Our original plan was to start the day at the restaurant my parents have raved about for 25 years... but somewhere between 1983 and 2008, the Tugboat Saloon has stopped serving breakfast. Instead we ate at Chase's favorite breakfast restaurant, Freshies, where the granola is homemade and the cinnamon rolls are as big as your head. He's quite proud that he's the only one of his friends who can finish a roll in one sitting.
We rode the gondola to the top of the main mountain while our stomachs settled, then Chase took us out on the winding back roads, through acres of open range, to the ranch where he's working.
Before we toured the ranch, we detoured down a dirt road to his favorite location -- Box Canyon. It's an unmarked curve in a rushing river where you can climb out onto boulders and sit in the midst of the whitewater.
I agree with Chase, it was definitely one of my favorite spots!I loved seeing all of the aspen trees. Don't get me wrong, the forests of lodgepole pines are wonderful, too, but I love the gray-white bark of the aspens and their fluttering round leaves.
It struck me how quiet it was away from town -- and my home in the Indiana countryside is by no means noisy. When you're surrounded by narrow, rigid lodgepole pines, it takes a rather strong wind to make sound as it sweeps through those forests. But come upon a grove of aspen trees, and you suddenly have the more familiar rustle of soft leaves.
When we arrived at the ranch, Chase gave us a tour of the grounds, including the tack room and barn, where they keep equipment for their 87 horses. Each saddle and bridle was numbered (you'd have to, to keep that many straight).
Above the barn is a room where they hold barn dances and teen social activities. I loved this big, open window.
We spent the afternoon doing more touristy things, like racing down the alpine slide in town (he beat me, of course) and visiting galleries. That evening, Chase took us to the weekly Carr Pro Rodeo. They had every event you'd expect and some you wouldn't -- like peewee barrel racing. Three little girls competed in barrel racing, and the peewee who won, pictured below, was five years old. She was fantastic!
It was incredibly hard to leave Chase at the end of the night and send him back to work, but the day was absolutely worth it. And we get him back in a month!Camera: Canon 40D
Box Canyon: 1/125s, f/8 at ISO 100 under overcast skies at about noon
Aspens: 1/60s, f/8 at ISO 100 under overcast skies at about noon
Bridles: 1/60s, f/5.6 at ISO 200 in natural light at about 1:00 p.m.
Window: 1/60s, f/11 at ISO 200 in natural light at about 1:00 p.m.
Rodeo: 1/60s, f/5.6 at ISO 1250 under halogen lights at about 9:30 p.m.
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