I had a great day.

I got all packed up for Tensleep and left early from Buffalo. The drive was beautiful!!!!!! I love going from Buffalo to Tensleep. You drive over Powder River Pass and down into the Tensleep Canyon. It one of my favorite canyons as far as beauty. There is nothing that beats the Grand Canyon and Glenwood Canyon. I LOVE the Glenwood Canyon. It looks so unique and along with that the highway was constructed to help accent and add to it, instead of making it ugly.

Tensleep Canyon is more of a deep canyon. It’s not that long, but it is deep. The drive reminds me of cowboy and helping him fence. I love fencing, as long as I can help. The one tool, a barbed wire stretcher is sort of heavy for me. I can do it, it’s just not easy. I’m a damn good hand though. This I know! : )

Once I got to the rodeo. I took my time. I almost took a nap first. I was one of the early birds there. I wasn’t feeling my normal artistic self today. I don’t know why. I didn’t see what I was looking for so much today. Some days have that and some don’t. My mind was elsewhere. I had a date with a rancher/small city guy.

His name is “mystery man”. I think I had viewed his profile on Match and he asked me how come I was looking in Wyoming if I live in Colorado? I had to explain to him that I work up here and I also love being up here. I really do love Wyoming! I could live here.

We had a date on Saturday night. He picked me up at my room and took me to U Cross to check out the art, music, food and fireworks. We had fun. He asked me all sorts of cool questions about how I would do living out on the ranch. Or would I rather live in a city like Sheridan, and play on the ranch.

I told him what my perfect world would be like. In my perfect world I’m not cutting hair anymore. I love my job, but there are more things in life for me. In my perfect world, I would marry a rancher who can afford me. I really don’t want to do the work like I do now. I want to ranch. I want to go chase cows. “Mystery Man” just leases his land out to other people who have the cattle and need to grass. His brother runs the ranch. It’s right up by/on the Montana border.

“Mystery Man” is trying to sell his ranch. He was very inquisitive about what I would do if I could just do what ever. I told him I would love to just do my art. I also told him that I would love to have a bed and breakfast, or sorts. I could cook it I wanted or take people out on quide trips, fishing trips, tv’s trips, dirt bike rides etc. i think that would be the dream for me. I think sharing my dreams with someone and them being interested is a total turn on. WOW! He’s interested! I’m on the fence. I’m testing the water. Only my big toe is in.

What’s your dream?

I can’t seem to figure out why the photos from Art’s branding aren’t loading onto the web host place. Crap!  Bad timing! I wish everyone could see the shots. It’s better if they can see them all. Ya know?

It’s starting to rain. That makes me instantly wish I had a boyfriend. Rain makes me in the best mood and works just as well as a man in the kitchen for me. I wonder why it is that a man in the kitchen gets me all sorts of hot and bothered. I can cook and bake. It’s not like I can’t do it. Maybe coming from a family of 6 women and my father? I don’t know? Lord help me though if some rancher can cook. He is in some trouble. Let me say, I have to be attracted to them. Trust me, there are some really good looking cowboys, but I tend to be more attracted to sober ones. I’m not a big drinker.

My “director” and new partner in crime is Carla. Carla and I share some of the same interests. We are both single too. She was telling me she is reading my blog now, so ….hey Carla!  Let me tell you ….. she was all in to being the camera taker on some of these. I have to add, I’m 100% sober. Well here take a look at her work, and some of the messes I get myself into.

Lash

Lash here, is on one side of me sticking his tongue in my ear. These boys drink pretty good on a branding day. Lash here is a total sweetheart. He wants me to come out to the ranch he works on and he wants to show me around. It sounds fun. He works north of La Junta. Sounds like a big ranch too.

Rick here is another single cowboy.

Rick

Rick gets the award for best ass. Man, I don’t know how old Rick is but this guy can fill out a pair of Wranglers just fine. Dang! I find Rick attractive, but still drinks too much for me. I love Rick, but I just wish he didn’t drink so much. I would love to go dancing with this cowboy. I hear he can dance really well. Notice how when my photo is taken some cowboy always puts their hat on me. Why is that? This is Rick’s hat. I took a cool photo of this hat. It made it more air conditioned.

Rick's Hat

This isn’t the best shot. I’m looking over his shoulder while he is flanking a calf I believe. I just love his custom work on the hat though. That’s the hat on my head in the photo above. In yesterday’s post I was on the “wild cow” and another cowboy stuck his hat on me.

Here is the photo of what these guys love. Carla’s work, once again.

Chum in the Water

I was on a horse riding yesterday and that is when I wish I had a hat on. I don’t think of it when I have all my gear on. I can’t wear my hat and take photos. I wish I could though. My head is still peeling from all the sun I’ve had. It was beautiful and a bit too hot for me. I’m not sure how hot it got, but I would guess maybe 85-90. The wind was blowing a bit, but not too much. Riding made me want to ride more. I was telling Art that I was a bit nervous riding, since it had been a while since I’ve been on a horse. He was so cute. I asked him today when I talked to him if he was nervous.  He said no, but I think he was. I wish I could do more photo work on horseback.

