(Disclaimer: You might want to grab a coffee and donut for this one. It is LONG. To be fair, our horseback adventure was probably just as long-winded as my fabulous mother.)
After a fun morning of enjoying the stinky, but beautiful geysers…we took a lovely drive through Yellowstone NP. We were really planning on a big hiking day, but Yellowstone turned out to be more of a drive-thru park. Super duper curvy, but we were used to driving the roller-coaster curly-Q roads. And it was quite beautiful. Amazing how the trees change so drastically from one part of the country to another!
The highlight of our day was getting up close and personal with some buffalo!!! Goodness gracious these are majestic and HUGE animals!!! (H.U.G.E.) Their heads are sooo big that their eyes are actually on either side of their head. Apparently they can sprint three times faster than you can run!!!! So not an animal to be messed with. Our first buffalo sighting was in a field…we pulled over with the rest of the tourists and shouted “Oh my god…those are real buffalo!!!!” I had been face to face to them many, many years ago when I did summer stock at the Black Hills Playhouse in South Dakota. But this sighting was just as exciting. And Curly J was ecstatic!!! It was her big goal for the day, to see a buffalo! As we were safely in our car snapping pics, one of them slowly ambles our way. Julia was FREAKING!!! (As you can tell from the videos.) I wasn’t really scared because they had done that when I was in the Black Hills. They are used to humans and cars and mostly just ignore them. However, if they wanted to turn a car over or smash it, that could easily happen as well….so a little fear and respect is a good thing!! (Seriously, this big ol’ thing rolls up in front of our car, glances at us, then walks on.) Here’s some footage that Julia took….
Our adrenaline was pumping…so very very cool to be that close to these strong handsome creatures!!! We were lucky enough to see them at other various locations throughout the park and it was just as excited every time! We stopped to see Old Faithful and walk around and on our way out there was a buffalo just moseying across the parking lot. (STRAIGHT UP CHILLIN’) We didn’t see it till we were almost on top of it. Whew!!!! Julia and I are both now huge fans of the buffalo!!! Our Curly Girl mascot maybe?
We also saw some elk, moose, white tailed deer….sooo awesome!! Julia and I realized that hiking where you might run into a buffalo would completely freak us out so we were happy to be in the safety of our car. We did not see a bear, oh no we did not.
The next morning we took a short run – such a beautiful thing to do while enjoying the view of the Great Tetons!!! I MUST return to Wyoming just to explore them. The snow covered Tetons really drew me in. I’m finding some kind of weird spiritual connection with the mountains and I could look at them all day!!! After showering and checking out we went to take the scenic ski lift ride. Just an easy ride with incredible views. Julia was quite brave to go since she is scared of heights. Of course it started sprinkling on us as we took off. At least with curly hair, it just gets curlier!
Julia and I have found a nice balance between comfortable silence, pure silliness and discussing life, and all it’s complexities. We found ourselves talking about our relationships quite a lot which is kind of interesting that we are in the same place a bit, and pondered about our futures and the possibilities… we’ll save all that for another blog!!! So back to the ski lift…going up wasn’t too bad. We got off at the top to enjoy the view and take a few pics. Chatted with the guy at the top…he’s been in Wyoming most his life and loves it. It was a slow morning and it was apparent he was not going to let us back on the lift until he had told us ALL the stories he needed to. We smiled and nodded appropriately and finally I had to remind him that we had booked a horse back riding trip. This sent him off on another tangent cause it was in the town where he lives now. Finally he let us back on the lift. A lot scarier on the way down…Julia did her breathing exercises and managed not to hyperventilate. I just smiled and looked at the stunning Great Tetons!!
Some shopping, coffee, then off to our horseback riding adventure!!! Now to keep this real, I have to tell you that Curly J and I had our third little tiff. Which I think is pretty damn good considered we have been inseparable for 26 full days…eating, exploring, driving, shopping and sleeping together!! This one was about me being over-sensitive blah blah blah and Curly J being too outspoken blah blah blah and just not getting where I was coming from. I pouted while Julia fumed. A curly sight to behold. (Our fighting styles are completely incompatible. Being in the car with someone for the amount of time we are, sometimes you have to agree to disagree.)
So, we drove in silence for the hour it took to get there. We pulled in to the ranch and it was rustic and very scenic. Cowboy Joe met us at the check in spot and had us fill out paperwork…the kind that tells you how dangerous it can be….so much small print…didn’t read it cause I didn’t want to think of any of those things. Our guide, Cowboy Case, pulled in with the his first group of riders. They spoke Italian and got off the horses rubbing their butts and limping. This looked like fun.
Cowboy Case was a sweet young man from Texas who was working as an intern. He was the well raised “yes m’am, no m’am” kind of kid. I was raised that way, but never succeeded in getting my kids to say that. (No, m’am.) He assigned us our horses. I got Prince…an over-fed dapper guy, and Julia got Whirly…a handsome stubborn gent who did not feel like following rules that day!!!
By the time we got on our horses…both of us scared as hell…we were smiling at each other and all was forgotten of the previous tiff. We headed out and almost immediately it started raining. Yes…rain…not sprinkles! (Then POURING). Case thought it should stop in a few minutes so we kept going. It did not stop.
(pre-down-pour-for-three-hours)
So we stopped to put on the big yellow slickers. Case helped Julia first and held her horse while she put on the rain jacket. Prince whinnied and started backing up…he was not happy with the big yellow slicker. Case then got mine out and Prince went crazy!!! I got off and Case tried waving the slicker around so Prince would get used to it. He did not and bolted halfway down the hill. (This was hilarious, by the way.)
I held the reins to Case’s horse while he chased after Prince. He apologized and I said it’s fine, I was wet anyway so could do without the slicker. In a true gentlemanly style, Case did not put on his slicker either. So off we go. Now I have always been afraid of horses, which pains me as a Kentucky gal, and wherever I go I always sign up for the horse tour thinking maybe this time I won’t be scared. But I am and somehow I still enjoy the thrill of it.
So, here we go up and down some steep muddy hills an over some shallow creeks…for over two hours!!!! It really was a lot of fun and Case taught us a lot about the area and some interesting facts. About halfway through I realized that I couldn’t move my hands due to the cold rain, shivering and holding on to the rein with super-human grip! Normally being cold and wet is a sure combination for extreme grumpiness for me, but I was having so much fun and the adrenaline was pumping!!! Julia’s horse, Whirly, decided he wasn’t going to move. He reminded us of our bulldog Boris who was super stubborn like that and if he didn’t want to move no one was going to make him!!!! So Case had to take the rope and pull Whirly along. Our ride was supposed to be 2 hours, but we were gone about 3!!! Such a fun adventure!!! We finally got back and there was no place to change except in our car or the porta-john’s…which happened to be cleaner than most bathrooms I’ve been in!!!! Somehow I peeled the wet clothes off which were wet through 3 layers!!! We put the heat on full blast and set out for a few hours of driving.
The next couple hours we were driving through the Great Teton NP on roller coaster roads and the temp went from 61 to 37 and snow!!!! The top of the Tetons were glowing and it was just such a beautiful drive!!! Then we caught something moving and saw 3 little deer mule goat like critters. They were hopping and skipping just like in a cartoon!!!! (Like big bunnies.) The cutest thing I’ve ever seen!!!!! Overall, we had a very adventurous and full day. And we still love each other! It’s all good here in our curly adventure.
Love,
Curly Mom
PS I know I’m much longer winded than Julia, but I just want you to feel like you were with us. Love me anyway…okay?
Curly Girl Adventures 