Colorado Holiday - Day Three

Day Three - May 28 - Saturday

To rain or not to rain, that is the question. The forecast says it's going to rain which would probably make horseback riding a little bit miserable.....

That's right!!! Today's big event is horseback riding at Sombrero Horse Ranch. We signed up for the breakfast ride so need to be at the stables bright and early - it's a 730am yee-haw call! (I just made that up.)

What makes it even better....Cousin B is driving up from Westminster to join us for the ride and the rest of the day!!

The day begins....I'm up at 5am again, still looks like 7am outside. I clean up the room a little and get myself ready. I take a peek outside to see if the forecast is looking like it will be true or not and then to look up the cancellation policy at the Stables. I'm all prepared to change plans...

Sweet girl wakes up with another outstanding grin. She is ready to see Cousin B and for the ride. She's never been horseback riding "for real"! I walk over for my morning snuggle. I explain to her about how the weather could be bad on our ride. She's a little disappointed but wants to go anyway. She is the bravest person I know!! And adventurous too. I'm so proud!

So we're going! Cousin B arrives a little after 6am. Sweet Girl is half dressed. Hugs & kisses all around!

Cousin B is so important to me. We're five years apart but you would never guess! We live 500 miles apart but you would never guess that either. We are so glad she is here....and she is game for riding, rain or no rain....

So we load up the car and off we go. The stables are only two miles away so it's a short drive but we have one stop, except to stop for the family of elk walking across the road. We need to stop in front of The Stanley Hotel. In October 2006, Sweet Girl and I stood in this same place and took one of my all time favorite pictures...we're here to re-enact the moment, 5 years later. So Fun!She will love these more later in life and, who knows....maybe we've started a little tradition!

Oct 2006

May 2011

We get to the stables and sign the "release"; Girl picks out a helmet; Girl is quiet and fascinated! She's got her pink cowgirl shirt on, jeans and the red cowboy boots that Nonna and Grandpa gave her for her birthday just a month ago. She is ready for a real cowgirl experience.

Four other riders leave and we start to board our four legged friends. Girl rode "Lily", I rode "Lucy", and Cousin B rode "Rootbeer". Our Cowboy Guide, Clayton, rode the smallest beast, "Randy".

Clayton is from Washington state. He's about 22 and has familiar looks, like you know him from somewhere but not sure where. He's been in Estes for three months and seems excited about the ride. So off we go....Sweet Girl has been super quiet but I don't think scared....that is until "Lily" starts to do her own thing. We weren't even out of the stables yet and Mommy is getting worried!!!

When "Lily" starts to wander, the Girl's little size just was not able to steer her back in line. And Cousin B and I were really worried but we didn't show it. Clayton jumps down off "Randy" and grabs hold and gets "Lily" back to doing the right thing. Girl is calm. She looked at me only once with a look of slight worry. I said something calming while I was secretly scared for my baby. It was then that I thought to myself that she was too little to do this and "what was I thinking?!!"

But Clayton took control and lead "Lily" and my precious LB through the entire ride. Score 1 for the Cowboy!!

We rode up to 8000 feet, through beautiful meadows, steep mountains, trails, through trees and over tiny creeks. We saw an elk (again) and a chipmunk. We crossed over to ride a little through the Rocky Mountain National Park. LB asked a lot of questions but I think was awe-struck the entire time. Have I mentioned how proud of her I am??

About an hour into the ride and we came upon the spot where we would take a break for pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Breakfast was made by a sweet lady who told us that her Grand-Daughter was a wrangler at the Stables. She was originally from Michigan and only there until the end of the summer. The breakfast was not so great but "Grandma" was sweet and made the stop worth it!

After a few pictures, we loaded back up for the 1/2 hour ride back to the Bunkhouse. The views were spectacular. The company was perfect. The guide was fun. And the experience was WORTH IT!!

I think the horse farts were the funniest and probably the only thing the LB will remember about the entire ride.....yes, I said "horse farts"!!

After the ride, we go back to the lodge to freshen up. Then we walked down the main road to the Arts Festival. It seems there is always some arts fest when I visit Estes. We walked through the little vendors, found a few Christmas presents, found a few things that were neat but not worth the purchase and walked the rest of the length of the main drag.

We stopped for some mediocre nachos and great conversation at Ed's Cantina. After the lunch, we did a little shopping where I found a few cute things for Baby C. I miss her!!

We then headed back to our car to drive a little. Cousin B headed back to the City at 2pm and LB and I rested tor a few hours....until dinner time.

We started our dinner walk around 415pm and were back in the room at 440pm, with pizza in hand (from Bob and Tony's").

After dinner and a show choreographed by LB, we climbed into bed to watch "Mamma Mia" AGAIN!!!

It was a GREAT DAY!!