Yellowstone, Day One Part Two

The first day that we got to Yellowstone, we quickly went to Roosevelt Lodge to see if we could get tickets to the Cowboy Cookout. I had tried to call several times to get reservations, but had been unable to do so. When I asked at the front desk, they told me that people book those trips up to a year in advance. However, if I wanted to try hanging around the next evening and see if there were any cancellations, I might get lucky. When I asked what each person would like to do at Yellowstone, Mother-in-Law said she had really been looking forward to the Cowboy Cookout. So after fishing and travelling through the Canyon Area, we made it to Roosevelt to see about cancellations. As it happened, there were four cancellations. We rushed over to the corral to see if there might be two more. We waited apprehensively, but finally there were two more. And bless us all, the other two were on our wagon! So all six of us were able to ride covered wagon #9 to the Cowboy Cookout. Hubby and I and the boys rode in the front seat with the driver. The boys enjoyed it, but it was very dusty for my tastes. The horses were named Oscar and Felix, and Felix was feeling gassy. I think that is what the boys enjoyed the most! The ride is about 2-3 miles, and then you arrive at a "campsite" for dinner. There was steak, potato salad, cole slaw, cornbread, beans, apple crisp, watermelon, drinks, and cowboy coffee. #2 wanted to try cowboy coffee. You can see his reaction in the picture above! M-I-L poured hers out and it was as black and thick as chocolate pudding. The scenery was beautiful. The weather great. There was a cowboy entertainer from Texas. He sang and played the guitar through dinner. After dinner we rode back on the covered wagons. Two mule deer jumped out in front of our horses and they took off running for a few seconds. That was exciting. It was a great end to a wonderful first day. We are back home now. We got in late last night. I checked all of the livestock and plants this morning. Kelly has had a bath and she is happily back in the house. It is wonderful to be home.