Horse Drawn Wagon Ride Under the Stars

Are you kidding me?  Did this really happen?  Is this actually my new life?  Most days I expect to awaken and find it's not real...

For example, we got a call from our neighbor last week letting us know about his horse drawn wagon ride scheduled for later that week.  We were excited about the ride, but as we realized my mom would be staying with us when the ride would happen, we could hardly believe it.  My mom has always dreamed of going on a horse drawn sleigh ride - the wagon would have to do, and boy did that night achieve dream realization status for all of us.
 

The day had been sunny, which meant for a bitter cold night, since there wasn't a blanket of clouds to cover our valley.  The clear sky did mean the crystal, clear, twinkling stars would encompass the world above us.  We bundled up, my mom was dressed in three to four layers, not including the blanket she brought to wrap around herself.  We climbed into Brenda's 4-runner and made our way around the corner because it was literally too cold to walk any distance outside.

We were one of the first to arrive and we saw the wagon, but no horses yet.  We walked towards our neighbors and I noticed one of them leading two massive horses towards the front of the wagon... they were huge and all I could do was tug mom and Brenda's arms and point towards them.  I was speechless.  Belgian horses were being harnessed to the wagon and it took some coersing to get them attached.  I stood in amazement of what I was about to experience... seriously, we were at our neighbor's house, watching Belgian draft horses being hitched to a wagon that would pull us for a ride under the stars on a bitter cold winter night.  And, all of this was happening around the corner from our home.  Unbelievable!


Not us; it was too dark for photos and we were enthralled in the moment.

We loaded onto the wagon and bundled up under the stars.  When the wagon moved we heard the sleigh bells jingle that were hanging from the front of the wagon, just like in the movies.  Then, when the horses were on the pavement for a short section, the clip-clop of their hooves combined with the bells sounded like a dream winter vacation advertisement for Sun Valley or Jackson Hole. 

We wondered where they'd pull us and if it would be on the road in front of our house... YES, we turned onto our snow covered road and jingled right past our house!  The lights in our yard and on our house added to the fairytale like feelings as the horses pulled us along their way.  It was dark enough to see the sky filled with stars and cold enough to see remnants of the horses breath as they pulled us into the space they'd just been.

We stayed in the wagon and enjoyed a second ride and, when it was done, we were happy for the warm bonfire and hot cocoa awaiting us in our neighbor's front yard.  Such a welcoming neighborhood in a very special time of year; I could not ask for more.  I am living my dream!