TJMason's Xanga

Whoa.

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:43:50 GMT

Never mind. We'll get it done. Thankfully, God has provided us with an amazing staff and enough horses (using the staff-owned ones) to get things accomplished. Such as teaching Ranch Hand classes at the same time as a trailblazer trail ride goes out. Amazing. Not to mention - we have one free arena! Yay, and I thought we were going to have to work out of the paddocks for the afternoon trail rides. God is good.

This is by far the busiest week of the summer for the ranch. I don't feel like going into detail (and frankly, it would bore you anyway) but because of the kind of week we are running (Ranch Hand) and the fact that free time trail rides interfere with our classes, we're (as in - staff and horses) are having to pull double duty. This year, this is the ONLY week we have this. Next year... we get to run three of these bad boys. Whoo-yi. I will pray that God continues to provide the ammount of volunteers (Including my dad, I have 3 this week) each time one of these weeks crops up. Actually, He knows our needs a whole lot better than we do. He'll get us through.

I am suffering from a nasty cough. Where did it come from? I don't know. I lost my voice Thursday afternoon - Saturday morning. That was fun (sarcactus) when it came to the Friday parent program and driving the team. My staff had to give the verbal commands to Jackson and Zach because when I would attempt it, I'd end up in a fit of coughing.

As soon as the parents left, I went home to nap because that evening, I wanted to see Mary in her play. That was GREAT stuff. (Many cough drops, and well-timed coughs to the scene switching.) I don't know if non-Minnesotans would appreciate it nearly as much as those of us from the area, but it was super fun. "KOLD radio". I highly recommend it.

On Saturday, I delivered a horse we sold (Tonka) to his new owners in Onamia. I feel so GOOD about that match up. One of the campers from Cowboy camp bought him. He and his family came out and test rode Tonka on Monday, his sister (who was a cowpoke camper last week) rode him during her class, and then I brought him out to their farm on Saturday. YAY! I love it when our horses go to someone we know.

Bonus, because of the route I took, it ran me right past Rachel's house. Guess where I spent my afternoon?

Ok, back to work.

Addition to the previous post

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:28:07 GMT

Directions for Corky - I forgot to mention that on a fake stomp, the Stomper doesn't actually touch down. If the Stomper catches corks on a number that isn't 7 or 11, then the Stomper owes a toothpick to each cork caught. Ok, moving on to the new stuff.

I had my riding lesson on Niyr. Considering that we had played Capture-the-Flag the night before, I was supremely impressed with her. I haven't practiced my dressage for a month! We didn't go backwards too badly... just in the canter... whoops.

When I returned to Camp, the staff told me that they were going to sit on some horses bareback and watch the staff vs Dads flag football game. Naturally, I had to join in. I chose the couch. aka Zach. And then I remembered how much I liked him.

Until I woke up the next morning with soreness in my legs, back, and shoulders... Probably a combination of dressage lesson and fighting Zach away from the grass.

On the 4th, we had pony rides in the morning and trail rides all afternoon. And naturally, the last ride was the fullest. Which meant that we couldn't get started on decorating our horses for the parade because they were all out on the line. Stinky cheese.

As soon as the ride got back, we turned out the few horses we weren't using, ran down to supper, stuffed our faces (pie for dessert!!!), ran back up to the ranch and commenced with the gel and glitter. Our usual hour plus process was condensed into 20 minutes. We ended up being a little late to the parade starting line-up. Partly because Tyke couldn't keep his pants on. Yes, Tyke was wearing pants on his front legs, and they kept slipping down because the twine holding them up kept breaking. We finally found a system that worked and made it down the hill before the parade officially started.

Of course, 10 minutes later, we were going back up the hill in the parade route... Having had such a good time with Zach on Thursday, I decided to use him for the parade. The route ends at the ballfield. Lovely open area, just perfect for a Percheron canter. So we did. And I'll bet we looked stinkin' cool while doing it!

Following the parade, I walked down to Mike and Suzy's to celebrate Suzy's birthday. While there, I somehow got roped into helping 2yo Cami wash her hands and face post-cake. Not sure how that happened, but it provided a lot of entertainment to the crowd in the living room.

After the party, I joined Mike parents, my parents, and Mike and Suzy in a mini-van to go to Brainerd for the fireworks. (My staff had already head out by the time we were done with the party.) Wow - that's an impressive display. So is the size of the crowd. It's like a mini-State Fair. Yikes. But obviously, I made it back okay because here I am, typing away.

