It begins!

Mar 25, 2025

First ride of the year--first week day ride of Lynn's retirement! Woohoo!

We've had a great winter of rain and snow and wind. We finally got shoes and decided to venture out. We decided the ranch was probably the easiest and quickest (I had a scholarship Zoom scheduled). Right off the "git" Jupes got spooked by the big culvert pipe. It was raging full of water; but I don't think that was what did it--I think it was because it was humming. 

Anyway, we turned right off the road and wove our way down to the meadow. There we saw turkeys! Quail were flying everywhere, too. We stayed high on the west side of the meadow because it was sure to be boggy closer to the creek.

Then we went over the creek and back into the woods towards the big pond/lake. From there we went out on the east side of the creek. Jupes was jiggy from the beginning. So not comfortable. So when Lynn said, "Whaddya think? Head back?" I was ready. 

It was short, but felt good to get out.

April 4, 2025

Another weekday ride! We went up Underwood. Lynn thinks it's been since early summer maybe since we came up. We avoid this spot, as much as we like it, when the stickers come out. Well, this day we had snow!!  In the snow were turkey track (I never knew how big their feet were!), big momma bear tracks next to a yearling sized track, and maybe either coyote or fox tracks.  

TC started off spooked this ride. He kicked the mounting block, which made a hollow, deep sound he was didn't recognize. But the longer Lynn sat waiting for me to reset the block and get out from under a tree branch to get on, the more she felt his back relax. Off we went. 

What a gorgeous day. Lots of sun, green grass, and water running everywhere. TC was perfect. He didn't baulk at any water crossings or muddy fields. Because of the number of trees down and branches blocking our way, we had to get off once to navigate. He went right through the squishy mud. Once we remounted, we had to go through a bit of a grassy pond to get to the road and he did not hesitate at all. 

We spent some time up at the top where the sun shone down on us and brought on a great sense of peace. It was a wonderful day.