Day 4: Steak Dinner.

This afternoon I finally got to go on the steak dinner ride. Every evening, as long as someone has signed up for the steak ride, we leave at 4pm and head out on a 1.25 hour ride up to the dinner grounds. It's a pretty nice ride and you get some awesome views. We climb up to an elevation of 8,000 feet and you can look out and see all of Estes Park and the mountains that surround it. Thankfully, the skies cleared up today and the view was gorgeous! Until today, I had only been on the 1-hour ride trail and so this was new. I rode a horse named Pinecone and led the 13-person ride while Clayton rode as the outrider and kept everyone in line and moving. Pinecone threw a little bit of a temper tantrum when he tried to go on the 1-hour trail instead of the 2-hour trail when the trails split but we I got him in line without too much trouble.

We got to the dinner grounds around 5:15 and tied up all the horses and then headed off to eat! The food was so delicious: steak, potatoes, baked beans, garlic toast. I was so hungry and happy to have good food. Gail caters it and she's the best. We ate for about 30 minutes and then hopped back on our horses to head back to the stable by 6:30. It was a good ride and we got to see some wildlife: a bobcat, chipmunks, a rabbit and some elk. Clayton and I made some good money and then it was time to break down the horses and call it a day!

Work is hard and long but I enjoy it and the people I work with are fun. We'll be getting quite a few more people (at least 12!) in the next couple of weeks so I hope they are as good and fun as the ones so far. So far I know that I get Mondays off (starting next Monday...) and I think we're going to make Tuesday my wrangler day when I get to ride instead of sit in the office.

Well, I'm off to bed. Hope you enjoyed "riding" along with me!

P.S. I got my package from home today (love you, Mom!) and I'm so excited! Muck boots and full sheets! I should be all set now except for the things I need to buy--especially work gloves.