I would love to see more of Art’s place. I had to watermark this photo of Art. I’ll have it for sale on my site in the near future. Art is very much one of a kind. I love Art. Me and him just click. I could talk to him all night. I love his tender side along with his amazing cowboy skills. Art would be invited my American Indians to come to the reservation and find all the wild horses and cows. Some of the photos from that are crazy. He left home at 9 years old. He fell in love with the right career. I love how Art told me he was a stock broker. He has sold just about anything and everything to the other cowboys in this area. I trust Art, but I don’t. I trust him with my life, but not with what he is trying to feed me. The food yesterday was so good!!! He had all sorts of meat. Mutton, pork, beef and I can’t remember the other one. If it was Prairie Dog, it was good.

Here is a my favorite photo of Art.

The Art of Art

I think Art has Tequila more for me, than for him. They finally figured me out a tiny bit. God love em!

I remember being so afraid of Art. I know he has the tough side to him, but he really is a total sweetheart. It didn’t help that Kelly had told me a lie about Art. He had me terrified of the man. Now I can laugh about it.

I need to get some of this years photos on my website. I have so many now to sell that I need to get uploaded.

Have a good Tuesday.

I think when you go out to where ranchers/farmers/cowboys hang out there should be signs in some color like a light blue, just to stand out . You could pick any color, but these should have their own color. The sign would look some thing like a cowboy wearing a cowboy hat silhouetted, riding on a horse with a seat belt going over it diagonally Not a danger sign, just a sign so you would know what you’re getting yourself into.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

These guys wrote the book on how to party.

I got home late last night (Saturday) from such a fun, wild, testosterone filled, windy as hell, dirt encased, camera killer, ocean of beer and alcohol, really drunk cowboys, 100 mph on a dirt road, race drifting, eye ball scratching, no sleep weekend.

It started before I even left for the prairie of Colorado. On Thursday evening when I was getting ready for bed, Ty called me. We must have talked on the phone for 2 hours or more. He’s quite funny. I LOVE that Ty ranches and farms. Perfect!!!!!! He was so cute. He wanted to figure out what to cook for me. I thought the Chicken Piccatta sounded the best. He must be a great cook. He learned from his mother. I really enjoyed talking to him. He was very inquisitive, and I love that.  He had tons of questions, but it was also hard to get a word in. I didn’t mind. He is very entertaining.

I realized I had left my celI phone at home when I got to the ramp for east bound I-70. I was supposed to call Ty when I headed out. Well, since I’m not much of a phone person, I just don’t think about my phone all the time. I had to stop in Hugo and buy a phone card of all things to call my daughter and get a few phone numbers. I couldn’t get a hold of Ty. His line was busy, but I called his other number and left a message.

I arrived at a ranch north of Wiley a bit early, at the designated corrals. I always love country directions. Kelly is the King of Directions. This was not his branding on Friday. It was a gentleman named John who had his branding on this day. At the corrals I was met by a truck load of cowboys pulling a horse trailer.

I was informed by Paul (a very photogenic cowboy) that the branding that started really early at a neighbors ranch was running late and that I should follow them.  Off we went.

We all arrived and found out way in and things weren’t too far from over. I got there, and Art decided to get my stomach in a knot right off the bat. He handed me some sort of jerky. I took the broken off piece in my hand and studied it. I asked him if it was skunk jerky. It appeared to have hair on it still. I know jerky can look like this sometimes, but I just had to say that to him.  He just told me to eat it. I still kept checking it out when a young boy named Pistol Pete comes walking by and Art hands him a piece. I looked at the kid without putting that piece in my mouth. The kid started chewing and then rubbed his stomach like it was really tasty.

I thought, how bad could it be if the kid likes it???? I put it in my mouth and started chewing. It wasn’t so bad until Art started in on the whole story about eating Prairie Dog. Oh, hell no! My stomach started to flip flop. I don’t usually have a weak stomach, but Art brings out the worst. I glanced over at the kid, and he is spitting his out, which really made my gag reflex kick in. I was gonna hurl! I spit the tiny bite size pieces in the dirt and took the rest and threw it in the dirt too. He got sort of offended….I didn’t care at that point. I ran for the cooler to grab some ice and shoved a few pieces in my mouth. I held off the gag reflex for the time being. Whew!

Art thrives on trying to make me hurl. Why? I don’t know. He loves me taking photos of him eating a raw calf nut. I’ve never seen anyone eat a sushi version of a nut. Gross!

The wind was howling this day. I worried about my camera the whole time. I have to get some sort of carrier other than the camera bag I have presently. I’ll have to look around and see what’s out there.

steady winds

I wanted to add a photo of what the conditions were like.

The wind was bad, but the weather was pretty dang nice really. Sunny, but not too hot. I could barely hang with glasses on, and many of these folks were not even wearing sunglasses or any glasses. I made several trips to my car for eye drops. I started a new series with the cattle dogs. I just got the idea when I was around all of them last week. The photos were really good, I thought! I decided to get down in all the cattle and got some cool shots too. I tried to do some video on this trip too. It didn’t work out so well. Walter was nice enough to loan it to me for the weekend, but I didn’t recorded anything at home. When I arrived and was ready to film, I couldn’t find the button too easy. I recorded much from the pocket of my sweatshirt. Not quite what I was trying to get. I wanted to get the sounds of the cattle once the calves and momma cows are separated. I love the sound. Sometimes it can be deafening. It might be one of those sounds that I’ll remember until the day I die, if I’m so lucky. I’d grow to miss it if it was taken away from me

I have to say…….I love these people with all my heart. They welcome me with open arms. Some are really young, and some are gettin up there. I’ve been around some of the people attending before. I’m not shocked, but never the less totally amazed that the beer starts flowing, I believe it was 8:30 am.

