Hooves on the asphalt. {the final trail.}

The last trail started with a 5am wake-up call (that probably should have been 4:30am, but I needed as much sleep as I could get), shoveling yogurt in my mouth and braiding my hair with my eyes closed. Oh, and how can I forget? The morning also included a 23 degree reading of the outside temperature gauge. These things started my mental list of things I won't miss however, just weeks from this trail that has become the Things I Already Miss List. 

I fussed about which hat to wear, and asked Jesse if I'd be warm enough in just a few layers. Also, of course the last trail is the FIRST trail that I remember to put some extra toilet paper squares in my jean pockets and remembered the bag balm for my lips!

Our wonderfulfantasticsupportiveawesome friends, Lorelyn and Trav came through our front door with smiles of support and excitement right on time and ready to go! Yes, we know how blessed we are to have friends that sacrifice their weekend and wake up at 4:30am to chase sheep 12 miles on foot! I'm telling you...these people are awesome.

We met our sheepherders at camp. They are ready to go and sadly didn't get much sleep with such cold temperatures on the eve of an emotional trail. It took us about 45 minutes to load their sleeping gear, the dogs and other items in the truck and the first sheep hit the road at 7:07am. We were off!

The first few miles Lorelyn and I front flagged together. As usual, I waited for the call on the radio that I was needed in the back. I dread that call, but I also love this call. It reminds me that I am needed and play (or played, rather) an important part in it all. This is when I have to get into marathon/professional sheep trailer mode and channel my inner mountain goat because I will be climbing up and down the sides of mountains chasing sheep and pushing them along.

I flank to the back of the large herd and the sheep just keep coming. There were so many more this year because a local sheep herder's sheep mixed with our herd while they were on the mountain so we were trailing a lot more than usual. As my wooly little friends walk past me, I take a few minutes to just appreciate it all. I took special notice of the sun glistening on their backs, the unique bleating of each and every one of these four-legged animals, I listened to their breathing and my heart smiled at each of the little lambs who managed to stick right next to their moms this far in to the trail.

I took special notice of their hooves on the asphalt and how it sounds like a rainstorm on a metal roof. This will be the last time I ever do this. Ever. After I take it in, I start sheep talking and walking and try to forget the tears welling up in my eyes.

Just before the picture above was taken a sheeptrailing angel (also known as one of our really neatsupercool friends) came to our rescue and offered up some coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. I asked her a few days before this day if she would be interested in taking some pictures of us trailing since it's close to impossible for me to catch any decent ones while running along the trail. She happily agreed and later gave us hundreds of photos to sift through and look back at. We will cherish these photos forever. The coffee, tea, hot chocolate and the use of her bike to help move traffic through the sheep were just added bonuses. Nice to know that we had been doing it all wrong all these years! Shoulda invested in a bike with a bell. Worked like a charm. ;)
 

We have some darn awesome friends, I tell you. Awesome.

When I was going through all the photos we got of this trail I stopped at this one and decided it was my favorite of all. I am so proud of this man and am so glad he'll get to take it a little easier on his body now - ranching is no joke, folks. I'm especially excited for him to be able to sleep in every now and again.

We finally made it to the major intersection of the trail. This is when the rest of the family met up to help. I see my mother in law with the grand-kids, my sister in law at the West side of the light stopping cars and my father in law on the East stopping cars. I stop and hug my mother-in-law (the sweetest, most genuine woman alive) and get a little teary eyed. She enthusiastically reminded me, "It's a good day!" and while I tried really hard to fight the tears a part of me wished this sheep herding thing would have worked out a little differently for our family. I had to remind myself of all the things that lead us to the decision we made and move forward.

I hurry over to my niece and nephew, give them kisses and snap a picture...if they don't remember this day, I'll show them this picture. You were there on the last day of a beautiful family tradition.

Just a few moments later the sheep are crossing through the intersection that we all are anxious to get through safely.
Now, it's the homestretch....

We keep the doggies in the trailer and off the road for their safety. If they don't look happy in this picture, it's because they aren't..they want to be with their sheep.

It wasn't long before we were heading down our county road which is all of our favorite part of the trail. Have I mentioned that we live in such a beautiful area? ;)

Just a mile from the house I picked up my nephew and he helped me trail the sheep to the ranch. The 4 hour and 45 minute trail went by pretty fast although, my knees weren't saying that the next day.

