Greetings from Colorado's Sangre de Cristo mountains. I am at the J. Kyle Braid Leadership Ranch in Villa Grove working hard for a good cause but have found time to enjoy this beautiful country and "have a little vacation day." Uh, huh, huh.
Every day here is an adventure. Each morning that we ride Charlie and I (and now Ice too) take the four wheelers down into the pasture to wrangle the horses. We tie all 18 horses up and wait for the kids. We teach them how to tie, tack up and ride, and we head off into the mountains for about 15 hours of riding per week.
Charlie and I have near contracted Hantavirus cleaning this place before the kids got here. Cleaning is the primary task before any kids arrive but we manage to make it fun where many would probably not enjoy it.
The first week we had 20 Brevard County boys, and the second week we had 20 Brevard County girls. This is my fourth year coming to the ranch but only the first time I've experienced the girls. Night and Day. Girls are more reactive and that makes everything funnier. I enjoy the boys willingness to engage in new activities though.
Getting off the ranch for the day is always a treat. On our various trips to Wal-Mart looking for the lunch lady we saw a deli worker with a beard net, but no lunch lady. Amica's makes some of the best pizza I've ever had, aside from Tyler's Chicago-style, and they brew their own Colorado Brown S beer. Canon City's Holy Cross Abbey Winery was impressive also. I took a liking to their Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc. Wine tasting and an 8 hour "no kids" rule...next time I'll try them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment