End of road trip, Latigo ranch and bye bye USA

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14th August-So Stacey's parents and grandparents left early this morning and Lynn left shortly afterwards....I think he was hoping I'd blub, the amount of hugs and kisses he gave me. He made me giggle when he texted when he got home and said 'I got one less problem without ya'....I played that song constantly in the car. Check him out getting all hip!



I really wanted to see the welcome to Vegas sign so caught the bus out to where it was and there was a lady there ready to take pictures for you so I tipped her a buck 😊 When I checked out the hotel billed me $120 for ringing my bank because apparently international calls are different to long distance...whatever! Fuming!



I then caught the shuttle bus to the airport and flew to Denver where I then caught a shuttle bus to the wrong days inn hotel oops! But the driver was nice enough to take me to mine 😊 When I landed in Denver people were waiting for others to arrive and had signs say welcome home. It made me sad to see people hugging their loved ones and there was no one there to meet me....oh well only about 10 more times til I get that 😊 I think I missed a birthday on the 10th....so Happy Birthday to my Uncle Derrick!



15th August-Today I nipped back to the airport to catch my shuttle to kremmling which is the town near my ranch. I have 2 nights here before my ranch and there's nothing to do. I kind of wish I'd stayed in Vegas for a bit longer :/ I settled in, did my exercises, got dinner from the garage next door and caught up on some tv programmes online. The shuttle bus dropped me at a gas station and I was lucky my hotel was right next to it....could have been a bit of a walk!



16th August-Today I thought about going to the hot springs but it's like 15 miles away so that would be kind of expensive in a taxi and I've been to others so it's no biggie. So I decided to have a tv pj day 😊 in the evening I went just up the road to the rodeo and fairground where they were having a demolishen derby where cars basically ram into each other until there's a winner. Kind of fun I guess....I spotted a few cowboys mmm! There weren't any seats left so I sat on the steps and there's always gotta be some busy body who tells you you're not allowed to sit there. Yawn! I wasn't blocking her view or bothering anyone so stood my ground and stayed put!



17th August-So today was ranch time! Woop woop! I got picked up by the owner from the ranch and she gave me a big hug when we met. Everyone is so lovely....and it's real, not put on. She dropped me off at my cabin and I did some skyping to show my dad and sis the views....which are amazing! A little while later the wranglers picked me up for a wagon ride around the ranch to show me where everything is. Then I went to explore the pool....gonna try and swim every day. That along with two rides a day should get some meat off me! It was so nice to be sunbathing in almost total silence. All you could hear were the horses making sounds and moving around in the next field. It makes me miss Pablo and Tsar even more 😞



We had a meet and greet on the front porch with tasty horderves before dinner. They've got some cute dogs here too. Dinner was amazing! The food is delicious....couldn't eat my pudding as I was so stuffed. We then had our orientation meeting where we were told about the ranch and activities etc. I might give archery and shooting a go. We've got an overnight pack trip and a western dancing evening to look forward to too! Also we get a chance to practice rounding up cattle....I sure hope I don't fall off!



18th August-So this morning after breakfast we headed over to the barn for our orientation horsemanship talk and matching of our horses. The owner Jim explained a few things to us and we did some horse trivia. I was just dying to get on the horse! Finally I was matched with a black horse named Stetson. He's about 15'2. We then set off on our morning ride.



This ride was just walking but Stetson was being a bit of a plod so we got to practice our trotting. They call rising trot posting here. For the afternoon ride we chose which level of group we went in. I chose walk, trot, work on lope (canter). There were only two of us in the group and we loped about five times. It was a little scary so I asked if we could go just a tad slower at a more gentle canter and that was perfect! My hat fell off a couple of times so thank god for stampead strings! They put one on my hat this morning 😊



After dinner we had a cowboy skills lesson where we learned how to lasoo, throw hammers and crack a bull whip. I think it took me about half an hour and three whips to myself to get the crack of the whip, but I wasn't leaving until I'd done it! Fab first day 😊



19th August-This morning I went on the same type of ride and we went through the woods and had a little canter before heading back. After lunch we had the chance to do some archery....to be honest I wasn't that great at it but when I aimed for the bullseye on my last shot I hit it and popped the balloon....I was so chuffed! We then got a chance to do some target shooting and I hit one twice so not too bad I guess. We had an evening ride tonight after dinner but it rained really heavy beforehand so we could only do a bit of trotting. We did go and look over this waterfall though. I decided to take a bath before bed as my legs are killing me!