It was a bittersweet moment for all, but it is so exciting to close this wonderful chapter and begin a new one. 

It's been just over a month since this final trail and while there is no doubt in our minds we did the right thing, we are sure missing our furry friends that have enriched our lives over the past years. We will never forget them and I personally owe them so much for teaching me patience, love, loyalty and most of all to enjoy all of the beautiful things this world has to offer, especially God's creatures. 

This story isn't over folks, I feel like it's just the beginning.

The Girly Guide to the Country Life.

I've decided that if I were to write a book (don't get nervous, this is only pretend) I would title it:

The Girly Guide to the Country Life

It would include ranch fashion tips, quick dinner recipes for your rancher, de-stress tactics and overall lifestyle tips.

Chapter 1: Ranch Fashion Yes, there is such a thing.

1. Do not wear long, flowy dresses while outside especially when near barbed wire fences.

2. Do wear nail polish as often as possible so people know you are a girl and

3. Let your hair grow long so when you are 'working' and have a cap on, people will not say, "Excuse me, young man." as they drive up behind you.

4. Wear shiny earrings all.the.time again, so people know you are a girl and make sure they have backs on them otherwise you will find your earring months later scratched, bent and unwearable.

5. NEVER throw a good pair of jeans on when you think it will be a quick and easy chore. Nothing is ever quick or easy on the ranch. You WILL rip them.

6. Don't pay attention when Judgy McJudgerson asks you if you put on make up to do chores. Nothing is better than feeling pretty and badass at the same time. Layer on that mascara, girl!

Chapter 2: Evenings with your Rancher

1. Leftovers are quick and easy for dinner, who cares if you eat the same thing two nights in a row! He's hungry and tired and happy to have something ready for him. Give yourself a break every now and then and take advantage of this.

2. Leave the dishes in the sink every now and then and catch a movie on Netflix with the hubs.

Chapter 3: De-Stress Exercises

1. Get outside. We can all waste hours staring off into the interwebz, but fresh air is truly the best medicine. Go for a walk or sit outside and read a book.

2. Talk to the animals. They are great listeners and hardly ever judge.

3. When all else fails ask your rancher if any demo needs to be done around the ranch.

 Chapter 4: Lifestyle

1. Never start a shower when your husband recently told you he thinks there is a crack in a pipe somewhere. Ask for permission or else your shower will be unexpectedly cut short and it will most likely happen in the middle of soaping your hair.

2. Spiders are everywhere and not every one is a brown recluse. Say that with me one more time...Spiders are everywhere and not every one is a brown recluse.

The moment you accept this is the moment your life will improve and your anxiety will lessen. Know that because you are the one in the household with a small case of arachnophobia, you will be the one to find every spider. You will be the one with the spiders on your side of the bed. You will be the one with the spider in your shoe which leads me to my next two tips...

3. Always check your shoes before you put your feet in them.

4. Remember to check under the sheets before you crawl into bed along with your pet's bedding.

y'all remember Jigs' spider bite, don't you?? In case you missed that one, click here.

5. Shake out your clothes before you put them on. Did I ever share the story about the (very large) spider that crawled down my face because I didn't shake out my shirt? I'll spare you, but just know it wasn't pretty.

6. Shake out your towel before you use it. I don't think I ever told you about the spider I dried my face with once. Yeah, that wasn't pretty either.

Okay, enough about spiders. Let's move on to water.

7. Do not freak out when you go to use the restroom and the person before you didn't flush. It's a country thing and you won't understand until you've experienced your well running dry. Oh, and my fellow Californians - puhlease stop rinsing down your concrete driveway. That water you are wasting was a gift from the Colorado mountains, water that we really could use right about now.

8. When you have animals do not make solid plans with your friends. The second you do there will be a sheepergency and you'll have to cancel, then you just look like an ass. I have a standard sheep disclaimer that I include every time I RSVP.

9. Y'all already know not to pick up stray "dogs" at night. If you haven't heard that story, click here.

10. Do not. I repeat DO NOT lift up anything old and rusty looking at the ranch. If it looks like it's been there for a while chances are there is something dead and decomposing underneath. True story.

11. When you hear heavy breathing outside your window, always assume it's the neighbors cows not a bear or a peeping Tom.

12. God gave us two hands for a reason. One hand is to hold a glass of wine and the other to open and close the ranch gates.

 

Country girls, what have you learned the hard way?

Share your tips and stories in the comment section below! 

