Archives for 2010

Hubby woke up not feeling too well this morning (which always seems to happen after we come in contact with a lot of people, especially sneezing and coughing kids at Wal-Mart), so we decided to forgo our planned ride. We had a leisurely breakfast, then after a while, he felt well enough to try to tackle the trailer repair job. We managed to replace the panel in about an hour, and it looked great when we were done. Afterward, I made us a banana smoothie and sent him off to bed for a nap. He slept soundly for several more hours, which went a long way to making him feel better. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get another ride in.

 Woke up to another marine layer of fog, but the wind didn’t seem quite so bad, and the temps were a bit better, so we decided to give it a go today. We headed out late, nearly 1:00, as I was still finishing off some work in the morning. With map in hand, we headed out the Pig’s Pond trail, then turned onto the Tunnel Monument Trail. The hills were fairly steep in spots, but the trails seemed easy, maybe because none of them perched on the edge with a huge dropoff, or were so narrow as to be heart-stopping. These were more like a dirt road in most places, and a regular trail in others. The hill-and-dale feeling was very different from most places we’ve been, and you could quickly get used to being able to see where you are actually going before you get there, although it always seemed another hill was just ahead, and you wanted to see what was over THAT hill, and the next, and the next. The top of the trail at Tunnel Monument is by far one of the greatest vistas we’ve seen since we left home. A full 360 degrees of view! To the south and west, more hilly grasslands and scattered trees, with a range of higher mountains profiled in blue shade. To the northeast, an incredible view of the San Luis Reservoir, a huge lake that feeds this entire valley, which, in turn, practically feeds the world. To the southeast, a wind farm with a score or more of giant windmills, gracefully whirring in the distance. We learned later that the wind farm brings in enough revenue to support the entire park, though not quite enough for capital expenditures. Utterly stunning views all around. At the peaks, however, the wind was quite blustery, (Hubby kept losing his hat, bad cowboy!) so we headed downhill to Whiskey Flats trail, where it quieted down to almost a breeze. We were only out about 2 ½ hours, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride. We’re looking forward to seeing what the rest of the trails bring! When we got back, we headed in to Los Banos to pick up some groceries and a piece of plywood at Lowes so we could fix a rotten panel in the horse trailer. It had come loose inside it’s frame because it was rotten at the bottom, and somewhere along the line had popped out and scratched my gelding’s front leg a bit. Just a few scratches, but definitely an overdue project. Got back late, but had a nice steak and went to bed satisfied at the day’s productivity.

Woke up to a cold, strong wind and a thick marine layer (known everywhere else in the country as fog, sort of), quite a change from yesterday’s heat. I spent the day working on the computer, making arrangements for Hubby traveling back home for a doctor’s appointment and picking up some things from home that we’ve discovered over the last few months we need on the road. It stayed cold and windy all day, though the fog burned off by about noon, so a ride wasn’t an option today. (Yes, I admit it, we are fair weather riders!) The forecast seems to be better for tomorrow, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Another hot day. Got up with the alarm at 7:00, out by 8:45 even though we had a few more chores than usual, headed out cross country toward Elk Grove where we picked up a load of nice grass hay, 110+ lbs. bales for $6 at a place right next to a gorgeous Equestrian Center, fully equipped with show arenas and everything that goes along with it. Next stop the Flying J at Lodi to dump the RV and fill up. Glad to have prices back under $3/gallon, for the moment at least. Though are original plan had been to go to the Los Banos Reservoir Horse Camp, apparently that hadn’t been maintained and was overgrown, so the Ranger there suggested we go to Pacheco State Park, which is in the same area but had an actual horse facility. Ordinarily, we find state parks to be too commercial and too expensive, but this one was only $10 for the first vehicle and $5 for the second, minus a $2 senior discount, so we decided to check it out. Getting there was easy, the highway off I-5 was a main highway between San Jose and Fresno, and the horse facility was just off that. Of course, that means some highway noise, but the grade up to it was pretty gradual and not at all strenuous on the vehicles (which is important at the moment, as we’ve discovered the exhaust manual on the van is cracked, and we’ve scheduled a repair stop when we’re in Anaheim in a few weeks). The facility is actually an old working farm that the state took over when the owner died in 1992, so the corrals are more like large pens, into which they placed quite a few pipe corrals. Because we were the only ones here, they said we could let the horses out into the larger pen, where (naturally) the first thing they did was roll. Though there’s no potable water, there are spigots all through the camp area as well as the pen area, so it’s very comfortable. We had picked up water at a gas station before climbing up from the valley. The camp area has a number of picnic table, fire rings and structures around, and there are trash cans everywhere. It’s quite well organized, and the rangers pass by here all the time. We’re at a loss as to why there are no other campers here, though a number of day riders were here when we arrived, all leaving by nightfall. The trail maps (readily supplied at the staging kiosk) indicate about 26 miles of trails that loop and loop and loop, so it seems we could ride for many days and seldom see the same trail twice. The terrain seems to be mostly hilly grassland with large labyrinth-like trees dotting the landscape everywhere. Can’t wait to see what the trails are like! By the time we got set up we were sweating up a storm, so a quick meal, a quicker shower and a relaxing evening was all the energy we had.

