The Cowboy Cookout

When my Mom first asked me what I wanted to do in Yellowstone, I told her three things...

1.  Stay at The Old Faithful Inn.

2.  Hike to Fairy Falls.

3.  Participate in a cowboy cookout.

Other than that, I was game for anything.

So, Mom scheduled the cowboy cookout for the 30th ( four months before my actual birthday) and we decided to treat it as my birthday dinner.

And it was SO MUCH FUN!

This picture pretty much sums up the best parts about it... cowboys and coffee.

We started our adventure on a ranch.  Dad had opted to ride a horse out to the cookout area!  Mom and I chose the safer route and went on the wagons.

Dad was a natural and pretty much had this big happy grin on the entire time...

I envisioned the "wagons" being a little more covered like on "Little House".  I even told Mom that she might need to pack up my smocked bonnets from when I was little in case we needed to wear them while traveling.

But they were open...

And since the cookout involved such a large group, there were lots of them.  We traveled the gorgeous landscape for about thirty minutes before we arrived at our destination.  Dad was on the horse for the same amount of time.  He said his ride was awesome!  He was just like a real cowboy.

We did have a guide in addition to our driver which told us all sorts of cool information about the area... the history, the wildlife, and about her job on the ranch.

Dinner was served outside and was completely cooked by a crew of cowboys. <- straight out of my dreams!

They even rang the dinner bell ( triangle) when it was time to eat.

I went a little crazy...

All of the food was delicious... but especially the beans and the cornbread.  The cornbread was sweet and the beans were so flavorful and hearty.  One of the cowboys offered up the bean recipe and I went up and got it from him.... giggling like a school girl.  I'm such a weirdo!

Then came the highlight.... The coffee!

There was a cowboy manning the fire with a huge kettle of coffee hanging over it.  We were told that it was the strongest coffee in all of the land... which made my eyes light up like fireworks were going off inside of them.  Strong + Bitter is my favorite coffee flavor!

The coffee was SO strong!  I could even feel the coffee grounds on my tongue as I was drinking it.  It was heavenly!

A bit of our view....

The entire time that we were eating there was a cowboy playing guitar and singing to us.  And then I looked up and saw my Mom talking to him and I about died.  She asked him to sing me "Happy Birthday".

There was no where to hide.

So, I pulled my hat down low and stared down at my food and blushed profusely.

But as embarrassed as I was, being sung to by cowboys was an absolute highlight of the trip!

And I was able to cross that off of my bucket list.

Another cowboy + coffee picture.... ( I wish I could get Kev to wear chaps).

I know the experience was a little touristy... but it was incredible just as I had envisioned.  And those guys weren't just putting on a show.... they were REAL cowboys that can cook and sing and ride horses and make me giggle and blush.

I felt like I was 16 again.  Haha.

Me.. back at the ranch...

And one last picture of the best coffee of all time...

It was such an awesome night!