We all met at my house on Sunday, June 22nd around noon time. It as a challenge to get all the gear for a horse, a mule and 5 women into one trailer but we managed and even had room to spare. Well, not much room to spare but still..... We had to shuffle Prize and Weezie around to make them happy in the trailer. We were planning to drive straight through so we'd have a few days to ride in Shawnee. Tracy, Amy and I would take turns driving. We also had to pick up a dog in Akron, OH. It was on our way so would be no problem. Amy took the first shift, then Tracy. We made quite a few stops to check on Weezie and Prize and give them time to rest. We picked up the dog in Akron. She is a lovely Red Fox Lab named Juna. She settled right in with us and was very good about traveling. I took the late night shift and drove through most of PA. I don't really remember who drove after that. We got caught in some construction traffic in Tara Haute, IN. That was really the only place we were held up. We arrived at Anthony's a bit after 6:00 pm. As we were approaching his area, we could see the dark clouds coming in. And sure enough it was pouring rain when we got there. We could see he was in his barn and pulled up there but no one wanted to get out in the downpour so we just sat for a bit. We eventually made the dash into the barn. Anthony's farrier was there and Anthony was trying to get one of his young mules into the barn but she did not like the sound of the rain on the metal roof. He did, with a little patience, get her in. Some of his other mules were in getting trims also and it was nice to see them. Mattie Ross and Foxy Lady who I have been watching grow up through pictures. When the rain let up a bit, Tracy turned Prize out in a paddock with Reliance, Sandra Cordone's mule. Weezie was put in a stall in the barn. She was NOT happy about that and was eventually put out in another pasture with a Percheron mare. Once the animals were all settled we went up to the house and Cathy made us a wonderful supper. Amy and Tracy had purchased some lobsters that we brought down. And though I don't eat them myself, I happened to have a nut cracker and pick in the camp kitchen things I brought with me. Anthony had us take pictures of him with his big ole' crawdads with his phone so he could send pictures to his friends. We enjoyed a nice evening and then were all grateful to head for bed after the long drive. I slept like a log! Juna stayed the night in the horse trailer. She made no protest but then she seems to be a very laid back dog and and so far has accepted whatever situation she is in.
Monday morning, Cathy made us a wonderful breakfast and we enjoyed some relaxing time visiting. It was still raining with no signs of letting up. After we packed up our things we wrangled up some mules to take to Shawnee. Anthony took Elwood, Harvey, Jedi and Inca in his trailer. Amy took Prize and Reliance in her trailer. We headed out ahead of Anthony. He said he would catch up with us. As we didn't know the way, we eventually pulled over to wait for him. He wasn't far behind us but said he'd taken a quick shower and he said a leftover lobsters called to him and he just had to eat it.
When we got to High Knob Campground, JoJo, the owner, gave us a nice bunkhouse to use. It had a kitchen, 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. One bedroom and one bath were not finished yet but that was no problem. Sierra Beth and Amy shared one room. Cierra and I shared another and Tracy had the 3rd one. Juna made herself right at home and had really become attached to Sierra Beth. We were going to head to town to shop for some food for the weeks but just as we were ready to go, the rain started to let up and we decided to sneak in a ride. I rode Elwood, a Walker mule. Cierra rode Harvey, an Appy mule. Sierra Beth rode Inca, a Peruvian Paso mule. Amy rode Annabell, not sure what her breeding is. Tracy rode Jedi, the mule that used to belong to Lee from WY. Anthony rode Reliance, Sandra Cordone's mule, and he ponied Prize.
I'm so glad the weather cleared enough for us to ride as we had a wonderful time. Cierra and Sierra Beth both showed they were natural mule stompers. Sierra Beth has been trail riding for most of her life. Cierra has been riding for many years also but only started trail riding about 1.5 years ago. She has sure come a LONG way from our first trail rides together and was the first to volunteer for anything Anthony suggested. When we got back to camp, we untacked the mules and then let them loose on the lawn of Anthony's camp to roll and eat a little grass. They are used to this routine and don't go anywhere. Once the mules were taken care of we got cleaned up as we still needed to go in to town. Sierra Beth and I settled for cold showers as the hot water wasn't working yet in the 2nd bathroom that isn't finished. It was getting kind of late and we wanted to get going to town. The first place we stopped to get supper was just closing. We found another restaurant that was open later and had supper. I had the most delicious ravioli there. We then stopped at a 24 hr. Wal-Mart to shop for some food. We didn't get back to camp until nearly midnight. I slept like a log once again. My snoring made it a little harder for Cierra to sleep well.