August 20th-Today we didn't leave the barn until 10am as I was going on the overnight pack trip with 3 other guests, the boss Jim (who must be mid seventies and is still doing it....amazing), 2 wranglers and 2 pack horses. We set off up some pretty steep hills and at one point Jim was like 'oh a tree's down, we'll have to go up this steep bit....hold on to your horses mane'.....I was holding on for dear life!



We stopped for lunch in the this gorgeous meadow with pretty flowers everywhere. A little after we set off again the three horses in front of me bolted off up the hill and my horse stopped and was backing up. I couldn't make him go forward and got a little frightened as he was dancing on the spot. Turns out there was a bee hive and the other horses had got stung. After another horse had backed into me we ended up going right up the hill around the hive and back down again...was super steep! I felt like I was leaning back onto his bum. One of the guests fell off her horse going up a hill right before we got to camp, so it was an eventful day. We couldn't canter because the pack horses had too much stuff on their backs. But we did have some fun jumping over streams. We got to camp and the wranglers built a fence to let the horses graze and we set up tents before Jim cooked our dinner. We had little foil envelopes which we put our meat and veggies in and added hot water to before cooking them over the fire.



21st August-I had the worst nights sleep ever! I was too tall for my sleeping bag so my shoulders stuck out of the top and I had no pillow so had to use my arms and kept waking up with dead arms. It was quite cool when we got up for breakfast though because there was mist along the grass and the sun was coming up above the trees....looked real pretty. We then packed up and trekked back to the ranch. I was glad of a shower and a nap! We had the choice of clay pigeon shooting or riding in the afternoon and as much as I wanted to try the shooting I came to ride. The wranglers said I was good for coming after my overnight trip hehe! In the evening we had a western dancing night. It was great fun but I had to sit a couple of dances out as the steps were way to fast for me and I looked like a bit of a tit. For our last dance I'm sure Kathie the owner told one of the wranglers to come and dance with me bless her! Was a good night 😊



22nd August-Today was all about cattle! We headed out in groups in the morning to find the cows and babies to herd them back to the ranch. Then in the afternoon we all got into teams and tried to separate a cow or two and herd them up to the other end of the arena. Was great fun! There was this one tit that kept over exaggerating his cowboy yelling and bringing his hands up and pulling his poor horse in the mouth....the wranglers were not best pleased! Can't believe tonight was our last dinner 😞 We all got to brand a symbol on the wood in the lodge though....I did one that had my initials joined together. We practiced on a piece of wood first though and we get to take that home. If you come back you get to brand a dot next to your symbol....one family had 25 dots!



23rd August-Today we set out early on an 8am ride to eat breakfast with a gorgeous view. Afterwards we had our final ride 😞 I was with Kevin, the English dude that I met who was on holiday with his son and took me under his wing for the week. We had an amazing final ride 😊 All week I'd been cantering slowish as going fast scares me a little. But today I just went for it! Super fast....really proud of myself. I gave Stetson some hugs and kisses and had a gorgeous photo with him before I left him at the stables. He even looked at the camera and had his ears forward. I don't wanna leave! After lunch we all said our goodbyes and Kathie ran me back to my hotel in Kremmling late afternoon. I explored a local pub in the evenig for dinner and then had a TV night as gotta be up early for my shuttle.



24th August-So today I was up super early to catch my shuttle bus to the airport. I had quite a long wait so just spent it reading a new book I've downloaded. When I was waiting at the gate this American family were there with their little fluffy dog in a bag. He kept whining and ended up tipping his bag over. When the boy turned him back over he had sick on his head from inside the bag.....hilarious but gross! I was trying to find a shuttle bus to take me to my hostel in LA and the guy was like 'no we don't have one going to Santa Monica but you can catch the bus'. I was obviously not impressed by this and my face probably showed it. Then he finally says 'or you could ask that shuttle guy over there'. Dick!



