Buffalo River Ride

On Sunday morning July 20th I headed out at 6:45 am for Tiffany's house to pick up the trailer, her and horse Cisco. I swear she almost flew off her wrap around porch exclaiming "she's here!" to say we were excited was an understatement. We quickly hooked up the trailer and loaded Cisco and scurried back to my house, just a mile away. Harley gave no issues loading despite having to negotiate a ramp, something we definitely do not have. A quick survey of the goods and a kiss goodbye to my fellas and we were off, two girls and their horses. We felt like kids again as we sailed down the road listening to the 80's station on satellite radio. Traffic was light and we breezed on down the road stopping for lunch just outside Nashville at an Arby's.
The day was hot, around 93 so we offered water to the boys but they refused. We arrived at Buffalo River around 2:30 Central time so my calculations on 7 hours was just about right. Our other friends joining us from Georgia had not arrived yet so we set about unloading horses and gear and set up camp. We had river spots and this was our view!



We decided setting up camp might be more fun if we enjoyed ourselves some more by having Mojitos! Before long we found that we had polished off a six pack and we were feeling just right! Here is Miss Tiffany modeling our empties!



OK, so maybe it was more than a six pack.......
We made our way up to the dining hall for dinner and I cannot remember what it was, (I knew I should have taken notes) I can tell you the food was nothing to write about. Friends Susan and Bubba showed up finally at 7:30 and we made fun of them setting up camp while you guessed it more cocktails! There was a get to know you and band with dance session that started at 8:30 pm we went for a bit but headed home before closing time.

Monday we awoke at 5:30 dang the time difference! I fed and watered horses and woke everyone else up for breakfast which was served between 7 and 8. There are three organized rides each day, 1)half day slow 2)half day fast 3)all day ,which was slow.
We opted on riding by ourselves that morning and set off for a half day ride. I must say the trails are not marked well but they do all eventually end up back to the main road. This did not upset me but made some in our party nervous, the map was practically useless. We meandered around the woods and enjoyed the scenery, coming upon this creek made Harley very happy!






We rode until around noon and headed back to camp for lunch. After lunch we talked Bubba into driving us up to the bridge about 5 miles from camp and we went tubing down the river with trusty cooler in hand. We underestimated the time it would take us to float down river and we ran out of supplies an hour and half before we made it home. It was 6pm when we got out and we had to hustle to get showered and make dinner. Sorry I have no evidence of the tubing as no one had a water proof camera.
They have a band and dance every night that starts at 8:30 and plays until 11:30.
Tiffany and I attended and danced our little feet off. Proud to tell you I can now two step without injuring someone. Thanks Mike from Louisiana!

Tuesday we decided to skip the organized ride again and the three girls headed out, Bubba was feeling under the weather or out numbered not sure which. We decided to try and find Bat Cave, a natural cave that you can go in and you guessed it look at bats. We headed out at 9 and the heat was building already. We tried to follow the maps and what little signage there was. We rode some flat trails and some wooded ones with steep hills that kept us on our toes. After passing it two times we did finally find it tucked back in a crevice.



This is the entrance



Tiffany at the entrance to the cave.




Inside bat cave
Being I only had a cell phone for light I only ventured in around 50 feet or so and snapped a picture. Crawling on my hands and knees to see bats did not thrill me and the other girls did not even want to go in. We headed back to camp and rode along the river most of the way home.




You can see how beautiful the river is and it is mostly shallow so walking the horses in it was fairly easy although you do have to watch for holes and logs.
We loaded up the tubes after lunch and had another booze cruise down river for the afternoon. I got caught on a log and popped my tube half way down river, luckily we had a spare that was carrying the cooler. This of course meant I had to carry the cooler the rest of the way down river but I did my best to empty it quick! The night brought more dancing and I must admit a sampling of homemade "shine" as in moonshine.
There was strawberry, apple pie and peach. I was careful and took baby sips, learned my lesson on that stuff years ago. I think I found the trailer around 2 am and had a devil of a time climbing up into bed.

I will close with that thought for today and catch you up tomorrow on the rest of the rides. Hope you enjoyed the ride.




Happy trails.......