Trail rides this morning (my staff missed the memo that they started at 9am - not 10am, so we did super-speed pulling at 8:30). Pony rides tomorrow. And then another week of Camp. Yee-haw!

"I think it would be cool to work in a toothpick factory!"

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:05:05 GMT

said Charissa as I handed her the 20 toothpicks. Much laughter. Oh the fun of introducing my staff to Corky! Corky is a game played with corks on strings, a plastic jug (gallon milk carton or something similar) with the bottom cut out, and a pair of dice.

Directions: (In case you want to try this for yourself) Everyone starts with 20 toothpicks. One person is the "stomper" and the rest all hold the strings of their corks. The "stomper" rolls the dice. If they come up with 7 or 11, the stomper slams the jug down on the table. Whoever's cork is caught in the jug owes the stomper a toothpick. The stomper is allowed to fake stomp (that's always really FUN!). If a cork leaves the circle on a number that isn't 7 or 11 - then they have to pay the stomper a toothpick. Each person gets to be the stomper for 3 legitimate stomps (7 or 11) whether or not they catch anyone. Then the next person is the stomper.

Once everyone has been the stomper, play gets even more intense as it moves into "multiples". Payment is equal to the number of corks caught (or pulled out on a fake). For instance, if the stomper catches 5 corks - each person caught owes him 5 toothpicks. If 2 people pull out on a fake, they each owe the stomper 2. You get the idea. It's a crazy adrenaline rush and requires nerves of steel and quick reflexes. You should try it sometime.

Ok, I need to go get ready for my riding lesson! (The first in about 6 weeks!)

Party hardy

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:38:00 GMT

I left bright and early Sunday morning to meet Kandy at her house. We then drove down to the cities to meet up with Mary and Kandy's friend Melanie. The 4 of us proceeded to make a day of it at Canterbury Downs.

I realize that horse racing produces strong feelings in some of my readers - and for that I apologize. Please don't hate me.

We watched the first race and then decided to start betting. We ended up placing our little $2 wagers on almost every race. It made it fun to cheer for a particular horse or two. I chose not to bet on race number 8 because there were 10 horses competeing in that one - however, there was one horse called "Suzie's Sugar Shot" that I did consider placing money on simply because she shared my sister's name. However, she was an incredibly long shot horse, so I passed up the opportunity. She placed 2nd. Stinky cheese. If I had done my normal $2 to place (that means the horse can come in first or second and I'll still get something) I would have ended the day ahead. Instead, I chose to keep my $2 for the next race.

None of us girls came out ahead, but we all had fun. I think I lost the most overall - spending $15 for the day. Good times.

That evening, we went to the Eden Prairie theatre to watch Wall*e. I must admit that I was a little concerned with the slow place and dialoglessness of the beginning, but then it picked up and was really cute and fun. As with all Pixar films, good quality, fun humor, and I will be buying it on DVD.

We spent the night at Melanie's and then drove to Valleyfair for some more fun. We thought that it would just be Mary, Kandy and I because Mel had to work. But after she got to work, her boss told her to leave - go away, have fun and all that good stuff. So yay! 4 is a much better number than 3.

Mary and Melanie both left around 8pm, but Kandy and I stayed to go a few more times on the Wild Thing and Renegade. We arrived when the park opened and stayed until it closed. Had to get our money's worth, dontcha know.

Got home around 2am and went straight to bed. Woke up at 8am when the phone rang. Jesse's making hay. Went back to sleep. Woke up at 10:30am when the phone rang again. Keni had some questions. I was considering going back to bed again, but as I was debating this, I saw Suzy approaching my steps.

She came in and we chatted for a couple hours. She was on a high after seeing her baby on ultrasound that morning. She just showed me pictures and I think it is SO COOL that she's going to be a mom. At the same time, it kind of weirds me out to know that she has something alive IN her. God is amazing. I'm so excited to meet this little person! (Though I'm sure nowhere close to Suzy and Mike's excitement.)

Suffering.

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:31:48 GMT

Emotional hurt. I am in pain, more for others than any other reason. And not for those who have passed into our mutual Father's loving arms - for they get the best experience of all. Being in His presence for eternity. But for those left behind. I hurt.

Too busy to post!

