Hiya Darlin',
What a day! This morning we were supposed to have breakfast at 5:30 and be on the bus by 6:30 so we could get a jump on the heat of the day. It's been unusually hot this week, and the dryness has made it hard to keep drinking all the extra fluids I need to cope with this stupid cold that I have. It's moved into my chest, at least, so I'm not getting dizzy, but like the last couple of days, I've felt okay in the morning, but by the end of the day, it's been tough going. Well, I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, despite how tired I felt, but eventually I must have fallen asleep, because I ended up sleeping through my alarm, which never happens! I woke up and it was already light, so I knew I was in trouble. It was almost 6:10, so I had to rush around and finish packing (we're moving to a hotel in Kanab at the end of the day, yay!) I was all set to have a nice breakfast, I haven't had much of an appetite, but I ran out of time and managed to grab a banana and lunch just in time to get on the bus. I was glad they didn't have to wait for me, but I was frazzled by the time we started moving. It wasn't too far of a bus ride to the trailhead, which was, in fact, the same trailhead where we ended up on the Snowy River Long ride the other day, though we headed in a different direction. The most interesting thing about this ride was going through the slot canyons, which were narrow, tall and beautiful. It also had water running through them, so it was delightfully cool when we were in there. About ten miles in we stopped for lunch, and wrangler Hank took us on a short hike up to see some ancient petroglyphs. They were impressive, but had been all but destroyed by idiots carving their own initials and dates on the same wall. Hank then took us to another spot where apparently these idiots haven't found yet, and showed us another amazing petroglyph that looked like an elaborate map of some kind. Very stunning. We did a lollipop loop back to the bus, where we had to say good-bye to our mounts, (good-bye Whinnie!) and to strip all our stuff all the saddle, as tomorrow, we're going on new mounts, all mules. We were all grateful to be on an air-conditioned bus, and they even showed most of a movie (Sargeants 3 with the Rat Pack, which was filmed locally) before arriving at the Best Western in Kanab 90 minutes or so later. Once I got my room, I promptly took a long hot shower (the only flaw in this whole week has been that all but Monday, my showers have been barely lukewarm) and crawled between clean sheets. I was so tired, I was sure I'd nod off immediately, but it didn't happen! I may have dozed for a short bit, but that's about it. Finally, I got up when my alarm went off at 6:30 and managed to get dressed and walk the block to Houstons Trails End Restaurant where we had chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and banana cream pie. I still couldn't eat too much of it, though I the pie was delicious, and I'm hoping the sugar rush will cause a sugar crash later, and I'll finally be able to sleep tonight! I'm at the point where I'm too tired to sleep! I'm sure I would be fine if I were healthy, but this cold has really dragged me down. To add insult to injury, I started getting a cold sore this afternoon. Typically I either get a cold or a cold sore, never both, so I must have really been exposed to a heavy dose of germs somewhere. I'm guessing the airport on the way out here. Should have worn a mask! Anyway, I'm in bed, writing and loading pictures, and I'll soon be on my way to sleepyland with the help of some sleepytime tea and some Tylenol pilfered from Cathy. Sure hope I sleep tonight! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Baby,
Woke up feeling a little bit better, at least I wasn't dizzy nor did I have any chills, so even though I wasn't 100 percent, I felt good enough to tackle the ride today. Today's ride followed the Butch Cassidy trail, which led to a hideout about was about 7 or 8 miles from our starting point. The terrain here was a lot different, lots more trees, many different kinds of evergreens, not so many hoodoos, but some nice red rimrock. The pre-lunch trail was lovely, the post lunch trail was essentially through a draw that had a trickle of water going through it. Apparently, it's a spring that produces water all year, which makes sense, since they had to have water for their horses. Tales were told at lunch, so it was an enjoyable ride. I was getting a bit tired toward the end, but I had added yet another pad on the saddle (I'm up to four now!), so it was a bit more comfortable this time. I had most of a sandwich for lunch, but I still wasn't hungry at dinner, I barely ate one rib and a mouthful of potatoes, and just a little salad. I guess that's a good thing, but I sure hope I get my appetite back soon. Anyway, I'm cutting this short to get to bed, because we're leaving at 