I don’t really drink that much, but I sure wish I owned a liquor store down there. Total profit for me.

I loved getting photo the gather shots. That is what I enjoy the most. It just isn’t working out too well for me in that category lately.

After the branding at John’s we all ate well. John has a super nice place on Neegranda Reservoir. He owns a campground there. Really a nice spot! John was letting me stay there 2 nights. Very sweet of him. Lunch/dinner was there at the house. The house is a nice gathering spot for John’s friends and family. This night however the campground was bustling with cowboys in various states of drunkenness. Some left during daylight hours, some didn’t. All I knew was……I was tired and I hoped it would die down before I was ready for bed.

One young cowboy, Rex was insisting I go to Eads with him and then to his place to drop off a boat trailer that was busted in half. Rex is one of those guys that for sure has a sort in his kill switch. I was told a few years ago by one of my boyfriends at the time, that I had a short in my kill switch. I loved the saying and when it applies, it applies. Rex certainly has the short. There isn’t a second gear on this boy!!!!!  Super nice guy, but is just as wild as they come.

That evening I was going to sleep in the upstairs room of the campground house. No one else was upstairs. Art must have decided he was a bit too lit to drive so he slept downstairs. I didn’t sleep too well, which seems to be my par for the course when it comes to my travel and photo work.

The party was at the lake house, but I couldn’t hang with the boys once again. I don’t mind though. I certainly don’t need the alcohol in my system.

When I decided to get my butt out of bed it was raining. I was dead to the world. Lack of sleep kills me!!!! I just don’t do well with out it. I

When we woke up Saturday morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table downstairs when Art walks over to the bottle of Patron and takes a swig, gargles with it, and swallows. I walked swiftly to the door. I had to get fresh air at once. Art was at it again.

I am not blaming Art. I was so tired, that all I wanted to do is sleep. I asked him if the branding at Kelly’s place was going to happen. I didn’t think branding could happen when it’s raining. I asked him about it. He answer was….they would be drinking. I took that as they wouldn’t be branding and after breakfast I headed back to bed.

Art came up to my room and sat on my bed with me. He was cute. I just love Art, but man the guy turns my stomach. The rain was stopping and Art told me they were branding now. I was a bit shocked since I really didn’t quite know the procedure. I started pitching a fit.

I drove like a bat out of hell to get to Kellys for the gather. I didn’t time it right once again. CRAP!!!!! I got to see some of it, and I got some great shots.

As Saturday was coming to an end I was wondering if I was going to see Ty. I had worked myself all up and turned down a night of dancing the night before to have one more night of not seeing him.

I have talked to Ty a few times since I have been back. I got him a surprise today. I picked up 3 bottles of his favorite wine. I received a bottle of white wine too. Same winery, but white. I was telling my wine dealers that I don’t drink white wine and they thought they would fix that for me. I received 6 bottles total. I trade hair cuts and color with a family that works at a really cool wine store in Cherry Freak.

I will drop this off at Ty’s but I’m not giving him a heads up, I’m just going to head over to his place. leave a little note of something like that.

I really don’t know about him though. He doesn’t seem that interested. I’ll see what happeens. I’m certainly not holding my breath for him. His loss.   : )

This week I was going to a ranch south of Lamar. Then when I found out that Ty wasn’t going to be there, I decided to head up to Buffalo. I got some very sad news though. I learned that a rancher I worked with in Buffalo was killed in a freak accident. He had been tinkering with an old car (his hobby) and a chain broke or something like that and the car fell on him.

He was such a young guy too. In great shape. I took some great photos of his father and his branding. I hope he enjoyed them.

So now, I’m going to head back down to the one I was planning on earlier down by Lamar. I am going to get another room at the Chek Inn. I liked that place because it was so quiet. I really appreciate that when I’m tired. I might come home Sunday and go back Monday. I don’t know. I don’t want to afford 2 nights there. I will come home and then go back. I might not save that much money. I’ll see.

I finally am finishing this blog. I didn’t add so many of the details.

You have to love wireless!

Here I am sitting in the Chek Inn in Lamar. A nice quiet little spot in the heart of downtown Lamar. That’s sort of a joke. Lamar has a tiny downtown. I asked for a quiet room, since I need all the sleep I can get. My wonderful friend Walter decided he wanted me to have a room in town, but I have to say him being generous really is more than nice. He has such a big heart. I love you Walter. Thank you so much for what you do for me. He pitched in for the room.

I get so damn excited about going to a ranch to do photography, that I seriously don’t think I slept one minute last night. I dragged my buttocks out of bed at 4 and took a quick shower. I got out the door and one the road by 4:20 or so.

I wanted to get to the ranch early and get in the gather part of the day. Wasn’t going to happen though. I didn’t estimate my time correctly getting there and was about an hour late. Crap!

Getting to this place……I have to give Kelly credit for giving me detailed directions. It isn’t an easy ranch to find. I arrived not knowiing if I would know one person. I saw some familiar faces, which is always welcoming, even if they didn’t remember me. There were several people attening and lots of little kids running around having fun.

Denver had rain in the forecast. I’m not sure what it did up there though. Lamar was beautiful. I was driving in overcast skies getting there and then once I got there it seemed like it was really nice and warm.

Most of the guys working were younger than me. I saw Art who is quite the charcter. I love this guy. I have to post a photo of him that depicts his true character.

