I felt the need to wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. Unfortunately I’m a baseball cap wearing city slicker and I had neither. But they still let me in. It was Cowboy and Cowgirl Day at the Autry National Center and the Guats were about to get our country on.
Billy The Kid.
Bill Picket.
Doc Holiday.
With all this cowboy heritage and hospitality we felt right at home, even if we did say “dude” instead of y’all. We were introduced to the ways of the wrangler and this Sandbox Adventure List item was something we all enjoyed.

We started with rope tricks and realized we lacked the wrist action to be awesome cowboys … we were urban cowboys.

Then the game of horseshoes began … first my daughter gave it try. It was so awesome that she was out there for half an hour. She hit the peg once, but it was a spectacular one.

My son went on to the Big Leagues. He wasn’t doing the plastic horseshoes. He felt grown up enough to try the real deal. He definitely had some muscle behind those throws, Glad there were haystacks lying around to help protect people’s shins, because let me tell you … those horseshoes definitely hurt. Definitely. Note to self … stand behind the haystacks.

Then we headed into the museum to check out the exhibits, cowboy scavenger hunt, and horseshoe crafts. Nothing like feathers and pipe cleaners to make things fun.

After educating ourselves on the life and times of the cowboy, we decided to be part of The Gold Rush era and pan for gold. There was water everywhere.

The day ended with an awesome gunslinger and lasso whirling show. A definite wild west photo opportunity.

At the end of our cowboy adventure, we were pooped out. Being a cowboy is tiring, even if it was just for a day.