6:30 instead of 8:00 tomorrow morning, and we have to pack, as we're moving over to a hotel tomorrow. Good night, Sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Went to bed last night with a scratchy throat and a little cough, woke up dizzy with chills. Not what I was hoping for! One of the gals got me some Alka Seltzer Cold Plus and I was able to eat some oatmeal for breakfast. I definitely felt a bit under the weather, but not enough to skip the ride, so we headed out to Thunder Mountain. The first part of that was more of the spectacular hoodoos, plus traversing some narrow crossings with big dropoffs, but nothing we couldn't handle. We stopped for lunch, and at first I sat in the shade, but then I got the chills again, so I sat in the sun and warmed up, but it was pretty hot. I was drinking enough water, so I don't think it was strictly dehydration, I think it's just a cold. One of the other girls had a cold and ended up staying home today, so maybe it's just something going around. As I was getting ready to remount after lunch, I was standing next to my horse on the hitching rail, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on my butt on the ground! Obviously, I fainted or something, which practically never happens to me. Literally, I've only ever fainted twice before in my life! Anyway, they got some electrolytes, which worked to revive me, at least enough to finish the ride, though I have to be honest, it was tough going! Once of the wranglers, Clay, drove me back to camp while the bus went on a shopping trip, which is not loss for me, and I spent the rest of the day in bed, napping and trying to drink more liquids and electolytes. They were kind enough to bring me another fan, as it was very hot in the cabin and the one fan on the wall wasn't cutting it, but the second one did the trick. I'm pretty sure I have a fever, and I've several dizzy spells this afternoon, but it's coming and going. I wasn't even aware of the time when another organizer, I think it was Tom, brought an EMT to check me out. For some reason, he didn't have a thermometer, but he checked everything else, and I was fine. Tom brought me a little dinner, but I could barely eat a few mouthfuls. I managed to get a quick shower in, and I'll heading to bed early, with high hopes that I'll be recovered enough to go tomorrow, but if not, I'll sit tomorrow out so I can still get in the north rim of the Grand Canyon and Kanab. Nothing worse than getting sick on vacation!! Anyway, heading to bed, taking some Tylenol, keeping my fingers crossed. Good night, darlin'! Love you!

 

Hey Darlin'!
An incredible day here in Utah. I had a much lighter breakfast (I still felt bloated from yesterday!), and we were on the bus and heading out by 8:00. It only took about 20+ minutes to get to our starting point in Bryce Canyon. Robert was still having trouble moving people to accommodate a group of four that wanted to be together but had been split between the A's and the B's, so I volunteered to switch, along with Jill, who had volunteered yesterday, but I demurred because I wanted to be in the first group out. Well, selfishly, I agreed to change because today, the B group was heading out first, so everyone got what they wanted and it was all good! It didn't take too long to get back on our horses and heading out, and I have to say, Bryce Canyon is truly stunning. The red rock and the hoodoos and the tunnels and everything were just jaw-dropping. I took so many pictures it will probably take all night to load them in! That ride was about six miles or so. At the edge of the park at a back entrance, they had our lunch set up, lasagna with garlic bread, salad, etc. I restrained myself and only had a little of each, along with a cookie, as I really don't want to feel this bloated again. Then we had a choice of either going on a short 90 minute ride back through another side of the loop through Bryce Canyon (which would only elucidate another two new miles), or take the long ride, another three+ hours, which they called the Snowy River ride, because it had a couple of steep hills to traverse. Well, as my goal is always to ride as many trail miles as I can, I, along with just seven others (and two wranglers), decided to do the long ride. While it may not have been as spectacular as the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, it certainly had its own charm and gorgeous landscape, along with some history in the area, which made it all the more interesting. Some of it was road riding, which was actually nice because the wranglers were riding long-legged draft horse mules, so we had to trot often to keep up, and the famed Snowy River drop-off was fairly steep, it was mostly the steep dropoff on the side of the trail that made it a bit harrowing, therefore exciting and memorable! We made good time, and the 3.5 hour ride was more like 3 hours, and we were back to camp