Art eating a calf nut...Yuck

This is the third one I got photos of. Art is quite the character. We get along well. He is always joking around and entertaining the crowd. Art is 100% cowboy. He has a foreign exchange student living with him. That kid will never be the same. He is from Paris, France and here he was out there with the best of them. He looked like he knew what he was doing too. That was his third branding yesterday.

I feel like I have a perma smile whenever I am around this work. I can’t express in writing what this work does to me and for me. I could never get sick of it. Never!

I have to say the people there were amazing. Very nice people. Lots of young boys and older folks. What a crew too. I’m not sure how many head they did yesterday, but I heard one figure of 600. I missed that first gather, and the second one happened so quick that I didn’t get the ATV all set up. Dang! That is my favorite part of the whole day, is the gather part.

I have to also add a photo of this young guy who had the most unusual eye color. The photo does NOT do him justice, as far as color, but they were almost like turquoise.

Here is the photo of him.

Turquoise Cowboy

I had the best of times. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy doing what I do. My passion grows only stronger every chance I get to work around ranches and cattle.

It’s Sunday now and I just got home a bit ago. I am soooooooooooo wiped out. I give it my all when I work. I work when everyone takes breaks. I work when everyone is eating. I had a few crackers and a snickers for lunch and some Gatorade to quench my thirst.

I met so many new people. I loved how they are so nice to me. This was a branding that had more people than I’m use to.

Branding at the Ponderosa

I wanted to show a photo of how busy it was. There are a total of six branding “stations”. In this photo you can see 2 calves being worked on in the foreground. The guy in the red shirt takes care of the head on the 2 front feet. The guy in the back has a tough job too. He has to control the kicking hind legs, which can do major damage, and he makes sure the calf won’t be getting up during castration and branding. It can be a hell of a job. If you look close at the photo you can see the lady in the white/blue plaid shirt, next to the cowboy at the calves head in the red shirt. She is giving vaccinations. Women mostly do this job. There is one more girl next to the second calf down. She has chinks on (a style of chaps)  on. She also does vaccinations. At the second calf there is a guy bending over next to her. He is going to do the castration. For a bull there are at least up to 7 people to get the bull to a steer. You have the roper, who ropes the calf and drags them to the branding area. The castrater guy/or girl if it was my daughter, does his thing and hands the nuts to someone else to take care of. The vaccination lady does her thing. The flankers do their job, and 2 guys brand at the same time. There is also a person who will tag ears. The tags make sure that the babies match up with their right momma. They also provide a way for the rancher to identify the cow for several reasons.  You would think the calf being worked on is the most important animal in the world. It’s quick and to the point, done in a couple of minutes. I think my daughter castrates better than some men for sure.

Now for the BEST news!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s sort of a long story.

Now it’s Monday morning. I don’t think I have written a 3 day post before. On Sunday morning though, I had heard I was going to watch some “A. I’n” (Artificial Insemination) Not my favorite thing to watch. Actually it’s the closest I’ve come to hurling. I haven’t seen any women do A. I., but one the other hand it seems like the thing a guy would LOVE! I know one cowboy who had a sort of love for his calves. He would say ” I made those calves” Ewww! Just the thought in my mind was wrong. I know what he meant.

So anyway, the A.I’n didn’t happen, so Kelly and I went and checked on some mommas and babies. That was fun. While we were doing that Shelia and her sone Tell. They had to seperate some cattle in pens, while we were out doing our thing.  We all met up a bit later and Sheila got in the truck with Kelly and I. They decided to give me some sort of little tour. First we went and checked to see if one of Kelly’s friend was around. I guess his friend trains cutting horses and has had lots of success. We got there and drove around his property to look for him. His car wasn’t there but when we got back around to the front of the house, this young man comes walking out. He told us the best story. He was extremely cute! Sheila noticed a shiner he had below his left eye. He just woke up to after a long night. His story was great! Here’s a photo of Levi.

One Punch Levi

His shiner is a bit tough to see here while he’s smiling. Here is the story as I remember it.

He and Tell (Sheila and Kellys son) went out drinking to the Opal Bar. I haven’t been to that bar. As they were there some guy who knows Tell, but thought he was a different person came up and clocked him. I don’t know if he got hurt. I didn’t see any injuries on him though. Remember, Levi is telling us this story. I might have some of the details wrong. It could be two bars involved.

After Tell got punched Levi was talking to a large woman. I don’t know if he knew her already. She was there with her 2 guy friends. I guess Levi didn’t want to talk to her anymore or something. I can’t remember the reason she hit him really hard upside his head. This girls friends thought that it was Levi who had hit her or started some ruckus. They came over to Levi and asked him if that is what happened and got all in Levi’s face about it. Levi told him to back down or he was going to punch the guy. The guy didn’t back down and the other guy came over too. He hit the one first and knocked him out and the second guy comes over and he knocks him out too. The one line I loved was that he was amazed that the owner of the bar, and he named who he was let him fight in the bar. I started laughing. Then it just got better. The guy who had punched tell was someone they both knew and I believed liked. Levi went up to him and asked him if he punched Levi. The kid said yes and Levi told him “I suggest that if you don’t want me to knock the shit out of you for punching my friend Tell, you go over and punch (this other kid Tell and Levi don’t like) that guy and make it good”. The boy shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath and walked over and cold cocked the guy.

