Guns, hay rides, and fish

Alas, it was our last full day on the dude ranch. Looking back, we wish we'd stayed longer. But how could we know it would be so much fun??

Yet another example of the wildlife surrounding us

We had our usual hearty breakfast (was it pancakes or french toast??) and then got ready for a horseback ride. This would turn out to be my favorite ride on my favorite horse. I rode Cash that day. Unlike old Bob, Cash would stay in line and was pretty good about refraining from bending down to snack on flowers.

Bubba (yes, his real name) the wrangler helps Uncle Justin onto the horse

We learned that one of the wranglers, Bubba, worked in Hollywood as a stunt man way back in the day. Not as cool as your Hollywood mail room job, eh, Dad? Just kidding! After the ride, we had some down time on our porch while we waited for the lunch bell.

Mmmm. Spaghetti lunch. It was hard not to take third helpings, but as we girls had massages scheduled for that afternoon, we didn't want to make ourselves too full.

This needs to be on a family Christmas card!

The boys headed out to the gun range while the girls all took turns getting massages in a peaceful cabin just across from ours.

The massage was nice, but afterward, ranch food got the best of me, and I felt like I couldn't enjoy the effects of the massage, being glued to the toilet and all. By some miracle, I was able to make it to the picnic dinner.

Washers

The entertainment after our BBQ chicken dinner was a hay ride around the ranch. It might not sound that exciting, but it was a great way to view parts of the ranch we'd never seen before. It was just gorgeous as the sun started to go down. One of the ranch dogs followed us the entire time. He never hopped on—just panted behind us as we rode along.

One of the faithful ranch dogs trailing us on the hay ride

The boys had already tried fishing (unsuccessfully) the night before, and I decided it was my turn to have a go. The boys, Ada, and I headed down to the fishing pond to see what we could catch. Susan, the matriarch of our new family friends, was successful at catching a catfish for a second night in a row!

Susan with her freshly caught catfish. Time to unhook and release it! 

We returned to the main area empty-handed and roasted marshmallows by the campfire. The rest of the evening we spent bringing the sun down on our porch drinking rounds of beer (well, only tasting for me). We chatted into the night while a big owl hunted close by, landing every so often in our front yard. Such a cool sight!