What a perfect week it was at the ranch!
June 30, 2019 to June 7, 2019!
The weather was great--75 degrees, sunny, evening 56 degrees in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Triangle X Ranch is at the base of the Teton Mountains! Everything was very much the same as the last time we were there about 20 years ago...only BETTER! This is about the 10th Ranch trip for Pete and I. There are about 80 guests with some new cabins. The view of the Tetons from the front porch of our cabins was magnificent! There were 14 of us and what a congenial family group is was! TJ, Connie, Haile and Carter Gray added so much to our vacation. Sarah (2) and I didn't ride and that worked out just fine. We pet horses, played with the dogs, explored the ranch and played in the creek as we enjoyed the beautiful Teton mountains!
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| Looking for flowers with Gigi |
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| Petting Lily Turner's horse Paintball |
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| Petting Harvey |
The Turners 5th generation are now running the Ranch--Robert and Lucas Turner! Robert was our Wrangler when we went on a pack trip there 20 years ago with the Breslers! The entire 60 person staff were wonderful and all seemed happy to be there!
The food had been upgraded-- BBQ chicken, ribs, prime rib, steak, beef tenderloin, salmon with great sides, salads and dessert served family style!
Monday night was square dancing and line dancing at the lodge--great fun! Some of our dudes were really feeling the effects of the saddles after the first day so purchasing some padded bike shorts and padding backsides was a huge improvement in comfort!
Tuesday was an all day ride that Connie, Nate, Kris and TJ went on and they loved it. Great wild life with bison, wolves, antelope, and elk. Tuesday evening was a TV quality documentary presented by Robert Turner on the history of the Ranch. Several Turners were in the movie Spencer's Mountain which had some scenes filmed at the ranch.
Wednesday was a dinner ride to the river. A storm came up as dinner finished so the kids and some responsible adults were brought back in vans and their horses put on trailers. Pete's horse Maggie broke her saddle strap and escaped from the trailer and was running free--quite the entertainment for all!
Every evening, the wranglers ran the horses across the highway to pasture for the night. It is such a beautiful site!
Thursday was a morning and afternoon ride. Steve was able to get a spot on the All Day ride and saw some great wild life including a buffalo that was close enough to make it memorable! There were less people riding as the week went on as muscle soreness kicked in. The smaller groups were good for nature talks and riding instruction and we took full advantage of that!
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| Allie's view of the beautiful trail! |
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| Steve and Allie on the trail! |
Friday was the breakfast ride up on a meadow with a great view. Sarah and I were buddies on a very rocky van ride up to the top of the meadow where we joined up with the riders and the food! After a great breakfast the fun continued!
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| Three good looking Hostetter Dudes! |
Friday afternoon we all drove to Jenny Lake Visitor Center and took the boat across Jenny Lake to hike up the Falls towards Cascade Canyon. Our family has done this
many times over the years and loved it but we picked the wrong day to go
this year. Very crowded with 4th of July and late afternoon crowds.
Beautiful 1/2 mile hike up to the Falls but had to wait for boat going
and coming.
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| Molly resting with Mom |
The new Saturday program was the morning ride to the river for lunch with Elk, Bison and hamburgers! The wranglers were able to brand anything we wanted that was leather--Pete's hat, Kris's shoes, Nate's belt--with the Triangle X2 brand!
We were given team scarves and the 7 teams competed with an obstacle course with our legs hobbled and the "cross the river on the Triangle X wooden blocks". All participated and it was great fun. The "guess which wrangler did this" game generated a lot of laughs--ie which wrangler has their underwear on backwards and no time to change it or which wrangler has the most stitches in their head?
The teams each presented a song or skit that was judged by a team of wranglers. Great fun!
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| Crossing the river game! |
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| Last lunch with our Ranch friends! |
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| Catching tadpoles with Claire Turner! |
We had a terrific time planning and practicing for our "family talent
show" that was Saturday afternoon. It was pretty good with a poem by
Nate, skits and songs with TJ's guitar. We won first prize!
The kids LOVED the ranch and all the freedom they had there! Anna 7, Molly 5, Haile 8, Carter 11 were all amazing riders. After the first day, Molly and Anna were loping faster than Pete! They were never sore with tights on under their jeans to prevent chaffing and they never seemed to have any muscle aches! All the kids ate together, rang the bell for dinner, played in the stream through the ranch and played with the Turner girls Lily 5 and Claire 8 who lived on the ranch. They never wanted to come inside! It was heaven for them!
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| Building a dam in the creek |
The little dudes had a great time playing on the
Ranch when they weren't riding. Haile and
Carter added so much fun to the group!
The little girls fell in love with their horses--Penny (Anna's) and Dr. Jim (Molly's). There were lots of tears when our week was over and it was time to go home. They can't wait to come back again. "It's even better than Disney World"--never thought I'd hear that!
The kids' Wranglers Katelyn and Olivia let them finger paint their
horses and have squirt gun battles after riding out to the Cunningham
cabin. So much fun!
Family made it all wonderful! We will never forget the time we shared
together at the Triangle X Ranch.
Thank you Pete for starting us on the Triangle X
adventure in 1983!
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