The Dude Ranch

A long, long time ago - I decided my family needed to go to a dude ranch. Here's me pondering it in 2008 and again in 2013. I was unable to convince my sister of the merits of this trip, but I did somehow luck out and my parents agreed to come. Let's just say, I may no longer be their favorite child, but it's OK. I have some great plans for future trips, as soon as the memories of this one wear off.

To start our trip, we decided we needed to get some real cowboy clothes. Ed's mom sent Helen a bunch of dress up clothes a few years back, so Helen was set with her cowgirl gear. Connor was a lacking though, so we stopped at a store in Laramie, Wyoming and bought him the best ranch shirt ever. He wanted cowboy boots (as did I!), but they were expensive, and I couldn't justify buying them for Connor. I could have justified buying them for me - because I will actually wear them for more than a week of vacation, but I felt guilty buying a pair for me and telling Connor no. So we purchased no cowboy boots.

We added a hat to Connor's ensemble, and then stopped at a cheap retailer for bandanas and $12.50 cowboy hats for me and Ed. As it turned out, the ranch we visited loaned guests boots and hats, so we didn't end up needing the hats.

We were totally ready to rock the ranch look when we arrived.

Connor did not care to join us in our photo snapped on "auto" by the camera, but luckily a ranch dog joined so we could still be a group of four.

But don't think Connor wasn't super stinkin' cute.

Although his preferred photo stance was with two guns drawn, because I guess that it Connor's cowboy image.

My parents were not quite as into the dress-up portion of the vacation as we were - at first!

But they came around soon enough.

Here is probably a good time to mention a few things about my mom. She does not like animals, especially large ones. She does not like dirt - or which there is an abundance on a very dry farm. And she would never consider a fun day in the afternoon to be riding a horse.

Yet? She rode a horse! Many times! With no complaint! Her horse was wearing some kind of net to protect its eye because it had an infection. Well, that's what the owners of the ranch told us. Quite possibly, my mom is riding a blind horse because my mom is that awesome of a rider. Also, I think I get some credit for keeping her young.

My dad was Connor's dinner champion because somehow, Connor convinced my dad to squeeze lemon on his salad each night. Pretty good living for Connor!

More to come...

Elaine

Vedauwoo

Possibly the best thing to come out of debating in college is having connections to people literally across the entire United States. A few weeks before Ed, Connor, Helen, and I departed for Laramie, Wyoming - where we planned to stay for one day before our dude ranch vacation started - I asked a friend of mine how to spend 24 hours in Laramie.

His advice?

From Laramie, take Interstate 80 east 15.8 miles to Vedauwoo Road/ exit 329. Just get off the exit and head into the giant rocks; you'll find your way around.

The morning was nothing short of fantastic. We started scrambling up the rocks, definitely going higher than we should have, until we found a spot at the top to sit and enjoy the view.

Connor and Helen have loved hiking that involves scrambling over rocks lately. We've gone up to the Maryland side of Great Falls twice, the second time going further along the Billy Goat Trail than the first. We only have the easiest piece of the trail left to tackle.

As a result of these hikes, Helen and Connor have become quite proficient in scrambling up large rock areas, which gave them a lot of confidence to tackle Vedauwoo.

Connor started out strong.

And as we climbed over rocks and up the mountain, Helen's small size became an advantage at some points. At many, of course, it's a disadvantage since her legs simply don't span the needed distance!

At some point, Connor advised not looking down, which turned out to be good advice. We climbed up those!

After that, Connor and I took a moment to be awesome.

And then Helen and Connor fueled up with some m&ms.

Finally, I set the camera on auto and snapped our final shot at the park.

Next up...going in to Laramie to buy cowboy clothes.

Elaine