He got word later that the boys wanted to fight him again outside the “Cow Palace” Yes, that’s right the Cow Palace!!! It’s a hotel/bar and restaurant. I have my own good story about that place, but I won’t go into it now.

So, Levi goes down to the Cow Palace and knocks both them out cold again.

That’s the end of that story. You might have had to be there, but for me….I was getting a kick out of hearing this strapping young man could do some heavy damage and his humor in doing so was so dang funny. This was the first part to a wonderful day.

Whenever I am around ranchers I always talk about how single I am and how much I want to marry a gret guy who ranches. Sheila started thinking and right away came up with this one gentleman who had great qualities. He is super nice, really good looking, a GREAT cook and lives, where else, on a ranch! Sweet!!!!!

Kelly had nice things to say about him as well. I love how the women are looking out for me. When I told the owner of the Ponderosa I was single, he said well you have about 8 guys you could pick from today. I looked at him and said, “Sure, but I think they all might be in their 20’s still”. He turned to me and replied, “Oh hell, that’s alright”. Not for me it isn’t, but they are nice to look at.

While Kelly and Sheila were talking this guy up that they thought would be good, Sheila said that maybe we should go over there so I could meet him. Wouldn’t you know, he lives a few miles away from the ER doctor. He lives out by Hasty. Wouldn’t you know!

Well, the two of them talked and talked about him. I was already in lust, just hearing how great he is.Kelly had to head back to the house and get ready to go feed at the feed lot, or something like that. He dropped Shelia and myself off at the house and got this huge feeder thing and went off to go feed. Kelly is so cute. While he was out Sheila and I had some tea. The phone rang and it’s Ty. Yes, my dream came true. I cowboy named Ty! I didn’t know it was him though. Sheila was just chatting away talking about how “we” were sitting around drinking tea. I was wondering who would know about me.

It was “him”!!! Kelly had called Ty to tell him, whatever he wanted to tell him. Knowing Kelly it was a lie. He more than likely told him I was some stripper or something. I guess Ty liked what he heard because he called right away. Nice.  : )

He was trying to figure out when we all could meet. He had some guy coming over to look at some cattle. Cattle???? He’s a rancher??? Yes, sort of. I guess he was disabled in some way when serving out great country. He is on disability, which keeps him involved on some level.

Sheila had planned lunch with her two boys and Kelly. I wasn’t in the plan then.

Kelly came back from feeding and we pretty much loaded up in the truck and drive over to Ty’s place. We drove toward Hasty. We turn and head down a little dirt road. It crosses over the Arkansas River and turns eventually into his family homestead. It’s beautiful! An old rock beet house barely stands upright at the entrance. The driveway turns toward his home. Big trees, green grass, and a beautiful home.

There he was! WOW! Good looking big strapping cowboy. He looks like a gorgeous football player. Mmm! Big built, not fat. Maybe 6 feet tall. Short hair…..maybe a buzz that is growing out?? Holy crap! He starts in on the whole cooking thing, and I about had to cross my legs. Geez! A man that can cook does more for me than he could imagine. It’s the straight line aphrodisiac for me. It works too. Why? I don’t know. I can’t explain. But it does work!

He asked me a few questions. I can’t even remember since I was so shy. He handed everyone a beer, including me. I have not blogged about this I think, but I am soooo allergic to beer. Hospital visit. Hops and me don’t mix!

Sheila asked him to come to lunch with us. He had to show these cattle and then he would come into town and eat lunch. Cool! I would get to see him again. Nice!

We went to a little Mexican restaurant in Lamar. Levi, Tell, Will, Kelly, Shelia, myself, and Kelly took a big table and saved a spot for Ty, next to me. While we were eating in walks Festis. I don’t know his real name, but that’s what Kelly calls him. He came and sat next to me. Ty didn’t come in until we were all finished with our lunch. We all chatted. He seemed interested, but I can’t read men to well sometimes.

He was asking if I would be in town for the evening. GOD! I was, I was going to be in town!!!!!! He asked when I would be back up. I will be there on Friday and Saturday. I might go down on Thursday night. I can’t afford it by all means, but this is more important than money to me. Not to hang with Ty, but my photography work is a serious but fun job for me.

After lunch we chatted for a brief moment. He wanted to see if I was going to be at this 3 day branding down on a big ranch outside of Pueblo. It’s a camping deal. Yikes! Food will be an issue, I don’t like that feeling.

It might work out well for Frankie. I love when I can look like I did, and a guy still seems interested. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I had barely had 6 hours of sleep in 2 nights. I was so tired! My hair was in pig tails, I had no makeup on, a major sunburn that Shelby says, ” looks ridiculous”. Mostly my nose. Nice! Oh well, he still seemed like I might have a chance. I have to say I’m totally smitten. Time will tell. I wish he had my phone number, but I guess I will be seeing him on Friday. I hope so anyway.

Friday and Saturday night I get to stay on a beautiful ranch on a large lake or a some lake nearby. I get my own little cabin too. I heard it’s super nice. The rancher that offered his place is a real big, totally nice guy. he was very sweet to offer that. I met him on Saturday at the Ponderosa. His name is John. Saturday, Kelly is having his branding. I’m not sure if Ty will be able to be at these, but at least he is aware I’ll be in town.

Can you believe how long this blog was. A 3 day blog.

