Hi all, it seems while I was away gallivanting with my horse and girlfriends someone tagged me for a game of 6 things you may not know about me. That someone was
The Knutson Family, and while I think I am an open book here are some things for you to know about me.
1) I am the sixth child of six, I have two sisters and three brothers. They all reside in Sunny South Florida.
2) I lost both my parents when I was in my twenties. My mom at 52 from brain cancer and my dad at 60 from melanoma.
3) I have battled depression since I was in my twenties. Some days it is non existent
and some I really struggle.
4) I used to be an avid scuba diver when I lived in Florida. I went diving almost every weekend and caught lobster and spearfished. I miss it greatly!
5) I was born on Friday the 13th. My husband is a 13th baby and Harley is my 13th horse. I use the number 13 as my show number at horse shows.
6) I collect blue delft from Holland. No particular reason other than I like the way it looks. The collection is taking over my kitchen.
Hope that enlightens you some on this complicated yet simple minded cowgirl.
Happy trails.....
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Buffalo River....the rest of the ride
Thanks for all your comments on the ride, yes I am brave or stupid for going into the cave and yes I like me some cocktails when I escape from Mommy ville. Here is a rundown on the rest of the ride.
Wednesday it was decided we would do the organized all day ride to Green River. We left camp at 9 am and headed through the woods to the river. There were about 35 riders that day with a trail boss and drag man from the camp. Harley as usual was a little jiggie with that many horses and thought he should be in the front. To teach him some manners I insisted he be the last horse except for the drag man Harvey, this proved to be a bad choice later. We traversed some pretty trails and passed a waterfall on the way, the going was steep and we had to rest the horses every so often as the humidity was soaring. About half way I really decided that I had to visit the nearest outdoor potty which presented itself in the form of a trail going the opposite direction. I informed Harvey and set off on my own, Harley was less than pleased to be going another direction. When I returned to Harvey who was patiently waiting for me Harley was in a tizzy. We started out after the group when we heard screaming up the hill that someone needed help. It seems someone was off trail and stuck in some vines or brush. Harvey told me to keep riding up the hill and find the group. This is where it got interesting folks........
First Harley did not want to leave his only horse buddy and I was concentrating hard on negotiating yet another steep, loose rock uphill climb when BAM! I felt a sharp sting on the back of my thigh. I looked back to see a swarm of ground bees attacking both Harley and I. Now folks I don't know if you have had the pleasure of getting into ground bees but boy it sucks. They are like yellow jackets that live in the ground, they are aggressive and will chase you for miles. Luckily, well I use that term very loosely I have had the displeasure of being in them before this. Let me tell you the best thing you can do is RUN and I mean Run and get off trail into the woods. You see they will follow you down the trail for miles but will not go into the bush after you, don't know why just know that. So......here I am flying through saplings and downhills and leaves a flying while swatting and trying to stay on. (Imagine man from snowy river but with leaves no snow.) After I was sure I got away from them I approached the group with a very sore posterior and a very winded Harley.
Someone had some sauve to put on the stings, I had nine total on my backside and arms. Harley was hit about the same amount as far as I could tell, God bless him he never bucked or thought of being unruly throughout the incident. Turns out the mule in the bush was stung and that is what set it off to go off trail. Two others were stung but I got the worst of it since I was in the back.......
We rode on to the river and played a little splashing and frolicking before we had lunch. After tying Harley up securely I promptly layed down in the river, you cannot imagine how much heat and pain those little bast**ds caused. I got some funny looks and comments about riding in wet jeans but I could have cared less. We rode downstream for about two miles and I really enjoyed it, I could tell Harley was getting tired by the time we exited the river. My friend Tiffany was also along on the ride and her horse Cisco was not thrilled with people running up to him to splash him, we hung back to the rear. After exiting the river the weather started to threaten rain complete with thunder in the distance. Since we were so far back behind the group the drag man decided on a short cut home. Now folks I am no scaredy cat by any means but this was the roughest ride I every took. We traversed a hill that went straight up for 75 feet and was rocky to boot. Sorry Mrs Mom but this was one time I was thankful for Harley's shoes all the way around. I went first and he literally had to lope up the hill to make it, you could see sparks and smell the brimstone coming off his feet. Later Tiffany and I remarked we could not believe we did that hill! And sober to boot! We got back to camp around 3 and guess what? No rain after all.... We spent the rest of the day in our chairs in the river with you guessed it Margaritas!
my girls enjoying one.