in no time. We were greeted by a smorgasbord of snacks, which I would have skipped if it wasn't for the jumbo shrimp and cocktail sauce, and I ate more that I should have, but it was oh, so good! I also had a couple of beers, though they didn't have any dark beer so I ended up with Corona. As I was walking back to my cabin, I got a message from Nathalie that Lola's foot seemed to be acting up, and the picture she sent me showed that it seemed like the whole nail fell off and only the shriveled quick remained, but it was hard to tell from the picture. She also informed me Lola had managed to knock off all my puppy-proofing and was found in my bed, dug deeply into my sheets, with the garbage can on the floor. What Lola want, Lola finds a way to get! I instructed her how to begin the antibiotic regime again, just in case, because she seemed to be a bit uncomfortable walking again, so we'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, back at camp, I started loading up my pictures in the hopes they'll be done before bedtime, and played a couple of video games for awhile until dinner. Chicken tonight, I only ate about half of everything, but to my surprise, one of the ladies had managed to obtain a bottle of Jack, so we had a couple of drinks during dinner, though again, not overdoing it, just in moderation. They had a singer tonight, quite a nice voice, but once the ride meeting was over, I scooted out and had my shower, so now I'm ready for bed, and it's only about 8:30. Pix are still loading, who knows how long that will take. Going to bed now, looking forward to a shorter ride tomorrow, and evidently a shopping day at Ruby's, so a relatively short day. Looking forward to it! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a fitful night sleep, a typical morning, then saddled up Apollo for a nice ride, almost five miles, just to give him some exercise. When we first start out, he seems pretty stiff, which isn't too surprising considering he's been standing in a small corral all week. I really prefer highlines to corrals, it just provides so much more freedom and opportunity to move around more. He eventually loosened up a bit, but I think I may have to look into some joint supplements for him, just to keep him flexible. Anyway, it was a lovely ride. I had wanted to do the blue river again, it's quite lovely, and interestingly, Apollo did the same thing as Flash, keep trying to walk the tiny edge between the trail and the dropoff, rather than along the high side where there was more room. Weird! Anyway, it was a good ride. The rest of the day was fairly quiet, I moved the remaining four bales of hay from the truck to the trailer, and was glad I didn't buy any more, they really aren't liking it very much, it's pretty stalky. I'll have to pick up some new hay once I get moved to Nathalie's tomorrow, and if I can find some good stuff, restock it before heading further north, where they're likely to just be beginning to hay. Drained Lola's pool, put some tack and a few other things away, not really in a big hurry since I'm not planning on leaving here before noon, so I'll have plenty of time in the morning. Getting a bit tired of the heat, actually nodded off for a bit this afternoon, before I finally cranked up the generator and the AC for awhile. Looking forward to getting farther north! But, West comes first! I feel like I'm in a holding pattern for that trip right now, just killling time until I get busy getting ready, which all starts tomorrow. So on that note, heading to shower and bed shortly! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Started off a little cooler this morning, but ended up getting hotter, so a nice long ride in the woods was the best place to be today! I had plotted a route to finish off all the little connector trails that I've missed, and it turned into a lovely 13 mile ride around the area. The trails here are really nice, just the kind I like: single track, no gravel, only a little mud, lots of creek crossings, which Lola took full advantage of, and beautiful, dense forest. My only con is that I had to watch out for knee-knockers, there are quite a few out here! I managed to get Flash moving a bit faster today, so we made better time, but it was still 4:00 when we got back to camp, which to my mind, is perfect. Only ran into one other couple the whole day! Rinsed off Flash, splashed a little pool water on me to cool me off a bit, ran the generator just long enough to cool it down a bit inside and recharge the batteries, and was happy when clouds starting forming and I heard thunder, but as of yet, it hasn't rain, just a few drops I've heard is all. We could really use a nice refreshing downpour about now! There's still a little rain out there, so I've got my fingers crossed we get some more. Settled down for my usual evening, looking forward to a cool shower and a good night sleep! