Beulah Yule Log Festival 2017
#1
As always, what an incredibly fun weekend!! Beulah really knows how to do Christmas up right, and we love being part of it! 

The festivities started on Saturday night with the parade of lights. As usual there seem to be more people riding in the parade than watching it. This year we asked the folks leading the parade to please go at a walking pace because last year the fire trucks took off and left us running behind in pitch darkness. They did a great job not leaving Santa and his goat behind this year. In fact, the color guard led the parade on foot, so it went very smoothly. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera so there are no parade photos this year.  

Phil dressed as Santa and drove his team and wagon all decked out in lights. I wore my elf hat and threw peppermint candy to the expectant crowds. The goats were very well behaved and we only had one small hiccup at the end when Phil turned to go down the last hill. Somehow the right rein on Sputnik's bit came unhooked, so when Phil pulled on the reins to steady the team for the steep grade, only the left-hand reins engaged so the goats hooked a sharp turn and ran right off the road and almost hit the church. We pulled out of the parade to fix the equipment failure, but the folks who didn't know what happened thought maybe our goats suddenly got religion! 

Next day we headed back to Beulah for the Yule Log Festival. The goats are an expected part of the event now and people look forward to seeing them. Here we are next to last year's Yule Log. Every year, a piece of the Yule Log is saved to start the Yule Fire next year. The tradition has been continued in Beulah for something like 65 years now. 
   
   

As always, folks loved Finn and Sputnik. Sputnik preferred to be fed pine boughs rather than submit to petting, but Finn soaked up any and all attention.   
   

This lovely lady had him falling asleep completely!
   
   

The kids were a lot of fun while we were at the lodge. They petted the goats and fed them fresh pine boughs 
   

But once we started on our hunt for the Yule Log, Sputnik got a little testy. The kids especially were crowding in close and touching his flanks, which made him jump around and run into people in front of him. I had to ask the kids to give us space so he could calm down. He's come a long way for a goat that didn't used to let people touch anywhere on his body, but he'll probably never be completely comfortable in a crowd. 
   

This was the warmest year for the Yule Log hunt and we got hot as we searched through the woods. Phil and I were very close to finding it this year, and Phil is pretty sure he even looked right at it and maybe walked over it. But there were lots of logs in the woods, so it was easy to miss! Our goats were no help at all apparently! 
   

But they made up for it by helping pull the Yule Log back to the lodge. It was far afield this year so they had their work cut out for them. The girl who found it got to ride it all the way back with her brother. What fun! 
   
   

We even made it into the local news again this year! 
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#2
Looks like loads of fun. Nice hat you got there Nanno  Wink
Happiness is a baby goat snoring in your lap
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#3
It IS a nice hat! Whoever bought it for me has really good taste! Do you remember who that was? Wink
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