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:23:59 GMT

Synopsis -

Staff training went well. People kept coming and going and going and coming. I think there were maybe 2 days total when all the staff were here. In any event, we got the staff trained.

During training, we put up 1000 square bales. Keni, Steph G, and Andrea all came to visit during this time, so they joined in on the haying fun. Just so you know, driving Jesse's F-350 is great, driving the Camp old Chevy with no mirrors, heat leaking out of the vents all the time, not being able to roll down the driver's side window, no muffler and exhaust fuming from the bottom of the truck beneath the cab (needless to say, I kept the door open and the passenger window down) is NOT fun.

We had a guest group Pillsbury trip for a bunch of boys in a halfway house/program. This means that only guy staff could go. We sent my dad, Brandon, and Mark out. While tied to the picket line during the trip, Bumbo pulled back and sat on a tent in the process. Mark was in the tent at the time. They're both fine. It's funny - Laugh! (It's even funnier if you know Mark.)

A neighbor called to say that she had 2 horses - a Friesian and a chestnut/sorrel arabian - that had wandered into her yard. Were we missing any? I said no. We don't have a friesian or a sorrel arabian. However, we do have Zach (a black Percheron with a long tail) and Berk (a liver chestnut arabian). Once we figured out that we were missing them, we headed over to the neighbor's and picked them up.

Parade on Saturday. I rode Rachel's horse Coal and she rode Niyr. It's funny taking compliments for someone else's horse. Sam and Charissa rode double on Zach.

Went to Ripley to posse following the parade. I took back my mare and Mary rode the beast. They were having a soldier appreciation day. We were WAY overstaffed, so it was relaxing. A 7 mintue shower came with horizontal rain. The horses all turned their butts to the wind. Mary didn't have her slicker. Her back was totally saturated, her front was totally dry.

Berk had a wound in his shoulder after his escape. Penicillin. He now hates shots and will rear and strike at you if you attempt to give it to him in the neck. He will kick if you attempt it in his butt. Just ask Kohnen. God put protection around her in that the kick was placed near her hip, causing her to spin so that the second hoof glanced off her face instead of striking her full-blown in the head. She's a little sore, her gums and hip a little bruised, but otherwise totally fine!!! Amazing.

Same day of the kick, Nick choked. Horses can't throw-up, but he looked like he was trying - gagging and hacking and discharge from his throat and nostrils. Called the vet, he prescribed a drug to relax the muscles. Once the drug took effect (2-3 hours) Nick passed the choke. Because this results in throat irritation/swelling, Nick is confined to a paddock with signs all over it "DO NOT FEED ME! I am recovering from choke and any solid food will seriously harm me." Instead, he gets soupy watered complete feed/senior feed. He loves it, but can't figure out if he's supposed to chew it or drink it. Much fun. And praise God that Nick recovered so easily from something so scary!

Cowboy camp in process. The schedule is working, albeit with some minor confusions here and there. Okay. Love ya lots!

Summer's here!

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:23:52 GMT

And it's cold and rainy. Not that I can complain. I do have a place to get out of the rain, and we don't have to worry about floods. Wisconsin on the other hand...

The collegiate staff arrived today. The high school staff arrive on Saturday. And a week and a day later, Camp starts. Yikes!

Jesse is waiting for some sun to be forecast as the hayfield is ready to be cut. That's exciting. We're going to start with squares because we desperately need them for the summer. The rounds we can put off a little bit.

We had 4-H horse camp last weekend and what with preparing for it, being on call for it and cleaning up after it, Emma hasn't had much time to be out and about. She was positively wired yesterday when I hung out with her outside. For the 5 days previous, she'd been stuck alone in the house all day with only the cat for company. Poor dog, the summer schedule has started...

The vet made it out...

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:12:15 GMT

He managed to swing by for a little over an hour. Because we have the 4-H Horse Camp happening right now, the majority of our horses are out on pasture about 8 miles away. Fortunately, our vet used to work at Camp - like 15 years ago - so he knows exactly where that pasture is and met us there. The staff and I caught the 4 horses that needed Coggins tests and brought in Niyr while we were at it. I had witnessed possible signs of Niyr being in heat during our girls' weekend (the timing would have been just right for her next heat cycle) and so I wanted Gib to check her.