Whew I am tired
Went to the dance that evening but in loose shorts as the stings were pretty sore and I could not imagine putting jeans on. Mike from Louisiana asked us if we would like to ride with him in the morning to twin falls. Sounded great to me so we forged a plan. Thursday we rode out only to discover that Cisco had a stone bruise and could not make the trail, Tiffany had to turn back which bummed us all out. Mike,Susan,Bubba and I continued on to the blue hole. We covered some beautiful trials that were easy as pie compared to yesterday's hell. We arrived at the blue hole by 10. The blue hole is a small waterfall that empties into a little pool underneath it,a very pretty ride indeed. Here are some shots of it.
Harley and I enjoying a dip.
We continued on to twin falls, Mike had a little trouble finding the trail as they had clear cut the land last fall and it made things look different. Eventually we did find it and we were on our way, here is a view of the downhill at the clear cut.
We rode a beautiful trail shaded by a canopy of trees the rest of the way, little creeks crossed at several spots and Harley had to sample each one. Despite the lack of rain in those parts everything was green and lush. I could hear the waterfall before I saw it and nothing was more beautiful to me that day than hearing and seeing those brilliant showers of water. I tied Harley to a downed log and carefully and oh so not gracefully slid my way to the bottom of the falls, about a hundred foot drop. I instantly went under and cooled off and tasted that mountain water.
Here are some shots from the bottom.
We ate lunch at the falls then headed back to camp, definitely the best ride of the week for me. I shared pictures with Tiffany and was sorry she missed it. Friday I awoke not feeling myself and opted out of the morning ride. I guess the week had caught up with me and I actually went back to sleep until lunch. Afternoon found me feeling better and I did a small ride to the opposite side of camp with Tiffany only to find Cisco still off. We attended the dance for the saddle give away and unfortunately no one from our camp won but we did dance and have fun besides.
The skies opened up at 10 pm and it rained all night, complete with thunder and lighting. Morning arrived with more rain and a big muddy mess. We decided that given the conditions and Cisco's sore foot that we would head home early. Most of the camp was pulling out it seemed. We loaded up and headed for home, two tired girls and their horses.
Final thoughts on the trip and camp. Although the camp was not as well kept as before I still found it more than adequate. The food definitely was not up to par but edible most days. The riding was great, despite those damn bees. The river , ah the river the reason I went was perfect. Hope you enjoyed the trip and go visit someday. Tell Tony I sent ya!
Happy trails......
Wednesday it was decided we would do the organized all day ride to Green River. We left camp at 9 am and headed through the woods to the river. There were about 35 riders that day with a trail boss and drag man from the camp. Harley as usual was a little jiggie with that many horses and thought he should be in the front. To teach him some manners I insisted he be the last horse except for the drag man Harvey, this proved to be a bad choice later. We traversed some pretty trails and passed a waterfall on the way, the going was steep and we had to rest the horses every so often as the humidity was soaring. About half way I really decided that I had to visit the nearest outdoor potty which presented itself in the form of a trail going the opposite direction. I informed Harvey and set off on my own, Harley was less than pleased to be going another direction. When I returned to Harvey who was patiently waiting for me Harley was in a tizzy. We started out after the group when we heard screaming up the hill that someone needed help. It seems someone was off trail and stuck in some vines or brush. Harvey told me to keep riding up the hill and find the group. This is where it got interesting folks........
First Harley did not want to leave his only horse buddy and I was concentrating hard on negotiating yet another steep, loose rock uphill climb when BAM! I felt a sharp sting on the back of my thigh. I looked back to see a swarm of ground bees attacking both Harley and I. Now folks I don't know if you have had the pleasure of getting into ground bees but boy it sucks. They are like yellow jackets that live in the ground, they are aggressive and will chase you for miles. Luckily, well I use that term very loosely I have had the displeasure of being in them before this. Let me tell you the best thing you can do is RUN and I mean Run and get off trail into the woods. You see they will follow you down the trail for miles but will not go into the bush after you, don't know why just know that. So......here I am flying through saplings and downhills and leaves a flying while swatting and trying to stay on. (Imagine man from snowy river but with leaves no snow.) After I was sure I got away from them I approached the group with a very sore posterior and a very winded Harley.
