A Birthday Party!

     Having to work on your birthday is usually the pits. Wouldn’t you rather be driving out to some remote trail with wonderful friends and fantastic horses to a hidden lake brimming with great fishing? So would we.  And it just so happens, that’s the way one birthday boy DID spend his day. While at work.

      Allow us to introduce the party guests. First? The hitchhiker. We picked up Cowboy Randy and his trusty steed along the dirt road as we headed out. (We thought it was a bit “sketchy”, but we took a chance….)

I mean how can you resist THIS FACE?

The boss man.

The professor.

The model.

The photo bomber.

The prince.

The boss lady.

The newcomer.

And of course. The birthday boy.

The WORKING birthday boy.

      There was probably a photographer in there too somewhere, but it’s hard to say for sure. On the off chance that “she” also writes the blog posts, perhaps she’ll make a quick appearance later in this story. But for now, let’s maintain our focus on the party.

The guests arrived and mingled around the punch bowl for a bit saying their hellos.

Then the party games began. They hit the trail!

Birthday boy was enjoying himself immensely.

But uhhh….he was going to have to do SOME work….cinch check!

It’s not as fun as a piñata, but he was still feeling pretty fortunate.

We were, after all, headed into THE WILDERNESS.

      After miles of trail, rocks, creeks, mud and beautiful views, the guests arrived at the party palace. Horseshoe Lake is one of our favorites! And the pictures in no way do it justice. But they’ll have to do (unless you decide to come see for yourself….hint..hint.)

Up here? All is right with the world.

We parked our horses and grabbed our party refreshments!

Oh look! A new guest “arrived”! Fashionably late (to post a photo of herself.)

Birthday activities consisted of grabbing naps (or uhh…trying to at least)….

….While our birthday wrangler rigged up a cowboy fishing pole with a stick, some tail hair from his horse, and the fishing fly he had stuck in his hat. Now THAT’S the way to do it!

The rest of us sat and soaked up the peacefulness and majesty around us.

Of course a FEW of “the kids” enjoyed chasing marmots and racing up the rock fields.

(Can you spot 3 dogs in this picture? They are camouflaged!)

And perhaps one of us made snow angels. Perhaps….. (you’ll never prove it...oh wait….DANG IT!!)

And then it was time to load up and head back. But WHAT A PARTY IT WAS!!

Certainly one we’ll never forget and as you can imagine, the birthday boy was smiling from ear to ear!

A celebratory beverage to commemorate the day and then we hit the road back to the ranch.

   Oh, but just because it’s your birthday Bear? Doesn’t mean you get to ride in the front of the truck. (But if you asked either Bear #1 or Bear #2—they would tell you that was just icing on the birthday cake.)

Happy Birthday Wrangler Bear!!