Hi Darlin’!
What a fabulous ride today! After another tough night dealing with Lola’s restlessness, I set my alarm to make sure I wouldn’t sleep too late, did all my usual chores and breakfast before saddling up Flash and heading out. Our goal today was to ride the entire 12-14 mile loop that will make up part of the endurance ride next weekend to see what kind of shape it is in, because we’re having a work day tomorrow to clear out any problems. It’s two miles from Camp Connie to the nearest point on the orange trail, so I just started and ended my loop from there. Flash was BRILLIANT! Even when an armadillo jumped straight up right next to him, he hardly flinched, and only stopped because I wanted a better look. We were talking about these critters the other night, someone mentioned that a rider in an endurance ride had one jump straight up and hit his horse in the belly, which I found hard to believe. Such a clumsy creature and it can jump straight up? Well, it’s TRUE! I saw it with my own eyes! Who would’ve thunk it? We kept a great pace along the whole ride, not pushing it, but covering a lot of ground, finishing 16.23 miles in less than 3½ hours. Most of the trails are in pretty good shape, not too much work to be done, but there’s one section that’s been tilled up and is nothing but a bunch of sod chunks, which is going to be very hard to get through. I kept Flash at a walk the whole way through, but he got frustrated and move a bit faster toward the end, but I still didn’t think it was safe. I called the organizer, Jo, afterward, and we’re going to talk to the forest folks in the morning and see if there’s any equipment they can use to smooth it out, and I’m also going to look for an alternate route, just in case. That was about the only dubious place, the rest only has a few things that need clearing, though there are some sections that have been clearcut since last year, so the forest isn’t as pretty as it used to be in some places. Sigh… After I got back and rinsed off Flash and put him away, I sat around with my new neighbors, Vicky and John, and chatted for a bit. Connie and Mike joined us a bit later, then it was feeding time before we knew it, and I started my evening as usual. Took my shower early, and doing the same for bedtime, too, since I have to get up around 6:30 to get to our 8:00 work day start in the morning. I’m hoping to enlist a little help to look for my truck key, you remember the last time I saw it was the day we were leaving the trailhead last year? I kept thinking I would find it somewhere, in a pocket or under something, but I never did, and I’m taking a longshot and looking where we parked last year. Not likely, but what the heck, what do I have to lose? Anyway, one last cup of sleepytime tea and then I’ll be off the bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
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