Day 14 - Happy Trails

 I was informed that we needed to take the morning off. Apparently, I have been running the group ragged. Seeing that I was a wee bit exhausted myself, we hung out in the camper for the morning. We did fun stuff like laundry and cleaning the bathrooms. I guess we can't be on vacation every moment!

In the afternoon, we headed north to the Circle B Ranch. After our 45 minute drive, we found the sign for the place and a driveway with a gate across it. After a quick phone call, we discovered that the address on the website was for their old location and their new one was about twenty-five minutes away in Hill City. Which would make us late for our scheduled trail ride. Luckily, a group that was signed up for a later ride showed up early, so we just swapped places. The Circle B wasn't quite what I was expecting. All of the activities that were supposed to be available only occur right before the chuckwagon dinner (a fact that they fail to mention when you make reservations) and the petting zoo consisted of reaching through the fence to pet a couple of donkeys. But, Gavin was very excited to ride a horse, so we pressed on. Before now, someone had always led the horse when he rode. When he realized he was on his own, he said, "You mean, I have to control it myself?" But he did great! And he got to be first in line and lead the ride.

Gavin on Sheba

Mom on Reba

Grandpa on Bonnie

I brought up the rear of the trail ride on a horse named Gus. Our guide told me that she put me on Gus because I was a mom and Gus needed a firm mom that wasn't afraid to tell Gus what to do. Because, you see, Gus didn't really want to go on a trail ride. Gus wanted to eat. A lot. The whole time. I spent the trail ride yanking on the reins and kicking his backside so that we wouldn't be left far, far behind the other nice, obedient horses. Gus didn't appreciate this and tried to brush me off on every available tree. He nearly succeeded once and rammed my leg into a broken-off branch. I received a nice gash, but now realized that Gus was not to trusted and I didn't let him get away with any more funny business for the rest of the ride.

You had to be eight years old to go on a ride, so Don and Grandma P. entertained Gabriella while the rest of us rode.

Pony Ride!

After the ride, the other activities at the ranch had finally started up. Both kids got to shoot a pistol with wax bullets.

The ranch people staged a little shoot-out in front of the chuckwagon hall (though if there's a building, it's not really a chuckwagon, is it?) so they could capture the biscuit bandit that has stolen all of the biscuits for that night's dinner. The kids had fun chasing the bandit down. The "chuckwagon" dinner was cafeteria-style with beef, chicken, and bison with cowboy beans, baked potatoes, etc. It was the best bison that I have tasted on the trip! The kids liked the biscuit toss, where they threw the previously stolen biscuits across the room to all of the hungry customers. After dinner, they had a little show of cowboy music. Gavin likes country music, so he seemed to enjoy it, but it acted as a lullaby for Gabriella, who fell asleep during "Happy Trails." I know that I was plumb tuckered out myself by the time we got back to the camper.