I actually had a date with a city guy last night. He’s a mountain man really. Seems like a nice guy. He’s younger than me, has a 5 year old daughter and a good job. He has an IT job for a banking company. He qualifies in many ways. I like that he is really manly. He hunts, fishes, plays racquetball, has a cabin on a river in the mountains, but Antero Reservoir up in the mountains.

I put what I have learned from reading “Act Like a Woman, Think Like a Man” to test. He didn’t get high marks on a few things. Like for instance: I’m a country girl who hates the city. He is a city boy who gets out to the country evey once in a while. I wanted to give him control over the decision of where and what we would do on our date. He lives up by Broomfield. I thought maybe Goldan would be fun. He picked his favorite bar in Denver, The Cruise Room in the Oxford Hotel. I met him down there. He was waiting in a booth with his back to me. I walked up to him and tickled his neck. We had great conversation, and a wonderful meal.

We made the date last a little more than a couple of hours. I really like how smart he is. The part that I don’t like is,f I think he might be a bit of a 1-900 guy. After we made it to our homes, I decided to check my hotmail account and my Match.com account. He was on and wanted me to get on Yahoo IM to chat. It went from nice chat to pretty dang sexual chat in minutes. I know it’s been a long time for me and it seems for him too. Sure, I would love to have a boyfriend and someone to share those special moments. I’m really not the 1-900 girl though. He might have to look for someone else for that.

He likes to fish? He likes to catch and release kind of guy. I think that might be him MO. I want to be a keeper. I think it won’t be me.

Tomorrow I will send the letter to the rancher up in Wyoming and see what happens there.

The saga continues

I didn’t know what the heck was going to happen as my weekend approached.

J, Gallegos, had called me to tell me that they would be branding on that Saturday. I was invited down, but since I have not been feeling so hot, I wasn’t sure what the heck to do. I decided that these opportunities are too dang important to pass up. I HAD to go!!!!

I left Denver at about 3:30 and arrived to J’s front door at 7:30pm. I kind of got a late start, but I really wasn’t sure what time I would get out of the shop and then pack quick, and be out the door.

I love seeing “J”. I have to use the “J” now, since he doesn’t want to be ID’d through a blog. This way I would have to put his whole name in here and it was causing him some unwanted phone calls. I had to smile. I guess this blog stuff really does work……I love it! It makes me appreciate the blog an ever so tiny bit more. I’m not so much into blogging as I have written before, but it does bring people to my site. Sweet!

Saturday night I spent in the living room of his home in a comfy roll out bed, near the nice warm fire. The numerous ranch dogs barked and chased animals throughout the evening. As the sun rose I ate some Chico’s with J and then headed out to get some awesome shots of the property

An old bean picker that was working it’s way back to becoming one with the Earth. For some reason I seem to have some photos that are letting me open them and that is one of them. The shot is so cool looking. I actually took several of it. It was a little chilly, but not enough to even need a hat or anything like that. Just for the record though, I did have clothes on though.

I will have to write a separate post for a chicos story. Very cool!

Joe left to go and pick up “Paliente”. I loved Paliente’s look right away. He has very short gray hair, with a rim of dark hair at the base, down by his neck. He has a couple of gold outlined teeth in the front with I was totally drawn to for photos, although I think I only got one or two shots of his teeth showing. Once they arrived they loaded some “found” hay onto the back of J’s pickup truck. J’s brother, Jerry, had found it on the side of the road. It had fallen off of a truck. Once that was loaded we delivered a barrel with some water over to a horse way on the other side of the ranch. We drove over there in a little pickup. The three of us packed in the front. They were speaking Spanish, and even told me it would be fun to talk about me and me not to know what they are saying. It was fine with me. As long as I hear Spanish I feel comfortable. I enjoyed even the little ride. We watered the horse and left back to J’s farm.

We got back and did a few more things. J’s brother Jerry showed up and didn’t recognize me. It had been a few years since we have seen each other. He is single now. I guess he got divorced not too long ago. Jerry had to go home and change clothes after church. While he did that we got the horses ready and to go gather the cattle. Paliente on a horse, J and I on another. There are little straps on the back of a saddle for a second rider to hold on to. It is pretty much like just riding by yourself. It feels very natural. We headed off and started to gather. I got some great shots out there. J let me off the horse for a bit and I walked while they looked for cattle. After we gathered Jerry was back at the ranch and repairing the corral/chute thing. J asked me if I wanted to go for a ride with he and Paliente. I asked J where we were headed, and he told me he didn’t want to tell me, I would figure it out along the way. We traveled well with the three of us in the little cab of the truck and were off toward Chama.

We listened to the Spanish music station and every once in a while Paliente would sing very nicely and J, would more mumble the words. I think I just rode with a perma smile on my face. Life there is so different. It’s hard to describe how different, but let me try.

The town is very small. It’s the oldest town in Colorado. It has the oldest continuous running business in the state. It has a very long tradition of voting Democrat in elections. People love me there and don’t even know me. They smile and wave like they know me. They keep to themselves. They don’t let personal issues be known to the world. If someone tends to do something illegal, most will turn the other way.

Juan has a saying about San Luis. He says there is a thing called “San Luis Truth” It means you tend not to tell the truth even when asked a direct question. I love that! I can’t say I agree with it……I just love it though. I am going to use that term when I can in conversation. San Luis is the heart of farming and ranching in Colorado. The valley there is so important to Colorado.