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Slept well until I woke last night to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered. Started humming a tune from 1962, okay, enough of that! The unexpected shower did help cool it down today, it wasn't as hot as I figured it would be, so it was a nice day to take a ride. It's been awhile since I took out Apollo, so I saddled him up and planned a fairly short, 3.5 mile loop that would take us out to the Woods cemetery, which I'm sorry to say, is sorely in need of some TLC! He was a bit stiff at first, understandably, since he's been hanging around in a small corral for the week, but limbered up a bit as we got along. Kind of like me these days! Lola came along as well, and it was a nice ride. The last stretch was long the road, not really an established trail from there, so we had to pick out way down the hill to the road. Once we got back and he got rinsed off and put away, I decided to do some odd chores that have been piling up. First, I put the little plug in the brake adjustment hole in the trailer, which only took a minute. Then I decided to change out the control panel on the inverter. It's been getting more and more flaky, and since I had a new one (that the manufacturer actually sent me for free, would you believe!), I went through the process of writing down all the settings, which took about ten minutes, then changing out the panel, which took about a minute, then checking the settings to make sure they were correct (they were, apparently all the default settings), which took just a couple of minutes. Viola! All done, brand new panel, works beautifully! I did change one of the settings, there was one that would put the inverter in sleep mode until there was a draw on it, which I tried, but as the evening wore on and the batteries drew down, it started hunting, so I ended up changing it back to disabled, so it will not hunt. Then, since I've been having a few problems with the flames on my gas stove getting so hot they're leaving terrible black gunk on my pans, and my research suggested that the gas holes might just need cleaning, so I took a paperclip as instructed and cleaned them out. Not sure how much it helped, it didn't seem like much, so I may have to keep looking for the answer, but it might have helped a little. Anyway, I finally settled down to dinner and a movie, ready to take my cool shower and head to bed. Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hey Babe,
Had another slow start to the day, I've being pretty lazy here, but it feels good! Did a few things on my computer after chores, but finally saddled up Flash and headed out to pick up some more trails. I looked back on the earlier times when we were here, and recalled a day when we galloped up a hill with some berms every 10 or 20 yards, and instead of stopping at the berms like we though they would, Apollo and his mama Clio used them like a launching pad and raced again each other up the hill. It was fantastic! I found that trail today, part of the yellow trail, and relived that memory, though Flash and I didn't gallop up it like we did back in 2010, but it was nice to remember those early days, when you were healthy and able to do a lot of miles. Got back to camp around 4:00, it's actually cooler on the trail in the afternoons than back at camp, so I haven't minded getting a late start to the day around here. Rinsed off Flash, refilled everyone's water buckets, Lola's pool, and the trailer, so we're good to go. Settled down for another quiet evening, heading over to take a cold shower and get some sleep! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Pix to come

Hey Sweetie,
What a fantastic ride today! Weird that I don't have a great memory about this place from our last time we rode here, though that was back in 2010, our first year on the road, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. I had forgotten how lovely the trails are here! I planned a full perimeter ride, which turned out to be about 14 miles, and it was truly stunning! I guess having mostly done Tennessee trails at the time, it wasn't that much of a change, but after having ridden in all 50 states, I can tell you how fabulous it was! The footing was wonderful, mostly dirt, almost no gravel, and only a few spots where it got muddy, but not very much. The first half of the trail followed the Broad River, and was cut about halfway down the slope rather than along the top, so there were no serious grades, but a few switchbacks and lots of going up and around ravines along the way, all below the ridge line, the way the Indians/pioneers liked it to avoid being seen. The trails were well-marked for the most part, although there were a few intersections that weren't, and one trail that someone had actually put the wrong markings on, but thankfully, I had downloaded a map with Geomapping information, so I had it on Avenza, which was a