"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope playyyyyyy"....
You know how the old ditty goes, that twangy embodiment of the American west. Well, we lived it for reals at the Lazy Barf F Ranch beneath the red-rocked mountains near Cody, Wyoming. My dad's cousin Mike has been running the ranch for 30 years, and he invited his extended family out for a visit. We came from all over - California, Michigan, Illinois, Montana and Washington. Many of us had not seen each other in decades, and many of us met each other for the first time.
We fished. We hiked. We rode horses. We shot guns. We drank whiskey. We were cowboys and cowgals for a week.
OK, maybe we didn't become full cowfolk, but we embraced the place we were in, the people we were with, and soaked up an experience that was once in a lifetime for all of us. I can safely say everyone had a ball.
Welcome to the Lazy Bar F Ranch!
Where the horses live.
Family photo, round 1.
Mary saddling up on Dillon.
Our favorite protector, Oliver.
Uncle Mark feeling right at home on our cabin porch.
Mark, Dad, and Sean out on the Shoshone River.
Dad's beautiful 18" Brown trout.
Brothers fishin'.
My gorgeous Brown trout.
Todd's prized catch!
Dad on the balance beam.
Larry and Oliver crossin creeks (or "criks").
Dad, Mike, and Bob loungin' on the lodge's porch.
J, Mom, and Maralee on the trail.
Dad, Mark, and Mike on the trail.
The porch - where everyone gathered in the afternoons.
The root cellar.
The main house on the ranch.
Dad and me after some morning fishing.
Deer hooves and horseshoes.
Dillon the horse.
Yellowstone.
Yellowstone.
Bison.
Details around the ranch.
In the barn.
The Lazy Bar F Ranch.
The wagon.
Maralee and Mom out on the Shoshone.
Mark fishing the Shoshone.
Dad fishin the Shoshone.
Larry's gorgeous Brown trout.
A moose!
The south fork of the Shoshone.
Ranch details.
Dad on his horse.
Mom and Maralee on their horses.
Mom, dad and Maralee on their horses.
The cousins!
And the rest of us!
Around the ranch.
The Shoshone in the morning.
Dad on the river.
The Grand Tetons.
