Hi Darlin!
So, the day I've been planning for has come and gone! What a lovely day! Slept in a bit, did my chores and breakfast, read awhile, then saddled up Apollo for a nice 4.74 mile ride with Lola. It was a bit warmer today, but as usual, it was cooler in the woods. We decided to go down on the Mohawk Trail and back up on the C Trail, since Mohawk wasn't as muddy as I expected the other day. Apollo did brilliantly, as always! Lola was able to flatten herself in enough puddles to keep her cool, so she was fine today, especially with the shorter distance. Got back to camp, gave Apollo a nice rinse off, then chatted with several campers that wanted to come say hello to him, and another that was interested in my spigot "adapter" when he saw me using a hose. I let Apollo munch on the nice clover grass they have here for a bit before putting him back on the line. I'm sorry to say that my noisy neighbors outdid themselves today, it was non-stop loud talking, yelling at kids and dogs, and just generally not the quiet atmosphere that everyone else in the campground was enjoying. Sigh. I'm hoping they're not staying the whole weekend, but not much I can do about it anyway. Spent the rest of the day mostly reading until dinner, then waited until just about sunset to climb up the fire tower. I was astonished to discover that the trap door up into the cabin at the top was actually open! You remember how it was usually locked before, but that nice new ranger opened it up just for us the last time we were here? Well, evidently, they leave it open all the time now, at least during the season. Even the windows were unlocked, but I didn't have a prop to keep them open, so all my viewing was through the glass. Several people came and went, barely staying more than a few minutes, but I was up there for the duration. Once again, the little lake to the west, Lamoka I think, had a whole lot of individual fireworks, but I stayed long enough for the Watkins Glen municipal fireworks, which was a bit later, but it was a good show. Worth the effort to get here for July 4, as I had planned! It's been a good stay here, seeing Lorna and Donna, and Steve is coming by tomorrow for lunch, so it's been like a mini high school reunion already. More to come, I'm sure! Anyway, it's a bit later than usual to bed, and I still have my shower to do. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
A bit of a fitful night, but ended up sleeping okay, though it was an absolutely perfect morning weather-wise. After chores and breakfast, I eventually saddled up Flash and headed out on the trail. My original plan changed somewhat, after a rider came into camp and we chatted for a bit. She told me a certain section of trail was in really bad shape, so I decided to avoid it, but my goal was to do a section of Trail A that I hadn't done before, and managed to get that done anyway. It was absolutely miraculous that during our entire fifteen mile ride, Flash didn't lose his boots once, despite the fact that he sank in the mud almost up to his knees a couple of times! Amazing! A lot of that trail was quite nice, but there were still both muddy and rocky sections, so the boots were essential, so glad they stayed on! Lola came along, and managed to stay with us, though she was flagging a bit at the end. Lots of water and puddles on the trails, so she was able to stay hydrated, thank goodness. Just a bit long for her these days, but she managed! When we got back to camp, I was a bit disappointed to see a whole family with noisy kids and a barking dog with multiple grownups setting up tents right next to me. I knew it would be busy this weekend, just didn't expect a whole herd of kids right next door. I hope they have enough sense to stay away from my horses! I'll obviously had to suffer through the screaming and the campfire smoke, but oh well! I rinsed off Flash and his boots and got him put away, filled up my trailer and truck tank, figuring it would be better to do it this evening than tomorrow, when the place is liable to really get busy, and finally settled down for the evening. A gorgeous day, perfect temps, exactly the kind of day we love! Heading to bed early, as we have an early appointment for the truck in the morning. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
