Back in the Saddle Again...

When out west, we need to act like cowboys, or at least city slickers...  So this morning we saddled up for a more than 2 hour trail ride.  It was a beautiful morning with blue sky and a nice breeze to keep it from feeling to hot.  We lucked out today, because the owner forgot to write down our reservation so he gave us a 2 hour ride for the price of a shorter ride! Yippie!!!  Both Alex and Daniel ratted today's ride a 10 out of 10!  I think Alex wants a horse now too!  I would put it at about an 8.  2 hours was a little long for me!

Our ride was not a typical trail ride in that the horses did not follow one another so we were free to ride where and in the order we wanted and to trot the horse if we chose.  This made for a lot of fun and the feeling that we were actually in control of the horse, although, I think that was just an illusion.  Alex and Daniel were both naturals on their chosen horses.  Daniel on Sky and Alex on Ranchero.  I rode Shy, which we all got confused with Sky, including the wranglers.  

We followed the Platte River upstream for quite awhile, crossing it several times.  It was nice, we spent most of the time in the woods and while we didn't see any wildlife, we did pass a huge beaver dam and house.  

Getting off the horse was a different challenge for me, as I felt like the first day on a new set of knees.  I think I will be sore for a bit, but the boys bounced right back.

After lunch the boys went biking, until Daniel popped a tire on what they call Goat needles here.  They are small very hard and pointy needle like quills from some plant and are all over the place.  We learned this from the local bike store where we took his tire to get fixed.  He told us we should expect to see him again over the weekend, as this happens all the time.  What a great business.  I'm wondering if they are the ones spreading these thumb tack like quills all over the bike paths at the park.

This evening we took a drive with the dog over to a very unique dog park.  This is a very large, probably 30 to 40 acre fenced in area where you can walk the dogs off leash. Windsor seemed to love his new found freedom and enjoyed wandering the park at will with us following behind.  He actually behaved quite well with the other dogs too.  

Later we watched the sunset from our campsite and were afforded a beautiful view as the sun slowly sank behind the mountains for the day. 

We are all adjusting well to the altitude and looking forward to another adventure tomorrow.

Above: A view from the dam accros the lake to our campsite.  If you look really hard you can see us!

Above: Virually alone on the front range.  This is a very nice park, with lots of space to roam.