation about food in England vs. the US. They wanted to know what hushpuppies were, since to them Hushpuppies are shoes! LOL

We also had the opportunity to go on one cattle drive during the week, which we all enjoyed because it was the one activity where our horses weren't following nose to tail down a trail. My group got to go out to the pasture where the cows live and herd them back to the corral at the ranch. This entailed bringing them along a trail through some woods between the mountain and a railroad track. Michelle was on the side keeping the cows out of the hills, and my job was to keep them off of the tracks. Since all the yummy grass was up the hill under the trees, Jewel and I were a bit bored whereas Michelle and Zeus were pretty busy!

Once the cows were back at the ranch, the after-dinner activity was team penning, where 3 guests and 2 wranglers would mount up in the corral with the cows and try to get one of them into a pen in the center. It was the wrangler's job to separate one cow out and bring it toward the front, and then one of us would chase it to the pen while the others blocked it from returning to the herd. The hardest job was singling out a cow, which is why the wranglers did it for us. Of course, I got bored waiting, so I tried to go down and help (hey, they didn't say we couldn't!).

Here I am trying to pick out a calf.

Every night, Michelle and I went to hang out in the saloon below our room, where we played cards with whomever wanted to join us. Mostly we played with John and Evelyn, and for the first half of the week with Linda and Bob. Since the latter couple left on Wed, we started playing with Karen and Peter and sometimes Hannah and Tim (The Mariotts from Sussex). John and Evelyn taught us all how to play a game called 31, which is simple, easy to learn and really fun. Later on, the Marriots taught us a game we ended up calling either PoopHeads or ScumBucket, but which is better known both here and overseas under another name none of us were willing to use (begins with an S---). Hannah also taught the other kids (of the 30 or so guests, about 10 were children 15 and under) a game called Cheat, but once she got them started, they would never leave her alone!

Here is a picture of Hannah, Tim, and the kids playing Cheat.

On Friday night, the ranch held a square dance - with live music - in the saloon. It was really fun! Almost everyone was there including the wranglers, and we had all gotten to know each other well enough to feel comfortable dancing together. Here are some pictures:

This is Michelle and Tim (and Nate and Marissa), paired up for the first dance. I went up to get my camera, so I missed out on getting a partner for the first dance. What this meant, though, was that I got to take pictures : )

The second dance ended in this snakey thing winding all through the saloon area.

This is Karen and Peter Marriot (with a couple of other peoples' kids).

And here is a picture of John and Evelyn.

I just have to say what a wonderful time Michelle and I had. We made such good friends while we were there, and I hope to keep in touch with them if possible. Already I have received an email from Fla and a birthday card from the Mariotts!! It was absolutely the best birthday present I have ever gotten, and I don't see how it could possibly be topped : )

A big huge THANK YOU to my fabulous hubby and kids for letting me go away for a week with my friend to do something fun and exciting. The ranch does have special packages for Thanksgiving, and my sisters and I would love to coordinate something for our families all together, but I think that would have to be after someone won the lottery or something. I sure would love to go back again sometime, though!