After drawing the blood and filling out the paperwork on the Coggins, Gib pulled out a VERY long glove and told me to untie my little mare. I cringed on behalf of my girl. He stuck his arm up her rear and she tightened and swung her backside all over. We repositioned her next to the barn so that she couldn't dance around so much and tried again. He got his arm further in and she kicked out (not that I could blame her!). On the third try, he got his arm all the way in and she finally relaxed a little. He felt around for a bit, and the longer he had his arm up there, the more nervous I got. "Hmm, Tricia, you said she's at 30 days? Huh." Ominous feeling. He pulled his arm out and said, "I can't tell, she's just not relaxed enough. Her muscles are too tight for me to get a grip on anything."

My face fell. The fact that he had to resort to ultra-sound was very discouraging. We backed her into the barn where Gib could get power for the machine. He put the probe in and it felt like he took forever (it was probably less than a minute) before he finally said, "Oh yeah, she's pregnant."

YES!

The vet pointed out a blob on the screen, "There's the heart beat. That's the skull forming..." I could see the heart because it was moving, but I had no clue what the rest of the gray matter was. Who cares? MY MARE IS GOING TO HAVE A FOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And if it seems like I'm more excited about Niyr than Suzy, you're wrong. It's just that Suzy told me about my future niece or nephew three weeks before I was allowed to post about it - so some of the initial excitement faded by the time I got to tell you.

It's going to be a great 12 months! My parents are closing on property up here in September. YAY, they'll finally be moving up here permanently! Suzy is due at the end of November. YAY, I'll get to be an aunt in a few short months! Niyr is due at the end of March/beginning of April. YAY, I'll get to have my first foal! It's a good day. A good, good day.

I'm going to be an Aunt!

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:41:39 GMT

That's right, my sister Suzy is pregnant!!! (And you thought I was talking about Niyr. Actually, I still haven't had the vet out to preg check her, so I don't know. I'll tell you when I find out.) Excitement, I get to be an aunt. The crazy aunt with the horses that the nieces and nephews all want to come visit!!!

Niyr and I were in a dressage show yesterday. We could have done better. I was uptight, and therefore, so was she. It didn't help that I had to compete in Training 1 BEFORE Intro B. What's up with that? Shelly had told me that I shouldn't enter Training level until this fall, so going against her advice - I did it anyway, thinking that I would have Intro B to warm up on, and at least have a score for Training to work off of. Apparently, the horse show commitee didn't think that was a good idea. If I was going to disobey my trainer, I was going to pay for it.

Ugly. That is what our training level test was. At least the canter portion of it. The rest of it we survived. And guess what? I got a 7 on my right lead departure! Sweet. Of course, that was the only 7 (out of 10) I got on the whole thing, so you can see how the rest of the test went. 6s all the way, with a 5 here and there (one of which was on my left lead canter). Eh, at least we were consistent. Somehow, even with all of that, we managed to get a 60%. Weird.

Our intro test should have been just beautiful, but because we had done all that cantering, we were "tight" - which was the word used over and over on our comment sheet. Tight, as in uptight, as in not supple. Still - no 5s for this test, just 6s and 7s. Finishing with a 68.5%. (By the same crazy judge who awarded me 67.5% last June).

Finally - Girls' Weekend post.

Sat, 31 May 2008 18:25:19 GMT

Which goes without saying (though I'll say it anyway) it's going to be a LONG ONE.

First, before I get to the fun of the weekend (which was 2 weeks ago now...) I need to let you all know that Cal died on Thursday. He was fine all weekend, we used him for Memorial Day Family Camp. Aside from his age, we had no idea that his time would be up shortly. What a way to go. Perky and usable right up until he layed down for his final sleep - which is exactly what it looked like he did. There were no struggle marks of any kind on the ground around him. He didn't appear to suffer at all. Such a blessing.

Right - now on to the happier stuff. I spent Thursday night at Rachel's house so that we could head out at a decent hour on Friday morning. I had made the decision not to reserve a site (it costs $8.50 to make a reservation) and knowing the popularity of Forestville State Park, we thought it wise to get down there in good time.

Because we were hauling 3 horses (Coal, Niyr, and Tres [for Mary]) we took Rachel's 3 horse trailer and left my 2-horse in her driveway. After messing around with all the receiver/ball nonsense, we hitched up and headed out. The drive was long (5 hours) and mostly uneventful. I say mostly because we did bump into a bit of traffic in the cities. On the way out, one freeway had a "truck lane" because it was on a steep hill and trucks aren't so fast up steep hills. Much to my own amusement, I took that lane - I was in a truck and I liked not having the pressure of having to keep up with traffic while climbing. Rachel laughed at me - both how easily amused I am and how crabby I get at bumper-to-bumper roads.

