New trails, new adventures

Well, it's been a great week of horseback riding and hanging out with friends! First of all we traveled to the Cracker Jack Ranch and met two extremely nice and knowledgeable people, Lew and Jeanee. We hung out with their dogs and saw beautiful scenery. Lynn got to ride to a store and buy ice cream; the only part of her "I always wanted to do this" story that didn't measure up was that there was no hitchin' post. Thankfully, the owner understood her disappointment and said he would try to have one installed.

The OC & E trail is mind boggling; it stretches from beyond Sprague River to the east all the way into Klamath Falls. Unfortunately, riding on gravel roads works better for carriages than for stalwart trail riders like us. We rode all over the northern part of the area on mostly Forest Service land. We came across squatters who were growers (imagine, even in that arid, dusty place!) and we saw a big buck and lots of hawks. There were big and small holes everywhere in the soft dirt and Odie gave us quite a scare when he stepped in one. Both he and Alisa kept their heads and he came up out of it unhurt.

There was a lot of downfall due to beetle damage that killed trees that were then susceptible to lightning fires. It was good training for Jupiter since he does not like stepping over larger trees, but he didn't even hesitate. He and Ziggy did really well sharing a corral; Zigs is asserting his dominance over him, though, and moving up in rank. Star fell in love with CT, a liver-colored, near black mare that Jeanee rode. She defied all the mare stories with her sweet temperament and easy-going ways. When Ziggy came up next to her, Star bared his teeth and sent him right back. Jupes was just concerned that anyone might be prettier than him.

It rained the day that Alisa left so we spend the entire time in Klamath Falls shopping in consignment, thrift, and antique stores. The last store we went to was Shoe World where we innocently caused a rift between the women working there. Oh well, we didn't spend as much money as they had hoped after all!

Alisa had to leave a day early because she was so sick and we left a day early just because, but our vacation included lots of laughter, a new card game, lots of good food (even with very slow bar-b-que-ing), dust, baby birds for an alarm clock, and a dog who made it home amid much worry. Cabin camping makes everything easier--no fighting the bugs, good lighting, easy dishwashing, and generally less putting away and concern for bears getting into our danish! Not to mention the peace of mind knowing the horses were in a good place and safe. A good time was had by all!