Total eclipse

It’s been a busy two weeks with lots of fun and laughs and some tears. On wednesday, I had to say goodbye to my fellow wrangler Hannah, who has become one of my closest friends over the summer. The person I could talk to about (literally) anything, that I could always laugh with and make inappropriate jokes with and I could totally be myself with. I can’t imagine anyone I would have rather shared this experience with. One of the best things about this amazing summer is all the great people I’ve met and hopefully will meet in the coming weeks. You girls have taught me so much and your kind words will stay with me forever!

It’s just me as a wrangler now. Not that they’re making it hard for me. It’s just Lucy and Lisa here now, the other girls left on Friday. It was a really nice group, a lot smaller than the previous one with only seven people. I liked the big group because there were always people to talk to and we had a lot of fun but a smaller group made my job a lot easier. People didn’t have to wait for too long and it was easier to go places. We had a great time and like last session, the two weeks were over in a blink.

We’ve done a lot in the past two weeks though. Lots of riding of course, we went to Wood River again. I love it there, it’s so nice to see trees again! It’s beautiful out here but a little too dry for me sometimes. It’s nice to see actual green grass. As we rode up the mountain we saw bear and moose tracks so we were talking about how funny it would be if we looked up and came face to face with a bear.. We turned the corner and looked up to see.. a moose and her baby (thankfully not a bear as you weren’t with us Mary Anna ;). They were really close though and pretty chilled so we got a good look at them. After that the horses were a bit nervous but the scariest thing we ran into was a bull that tried to attack us to protect it’s cows (no animals were harmed).

The first weekend of every session is usually a trip to Yellowstone and as there was space in the rental cars I decided to go with the girls. I went last year but I really wanted to go again as there were some things I missed last year. I finally saw the Grand Prismatic Spring Chey, Rosie and George! We also went to Grand Theton where we hiked up a mountain to a gorgeous lake with mountains in the background, a breathtaking view! There were eight of us going but we decided to not try to stay together. The girls in the other (really fancy) rental car stayed at a hotel and had a chilled weekend, we camped, got up at six and crammed as much into the two days as we could. We managed to get a campsite both nights (no sleeping in the car this year!), saw everything we wanted and more, saw loads of bison, elk, deer and even moose, cooked a great meal on the campfire (thanks Danielle and Lydia for getting the fire going!) and managed not to get eaten by bears (even though we heard

something banging the bear box at night).

Now it’s just Lucy, Lisa and me for a couple of days. Yesterday, we had a chill day and watched some movies. It was really nice to just relax and chat with them. We have lots of riding planned but today we went to Thermopolis to see the solar eclipse. I didn’t realize how big of a thing it was but people travelled here from all over the world to see it. And we just happened to be here. Apparently Wyoming is one of the best places to go because of the weather. It was very impressive, we could see the ring of sunlight around the moonl. It was almost completely dark, in the middle of the day, a very cool experience.

More adventures in the West

It's been quiet at the ranch this past week, the last interns of the July session left last weekend so it's just been Hannah, Tiffany and me this week. Tiffany is going to College in Powell so she was here this week to sort out some stuff. It was nice to have some down time but I really miss everyone... I'm looking forward to meeting the new group, they will arrive today, and seeing Lucy again.

During the third week of the July session the group was a bit smaller so we were able to take the horses on the trailer to Wind River in the Shoshone forest. We rode two different trails, one along the creek and one that went into the mountains. It was beautiful out there, all the trees where a nice change from the sagebrush we have around here. After the rides we left the horses in a paddock and took the car further into the mountains to an abandoned minetown. It was eerie to see the buildings, some of them still mostly intact and with some of the machinery still there. When I walked around what seemed to be the main storage building, one of the windows creaked open, creepy!

We also went to the Buffalo Bill centre, which holds five museums. I can't believe I, as a museum lover, didn't go there last time. We spend two afternoons in the different museums, it was very interesting and the set up was really nice. I loved learning more about  Buffalo Bill/General Cody, who gave the town his name. His Wild West show was a huge event that travelled all over the world, with people from all different backgrounds. It shaped the way people saw the American Wild West.

Of course we did lots of riding as well, we went on another sunrise ride, we went to the coalmine (and didn't get blown up!), I found out Pirouette likes taking naps in streams and reservoirs, I worked with Buttercup again and I started working with one of the young horses named Sage. It is so good to see how fast the young ones improve. The first time I tried, he was terrified of the saddle pad but yesterday I could even put the saddle on him. I did a lot of arena work with Pirouette, she has calmed down a bit and we make a pretty good team now I think. She is a really sensitive horse and you can tell she has been trained well. Hannah and I went out to check on some of our other horses in a different pasture the other day. Unfortunately the mule that was there decided to try and jump on Pirouette. Thankfully Hannah protected us ;)

On Thursday we went to Riverton, where a county fair was being held. I was quite surprised because I just expected rides, like a 'kermis' back home, but this one also had 'exhibits' with sheep, pigs, cows, rabbits and chickens. The funniest thing was all the sheep with blankets on, I could picture my dad putting blankets on all of his sheep, ridiculous. They also had prices for best hay, wool and the regular stuff like baking, arts & crafts etc. There were even races with barn animals, we saw a turkey race! I probably sound like someone who has never been abroad before but it was quite funny to see the difference with a fair back home.