Woke up to a beautiful morning, got chores and breakfast done, had a chat with my friend Lorna, then saddled up both horses so that we could take a ride together. She hadn't ridden in decades, so I plotted out about the shortest loop I could find, just under five miles, which would be perfect for Apollo and good for her, hopefully she won't hurt too much afterward! It was a very nice ride. I put boots on both horses, including a brand new one on Flash, since I remembered the trails here are a combination of stone and mud (the worst combo, in my opinion!) but thankfully, we didn't lose any boots on the ride. What a beautiful day! Partly cloudy, in the 70's exactly what I've been searching for! Both horses behaved beautifully, even Flash didn't get too antsy like he usually does when we go so slow, I think he was just happy to have Apollo along. I always like it when they can both go out together, even though I know it's necessarily a shorter ride. Lola had a good time, too, and there were enough puddles on the trail to make her happy, and cool enough to not have any problems. We were out just under two hours, so just right. We put the horses away, chatted for a bit, then Lorna went to take a nap and I mostly read for the afternoon, before we had rain come in around 4:00, which stayed around until nearly 9:00. Settled in for the evening with a really good three-hour movie about J. Robert Oppenheimer, Father of the Atomic Bomb, which was very interesting. Headed for shower and bed, albeit a bit later than usual because of the length of the movie, and also because I took some time to refill my tanks this evening. For some reason, I thought it was Thursday and wanted to get it done before the weekend, not quite sure where that idea came from! Anyway, a very nice day, very enjoyable. Heading to bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had an excellent night sleep, probably because I had to put my earplugs in to cut out my neighbors' music, which was still going strong well after 11:00, and slept well through after 8:30. Did my chores and a little reading, then saddled up Apollo. I didn't particularly want to do these trails again, but he really needed the exercise, so I figured I could take the trail backward and find the section I missed because of the logging the other day, now that I knew what I was looking for. Turns out, the first part of Anthill Trail was about the rockiest of any trail we'd been on, and that's saying something! I did put Apollo's boots on, but I could tell he still wasn't too happy about it, but eventually we came to the logging area, which was an absolute mess! Even the road where the trail merged for a short ways was completely covered with downed trees and all kinds of hard to traverse windrow, which really complicated things. We finally managed to find a way around to where we could pick up the trail again, but it wasn't easy! These loggers have really made a mess up there! Of course, I'd been on the rest of the trail, so it was easy to get back to camp, and a lot of it wasn't as rocky as we'd seen earlier, so we got back okay. I didn't take Lola along, I didn't want a repeat of the other day, even if I did bring four extra bottles of water with me! Once I got back to camp and put Apollo away, I drove down to the campground at the state park and refilled my water tank in the truck. I decided to do my laundry tomorrow, and the horses were almost out of water, so I didn't want them to run dry. They're drinking twice as much as usual, not surprising with the heat. Checked my email and weather once I had a signal, looks like it's going to cool down on Monday and be a much nicer week next week at Watkins Glen, thank goodness! Got back to camp and just read and settled down for the evening, as usual. Looking forward to getting back to having a cell phone signal to hand! A ranger stopped by to check that everyone was camped in the right place, and a while before that, I was thrilled that the noisy neighbors, who had their music up loud for awhile, finally turned it way down, I almost thought they turned it off. I think maybe some of the other campers complained, which I was glad about, I was getting ready to say something myself, at least to ask them to respect an 11:00 quiet hours norm, though there's nothing posted on the board about it. Anyway, it was another hot day, was glad I was able to take Apollo for some exercise, but I have to say, this is the first place I've ever been where I have had ZERO interest in trying to explore every trail. There are still some down on the south end, and I couldn't care less about riding them on these rocky trails. This is a good place for an overnight stop, since it is to close to I-81, but I would never come back here to ride. Anyway, time for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Pix to come!