The other incident was on Hwy 52, well south of the cities. A little old lady in her little old lady Ford Taurus station wagon pulled out in front of me (on a divided 4 lane highway - so there were 2 lanes for us to choose from) and then decided the best place to attempt to accelerate (while a gigantic beastie F-250 with camper and 3-horse trailer was bearing down on her) was in the MIDDLE of the road. Not the left lane, not the right one. BOTH. This aggravating act caused me to use my horn. It was a friendly little quick "beep, beep" - I'm coming. PICK A LANE. And she did, which was very nice. However, this little mishap caused Rachel to start singing to the tune of "grandma got run over by a reindeer" "Grandma got run over by an equine..." which firmly placed that song in my head. For the rest of the trip. *sigh*

We came in the back way to the park. So we had to drive by the office and turn around. Yeah, that didn't go so great, but we managed. Parking at the office, I hopped out of the truck and looked at it, "Phew, you stink, Truck". As we walked by the truck in front of us, I realized that I had blamed my innocent vehicle - as their right rear brake was smoking. Yikes.

At a state park, you have to pick out your campsite as soon as you get to the office. You don't have a chance to drive around and see what the sites look like - you simply check out the map and say, "I want that one." Despite the fact that the office was very busy as we were checking in, the clerk gave us his full attention - a map of the campground, a marked map of the trails (he took a blue highlighter and marked all the water - you have no idea how helpful that is until you compare an unhighlighted map with one that is colored on!), made out our campsite card and also made one out for Kandy and Mary - who would be arriving later.

We found our campsite. Considering that we had just picked it off a map - the location was very nice - with one drawback. There was no level place to park to camper. We tried a couple different spots, and finally settled on parking RIGHT next to the hitching rail. It's a good thing our horses get along with each other (for the most part) and don't kick! The camper still was pretty unlevel, but it was the best we could do. Thankfully, the way it was tipped allowed Rachel and I (on the bed) to have our heads higher than our feet and at the same time allow Kandy (on the table/bed) and Mary (on the floor) to have their heads higher than their feet. Sadly, it was uneven enough that the fridge didn't work, so we had to reorganise the cooler to keep everything we needed to cold.

A great shot of just how close we got to be to our horses over the weekend.

After setting up camp, Rachel and I saddled Niyr and Coal and hit the trails. I put Niyr in her snazzy Boa Horse Boots that I bought at the Expo. All that we had heard about Forestville was that it was the most popular horse camping destination in the state and that you had to have your horse shoed. Basically, the trails were gravel. If your horse was ridden on that all the time, I see no problem with bringing it there barefoot - but the Camp horses are used to sand, so I'm very thankful that Niyr had her boots and Tres had his shoes.

Rachel and I did about an hour and a half loop, all the while checking our phones to see if they had enough signal for an outbound call. The clerk had told us that the park closed at 10pm. If our friends weren't going to make it by then, they should just wait until the next morning. Knowing that Kandy wasn't getting off work until 3 or 4 in the afternoon and then she was heading home to shower, made Rachel and I (ok, well, I guess I can't speak for Rachel, but for myself) nervous. I was unsure if they had a gate that shut across the road...

We had our supper and sat at the picnic table. We watched our horses eat, we looked at the time, we made sure our horses had water, we looked at the time, we double checked our cell phones to make absolutely positively sure that we didn't have signal, we looked at the time. It started getting dark. Every time a vehicle would pull in, we'd perk up. And then, finally, with about 20 (or was it 40?) minutes to spare - an Envoy with a little 2 horse came charging into Camp and beelined for our campsite. Sigh of relief.

Mary and Kandy threw their stuff in the camper, brought out Hebet to join the other 3 horses on the picket line, and then joined Rachel and I at the picnic table. We sat and talked for awhile. I admired the moon. The brightness of it... the way I could see everything so clearly... I eyed the horses... and thoughts of a night ride danced through my head. What do girls talk about at girls' weekend? Boys. What's up with that?! Anyway, after I could stand the teasing no longer (as they had decided to pick on me and a particular boy) I decided the time had come for the night ride. I think I just needed the teasing incentive to convince me to move.

