SUNDAY, JULY 5th, LOLO, Montana

Well the fireworks finally died down about midnight.  We went to bed about 11 and they were exploding in air above our heads while we were in bed.  We were able to keep Bella calm throughout the evenings bangs, pops and blasts thank goodness.
after the long night we slept in 'til about 7 am.  We stayed inside for coffee as it was quite chilly out. 
We left at about 9:30 for Lolo hot springs to go horseback riding.  This will only be the second time that Rob and I have ridden horses together since we have been together.  Actually, it will only be the second time I've ridden since we have been together.
We are going on a 4 hour ride with lunch.  When we arrived there were 4 others waiting as well a couple with their son and the husbands father.  The are doing the two hour ride.
We met the horses....

And bought new hats.  Rob had a baseball cap on.  That’ll never do and I didn’t have anything.  So now we are styling like true cow peeps.

This amazing rock formation is behind where the horses are standing.  It’s a favorite with the birds.  As it turned out, we rode the horses up there.

We did a lot of standing around, but finally got underway at about 10:30. 

We all rode together up into the hills behind the hot springs.  All in a line with a guide in front and a guide in back. 

We stopped once to let the horses eat grass...

Stopped for a photo op.....

 And stopped to stretch our legs

Then we continued on.  We rode by an Indian burial platform that was used in a movie they recently made up here called “Trail of Justice” which is supposed to be on Netflix in January

Then we headed back.

Rob, Marie, and I made sandwiches and gathered other items for lunch and then the three of us took off again.  We crossed the highway, rode through the campground And then off into the forest.  You can sure tell they are commercial horses, because the two that Rob and I were on (he was on Texas and I was on Sam) wanted nothing to do with being ridden again while the others were back at the coral.  Marie ended up taking the lead rope from my Sam and pulling him along with her until we got around a corner and out of sight of the other horses.  Rob’s Texas, not wanting to be left alone ended up following along.  

We rode up a big steep hill and along a small trail. Then came to a spot where we stopped and ate our lunches.  Unfortunately it was not anyplace with a view.  After lunch we rode on.  Texas and Sam both wanted to turn around prematurely.

We had to stop and let them eat again at the turnaround point.

We got back to the Coral at about 2:30. I thought we were back about 30 min sooner than we should have been, but my knees were hurting quite a bit and I know we are going to be sore tomorrow, so it’s OK.  

The scenery was lovely 

and the ride was fun.  It was good to be back on a horse again.

We returned to the RV and to our poor little Bella who was shut up inside the RV All day.  I hate shutting her in.  Normally, when we have the fence up we leave the doggy door open so she can stick her head out or sit on the step while we are gone.  But since we aren’t allowed to have the fence we have to shut her in.  We never lock it with her inside though.

Anyway, she was very happy to see us and to go for a little walk and to hang outside with us for the rest of the evening.