Where Have we Been

I really have to do this more often, it seems like every blog I write I have to use a different platform. A few months ago I switched from my old trusty PC to a new MAC and that meant I had to leave LiveWriter in the dustbin, and go back to blogger, and now it seems like blogger changes something each and every time I write a post.

When I left you last we were way back in early September and riding the West Country of Alberta with old and new friends up there. It was not to long after that that we loaded our new trailer and headed south. We missed our annual trek up the Boulder River south of Big Timber to visit our friends Mike and Janna. Seems that their calendar was a little out of wack and they were starting winter early there. So that meant we just pointed our rig south and set the cruise. The weather reports kept giving us encouragement to make some miles as snowy weather was following closely on our heels. That was no problem for me as those who know me know that I have a bad case of PDD (Paul Dahl Disorder), but it was not so great for Brenda and her bad knee. We stopped the first night out in Dillon, Montana and the next night we had given the cool weather the slip and slide down the Virgin River Gorge into Logandale, Nevada. Both new stopping places for us, but thanks to our friends we found places to stay with no problems.

Once we roared through the traffic in Phoenix we arrived here at Dogpound South. Much to Brenda's chagrin our house was decorated for Halloween and not with fake spider webs but with the work of a major colony of Black Widow spiders. After a day or so of sweeping, wiping and pressure washing from my very clean orientated wife the decorations were gone. While she was at that I was busy getting the horses settled in and putting some hay up for the winter. Well that and trying to keep the pressure washer from overheating and burning up.

But enough of the clean-up we came south to enjoy the warm weather and do a little riding. We are a little earlier than other years so the weather has been warm, maybe even a little to warm for us northerners but we are suffering through the heat, remember 75F is hot back home, and getting out into the hills for a little riding.

I had an opportunity to join our good friends K & Teresa Rogers, and Dave and Linda Modahl on a day ride in the Rainbow Valley SW of Phoenix. It was a great day ride and a wonderful place to do a little training work.

Making our way through the valley

 We wound our way around the mountain and stopped at a couple of tanks along the way to water our critters. And do a little treasure hunting. Below you can see Earl looking at Dave's treasure and probably thinking "You've got to be kidding me, I don't run on gas".

Our next adventure was up into the pine forests north of Phoenix, I promised not to reveal the location but I sure didn't say I wouldn't share some of the scenery.

Brenda hanging out under the apple tree

Linda and K at the falls

This last weekend we headed off with K and Teresa to Catalina State Park down near Tucson. We had been there before a couple of years ago but had not ridden the trails in the park very much so thought we should give them a try. They have a great Equestrian Campground there, and much to our surprise we had it all to ourselves. A few day riders slipped in and out on both Saturday and Sunday but we never saw another horse on the trails. There were lots of hikers and a bunch of bikers, but all were very courteous and appeared pleased to share the trails with us. K managed to make a couple of little girls days with rides on his beautiful Paint mare, Delta Dawn. We were happy to take some great photos and hopefully be included in some other folks pics also.

Some nice scenery in this part of the country, down along the Canyon Loop

This fellow was watching a Road Runner on the ground, who was probably watching a lizard

Of course no ride in the Tucson area is complete without a photo of some Saguaro's. There are a lot of them down here and they make for beautiful pictures, but something I have never seen before was this Crested Barrel Cactus.

Found along the cutoff from the 50 Year Trail to the Sutherland Trail

And what is a beautiful background without beautiful subjects.

Teresa Rogers and Brenda along the Sutherland Trail

Well that catches you up with our travels and adventures to date and I will try to keep things a little more current from now on.