I grabbed Niyr's bridle, but decided to let her go barefoot this time. Kandy hopped on Hebet and joined me for our midnight jaunt. It was a great conversation we had. She apologized for the extensive pestering, to which I replied that I didn't mind it as much as it must have appeared to everyone when I abruptly got up and left. I just really wanted to go for a night ride. The trails were super easy to see as they were all paved with limestone gravel - white gravel.

We got back and everyone climbed into bed. Saturday morning we decided to spend the day exploring the park. We had some sweet ladies take our picture before heading out on the trails. They also pointed out their favorite route to "Big Spring" - which is where we had decided to go.

Rachel on Coal, Mary on Tres, Kandy on Hebet, and myself on Niyr - with her super sweet boots!

You can't tell very well by the picture, but we were on a hill overlooking a very scenic area. When the girls all lined up to check out the view, I couldn't help but take the shot.

Crossing the bridge from Historic Forestville - if you come in the back way (as Rachel and I did) you actually drive on this bridge. It's a lot scarier to drive on with a truck, camper and horse trailer than it is to ride on.

This picture was taken in Historic Forestville. A fellow visitor was willing to snap this shot for us. "Historic Forestville" isn't open for tours until Memorial weekend, but we could still ride through it.

After getting our picture taken, we continued on our way to visit "Zumbro Hill Cemetery". Because they have problems with erosion, they give you a hitching rail to tie your horses to and then a steep hill to walk up on foot. I was all for it. I've found that I enjoy walking as long as I have a destintation. So I convinced my friends to tie up their horses and join me in a hike (if they had known how long the hike was - I don't know if they all would have followed or not...)

It was a very enjoyable passtime. We wandered around the cemetery, looked at the gravestones, wondered about the lives they represented - and also wondered why on earth someone would put a graveyard on top of huge hill! Can you imagine transporting a body and all the mourners up there?!

Mary is setting up a tripod of sorts for her camera so that she can take a timed photo of the 4 of us.

One of the timed photos we took. The horses waiting at the bottom of the hill for us.

We found a nice place to stop and eat our lunch. Knowing the number of campers that were parked at the campground, I was surprised that we hadn't run into more. It turned out that the loop we had chosen to travel wasn't a popular destination for most of them. Traffic greatly increased as we approached "Big Spring".

While the trails weren't challenging in the sense that they were well maintained and a vehicle could drive on them if necessary - they were fun with all the hills and switchbacks. It was also nice to be able to ride side by side, and I enjoyed having 4 for the weekend. (The past 2 years, it has been really only 3). Even numbers are nicer than odd ones - and 4 is a very manageable size.

We came to Forestville Creek crossing. In my mind, when I hear "creek" I think of small bed of running water (flashing back to Purgatory creek that ran through the park near my house). Forestville Creek was definitely bigger than I am used to thinking of.

That was our first real water crossing of the weekend. On our way to "Big Spring" we had a few more. One of which was over or through the Root River. We could choose to cross on a really neat bridge, or ride the trail a little further and ride through the river. We took advantage of this neat little circle to get pictures of each other (on Monday, but I'll post them now).

Mary and Kandy are crossing the river while Rachel and I are on the bridge. Mary took pictures of Rachel and I with her camera.

Mary and Kandy are crossing the bridge while Rachel and I are in the river. That bridge was really fun, and really loud...

We must have come at the right time, because while we met people heading away from the Spring, we didn't encounter any while we were there. More pictures were taken.

This is the cave that the spring comes out of. Mary desperately wanted to get off her horse and explore it. We managed to keep her mounted and got her away from there before temptation overcame her better sense. (Wait, does Mary have better sense?)

Niyr is doing her typical water splashing nonsense. I'm not sure how I managed to maintain my smile while getting soaked with very cold water...

Here's Kandy on Hebet. This shot really shows you the size of the cave. Good stuff.

On the return trip, Rachel and Mary took off at a good canter (gallop?) up a hill. I didn't feel like letting Niyr go, as she doesn't have good brakes once she starts moving out. So I held her back... and Kandy laughed her head off and almost fell off her horse. When Niyr is held back while other horses take off - she turns into a coiled spring, her back slopes down from her shoulders to her rump, her hind legs come underneath her more, her front legs elevate and pound down, and her head goes into the air and pulls back like a swan. It was the strangest feeling. I couldn't pull back on the reins any more, because there was nothing to pull back on. Odd, odd feeling...