Hiya Babe,
Had another good night sleep, woke up a bit better, but am still coughing up phlegm. I'm looking forward to not being sick!! Had a relaxed morning, then finally saddled up Flash to go explore the town and the surrounding trails. The JCR Campground is about a mile from the town, so it took us very little time to get there, albeit along both gravel and asphalt roads, but every vehicle slowed down for us, and everyone we passed waved at us. Very friendly town! Arrived along the main street in town, which was a collection of old buildings built Western-style, with hitching rails in front of every building. No motor vehicles allowed! I tooks some snaps along the way, then found the trailhead at the end of the road and started climbing. I ran into two other gals, the only other riders I saw, and we rode together for a ways before they finally stopped and I kept on. The trail was actually more of a two track road that alternated between very rocky and packed dirt, though it could get muddy if they have any rain. Judging by the cornfield on my drive in, they haven't had any rain for awhile, and are in desperate need of some! I was on something called the Carolina Thread trail, which boasted a lot of mileage, but I'm not sure where all the trails were. I followed as many as I could find, and it added up to less than seven miles, and that was with me backtracking a lot of trails, and going down a few dead ends. I found Jolly Pond and a shortcut back to camp, but decided to go through town again, just to see if anything was happening. There were a few people around and a couple of the stores were open, but I wasn't in the mood for ice cream (my appetite has really diminished since I've been sick), so we headed back to camp, for a total of about a two hour ride. It was wonderful being back on my own horse and in my own saddle! I found the saddles in Utah to be a bit hard and uncomfortable, even with four layers of padding, but back on my Aussie saddle with just two pads, it was like heaven! Flash was brilliant, of course, even when we climbed up some hills. We followed one trail that took us up to the top of a hill with an old power shack and several old big satellite dishes, looked like the remnants of a cold war watch station or something. Anyway, it was a nice ride, and even though it was warm, there was a nice breeze, and it was a lot cooler in the woods, as always. I also spent some time on the computer making reservations at my next stop. I thought it used to be first come, first served, but when I looked it up, they were taking reservations, so I made mine beginning Tuesday, so I'll stay here an extra day, hoping to be well by the time we leave. Well, that's it, a usual evening, drinking sleepytime and echinacea tea before shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
Another fantastic day on the Red Rock Ride! I can't believe today is the last day, though my body is sure craving a break! Sorry to say that despite using every trick in the book, I still didn't get a very good night sleep, but I went to bed so early, there were enough fitful hours to at least provide me with a little rest. Because we were going to the Grand Canyon, which is on Pacific Time, while here in Utah we're on Mountain Time, there wasn't quite the need to rush around this morning, and we didn't even have to load up on the bus until 8:30, which seemed luxury enough. We drove about 90 minutes into the Kaibab National Forest, then the Grand Canyon National Park, seeing some wildlife for a change! We say a very well-bodied coyote, then, as we were going through the meadows, an entire bison herd, with dozens of babies, were right along the road, so we got a good long look. Once we got to the lodge, the plan was to kill some time, which I did by walking a short 1/4 hike to Bright Angel point, then having lunch at the bus, then driving up to the mule corrals and getting mounted. Today I was on a black mule named Cassie, and she was a peach! The North Kaibab trail is nowhere near as striking as the Bright Angel Trail from the south side, but if you haven't been to the Grand Canyon, it was still pretty dang impressive. We only went down two miles, had a break, then rode back up again. I managed to luck out again and be in the first group out and back, which was nice. Once we got back, we helped unsaddle the mules, then eventually took a group picture in front of the mule barn. We headed back to Kanab, arriving back at the hotel just after 5:00. I immediately put on my bathing suit and went down to the hot tub, something I've been hoping to do since yesterday, and that did a lot to relax me. I'm hoping that will help with my sleep tonight. Eventually I came back up, showered, and headed over to the restaurant for what was absolutely, undoubtedly, the best prime rib I have every tasted in my life! I finally had a pretty good appetite, first time in days, and I managed to eat at least two thirds of eat, mostly skipping the bread and baked potato in favor of a nice tiramisu dessert. Then there were a few awards, i.e. Most Improved Rider, which went to young Ashley, and a special award to Kelly, for being the only male rider besides the wranglers. He was very patient, but then, all the women here were truly great. I'd never believe that 38 women of such varied backgrounds could get along, in any other venue that with horses and mules in the mix. It was incredible. Then, as a huge surprise to me, every rider received a beautiful denim jacket with Red Rock Ride on the back and a patch on the front. Gorgeous! I honestly don't know how they make money on this ride, with all the goodies they provide. They could charge twice the price and it would still be a bargain, in my mind. Anyway, finally got back to the hotel, did most of my packing, set my alarm, drank a second cup of sleepytime tea, and praying I get a good night sleep! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

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!