Horsin' Around!

Yesterday was another fun and relaxing day that ended with a happy hour at Lorie and Harold's.  They had a 'going home' party for some of their friends who will be leaving soon to head home.  Lots of really great people here and we are fortunate to be able to meet a whole lot of them and take part in the going home parties.

Today we got an early start to head to Tuscon for more exploring.  We chatted with friends and family on the phone, who were having a snow day due to lots of snow and school closures.  I gotta tell you....we are not missing those commutes!  We buzzed down I-10 and did a little shopping along the way.  We stopped at Costco and decided to have lunch there.

In the food line (which is outside by the way), I saw this lady ahead in the line, who looked from the back,  like one of my bridge buddies from many  years ago.  I hollered, "Ina" and sure enough it was her!  Almost all of my bridge friends are now down in Green Valley and enjoying the warmth and sunshine of Arizona in the winter.  What a small world!  My work colleagues always used to be amazed when these type of encounters took place!  I always seem to run into someone I know!  My mom says my grandpa had  the same knack.  Ina invited me to Green Valey for brunch on Friday with the girls.  I probably won't go because it would be a 4 hour round trip and we plan to leave early Saturday morning.  It was still really fun to catch up with her and hear about everyone!

Off we headed to have our afternoon Living Social trail ride.  Just in time, some high clouds covered the skies so the heat of  the day wasn't too harsh.  We traveled about 6 miles through the desert on a bumpy dirt road to get to the ranch. Fortunately we had directions from the ranch because the GPS did not show any roads.  

I mean this was the REAL desert with nothing around or insight except prickly cacti, palo verde trees, things with lots of needles and mountains.  The desert is really beautiful and takes on many faces with the sun, clouds, and  time of day.  We finally got to the ranch and were greeted by about 6 dogs of all varieties, our horses and trail guide.  We were the only ones for the sunset ride...nice!

It was a fun ride through the serenity and quiet of the desert.  The only wildlife we saw was a bunch of cows that the dogs taunted.  The dogs all hunted and traveled with us across the desert, on trails and washes.  They were amazing...they were all over the desert sniffing and hunting and then would come back to the trail limping with parts of cacti sticking out of lips and peds.    One dog went for about 1/2 mile at a really fast pace on three legs!  The guide says the dogs will not let anyone take the cactus prickles out.  Somehow, they figure out how to get them out and continue on.

My horse was a gentle soul who desperately needed a good brushing to shed his winter coat.  He was a thirty-four year old Mustang named Hawk, who knew the trail better than the 20 something trail guide!  Even Hoppy got a  ride on Hawk for Xochitl's picture of the day.

Gil's horse was a little more spunky and named 'Wes'.  It was a fun afternoon and we settled our dust  and stiff legs and bums with margaritas and some good TexMex food.  The waitress presented the check and said she was 'comping' our meals and only charging us for the drinks because it took too long to get the food to us.  We didn't think the time was excessive because the place was so busy.  Love Macayo's in Casa Grande!  How nice was that surprise?

The big green bush is rosemary that grows in huge bushes in our RV park!  Always fresh and handy.  Another fun day has come to an end.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!