We stopped for dinner at Denny's in Cheyenne, WY. I am pretty sure that was my first experience eating at a Denny's. It was nothing stellar food-wise and offered pretty slow service. Seemed to be our luck. We continued on to Casper and drove up to the entrance of the Hampton Inn around 10 pm. We had two queen beds with Kristen on the floor on a blow-up mattress. Someday she's not going to be so keen on being relegated to the floor all of the time.
After breakfast at the hotel and a few grocery-type stops, we were on our way. . . . . . . . . Yep, driving through Wyoming was that much fun. We stopped again for lunch in Thermopolis at a Blimpies and then again in Cody, WY for gas and milk. We made a minor stop at the Sierra Trading Post in Cody as well. Nothing special, I had just seen their website online and was curious.
Our arrival at the cabin met with some shushing. Kids AND adults were sleeping. We were the fifth family to add to the numbers. Debrys, Allreds, Siders, and Wagners had arrived ahead of us and were already reveling in mid-afternoon naps. Others were playing games, and sadly, some kids were laid out on couches with bags resting on their stomachs. Hmmmmmmm. The bags weren't a very welcoming sight.
We unloaded our luggage and trudged upstairs to the last remaining bedroom. The girls would have to sleep in the loft area. We stayed up late talking, with Mark D. sharing crazy exploits from his younger days--he should have been arrested. Seriously.
The fun thing about this cabin that my girls quickly remembered was that there were pairs of cowboy boots everywhere, and the girls had a fun time searching to find a pair to fit them, and a cowboy hat, and any other necessary part to their ensemble.
While the first group headed out for horse rides on Wednesday morning, Chris and the girls got in a little more shooting practice. Because of the size of our group, there were two shifts. Chris and the girls were in the second group.
I thought it was pretty funny when I drove up to the horse ranch and saw this scene. I couldn't resist snapping a picture.
It wasn't certain that Kristen was going to be able to ride the horses, there were so many others wanting a turn. Let me just say that tears and crying do get you what you want, and she soon found herself on the back of a horse. I took pictures of the girls, Chris and the group as they were leaving and hoped to meet back up for more pictures as they passed by the cabin.
Brenda W. and I made it outside just as I heard Chris' voice over the hill. Shoot. We had missed them. We hopped in Brenda's van and hurried up the road a little ways to another clearing where we were just in time to catch some pictures. Kristen was all smiles. The owner of the horses led the group and held on to Kristen's reins the whole time.
Shane A. was intent on swimming Wednesday afternoon, so a group of us headed back to the river. For the longest time, Shane was the only one brave enough to jump in the river with the rope swing. A lot of people swung out on the rope, but they were all fully clothed and landed most of the time back on the shore. Shane had to assist a few of the times. The tree from which the rope swing hung had a lot of short branches which happened to interfere with the swing of the rope. Rob W. decided to remedy the situation and hiked on back to the cabin for an axe and a hacksaw. He was even brave enough to climb up the tree and removed the worst offender of the branches. AND, he even removed his mosquito netting off his head. Let's just say he doesn't like mosquitoes.
Some of my girls had fun fishing and canoeing, and I was surprised when Kristen asked if she could get in the water. She had a long shirt on under a fleece pullover, so I stripped her down to her shirt and undies. The water was cold, but she gradually eased herself in until she was actually swimming. She swung on the rope quite a few times, but never was brave enough to let go. I don't think she was too keen on going all the way under.
Misha caught a fish that got away as she reeled it in, and then Chris was actually able to catch and release one. Amy tried and tried but never got lucky.