Someone had some sauve to put on the stings, I had nine total on my backside and arms. Harley was hit about the same amount as far as I could tell, God bless him he never bucked or thought of being unruly throughout the incident. Turns out the mule in the bush was stung and that is what set it off to go off trail. Two others were stung but I got the worst of it since I was in the back.......
We rode on to the river and played a little splashing and frolicking before we had lunch. After tying Harley up securely I promptly layed down in the river, you cannot imagine how much heat and pain those little bast**ds caused. I got some funny looks and comments about riding in wet jeans but I could have cared less. We rode downstream for about two miles and I really enjoyed it, I could tell Harley was getting tired by the time we exited the river. My friend Tiffany was also along on the ride and her horse Cisco was not thrilled with people running up to him to splash him, we hung back to the rear. After exiting the river the weather started to threaten rain complete with thunder in the distance. Since we were so far back behind the group the drag man decided on a short cut home. Now folks I am no scaredy cat by any means but this was the roughest ride I every took. We traversed a hill that went straight up for 75 feet and was rocky to boot. Sorry Mrs Mom but this was one time I was thankful for Harley's shoes all the way around. I went first and he literally had to lope up the hill to make it, you could see sparks and smell the brimstone coming off his feet. Later Tiffany and I remarked we could not believe we did that hill! And sober to boot! We got back to camp around 3 and guess what? No rain after all.... We spent the rest of the day in our chairs in the river with you guessed it Margaritas!
my girls enjoying one.
Whew I am tired
Went to the dance that evening but in loose shorts as the stings were pretty sore and I could not imagine putting jeans on. Mike from Louisiana asked us if we would like to ride with him in the morning to twin falls. Sounded great to me so we forged a plan. Thursday we rode out only to discover that Cisco had a stone bruise and could not make the trail, Tiffany had to turn back which bummed us all out. Mike,Susan,Bubba and I continued on to the blue hole. We covered some beautiful trials that were easy as pie compared to yesterday's hell. We arrived at the blue hole by 10. The blue hole is a small waterfall that empties into a little pool underneath it,a very pretty ride indeed. Here are some shots of it.
Harley and I enjoying a dip.
We continued on to twin falls, Mike had a little trouble finding the trail as they had clear cut the land last fall and it made things look different. Eventually we did find it and we were on our way, here is a view of the downhill at the clear cut.
We rode a beautiful trail shaded by a canopy of trees the rest of the way, little creeks crossed at several spots and Harley had to sample each one. Despite the lack of rain in those parts everything was green and lush. I could hear the waterfall before I saw it and nothing was more beautiful to me that day than hearing and seeing those brilliant showers of water. I tied Harley to a downed log and carefully and oh so not gracefully slid my way to the bottom of the falls, about a hundred foot drop. I instantly went under and cooled off and tasted that mountain water.
Here are some shots from the bottom.
We ate lunch at the falls then headed back to camp, definitely the best ride of the week for me. I shared pictures with Tiffany and was sorry she missed it. Friday I awoke not feeling myself and opted out of the morning ride. I guess the week had caught up with me and I actually went back to sleep until lunch. Afternoon found me feeling better and I did a small ride to the opposite side of camp with Tiffany only to find Cisco still off. We attended the dance for the saddle give away and unfortunately no one from our camp won but we did dance and have fun besides.
The skies opened up at 10 pm and it rained all night, complete with thunder and lighting. Morning arrived with more rain and a big muddy mess. We decided that given the conditions and Cisco's sore foot that we would head home early. Most of the camp was pulling out it seemed. We loaded up and headed for home, two tired girls and their horses.
Final thoughts on the trip and camp. Although the camp was not as well kept as before I still found it more than adequate. The food definitely was not up to par but edible most days. The riding was great, despite those damn bees. The river , ah the river the reason I went was perfect. Hope you enjoyed the trip and go visit someday. Tell Tony I sent ya!
Happy trails......
Monday, July 28, 2008
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.......
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.......
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