We headed toward Chama and beyond. We went to Paliente’s house. A beautiful spot more up in the mountains outside of San Luis. I’m not quite sure why we went there, other than to help with a calf. I bunch of people were trying to head and heal a calf without horses. They got the calf down and Paliente castrated it, and it got branded too. That was it, it we seriously there for maybe 10 minutes max. Whatever we went there for it was, and I got some good shots too. I met some people that Juan knows too.

We loaded back up and went back to J’s place for a long days work. Jerry was finishing the corral/chute repair and there was much debate about using a horse or horses to rope and choke for branding and such or if we were going to use the squeeze chute. The squeeze chute is sooooooo not cowboy, but it works better for some operations (ranches).

I was in charge of making sure the brands were hot and ready when needed and the correct brands were given to J for the branding. There were a few that also needed to be dehorned. That is so gross, but very needed in some cases. Some horns will grow into the cows head, eye, wherever it turns and starts growing can be a huge problem for a cow.

Paliente’s son, Leon was a huge help with the work. J was telling me how Paliente’s sons are Spirit of the Horse People. I guess these kids can ride anything. They are into teaching horses to dance. Most people in the area love them because they are so good with the horses. Leon was telling me in his thick San Luis accent about how he and his horse go places they aren’t supposed to be and the horse will jump right over a fence. I guess someone they are friends with or related to is a jockey and is very talented with horses also.

J was telling me about how he would love a book or more stories about these families in San Luis and this family because they are Spirit of the Horse People. I love that.

After all the branding was finished and everything else the calf will go through that day……we all went into Fort Garland for a wonderful Italian dinner. I drove J, his brother, Jerry, Paliente and myself there. I took Leon back into town with us after dinner. J was nice enough to buy for everyone.

I slept a couple hours that night. The next morning which is a Monday, I am heading back to Denver in a snowstorm. The branding day was incredible weather and it took a huge turn that following morning. I drove back up to Chama to get some photos of a secret society building that J was telling me about. The secret Society has to do with agriculture, or so he thinks.

I also wanted to get a photo of an old church Paliente pointed out to me. I figured he might like the photo. I also took one of the falling down Post Office of Chama. It’s so cool looking! I also got a photo of a really old car in the snow storm. I took various photos in the city of San Luis and then headed back to dreaded Denver. I love San Luis so much. I feel so connected to that area for some reason. I’m not sure why. I love the feel there, the way it looks, the history, to be able to be loved there and to have my photos mean something to these people is so important to me. Thank you J!!!!

Paliente

Looking back at J’s farm while gathering cattle

Old Chama Post Office

I’ll be heading to San Luis this weekend to get some great shots….I hope! Joe G. called me to come down and do the cowboy thing with him this weekend. SWEET! I really wanted to get to Stonewall and meet Bill, but I think I will have to do that on my way back from San Luis. I will head down on Saturday after I do a bit of work. I so looking forward to seeing Joe. If you haven’t read my previous blog stuff, Joe gave me my start in photography while I was down there with one of his brothers buddies.

San Luis is such a cool town. My friend Juan has told me various stories about San Luis that made my jaw drop. For such a small town, there are many things going on…..good and bad. I guess it’s like any town. I so wish I knew Spanish. I would love so much to be able to have a fluent conversation with any Spanish speaking person.

My friend Juan has a place down there, but he is going to be working or just not going to be there. I’m not sure?? He has been so sweet to me. He wants to take care of me, which is only the second time in my life that a man has wanted to actually take care of me when I don’t feel so good. Thanks Juan!

I have a not so pleasant cough right now. My last cough a couple of years ago, kicked my butt, it seemed for a couple of months. I actually took a shot of Tequila last night before I went to bed and man, did I sleep good! I guess all the partying the night before wore me out. Right now I’m sucking on some dark chocolate to see if that will soothe my throat. So far it’s not a remedy.

I’m not sure what happened to a blog that I tried to post earlier, but this is basically the same message. So, here I am again writing.

I was supposed to be heading to Stonewall this Sunday, but I have a feeling I won’t see Bill until I head back toward Denver. I was also wanting to have dinner with Juan, but after all that driving I don’t think I will head into Florence for dinner. It’s not that close to the highway from what I remember. Florence is on the way to one of my favorite places on the Earth, Westcliffe Colorado.

I’m also trying to contact a gentleman in Platteville to see if I can get out to his place for photos soon. I really am trying to get some good Christmas card shots. I haven’t checked my email to see if he wrote back yet. I hope that now since I got my killer snow tires on that travel will be easy for me this Winter.

I’m in a writing mood, but I should write my book stuff instead of more babble on here.

I headed back to Denver Tuesday morning leaving a bright sunny day behind in Dubois. I really enjoyed my stay with Justin. He was the best host ever!

When I left Denver to head his way my plane was late. On my drive to the airport I realized that my cell phone didn’t make the trip with me. (A blessing) The bad part was that I couldn’t call Justin and tell him my plane was running late. First it just 20 minutes late then an hour. I can’t believe I even got on the plane. Luck was on my side. The flight into Riverton from Denver the night before turned around and came back, due to a pretty big snow storm. There were extra people booked for the flight and my name was called to NOT get on the plane. I was set to the side with several other people. They loaded the plane and then called my name to get on. WHEW!

Poor Justin had been waiting this whole time for me to get there, and me not having a way to let him know.

I got there and we headed to his home. The scenery is amazing. The Wind River formations, The Ramshorn, the Badlands for the Wind River etc. The Ramshorn is right out his front door. Beautiful. I can’t seem to get my photos to download into my computer. I hope to have some up pretty soon.