Washington Day 2 and 3: Agvocating.

This is a write up that the Colorado Farm Bureau sent out in a newsletter. It does a great job of summing up the purpose of our trip since, let's be honest...I am totally not going to find the time to write something up on my own.
 
CFB Members Voice Positions in Washington D.C. this Week
On April 22-25, eight Colorado Farm Bureau members, along with Vice President of Public Policy Brent Boydston and Executive Vice President Chad Vorthmann, visited Washington, D.C., to learn about federal policy, meet legislators and visit two embassies. The group met  with AFBF staff to get the latest briefing on bills in front of congress. Then, they met U.S. Trade Representatives to talk about the Trans Pacific Partnership and the importance of trade to Colorado agriculture.  The participants met with Senator Udall to discuss issues and present him with the Friend of Farm Bureau award. After that they had the opportunity to meet with Senator Bennet and talked about immigration reform, and they finished the day at the Embassy of Ireland.

The next morning, they met with the House Judiciary Committee, where they talked about ag labor and the immigration bill. After that, they met with Congressman Polis's staff, where they discussed endangered species and the EPA. Then they met with Congressman Cory Gardner, and finished the day with a meeting at the New Zealand Embassy.

"This trip was very valuable to our members who had the opportunity to discuss policy issues with many of our legislators and review federal legislation that affects their farms and ranches. We had a great experience, learned a lot and most importantly did an outstanding job representing Colorado's farmers and ranchers," said Vorthmann.  

Poo On Road. Use Alternate Route.

It's that time of year...the leaves are changing, kids are back in school, the crisp fall air surrounds us and the sheep make their way back to the ranch!

If you've been around here long then you know that the sheep coming home from the summer range up in the mountains is one of my favorite times of year! (The other is when the sheep come home in April from the winter range.)

Our herder, Daniel did a spectacular job tending to the sheep this summer and for his first year on the mountain he far surpassed our expectations! We are grateful for his hard work and dedication to the ranch. Very grateful.

Our sheep will be coming home Sunday, October 2nd and yes, once again I will be leading the pack (aka flagging oncoming traffic while I say about 100 yards ahead of the herd). I'm not worried though...I've been mentally (not so much, physically) preparing for this trek all year long. Bring it on!

If the sheep want to run all 12 miles home, then running it is! I.am.ready!

Back to the story at hand...

This weekend was our towns annual Heritage Days Festival. The history of our town is celebrated in the park and is kicked off with a 5K Fun Run and the annual "Trailing Running of the Sheep!" The other sheep rancher in the area brings his sheep off the mountain a week before we come off and times it so the sheep make it through the main street around 9am on Saturday (sheep time).

I, unfortunately didn't get many pictures, but this will give you an idea...

Our sheep used to be the sheep that came through town, but we can get another week of feed on the mountain and we have to take advantage of that! 

After the trailing and the road is covered in poo, there is a parade through town then vendors in the park. There are several events including a car show, a redneck fashion show, music and this year there was a lamb roast, the lamb provided by yours truly.   :)

It was yummy!


It's truly a great event in which my mother-in-law helped start and I do plan on having a more active role next year. It's important to keep this tradition alive. It's what this area was founded on!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

{happy weekend!}

What do you think of the new layout? I am really happy with it. Thanks Jillian!

We are gearing up for a fun Independence Day weekend.

B-Town has an annual July 4th celebration and it's a pretty big deal. This weekend is one of two weekends everyone looks forward to on a yearly basis. The other fun weekend (which happens to be my fave) is in the Fall. It includes sheep taking over a main street in the town!

Not only do all of J's high school buddies come back to town for the 4th of July but, their fabulous wives (aka B-Town Wives Club) come to town as well! There WILL be pictures!

This weekend will definitely include some target practice,

a barbecue, a birthday celebration, pet costumes while parading down thee Main Street in town and lots of Red, White and Blue fun!

Our friends Lisa and Thor are coming down from the BIG city and although they couldn't bring the mall they are bringing my two favorite black labs and some Oskar Blues' goodness!  

What exciting things do you have planned?

If you are a B-Town native (I know there are a few of you reading this) will you be in town? If not, what is your favorite July 4th hometown memory?

June is a good month.

What a wonderful month this is going to be! Let me give you a few reasons why.

