Cindi's Ramblin'
A Special Mother's Day!! By
Cindi Sokoloff
One minute.. Fifty – seven seconds!!!!
Not bad for
a city girl. Oh wait, you probably have no idea what I am talking
about, do you? Let me start at the beginning….
After weeks
of planning a special Mother’s Day weekend, the day is finally
here. My husband Mike, my 14 year old son Steven and myself (Hi,
I’m Cindi, pleased to meet you) are off for a weekend of country,
heading to the The Dude Ranch, just a hop skip and a jump from our
home in Las Vegas.
Pulling into
the ranch is everything I wanted and more. The friendliest staff
greets us. After a quick howdy doo, a tour of the facilities and
appropriate paperwork filled out, it is finally time to meet the
those beautiful horses in person that I have been become so familiar
with on the the Web Site pages.
Heading over
to the hitching post I feel like I am about to live in an episode
of Gunsmoke. How cool is that? Steven, who has spent several summers
at away camp riding “tired” horses, is amazed at the
beauty and energy these babies have. Ginger is my best baby girl
for the evening, Mike is introduced to Jack and Steven is aboard
a handsome horse named Tony. Heading off on our sunset ride is a
thrill. I never could have believed this was as close to the hustle
bustle of Las Vegas as it is. It is truly breathtaking; you can
actually feel your body relax and your mind wander to how the true
cowboys and cowgirls felt way back when. Riding with Sandy Valley
Wranglers, the trip is easy and fun. They are very knowledgeable
and teach us a lot about the countryside.
Now, the part
you have been waiting for. Although I have ridden horses since I
was a little girl, I have never had the opportunity to go into a
ring and rustle cattle. After a brief demonstration and introduction
on the rules of penning cattle, Mike Steven and I are let loose
to try it on our own. After a brief strategy conversation, Ready,
Set, GO! Let the stop watch begin… moving the cattle into
the pen is not quite as easy it looks. Those persnickety little
calves just don’t want to go the way you want them too! We
don’t give up and our first time is….ta da…you
got it… One minute .. Fifty – seven seconds!!!! The
wranglers shout a big “Yee Haw – great time for your
first penning experience”. Ok, I have to tell you that we
were on course to beat that time our second time around but Steven
and I lost a calf. Can you tell we loved this part of the ranch
experience? This is now my new favorite thing to do!
Many more experiences
were memorable during our stay at The Ranch, including the fabulous
food prepared especially for guests on site, sleeping in a covered
wagon, meeting Boss Lady’s new painted colt “Crack Jack.
The Ranch is a must do experience again and again. Steven’s,
and yes it can be hard to please a 14 year old, parting words were,
“Let’s do this again. How about next weekend?”
Yee Haw everyone
at The Ranch. Thanks for a great Mothers Day weekend. Y’all
surely know how to treat the guests …we can’t wait to
see you again soon.
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