My parents came to visit in late September, a beautiful time to be in Colorado, so we headed to the mountains for a long weekend. My dad wanted a place where the boys could have space to run and explore, and he knew I'd love to get on a horse again, so I found a beautiful, low-key, family-owned ranch in northern Colorado called Sundance Trail. It was just a wooded valley with a lodge, some cabins, great homemade food, and daily rides. The eggs came from the chicken coop; all the baked goods were made from scratch - we ate well. Adam had to work for part of each day, but we still all managed to relax and savor the quiet. Just a half hour west of Fort Collins, the sky was still full of stars at night.
We all stayed in a cabin together, my parents on one side and the four of us in two rooms on the other side. It was a wonderful weekend, ending in my Dad's 60th birthday on Sunday!
The first morning, all the riders had to watch a 30-minute video about horsemanship. It featured Dan, the genial owner of the ranch, and a sweetly obnoxious horse who kept trying to hog the camera. I found it pretty interesting, but for most, it is probably a little slow. Isaac sat intently in front of the TV and seemed to be absorbing every word, while Jonah climbed in my mom's lap and distracted us all with his antics. This series of photos, of two of my favorite people in the world, brings such a smile to my face every time I look at it.
After listening to all the safety concerns on the video, Isaac was too nervous to get on a horse.
So the only ring rider of the day was Jonah, who said "I want go ride horse!"
And once on, he was all smiles.
Adam and I walked nearby in case he abruptly decided to jump off -
but he did great. He held onto the horn and rode two times around the ring before he said "get off."
The it was our turn! The first day we just walked, but I was so happy to be in a saddle again that I didn't mind. And each of the three days, we got to canter (or lope, as they say in western riding) a little more.
We rode with minds at ease - my parents watched the boys and let them explore the lake, the woods, the rocks. We waved to them when we passed by.
The Red Feather Lakes region doesn't have the views of snow-capped peaks that have made Colorado famous, but we had beautiful woods and meadows to walk in, plus everywhere piles of craggy rocks great for climbing. In the afternoon, while Adam was working, we took a walk down the dirt road outside our cabin door.
Isaac walked ahead with DeeDa, while Babop stayed back with Jonah to let him explore at his own pace. They were happy boys.
Isaac and I climbed up on the rocks to get a view of the nearby mountains. The sun is in his eyes here, but he loved practicing his climbing and "teaching" me how to do it. When my parents walked back with Jonah, I stayed with Isaac to climb a little longer, until I saw a very large cat track in the dusty earth and hurried us out of there.
No comments:
Post a Comment