Summer is here!
The lambs are looking strong and healthy and our feed is nice and green.
Vegetables have been planted in my first garden. (With the help of my green thumb mother-in-law.)
We've booked our summer trip to Mexico. Yippee!
My mom is booking her tickets to visit me next month. Double Yippee!
My sister-in-law, her husband and my nephew will be here in a few weeks.
Morgan and his girlfriend are coming back for a visit this month. 
My best friend shared with me the most wonderful news a few days ago.
AND I am celebrating 2 years of marriage today ya'll!

I love that our wedding day remains to be the happiest day of our lives. J and I often talk about all the fun we had and how wonderful that day was.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.

Here we are, two years later living in J's hometown tending to hundreds of sheep and most importantly, we are happy.

Now, it's your turn. What is going to make June a wonderful month for you? 

Here's to another great weekend!

This post is a little late. It was a busy week!

What a wonderful and relaxing weekend we had last week.

This time of year things slow down for a little while so it's a perfect time to garden. Most all the sheep have delivered (except for about 5) and majority of the sheep and their babies are up at the windmill.

Friday I began tending to my very first garden! J's mom and sister made these garden beds last year and I'm excited to use them this year!

My mother-in-law is quite the gardener so when she mentioned starting a garden at our place I was a little intimidated. After pulling all the weeds and tilling the garden it seems like I might be able to handle it.

I also mowed a lawn for the first time in my life. How funny is it that I mow my first lawn while living on a SHEEP ranch? Why not let the sheep eat it, right? Well, apparently they are picky eaters and don't like the long grass that was filling up our yard. We'll keep them in the yard now that it's at a nice length for them.

Another fun thing that happened is J's vines arrived!

He has planted a (very small) vineyard. How fun is that?!
Jigs is pretty excited.  Even though we will keep her far, far away from the grapes when the vines start to raisin.

I think it will be great hobby for him. How he will find the time to tend to these vines, I have not a clue.

How he will keep the pain-in-the-butt goats from eating them, not a clue about that either. Just today he told me the sheep trampled all over them. oops! We are off to a great start.

Also, this past Friday evening we had surprise visitors! Our good friends, Lisa and Thor (yes, that is his real name) drove down from the Boulder area for the weekend! Apparently everyone knew and they wanted to surprise me so when I heard knocking in the middle of the night I was a little taken back.

Good thing I don't sleep with a loaded gun by my bed. ;)

We did some shooting out in the back, spent some time on our good friend's houseboat and celebrated a birthday.  We had a delicious breakfast at the new diner in town and enjoyed a few cold drinks. 

This is Thor. Yes, he is pretty bad a**.

This is Lisa (and Jigs).

I've said it before and I'll say it again...we have some pretty awesome friends in our life.

Here's to another great weekend! What are your plans this weekend?

No Easy Task

I had this (what seemed to be a) great idea to milk one of our goats and make goat cheese. I looked forward to it all week. I found what I thought was the best (and easiest) recipe online, bought cheesecloth's at the store and picked a jar I thought would work best. By the time Saturday came I was ready. You and me mama goat - it's on.

Saturday arrives. I head out to help with the chores and to milk my goat. The first thing I realize is I have to catch the goat. I guess I just thought  the goat would just be there waiting for me, ready and willing to be milked. Riight.

Once reality hit I turned to J and asked you are going to help me, right? I enlisted J to help me for obvious reasons one being my safety. I have yet to be hit aka rammed by a goat or a sheep and it's not something that I have on my To-Do list. I've heard it hurts.

J catches her after a few failed attempts and we pen her up so she can't run off in the middle of milking.
I milk the goat for about 5 minutes and realize she's low on milk. Perfect. I leave this mama penned up and we head inside to have breakfast. I figured by the time I come back she'll have a little more milk. We were only gone for a little while and when we got back the goat was gone! It's like a hoodini goat. Gone. We look around for the mama along with the rest of the goat gang and they are nowhere to be found. Fail #1

We head off in search of the goat gang and figure at this point we'll just catch any mama we can. We spot them and realize they aren't going to make this an easy task.

After working them off the cliff J gets on the side of one and I get on another. That doesn't work. I grab her babies in hopes she will come toward them and that doesn't work either. What type of mother are you goat?! Then J gets a little frustrated and just goes after her. He's like a goat ninja - he caught her.

