Two weekends ago Jabin and I headed down to Enterprise, UT to his family's ranch, the Evans Beefmasters Ranch. We left Friday when I got done with work at 5 and started our journey. We stopped for some delicious In-n-Out and then at his aunt and uncle's house to pick up his brother and his fiance (Kaleb and Katie). We then continued the trek down to the ranch. We pulled into the huge town of Enterprise at about midnight and we headed to the Sleep-E Motel where Katie and I would be staying. Enterprise reminded me of Byron, WY (for those of you who don't know where Byron is, if you blink, you might miss it).
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| cheese!! |
We got up Saturday morning and headed to his grandparent's house for breakfast. Every year the have a huge two week long excursion to move the cows to to the corrals and then to the new area where they will stay. We were only able to be there for the weekend, but it was when they would be in the corrals and branding. Jabin's dad, younger brother (Corbin), and younger sister (Donni) had been there all week, so we met up with them and headed to the corrals. We saddled up a couple horses and went to meet up with the group as they brought the cows closer to the corrals. Jabin and I helped move the cows the rest of the way to the corrals, which only ended up taking about an hour. A lot of people think that since I am from Wyoming that I ride horses all the time, but that is just not true. I was quite excited to ride!
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| Evans Beefmasters Ranch |
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| Donnie getting her horse ready |
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| I am so ready for this... |
They put me on Joe because he is getting old and is a good horse to ride. After we got the cows into the corrals, we stopped for lunch. Some of his family came and brought lunch to all of us. After that we started working the cows and sorting the calves from the mamas. This was quite the adventure...let's just say that my boots are officially broken in now! And they need to be hosed off. After sorting the cows, the real fun began. We had about 130 calved to brand. I started off just watching and kind of helping getting the next group ready to go through. Then I got recruited to really help. I branded my first calf and after I did a less than adequate job at that, they had me help with the chute. I did not want to man the header because I knew I would get harassed if one of the calves got away. I manned the other part of the table that closes the chute and tips it on its side.
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| Katie, Donni, and Kaleb hanging out |
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| branding a calf |
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| Me and Donnie |
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| working hard... |
It was fun to actually get into the action, despite all of the flying poop. It was a long day, but it brought back some great memories. We used to go to the ranch up in Montana and help brand cows. This reminded me so much of the ranch and hanging out with my cousins up there. After all day in the sun, dirt, and cows, we headed back to freshen up before dinner. We had dinner at his aunt and uncle's house and played some cards. Sunday morning we went to church with his grandpa and then went for a drive around the ranch. We then started the long drive back to Logan. I had so much fun playing cowboy on the ranch and loved getting to meet more of Jabin's family. I think I passed the "ranch test" even though I wouldn't preg test a cow. Maybe next time...or not!
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