When Kandy and I caught up with the girls, Kandy was still laughing, and Niyr was still semi-coiled, though not as bad. I explained that I didn't have brakes and so I wasn't super comfortable letting Niyr go. When we took off up hill again, Mary stayed back with me while Rachel and Kandy raced ahead. This time, Mary laughed herself silly. Niyr didn't do the spring thing quite as well, but I was pretty entertaining. Because Kandy and Rachel were so far ahead and Niyr was dancing all over in a canter-in-place, I said out loud, "Okay. I give up." And let Niyr go. This caused Mary to crack up - and also get left behind. Niyr is faster than Tres. At the top of the hill, I had managed to pull Niyr back a little bit, and Kandy and Rachel had turned their horses to block the trail so that I wouldn't be able to shoot past them. It was a very springy ride for awhile as it took Niyr quite some time to calm down.

On our way back towards camp, we encountered a huge group of mules with a few donkeys thrown in for good measure. Apparently, the MN Donkey and Mule Club have an annual ride every year on that weekend. Good to know. We'll probably bump into them again at some point. While I have nothing against mules, I much prefer to ride in a small group of 4 instead of a mass of people, so I was thankful when our paths diverged. Us girls rode up to a scenic overlook - another place where we tied our horses and had to walk - though not as far, and it was flat instead of all uphill.

We then went back to camp and let our horses have a well-deserved rest.

Our campsite had plenty of grass, so we gave the horses every opportunity to help with the mowing.

That night, we played "Settlers' of Cattan". Rachel won. Soundly. We even tried to gang up on her, but to no avail. To soothe our sadness, we decided to go for another night ride. This time, Kandy decided to stay back so that Hebet could have more time to rest. It was Rachel's first time bareback on Coal, so she was a bit nervous, but Mary and I sandwiched her between our two horses and all went well.

We slept soundly that night - and I'm sure the horses did too.

On Sunday, we slept in a bit and moseyed around camp before finally getting dressed and jumping into Mary's car to visit Mystery Cave. We almost had the cave tour to ourselves, but another couple showed up just in time to join us. We made them work to join our club - the entry fee? Taking our picture:

After the fun of this tour, we decided to head over to Niagra cave. The cave itself was probably more interesting, but the tour wasn't nearly as much fun nor professional. If you only have time to see one - see Mystery.

When we returned to camp, the majority of our neighbors had left. Yay! So we went out for a short ride, came back and found camp nearly deserted. Perfect time to bring out the fun noodles and whiffle balls! The one other occupied campsite could tell that we were up to something when we started duct taping velcro to our arms and then attaching whiffle balls to the velcro. They got their cameras and video camera. We grabbed our fun noodles and played in the "backyard" of our campsite (which would have been too close to the other campsites had they been occupied).

Kandy and Hebet are ready for battle.

The fight is on!

Bring it on!

Only 2 contenders left.

I won the first round, then Mary and Kandy each won a round. We had one final battle and Kandy proved to be the jousting champion. We had so much fun, and I'm sure we provided plenty of entertainment for our neighbors. Rachel decided to sit out and be our photographer since Coal thinks fun noodles are direct descendants of African lions and all other horse-eating mammals.

We put our jousting stuff away and went for another short ride. As we rode back into camp, we passed a tree and I said, "I want to climb it!" Mary, who is always up for anything, joined me.

You can see the yellow bucket I needed to use as a mounting block.

Because this was our last night, we decided to use all our wood. And then some. Point of interest - Do NOT tell Mary to find more wood if you don't want long/tall dead trees dragged into your site. Yeah... One last night ride, and once again Kandy decided to opt out.

On Monday, we all mentioned what we wanted to see/do one last time before we had to leave. While the Big Spring wasn't on our list, the bridge to get there was - hence the photos you have already seen. We also galloped up the big hill again. We made sure that we had hit every single trail there was at that park, even if they were short connection-type trails, we wanted to be on them. And over the course of the weekend, we had managed to do just that. I also wanted to get a picture of the jack-in-the-pulpit that I had seen. And it couldn't be just any jack-in-the-pulpit (and there were LOTS of them down there, let me tell you), it had to be the first one. So after completing all our goals, we sadly packed up and drove home.

There you are. Congratulations on making it to the end of yet another long vacation post. (Not that the vacation was long, but the post was.)