He cooked a nice dinner for me that evening. I soaked in the hot tub with him and then hit the bed.

The next morning he drove me up into the Teton area and into Yellowstone. I had so much fun. I got to see Old Faithful and I waved at the live web cam they have set up there. The lodge had shut down the day before. I really wanted to go in there. I hadn’t stepped foot in there for years. After reading C. J. Boxs’ novel “Blood Trail” it made me want to go in there and look around. Great Book!!!!!

After Old Faithful we then traveled back to Jackson for lunch. He bought lunch at a little grille in town there. In the Elk Refuge there, just on the outskirt of town, about 8 HUGE BULL ELK were bedded down and eating. They were works art that made me hungry at the same time. Mmmm!

We then headed back to Dubois. I cooked up a very tasty meal of Chicken Fried Big Horn Ram Loin. That was the best looking meat I have ever seen in my life. Red as red could be and tender.

One more soak the evening in the hot tub with a full moon and then to bed. The drive back to Riverton the next morning, Justin was a bit more talkative. I think he is extremely shy. I don’t really know. I have to say is very hard to read. We got along great, I had a wonderful time with him and he was one of the most generous people I have ever met. Who knows where this will go. I have no expectations at all!

I always wish I wrote more on here, but I tend to stay a bit busy with life.

My daughter Shelby, and her boyfriend Greg went with a bunch of my family down to an amusement park called “The North Pole.” It’s been around as long as I have lived in Colorado up by Pikes Peak west of Colorado Springs. I think Iremember going there as a kid.

My sister drove by my old asshole boyfriend, Steve Austin’s house up in Divide and it’s up for sale. Must have met another unsuspecting girlfriend to cheat on. I hope he moves far from Colorado, so I never run into him. Yuck! That guy was a TOTAL JERK!!!!

Since the kids went with my family, I decided to go to Leadville for a rodeo. It was the Lake County Rodeo. They had such a huge festival downtown. I sort of by passed all of that and went for the rodeo which was a bit out of town.

I felt like a total idiot. I can’t find my debit card to take cash out of my bank so I had to pay with quarters. That made me feel stupid! I got in and it was the smallest rodeo I have ever been to in my life. It didn’t even last that long. They started off with (1) bareback rider. He won! There were (5) bull riders, a hand full of ropers, steer wrestlers, etc. It was tiny. I hated paying 10.00 for that rodeo. I got a few photos and then proceeded to head back to ugly Denver.

The ride home was even worse. I don’t know if I will ever take that route again on I-70 to come back to Denver. It took me over 4 hours for a 1 1/2 hour drive. That sucked!

I still had a great day. I saw 5 rainbows on my travel back to home. It rained really well up in the hills. I see so many of the same people at some of the rodeos. I should know most of them, some of them I do know.

Leadville is such a cute little town. It’s main income comes from mining Molybdenum. I had to look up what Molybdenum is. It is actually alloying agent in steel, cast iron and super alloys to enhance hardenablity ( I love that word) I need some of that around my house!!!!!!!

The mine has made the area a total mess. It’s sad to see how it has damaged the landscape and water. It’s a freaking HUGE mine too. There is a cool little college up there too. I got snowed in up there on Winter when I went to go and visit my girlfriend who was there. That was pretty fun too.

Enjoy your week!

It’s been a few days since I have written. I’m trying to catch my breath, and some needed sleep. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, that’s for sure!

I traveled to Cheyenne Frontier Days on Sunday. That is always a great time, no matter what. I had an event filled day. I arrived at out meeting place of “The Hitching Post”. A nice hotel on the southern end of Cheyenne. I met Jon. Nice looking guy! Totally waiting on me when I walked in the door to the lobby. We boarded a shuttle to take us to the Rodeo grounds.

I got my credentials and ticket and all that sort of stuff and in we went. We started off in their box seats. Jon works for Frontier Oil. They are a large sponsor for Frontier Days. It was stocked with food and drinks, which worked well for me, I was hungry.

Right about the time I got finished with my lunch, the Grand Parade part was ending, and that is when I was going to get my escort down to the chutes. I threw away my trash and down we went. As we are walking down there he is telling me that I would need a press pass to get to where I wanted to go. I knew that from my only time behind the chutes my first year when I was really into writing so much. I had a press pass then.

He pointed me in the direction off to the left of the chutes along the rails. Hmm?? Not quite where I thought I was headed. Ok, I checked out the first round of bulls down there. The number of people in the arena made it tough to get shots. Waa! So, I decided to check out where the cowboys get ready. I got some awesome shots there. I don’t have them up on my site yet. I have been lazy the last couple of days.

My daughter’s boyfriend is getting ready to come into town. He will be here for a week starting Tuesday of next week. He is such a nice boy. I love how he is with Shelby. I really can’t believe that they have been such great friends for this long. I think this is going to be their third year. They really don’t have private time while he is here.

I need to get my house cleaned up. I have been going through some old photos and trying to organize them. It has been years in the making. Tons of work. I’m making slow progress. I’m trying to get the old photos of some bands like the Fluid and Brother Rat set aside. The huge library here wants to get them into an archive. I don’t know how many that are that good. I sucked so bad back then. I have a few that are great though.

Cheyenne was great, I made it so! The moment in time stuff I captured was great. The tension was thick. I loved being a part of all that, if only for a day. It was fun!