Brian & Mandy's 6 Queens-Girls just having fun...: Colorado

Our last full day in Colorado was going to be a full one in deed! We started out the morning by leaving the house around 7:30am to get to the horse stables by 9am. Caitlin, Emily, Rachel and I would be the lucky ones to ride for 2 hours in the mountains of Canon City/Royal Gorge area. I have only been on a horse once and it wasn't for 2 hrs, so needless to say, I was quite shocked after only an hour how uncomfortable this really was. The girls each got a horse that almost mimicked their personalities. Rachel got a young Arabian who wanted to trot all the time! Emily got a black horse with blue saddle (which she wanted as soon as she spotted it) and I can't remember what breed it was. But it was pretty laid back and every once and a while it would be stubborn and wouldn't go when Emily wanted it to. Caitlin got a mustang, a slow, steady horse. It gave her troubles every once in a while but for the most part was a cooperative horse. I got the 'ol mare. Her name was Lakota. She was the only horse that could pee and walk at the same time. Sounds like a mom, right? :) About an hour into the ride, Emily's nose started bleeding and Rachel was crying because she had leg cramps. I had to pee something fierce and I was also very hot. So I offered to go back with the two while Caitlin continued on but the trail guide insisted I enjoy the rest of the ride with Caitlin and she would take Em & Rach back to Brian. Ok...I guess. I figured out a way to sit that didn't make me feel like I had to pee. Both Caitlin and I were dirty and hot by the time we got back, but it was at least a memorable time!

After our ride we were scheduled for lunch at the rafting outfitters so Brian decided to show us a "scenic" route to the place. It was a one lane NARROW road that was built on a ridge so no matter which side you looked out of it was a major drop off. Scary! Thank goodness it wasn't a long road and we made it safe and sound. Come to find out later that a truck wasn't as lucky and went off the side. Not sure what the happened to the driver but if he escaped death he was lucky.

So once we made it safely down the road we made our way to the rafting place and had lunch. Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. Grilled burgers with all the fixings or hot dogs with chips, salad and cookies. Next up we got in our gear. Too funny really. Natalie and I were to go on a family float ride-really no need for a helmet. Brian and the other 3 girls went on a ride with class 2 & 3 rapids. There ride was much more exciting than ours. Natalie fell asleep about 3/4 of the way so it was me and the guide-how romantic. Brian said the rapids they went on weren't too exciting but enough to get the girls excited a bit and want to do more challenging rapids next time.

The ice cream shop we voted our favorite. Over 30 different flavors to choose from!

the girls killing fire ants. nice.

Our last stop of this fun filled day was the Royal Gorge. We got there close to when the rides closed down so we got on as many as we could. My favorite was the gondola ride over the gorge. It was neat to see and it was a little freaky looking down all that way. Natalie and Rachel were a little scared of the "cracks" in the bridge. A few times Natalie wouldn't walk but would rather me carry her. Emily didn't want to go over the bridge so she decided to stay back while we walked over and back. When we got back we couldn't find her. She was "spying" on us. NOT funny! After a quick reprimand we got in the car and headed home. We did stop at Sonic to eat. Through the whole 9 day trip we only ate out 4 times. Not too bad!