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BLOG 9
Ok
A word of advice
Dumb blonde Barbies and horses should NEVER EVER collide with one another.
The twins and I went on a horse trail today in Kananakis, about 20 mins from the condo.It was at an old traditional ranch that was fully working.There were old ranch farm buildings and old stables.Everything made out of rolled wooded planks, was the epitome of cowboy land. The smell of hay was in the air and it reminded me very much of Rawhide, the tv show back in the day.
We lined up next to the big wooden fence and queued up in anticipation for our allocated horse for the morning trail ride we had signed up to do today.I got a big brown one and the boys got given two smaller white ones. All very sound and sturdy and practically falling asleep in the morning sun.
In walks Barbie.A girl of I estimate 18 years old, very sweet face, but as I look down from my saddle the first thing I noticed were her high heeled stiletto boots. Really?I mean seriously?You want to ride in those?Ok. Whatever. Secondly I notice that she is wearing half a tube of makeup and perfectly painted bright pink nails and a gorgeous black satin top. I do wonder though what she was expecting.Well lets not judge, perhaps she's a competent rider and just decided to dress that way cus she hada pressing meeting to rush off to after, I don't know. I just found it rather odd.
Everyone was kitted out in jeans, trainers, a couple of authentic cowboy hats and slacks and of course the horses were all saddled up with western saddles, like the one I rode on in Virginia.
When David, Andrew and I were all ready on our trusty steeds we set off following our guide with about 8 other riders following behind.
It was a very gentle ride, very relaxing and enjoyable.Andrew had a couple of odd kick starts but he got the hang of it.The horses were obviously used to the drill and knew exactly what to do, it was hard to go wrong.
The scenery was lovely.At one point we were riding through open fields with wild grass as far as the eye could see, butterflies and bugs flapping around aimlessly and then we would be trekking up a steep stony slope into the darker woods where we would ride alongside the top ridge overlooking the vast rapids of the river Bow below us with the blue rocky mountains outlining the sky.Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
The trail was about 2 hours long.About half way through Barbie decided to scream. Her horse had decided he was hungry and went for a nearby bush.The movement had taken her by surprise and she pulled hard on the reins scaring the horse with the manoeuvre and thus making it jump back a couple of steps scaring her even more in the process.Of course she was fine and it really was nothing but from that moment on we had nothing but moaning and complaints from her the WHOLE journey onwards.'My horse is weird''I'm scared' 'Its not doing what I want it do' 'I wanna get off right now' 'this isn't fun anymore' god the list was endless.At one point I truly felt like getting down from my horse, walking up to hers, give her a wake up slap and getting back on my horse but alas I was with children and that simply wouldn't do.
The instructors got tired of her whining and decided to entertain themselves by enquiring about her choice of footwear for the day. Unfortunately she didn't understand the sarcasm that underlined the questions and misinterpreting them, she took the interest as a compliment and went into a massive spiel about where to buy the shoes.
Amazing.
But funny, made the journey very comical.
We made it back to the ranch unharmed and hungry.Included with the ride was a steak lunch.Pure Canadian steak cooked to our liking.It was so juicy and mouth watering. I definitely recommend trying it if anyone is in Canada. We all had our meat cooked rare and it was gorgeous.
After lunch Sonja and Matthew joined us for our next adventure, white water rafting.This was awesome!! I had rafted before in South America so I had an idea of what to expect but as we slipped into our bathing suits, zipped up the wetsuits and wet boots, buckled up our helmets and fastened our lifejackets over our chests, I only then started to realise I was about to get very very wet and very very cold.Bring it on.
Our instructor was great. She was a true tomboy and full of fun; screaming instructions at us and getting us all to face each and high five the group with our oars when we did well.I sat on the left hand side and of course that was the side that got picked on.Every rapid we went down the left hand side went first crashing us into a wave of freezing water.It was glorious.The sun was beating down and the water although cold was incredibly refreshing.
Then, out of nowhere, a flash or fork lightning struck behind us in the mountains and a clap of thunder struck over head. The guides didn't seem at all worried that we were all in water and the lightning was overhead. They said we were at the lowest point and so if anything was going to get struck it would be the pine trees on the banks surrounding us.
Oh, the reassurance.
We continued to battle it out on the riverthrough the rain but it got cold very quickly after that and everyone was pleased to get back into the warm changing rooms and wrap themselves up in the towels.We drove back home to a nice mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and cake. Yum!
Right now Its about 11pm our time and I'm back in the club house watching the weather change dramatically outside.I recon another storm is brewing.My skills are improving in Halo and as far as bruises go? Hanging out with three young boys is teaching me that brutal violence is sometimes the only way to win.
Bring on tomorrow!
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