 Woke up to temps more than 5 degrees less than yesterday, so we saddled up after a leisurely Sunday brunch and headed out on the trail just before 11:30. Fortunately, it was cooler in the shade of the forest, so we never got overheated the whole ride. The rest of the trail was excellent, mostly dirt and a just a few sections of stones, and other than one steep area shortly after coming out of the campground, the climbs were all on gentle switchbacks, and there were several great places to trot. Contrary to what we had previously thought, the trail we took, out to the Silver Creek Loop, was a horse/hiker trail only, all non-motorized, for which we were very grateful, though we did have to cross several paved roads along the way. Despite the fact it was Labor Day Weekend, there wasn’t a lot of traffic. We stopped for lunch by the bridge at Silver Creek, and then had a relaxing ride back, with a number of great views of the neighboring mountains and forest. All told, about four hours and 11-12 miles, a fabulous and memorable ride.

Much as we wanted to ride today, it was already 75 by the time we got up, with a promise of another mid-90’s day. Forecast says it’s only supposed to get up into the high 80’s tomorrow, so again, we put off riding. Spent the day researching more horse camps and doing more mail, knowing we’ll be heading east again before we know it!

Went through all the mail, picking out all the things that needed immediate attention, sent Hubby back down to Georgetown to mail a few things back out, and again spent the day working. Really getting hot now, mid-90’s in the afternoons. It’s supposed to get cooler in a few days, hopefully enough to go riding again.

Hubby felt better today, especially after sleeping a little late this morning, so we decided to try taking a short ride. One of the rangers had told us about a loop known as the Enchanted Forest, but it seems they had been doing some clear-cutting there, so the name was probably a misnomer now. Anyway, Hubby thought he understood we could get to that loop without riding on the gravel road, but after several false starts, we realized that wasn’t exactly true. We opted to try the Dru Barner Trail out of the campground, which was a true trail. The trail was mostly dirt, some stone, and quite dusty. It was level for a bit, then we had some hills and dales, nothing very long, but some were a bit steep. We only went out for about an hour, just to keep the horses in shape, before turning around. It’s been getting quite hot here during the days, in the 90’s, the hottest weather we’ve seen since Colorado, so none of us really wanted to be out during the heat of the day. Hoping for a cooler day before we leave, would like to go a bit further on the trails, though, unfortunately, beyond the trail we were on it becomes multi-use trails, so we may not be too keen on them anyway. Got back within two hours, then I got back on the computer to do some more research. Hubby drove down to Auburn to get our mail, which I had had a friend forward to us, so now I have a stack of mail to go through tomorrow!

Woke up early with some diarrhea, then Hubby came down with the same affliction. Don’t know what caused it, we’ve been eating all the same stuff, but he decided to stay in bed most of the day. I dosed him up with the pink stuff and spent the day solving more challenges that are upcoming in the next month, like trying to find a stable to board the horses near Anaheim while we’re facilitating a seminar, and getting quotes on airfare for another potential new client that called early this morning. Hopefully, Hubby will be feeling better and we’ll be able to ride tomorrow.

I spent the day on the computer taking care of numerous business chores, while Hubby did a few things around the house and campsite. A nice, uneventful day, looking forward to a ride tomorrow.