Wednesday morning we just got up when we wanted to and had a leisurely relaxing morning. I went over to Anthony's camp to clean out his pens but he had already beat me to it. I scolded him to little effect. We packed lunches for on the trail and got ready to ride around 10:00 am. Cierra had new saddle bags and they were plenty big so she carried Anthony's lunch also. It was a hot day in the 80's but bearable. We all rode the same mules except for Anthony. He left Reliance behind and rode Prize. Prize has never carried a rider out on trails before so Anthony had me pony him for a while. Elwood was not at all impressed with this job. He's done it a lot and knows what to do but just does not like doing it anymore. After a bit of attitude, he settled down and did the job well. Prize was a very good boy for Anthony and within an hour or maybe less, Anthony had me let him loose. Prize seemed to be perfectly happy to be going down the trail with Anthony. Anthony likes to ride the toughest trails and it kept Prize's mind busy learning how to handle this type of terrain. There was one steep switchback in a rocky trench that Prize did not know how to handle. I had to go back up with Elwood and grab the lead rope and encourage Prize down into it. Anthony got off to make sure he did not go over the ledge at the top. It took a minute but he did figure it out. Elwood was a super star with this tough situation. We stopped for lunch at Signature tree and played on the rocks at NoNo rock. No one went up onto "wobble rock" this time as the ground around the rock has really eroded away and it's now a tough jump to get up on the rock. But, there were other rocks to play on and have fun with. I let Cierra jump Elwood on a couple rocks and they we traded mules for a short while. I enjoyed Harvey but the stirrups on his saddle would not go down. It was Cathy McAllister's saddle and her legs are just a bit shorter than mine to say the least. I felt like I was a jockey and it got pretty uncomfortable after just a short time. So I had to switch back to riding Elwood. We stopped to take a break later in the ride and Amy noticed that Inca had some girth rubs and didn't want to ride her any longer and make it worse. She and Anthony headed back to camp. I led the rest of the group to Lost Lake as that is such a beautiful spot and I wanted those that haven't been to Shawnee before to see it. Finding our way back to camp as no problem as Elwood knew right where he was going. Once back we let the mules loose again for a short time to roll and graze. It was a great day of riding.
Sierra Beth and Cierra had laid down for a nap. Anthony came by to see if we wanted to go to Elizabethtown to eat at the floating restaurant. We all did so had to hustle to get going so we'd get there before they closed. We made it in plenty of time and had a nice meal. Tracy ordered shrimp but the rest of us had catfish. It was the first time either Sierra Beth or Cierra have had catfish and both really enjoyed it. We hung around a little after we ate watching the river traffic and then went up into the gazebo at the Rose Hotel while Anthony told us some of the history of the area. Anthony wanted to take us to Garden of the Gods that evening and we drove out that way but it was too late by the time we got there so we headed back to camp. Cierra headed right to bed but the rest of us sat on the deck of the bunkhouse and chatted for a while. Then we all played a dice game that Tracy had brought with her and we had a very enjoyable evening.
We planned to ride out around 10:00 am again Thursday morning. I was up quite a but earlier and I managed to get to Anthony's and clean his pens before he was up. Tracy helped me too. We sat on the deck and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, then packed lunches and saddled up the mules and headed out on the trails. We were riding out to the Garden of the Gods today. A lot of the trail was tough terrain as Anthony likes. But some of it was easier trail though tamer ground and we all thought that was lovely too. Once we got to Garden of the Gods, we tied the mules up at the hitching rails and Anthony sat and relaxed at the picnic table while the rest of us went off to explore the Garden of the Gods and we had a wonderful time enjoying the views and climbing around on the rocks. It was hot enough that we did not sit out on the rocks to eat lunch but chose a shady spot along the path to sit and relax. On the way back, a breeze picked up and we could hear thunder in the distance. Anthony took us to a spot where we could take shelter under the rocks if we needed to but the storm went around us. We rode to Cathedral Rock and played around there for a while. We were out nearly 9 hours this day. Once back we again turned the mules loose for a bit. While we were watching them, one of the mules in a pen rolled and got his feet hung up in the fence. He got himself out and was fine but it gave me an awful flashback to when that happened to Luke when I lost him. UGH. After cleaning up and a quick rest, we went over to Anthony's camp and grilled hamburgers over a campfire. I brought my guitar and played for a little while. It was a nice relaxing evening.
Friday morning we sadly had to pack up and get ready to leave. Amy, bought the mule, Annabelle, that she had been riding. She was also taking home Harvey for the summer. That was the Appy mule that Cierra had ridden. We took turns driving again on the way home and drove straight through again. We had an uneventful drive, and that is a good thing. The mules traveled well. We made numerous stops for gas and bathroom breaks but only stopped to eat once at a Cracker Barrel. We made it back to my house at around 4:00 pm on Saturday. Tracy's husband Eric and Cierra's mom Pam were there to meet us and all our things were unloaded into the lawn quickly so Amy and Sierra Beth could get on their way. We then sorted things out and everyone headed home. It was a really wonderful trip.
Sounds like a wonderful trip. And that scenery was amazing!
ReplyDeleteStill a someday for me. Looks like a great trip!.
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