tremendous help. My phone almost gave out before I got back to camp, but made it back just in time. The trails were in good shape, very few downed trees and nothing you couldn't get around, with lots of creek crossings back and forth. I ran into two guys, twice, and there were some folks parked at a northern trailhead that were getting ready to go out, but otherwise, it was extremely quiet. Lola thoroughly enjoyed herself and will no doubt sleep well tonight. The only thing that was of any concern was that Flash keep wanting to walk on the side of the trail rather than in the middle, and it was always the side where there was a serious drop-off! I was nervous he might slip and careen down the hill, but fortunately that didn't happen. I didn't like having to keep steering him away from the edge, but obviously we survived it just fine. I couldn't find the entrance to the trail on the east side, it wasn't marked and wasn't clear on the map, so we finally entered down by the boat ramp on the east side and did the trail in reverse from what I'd planned, but at least then I discovered where the east entrance is now. Got back to camp just after 4:00, did my post-ride chores and settled down for the evening, as usual. Fantastic ride, and it was a lot cooler in the woods, as the temps were in the mid-80's today, but felt fine. Can't wait to go out again! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Well, the best laid plans don't always work out, do they? Since the regular trails here have been very difficult, I decided to try another tact. In addition to the regular single track horse trails, there is also a series of roads that show up on the map, open to horses. I figured if we were on a road, if it wasn't too rocky, we'd be able to make some better time, so I planned about a 13+ mile journey on the "red" trails, as they appear on the map. Well, it didn't take long for me to figure out what a mistake THAT was! Shortly after turning on to our first road off the trail, we started climbing, on a surface that was red clay. After all the rain in the last too days, it was almost as slick as an ice skating rink. We went very slowly and carefully up that, then when we turned a corner and got on a second road, that was completely and utterly rocky. I mean, almost no road service at all, just rocks. That climbed and climbed and climbed until we finally reached the top, and for some unknown reason, there were guardrails along some edges that made it impossible for us to get off the road onto higher ground with a better surface, so we were forced to stay on either rocks or slippery clay. It has to be about the slowest ride we've ever done, it took us nearly four hours to go nine miles! Well, after the first couple of miles, and at the first opportunity I had, I got off the road and back onto a horse trail, which was better for about ten minutes, then got super rocky and climbing again. It was not much fun today! The last couple of miles back to camp were the best, still a lot of grade but at least the footing was somewhat better. Funny thing is, the best trails I've found so far are the renegade trails, that aren't marked and not on the map. Figures. We started out with both boots (I even tried duct-taping the loose one), but that didn't work, we lost that one in the first half mile, so I left it off. The other one stayed on ( I left it on to protect the split in his hoof so as not to make it worse) until the exact same place on the trail where we lost the first one, but I managed to recover that from the sucking mud and left that off, since we were almost back to camp. What an exhausting ride! That's it, I'm done with riding out here. There are a few nice trails, but they are so few and far between, and you have to go through hell and back to get to them, so no thanks. I'm not wild about the trail "repairs" they've made here, either, with frames of rocks at creek crossings, and it seems whenever they wanted to shore something up, they found the biggest, chunkiest, sharpest rocks they could find to fill it in. I can say the trails are well-marked, though I have to take issue with them not putting the markers all on the same side of the trail, I was constantly having to look back and forth, and got confused on a number of intersections because the marker wasn't clear. Anyway, no more, Flash and I have had enough, and I don't even think I'll take Apollo out again, it's just too rough. Maybe I'm getting soft (or sensible!), but I'm not that desperate to ride that I'm going to force these kinds of trails on my guys. Definitely a workout and a half! Settled down for the evening to dinner and a good movie, and fully intend to get to bed early tonight, I'm not really liking this going to bed late and getting up late, but I'm in such shade here, it doesn't seem to get light here until after 9:00! That's my plan, I hope I can stick to it! Good night, baby! Love you!