Day 3 - Matt's on the gang

Matt was greeted by the breakfast crowd by his new name - Dunker. He's now an official gang member and we immediately took him to our China Wall hideout...after we played with the ranch carpenters chocolate lab. Philip wants this lab in the worst way.

Fortunately Steb ll spent the last 10 years in the cell phone business; he revived the speakers so Dunker has a fully functional phone.

China Wall is a favorite, mostly climbing; going thru a few streams, twisting our way thru a piney slope and then come up behind the rocks. The view from the top are incredible.  We saw lots of antelope.

Hooch, my sleeping buddy 

That would be the dog; not Paul head corral man.

Someone's always asleep

Our dining table changed today as we added the Sostman/Conroy family...more Meet and Greet. Everyone seemed to hit it off right away. We're all going to Castle Rock on Wednesday - TC's ashes are there. Several years ago we built a cairn honoring Michael's brother. Thursday Matt's going over Stone Mountain to Ginger Meadow with Tom, Zaneta, Gregg and a wrangler. Wednesday Phil and Matt are shooting. Friday Matt's shooting with Tom and Gregg. Can't believe we've got the week planned out.

Not many teenagers at the ranch. I worried Matt would be bored with so many old people. Doesn't appear so...he'll soon know everyone at the ranch. Last night no one wanted to ride so he went up to the corral and hooked up with a wrangler taking another group to Little Mesa - which was great as Little Mesa is the perfect place to let the horses run (they did) ... otherwise it's the most boring trail at the ranch.

After lunch, Matt and I drove into Buffalo ... so much I take for granted is new to Matt ... cutting and baling hay. I did some shopping and he explored.  Came back, I got ready for tonight's party and he headed over to play whiffle ball.

We had a cocktail party celebrating Tom and Zaneta's engagement and upcoming Sept wedding. T.C. was Phil's best friend. We thought the party and introducing Zaneta to the ranch was something T.C. would enjoy. We invited 25 of our friends and the evening was perfect - on the lawn right in front of our cabin. The perfect ending was John Sutherland's "egg trick" which he performed to perfection. Zaneta's was enchanted.

After dinner, our table moved to the porch for coffee and more stories. I headed up to the corral to watch Matt come in and maybe take some more pics and then thought ... no, I do not need to hover; I can get lots of pic. So instead I turned and walked to the cabin. He came in later, told us about the ride and then fell into bed. Another good day and tired people.