After our time in Cody, we had a long drive to get to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We had beautiful scenery as we drove through Montana's Bighorn Mountains.
After driving for most of the morning, we got to spend the afternoon having an authentic ranch experience on a real, working cattle ranch. T-A Ranch was the site of a famous siege and shootout during the infamous "Johnson County War" in 1892; you can still see the old gunshot holes in the ranch's original horse barn!
We were greeted by this friendly, happy face!
We were all drawn to the dog like moths to a flame, that animal loving gene runs deep in our family.
We began with a cookhouse lunch in the farmhouse.
Then everyone who wanted to, got to go for a horseback ride!!
The kids got to go first, they all looked so adorable on their horses.
I couldn't get over how little V looked on her horse. Her horses name was Homer Pigeon and he was missing one eye, he was the sweetest of all the horses.
We had fun watching as the littles rode their horses through a couple little obstacle courses.
After all the kids had a turn riding the horses, it was the adults turn for a ride. I got paired with a beautiful blond horse named Gandalf.
Gandalf was best friends with Sunflower, the horse Ricky was riding. They NEEDED to be walking side by side even though we were supposed to be in a single file line. Ricky and I tried the entire ride to get our horses to ride in a line, but they were very strong willed. Their care takers, who were in charge of our ride, said Gandalf had probably done something to make sunflower mad and he was trying to apologize for it since that happens often. So we were caught in the middle of a lovers spat haha.
Back at the ranch, there were so many fun activities we didn't have a chance to get to all of them before it was time to leave!
The little kids loved the horseshoe painting
Mom hung out at the ranch house while we were horseback riding and made friends with the sweet pupper.
Lots of us took a turn trying to lasso a bull, it is so hard!
The kids love all the wide open spaces where they could run around and play in the grass. This ranch felt like a little slice of paradise.
After our amazing afternoon at the TA ranch, we had to say goodbye to all the animals and the super sweet family that runs it, but we didn't have to say goodbye to ranch life!
That night we got to spend the evening and sleep at another working cattle ranch.
When we arrived at the Ranch at Ucross, there were fishing pools lined up for anyone who wanted to go fishing, there was a pool, a volleyball net, a fire pit and for us animal lovers, there were three dogs and two cats to play with. It was heaven.
Some of the boys headed down to the pond to go fishing.
The dogs love to follow anyone who goes fishing because they like to try and steal the fish off the lines when they are getting reeled in, silly puppers.
Jenny and I opted to play with the kitties, their names were Uno and Dos. They were some of the most affectionate kitties I have ever met!
After dinner, we had more free time to enjoy the property. Our family gathered around the fire pit to make s'mores and get a good view of the gorgeous sunset.
Later in the evening some of the family started up a volleyball game, while others went swimming. This ranch was the perfect place for a big family like ours, there was something for everyone.
We only got to spend one night at this magical ranch, I think all of us would have loved more time here. But in the morning we had to pack up and say goodbye, the three dogs stationed themselves right by the breakfast building to make sure they got to say goodbye to everyone. They were the sweetest.
The dog standing up by me is Annie, and she is the mama, the other two are her babies. The one resting on my feet is named Holley, she is 10 months old and at the top is her brother, Tank.
We all loved our experience on these ranches so much! They were definitely a highlight of the trip. Now on to South Dakota and Mount Rushmore!
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