I Guess an Old Cow Camp Can Be Emotional

Sunday morning we woke up late without a care in the world. We were like free spirits. I was positive that a sun burn was on my to do list for the afternoon. We didn’t have a schedule, no where to go and the dishes in the sink were going to have to wait to be washed. The laundry in the hamper wasn’t hurting anything and the two loads of clean clothes sat perfectly on the bedroom floor. I wasn’t going to hang them up. There is no such thing as housework on a beautiful day.
A last minute decision sent us winding up a mountain road, I packed up the cooler, Kody called our friend Tom and we were off. I love seeing new country. Of course new country with a little bit of history makes my mind wonder into the past where old cow camps sat, loading chutes and an old round pen sat tucked away miles from town. Where mommas gave birth to there babies at home, and Daddy busted broncs outside the kitchen window. Would the happy couple sit out and watch the stars at night after tucking their babies to sleep? When they got into a fight would the young wife storm off on her horse and sit by the creek? This is just some of the history that keeps creative minds wondering.

　
Kody always talked about the old VR Cow Camp, I wanted to see it, but time never really allowed until our spontaneous Sunday morning. I was so touched when we got there, of course watching for snakes, but I almost felt like I was intruding going into the old homes where families once gathered around the kitchen table and told stories of their days work. I was so touched by the emotion these houses and bunk houses brought to me. I wanted to live there.

This is Jill’s handprint, I don’t know her, but underneath her print in the concrete read that she was 5 years old. She had a brother named Chief who was 8, and Bill must have been her twin brother because he was also 5. Their handprints laid in the concrete, time and weather withering them away.

The cows can get into these buildings, the bears and rock chucks can now call this their home. This beautiful piece of history is frozen in time, memories linger all around, and maybe a flicker of light comes out at night singing a lonesome tune.

~Wyoming Wife

Feeling Helpless

I have been so busy working at the store I haven’t been able to help Kody work cows or even just ride. It had been 10 days since I had rode my colt. The last time I rode was about a 15 mile ride moving yearlings to another pasture. They were gentle yearlings, easy to move and there wasn’t a rotten one in the bunch.
I had been cranky with the bi-polar weather, the rain, the cold and the wind. Everyday I have off work there are lighting storms, thunder that will send chills up your spine and rain I swear will leave welts on anything you leave exposed. I was chatting with Kody about the weather dilemma, more so saying this weather needed to change so I could get out and do something. Not five minutes after being on the phone with him, my sister calls and tells me she will work for me on Friday so I can go move bulls with Kody and my father in law Kelly.
We didn’t wake up to terribly early, the wind was supposed to start blowing around 11 o’clock. Our horses were saddled and we were off the gather the bulls into the corrals so they can be turned out for summer with the cows. I personally like moving cows, bulls are rank and slightly violent with each other, they are big and my horse and I are small. Kelly and I weren’t too much man power with the horses we were riding, the colt he was on, Alice was her second ride. Although my horse is still green we can still get up and go, granted on real windy days he had to check out every stick, sagebrush and gate posts. It really is a chore riding young horses.
Kelly and I were off in one direction and for once Kody was on a horse that’s broke, Kody went to gather a few that were off in the distance and Kelly and I thought it would be good if we stuck together to help each other up if one of our horses slipped out from underneath us. Kelly had Kody trot my horse around in a few circles, I told him it wasn’t necessary but he insisted, he told me, “Jordan, I don’t want the fine china to get broke.” I guess I couldn’t argue with that.
Our horses were doing great trailing these bulls, the wind was blowing about 40 m.p.h., our horses were a little jumpy but that is expected with the wind. We gathered all the bulls, they were spread out pretty good. And then…my hat blew off my head. Luckily my horse only jumped once, my stampede string was as tight as it could be, but not tight enough for rip roaring wind.
We get to the gate to push the bulls through, and on the other side of the fence there are 7 horses that rushed to us, and I’m not kidding you the ride went downhill from there. Those horses are nickering, bulls are fighting at the gate they need to go thorough. I swear one bull literally thought about charging my little paint horse and I along with Kelly and Alice. There is barn wood everywhere, old rolls of wire, a boat, an old motor home, everything you don’t want around when your trying to push these bulls through the gate when your riding a colt. Bulls went in every direction, my horse was preoccupied taking everything in, and I’m just trying to stay on him. I whipped him with my reins and finally got him to go while Kody is hootin’ and hollerin’ working all these bulls by himself. I was the helpless girl on a young horse on a windy day with a bunch of junk piled all around us with bulls fighting and my horse jumping all around. Lets just hope the next ride isn’t like that.
To make things even a little better, we got them all in the corral and were short one bull. We loaded our horses and Kody was off trailing the lost bull to the corral. It was a great photo opportunity for me.
Kody also reassured me that he has been there before, riding young horses and sometimes you feel helpless on them…that made me feel a little better.
That’s all for now!
~Wyoming Wife
Here our some pictures of our eventful day!

The bull that made me wonder if it was my last day.  Doesn't he look grumpy?

The instigator

The needy and nosey horses.

The big loop, and the Cowboss for the day.

Rearranging Our Little Store

My Grandma and I thought we should rearrange the store. The layout was getting boring, it had been the same way for 10 months. We needed a change of scenery. We got the job done with the help of my beautiful sister, my red headed brother, our cousin Clay and Little Cody sat back and ate my ice cream. A new ice cream shop opened across the street, that is the highlight of the Month of May. If you have not eaten Bunny Tracks flavored ice cream yet…you have not lived. Anyways, after a truck load to the dump, minimizing clothing racks, utilizing our trunks and shelves, we made the store look about 5 times bigger.

Here are some of the finishing touches!

This cool ladder is awesome decoration.  I picked it up for $30 at a garage sale.  It displays wild rags, belts and necklaces.  I'm in love. 

I kept this spot the same, the trunk that all of this sits on is so heavy.  I love the old fruit crates and the furs of a badger and a racoon.  



This is my favorite part of the store.  The saddle stand blends in perfectly with the rope baskets and the trunks.  The saddle stands are adorable and make for great decoration, Kody builds them, I paint them! That is teamwork!