We put this mama on her back and realize she has a real badly chapped nipple and I didn't want to take all her milk from her one good nipple, she has two babies to feed. We let her go and with her left my hopes for goat cheese. Fail #2

To say the least my attempt at milking the goats was an epic fail. After all that excitement and work I walked away with this:

I went inside with my head hanging low, my pitiful jar of almost nothing and decided I'd try my hand at painting instead since you can't really fail at that or maybe you can....

Oh sh*! the sheep!

On my days off I like to pretend I know what I am doing and help J with the chores. This entails letting the Ewes and their babies out of the barn, letting the puppies out, feeding the Ewes, horses, and the rams.

Saturday I woke up way too early, dragged myself out of bed, put my muddy jeans on (because we don't wash our "work" clothes daily, or weekly for that matter) a jacket, some gloves and headed out.

To my surprise I was greeted by 3 rams. Um, excuse me but you boys are supposed to be penned up way out in the back. J told me not to worry - they must have found a hole in the fence and meandered up closer to the house. I start walking out to the back where the rams are supposed to be and I was starting to get worried. Each morning the rams meet J at the fence because they know they are going to be fed - they weren't there.

I yelled to J, who was still back near the house letting the Ewes out of their pen and giving them water, "I don't see them." Still, he wasn't worried. I keep walking, hoping they are still bedded down from the night before and nothing. I look back at the house and out on the road I see a large slow moving cloud. "Oh, sh*! the sheep are out on the road!"

J dropped the bucket of water, "Oh crap, they are!" At this point I'm frantic and running in circles not sure of what to do. "I'll run to the other side of the ranch and catch them on that end." J said, "I'm going to get the 4 wheeler. It's okay, you don't need to panic." Umm, okay.

So, I take off running for my life. Not really, but it felt like it. The whole time I'm thinking - wow, I need to do more cardio at the gym. Anyway, I get out on the road and J is already there on the 4 wheeler. So much for beating him to the rams and blocking them off.

The rams turned right around and found their way back to the house and up the driveway. It's as if they knew they had been bad. I've heard from fellow ranchers that right when you think you got it down something happens just to keep you on your toes - I'm starting to believe this is true!

Worse Shape Than Sheep!

A week after running with the sheep, er, I mean, sheep trailing the pain has subsided and my legs are working again. Thank goodness!



Last week I mentioned we were bringing the sheep off the mountain and back to the ranch. Let's just say I unintentionally ran/walked a half marathon on Sunday. No one told me the sheep would run for the first few miles and keep a fast paced walk the whole time. It wouldn't have been a big deal if I wasn't in worse shape than the sheep and if I didn't have to stay ahead of 2,000 of them! That's a lot of pressure!

J drove the truck and this trailer behind the sheep.


After mile 3ish, the sheep started to slow down. I took this time to catch my breath and take in my surroundings. It's really beautiful in this part of the country. While on my (power) walk I thought of lyrics to a song I heard recently, If God wasn't born in Colorado, I'm sure he spends most of his time here. 


While walking down the highway, flagging oncoming traffic to let them know there view is about to look like this:

Deer would stop to check me out. Once they realized I was just an out-of-shape female they continued to eat their greens.  Horses in nearby pastures ran up to the fence to see what was going on and what all the baa-ing was about. Cows began moo-ing as the sheep passed and dogs barked and barked. It was as if they were talking to each other it felt like I was in an episode of Babe.

Around mile 12 I saw the open fence at the ranch. It was open and ready for the sheep! It was so neat to see all of the sheep file onto the green grass and eat. It's as if they knew they were home. These animals live such a great life.

Flagging was fun and I've already (been) signed up for next year. I'll make sure I'm better prepared.

Saturday 1pm

Everybody is home! Sunday 1pm

Happy everyone made it home safely,
A Rancher's Wife

(photos have since been posted here: http://citylifetoranchingwife.blogspot.com/2010/10/worse-shape-than-sheep-part-deuce.html)

Welcome to the ranching life!

It will be one week tomorrow that I pulled into our drive and was welcomed to our new home by Jigs.

Jigs, is the ranch's newest Border Collie.

We've since completely unpacked. We are downsizing a little so we had to get rid of a lot. You don't realize how much crap you have until you move - that's for sure. We donated lots to the local thrift store, maybe that will warm some folks up to the new city gal in town. For the first few days I was feeling like this before 3pm!

This is "Wito". He is up in the high country right now working all night to keep the coyotes, bear and all other predators away from the sheep.

