Thursday July 11- Horses!

Another spectacular weather day greeted us this morning! (Thunderstorms would rattle around in the late afternoon, but to no consequence). Our first order of business was a guided horseback ride from Roosevelt Ranch. Mom, Helen, Shawn and Jack decided not to participate, but the rest of us spent two hours in the saddle up in the high country enjoying great views and wildflowers. The others lounged on the deck of the Roosevelt Lodge with their books. There were about 20 horses in the line along with three "wranglers" who were full of information and silly jokes. Our favorite was a guy named Raven (a music major at Montana State).  It was great fun but boy were we old folks stiff! I hadn't been on a horse in what, 40 years? Olivia is a real cowgirl - she's been taking riding lessons every week.

After the ride, we went back to Mammoth and made our lunch. Then some of us walked over to the Visitor Center and Fort Museum (the US Army built a fort here in the 1880s). Then we walked back to the ice cream shop by the Grill. One has to be careful getting around the elk, which seem to be a real nuisance!

Later in the afternoon it was back to Roosevelt for the Cowboy Wagon Ride and Cookout. There were probably 200 people. We were taken out to the picnic site in wagons drawn by BIG beautiful horses - Percherons and Belgians. They treated us to a wonderful meal of barbeque steaks and all the fixins, including "real" cowboy coffee. Music entertainment and "tall tales" by our friend Raven.

Somewhere along the way, we had an excellent bear siting!

After dinner, with not much daylight left, we drove down to Lamar Valley and saw the large herds of Bison. Spectacular sunsets on the way back!