On the Range Day 6

An Adventures by Disney Trip to Wyoming

July 14, 2006

Nikki and I were up early today and went out on the porch of our cabin to watch the sunrise. David ran by on the path below our cabin on his way over to the spa. We saw him stop and stand there for a few minutes and then he headed back by. He stopped and told us that there was a big porcupine sitting near the hot tub so we walked down to see it. By the time we got there it had left the porch of the spa but we did see it wandering off into the woods. Kathy and Tony were sitting on their porch as we walked back to our cabin and we commented on how beautiful it was.

Breakfast was in the dining room beginning at 8:00 and was at our leisure. There was a buffet set out with oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, bacon, sausage, hash browns and muffins. We could also order waffles, pancakes and eggs.

This morning we had Ranch Activities beginning at 9:00. Cowboy Jim came in and told us that almost everyone had signed up for horse back riding and he had some horses he didn't want to send out because of physical issues. Nikki and I decided to change our ride to the afternoon. Since our morning plans had changed, we asked the girls what they wanted to do. They decided that they wanted to go fishing. We hadn't signed up for fly fishing lesson so the girls decided to go spinner fishing. Jamie, the children's activity coordinator for the lodge, came to help them fish. Kelsie caught two fish and Regan, unfortunately, didn't catch any. (We found out the next day when I went fly fishing that we chose the wrong side of the pond to fish since the fish tend to congregate on the other side.)

Nikki was able to go on a horseback riding lesson with Antoinette, Doug, Sue, Tim and Jonathan.

Just before lunch we all met back in the lodge for a social hour. The staff ate lunch at 11:30 and our lunch was at 12:30 so most of the lodge activities stopped while the staff ate.

Lunch was burgers, salads and sandwiches which we ordered off a menu. The kids ate lunch at the big table together and we ate with Polly, Billy, Phil, Laura, Sam and Janet. I had a panini and Nikki had a turkey wrap.

After lunch it was time to go for our horse ride. Cowboy Jim assigned everyone to their horses. Kelsie was assigned to Speckles, Regan rode Peggy, Nikki rode Jenkins and I was on Doodad. The kids were the first to get on their horses. Everyone was helped by a wrangler. They then left on their trail ride leaving us adults to get saddled up.

Once everyone was on their horse we were divided up into two groups. The group who went on the morning ride went one way and the group who was riding for the first time went the other. We rode down around Brooks Lake and up into the mountains. We stopped for a minute at a cabin that was used by cowboys as a stopping point as they traveled across the country and is maintained by the government.

When we got back to the lodge Regan and Kelsie informed us that they had arranged to go on both the morning and afternoon rides for the next day. We all hung out in the lodge until dinner. During the social hour, a local cowboy singer named Ray Calloway came and began singing. He sang in the bar area for about 30 minutes and then we went in to dinner. Ray followed us in there and sang all during dinner as well, walking through the room and taking requests.

Dinner was from a menu that night. We ate dinner with Antoinette and Stephanie. For dinner, we had three choices: elk medallions, trout or something called asiago stack. We all had spinach salad and Nikki chose the trout and I decided to have the asiago stack. It was a stack of crispy red tortillas, artichoke hearts, black olives and an Alfredo sauce. Dinner was served with rice and vegetables.

After dinner the kids went out in to the bar and main area of the lodge and the adults sat and visited while Ray continued to sing. Then Chris and Christy announced that there was a bonfire outside and we could all go out for smores and campfire songs.

Some of the adults had never had smores and the kids loved making them. It turns out that Chris was a master smore maker too.

Ray continued singing to us around the campfire and even got us all involved singing "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain" and "Happy Trails". All in all, Ray sang for over 3 hours and we all really enjoyed it (especially Tony who was the master at requests).

After the campfire we went back into the lodge to visit and play games before turning in for the night.