I knew it was time for an update and considering I had my first real adventure yesterday well, here we go.

In the summer the sheep graze different areas of national forest and are we are required to move 'camp' weekly. This requires J to take supplies (food for the herder, dog food, mineral blocks for the sheep and a few other things) on an ATV, meet at the current camp, load up and move everything to the new spot. This was the 'easiest' of the summer moves and since I'm not working right now I figured I'd go up! We woke up about 5:30am and were out the door by 6:15am. We got to our unload spot at around 8:30am. We loaded everything up on the ATV and began the 2 mile hike/ride in. Jesse and I took turns on the ATV and he rode the more sketchier of areas. We are off trail most of the time so it's not your average trail hike.

There are markers most of the way, J and his Pop do this to make it easier for them, of course. After about a 1.5 hour trek in I see the sheep on a hill and Gringo and Wito (the two guard dogs on the mountain) come running at us! I am so happy to see the dogs! The guard dogs are Great Pyranese and Akbash, are hard workers (Gringo had killed a coyote that was attacking the sheep the night before) but are the sweetest most loving dogs you'll ever meet. Don't get me wrong, they can definitely intimidate especially when they want to 'play'. I would normally partake but with these dogs 'playing' would most likely consist of me getting hurt or at least scratched up.

Wito and Gringo coming to greet us!

We meet with Alberto, the herder that stays with the camp all summer. He stays there all summer with the two guard dogs and two Border Collies and loves it.

We load up his tent and any other supplies he has with him and visit with him for a while. He looks so happy to have someone to converse with for a little while so I don't mind hanging around for a bit. After a while, when it sounds like the conversation is coming to an end I tell Jesse that I'm going to start walking down to the next camp area. I figure he'll catch up to me pretty quickly on the ATV. This was my first mistake. Who the heck am I to think that I know my way around? There are hundreds of miles of forest surrounding me. It didn't take me but 2 minutes to realize that I'm lost.

I could hear the ATV but it was getting more faint by the second. I'm running down the hill to get a better view of my surroundings. I thought by looking up I would maybe be able to see J or Alberto. Nothing. Fear set in and I'm in hysterics. It was like a scene in a really bad movie. At this point I'm frantically running back up the hill, crying, saying things like 'Oh my God, I'm going to die out here' and 'Oh my God, I'm lost, I'm lost, Oh my God'. I could even see (in my head of course) vultures circling around above me. I told you it was like a scene in a bad movie.

Just when I was going to start screaming I see J in the distance and I yell his name to get his attention. I sat down on a rock and sobbed. I just kept remembering all those stories I've heard about hikers getting 'turned around' and 'being stranded' for days on end. I have never, ever been that scared in my entire life. It took me a good 30 minutes to calm down and even still when I told the story to my mother about 5 hours later I was getting choked up. She gave me a good idea...take a foghorn with me next time!

At this point I'm just ready to get home. I'm over the forest, I'm over the heat and I'm over the walking! Turns out I'm in for some more. Alberto catches up to us and tells us there is a ewe that needs to come back to the ranch. Her joints aren't doing to good and if she stays on the mountain she'll be coyote bait. He rounds up the sheep, with the help of Sage, one of the Border Collies and I find myself in the wrong place, again! I realize I'm facing about 700 sheep that are all staring right at me. Not so fluffy and cute when you are outnumbered by that many. These ewes can weigh up to 130 lbs! Thankfully Sage comes and turns the herd around. Phew! Good dog.

Alberto and J wrangle the Ewe, we named her Mama, and loaded her up into the back of the ATV. It was a tight fit for her but she wasn't in any harm. We say our goodbyes to Alberto and J arranges their next meet and we are heading to the car! After what seemed to be hours, J and I make it to the car. Now, the most fun part of the day - loading the 140 lb sheep into the truck. No, we couldn't just load her in the bed of the truck...the ATV took up all the space. So where did we put her? Oh, she went in the back seat! I had to use all my strength to help lift her, I was even getting a little teary eyed because you could tell she was just so scared. We plopped her on the back seat and talked to her, to calm her and we headed home.

Here is Mama, in the back seat. I couldn't resist...the hat was right next to her.

My first (and possibly last) trip to the high country.

So, there you have it. My first 'real' adventure. What did I learn from this experience?

...always wear sunscreen when going to the high country! My face is cherry red today. Might even be getting a blister or two.

Signed,
A Rancher's Wife (in training)