I finally got to my hostel, checked in and had a much needed shower.....I always feel ming after flying. All I wanted to do is go and watch a film so I did just that. The cinema is just around the corner and it was a Sunday so I didn't feel bad about not socialising. I was missing home quite a bit but I think it was just a blip as I'm really excited for the rest of my travels now 😊



25th August-The hostel had an offer on the sightseeing bus for $20 so I jumped on for my tour. I was scared I wasn't going to make any friends but everybody speaks to you and I met a girl on the bus who's staying at the hostel and she's from England 😊 We got off to explore Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills and passed all the rich shops before going inside the Regent Beverley Wilshire hotel from Pretty Woman. I saw the shop where they wouldn't serve her too 😊 'I was in here yesterday and you wouldn't wait on me? You work on commission right? Big mistake, big, huge! I have to go shopping now'. Love it! We then got off again at the sunset strip and walked to see Kat Von D's tattoo studio. I wish I'd booked in advance to have one done with her. I then revisited the walk of fame.....saw flowers by Robin Williams's star-this still makes me sad 😞



We didn't get off again after that but we did drive along Doheny Drive! Woo hoo! Apparently Marylyn Monroe used to live along it. In he evening we got pizza and watched the sunset before taking a stroll down the pier. Apparently this is the last point on the Route 66 too. We went back and I tried to download Pretty Woman for us to watch as Rhiannon hasn't seen it....so can't believe that! It was taking ages though so we had to admit defeat. We'll get there though.



26th August-Today Rhiannon went to Disneyland so I had a lie in, then pottered around town in the morning, posted my riding stuff (cost over $100...I nearly fainted) and got my shellac redone on my toes along with a pedicure 😊 I finally found somewhere that did eyebrow threading so got it done....I swear she took half the hair off my face! I then spent a couple of hours at Santa Monica beach soaking up some rays before heading out for dinner. I ended up having scampi and chips at a British pub on the corner....mmmm! I was chilling in the lounge writing my postcards when this black dude from New York came over to chat to me and invited me out for drinks with his friends.



I took my new roommate out with us too and we soon discovered that the pair we were off out with were weird potheads! But when we got to the bar where the others were I recognised a few of them so decided to join in with tequila shots and giant margaritas. I ended up falling asleep in the TV room, bring woken up by this Chelsea dude who's moving to San Diego, snogging him and then taking myself off to bed and leaving my flip flops behind.....a mess!



27th August-Needless to say I woke this morning not feeling at my best :/ A raging hangover would sum it up well. I still decided to try breakfast and then preceded to take the bus to Malibu beach.....this was a mistake. I was sick in a cardboard bag that then leaked on my legs. We got off the bus half way so we could stop at the snack bar. I was sick once more and then forced some fries down me. Rhiannon and her kiwi friend started to walk the rest of the way but me and Michael (the dude from nyc) wanted to catch the bus. The moment I was alone with him I wished I wasn't. He was inappropriate and creeping me out! I took myself off the bus at the first sight of a stretch of pretty beach and left him on there.



By the time I got back from the beach and went out for dinner it was almost pub crawl time. I just couldn't face anymore alcohol so took to my bed. I felt very sad this evening as I wanted to go out and party and make more friends but just wasn't feeling up to it.



28th August-Today I was still in a bit of a grump so decided to stay indoors and read my book. I did some skyping and facetimeing and felt much better afterwards. Also had a goss with some of the girls from work and arranged more Skype dates. Pretty Woman has finished downloading now so me and Rhiannon watched it this eve. We were supposed to go out for dinner together but she bailed. This is the second time now. Plus she changes her mind a lot about what she's doing which alters our plans. Just a little annoying! I can't help thinking I'm a second option for her 😞



29th August-Last day in the states so I made the most of it. I started out by going on the hostel Venice beach walking tour. We did the boardwalk which had lots of stalls running along it and cute dogs posing for photos with funny signs. One said 'Hi I'm Lisa....I'm not a stripper, I'm a model' pmsl! We stopped to look at the skateboarders. One looked like he was running mid air when he lost his board.....a breath holding moment. We walked past muscle beach too and over the canals. Apparently some guy years ago went to Venice in Italy and decided he liked it so much he wanted to recreate it in America.



After the beach I hit the sack for a couple of hours in preparation for my LA clubbing night.....gotta leave for my flight at 4am but who even cares! Woop! I made a friend on the beach walk so he's coming too. So I had dinner, picked up some British choccie bars for the plane, did laundry and packed all before my night on the town. We were picked up in a limo and given free drinks before we hit 3 clubs in Hollywood. It was nice to get all dressed up and go dancing 😊 xx

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