Trails to Ride.......

This past Saturday lived up to all my expectations and much much more! I awoke earlier than I do for work during the week and began getting my stuff out to the truck and trailer. Chad got up with me and was a huge help also. A big thanks to Nee Nee (Chad's Mom) for keeping the girls on Friday night so we had no little ones to contend with - but they probably would have slept right thru me leaving as early as it was. I didn't leave or get up quite as early as Chad does for fishing tournaments but I had a little drive ahead of me similar to some of his fishing trips. (Our exit was actually the Lay Dam exit!) At any rate, Chad helped me load Hannah up and I think the high temperature on Saturday had been reached when we were loading up at 6:00 a.m....with the humidity and 65 degree temperature, I was "glistening" (HA!) as I left for the first leg of the drive. The temperature would only continue to drop as the day passed and it dropped rapidly. The first leg of the drive meant a quick detour off of 65 South onto 459 North to pick up Kristan and her horse Foxy, who I had "met" on an MSN message board, AL/GA Horse Lovers. I have jokingly called it my "blind date"...now I have told everyone that my blind date went well and I think we may "go out again". She was super nice, so easy to talk to and not a "weirdo"! That's just a joke...since her husband had asked her how did she know I'm not a total weirdo? and she said, how does SHE know I'm not a total weirdo! I told Chad he ends up in his boat with a total stranger everytime he fishes a BFL tournament as they have to draw for a partner and is most always someone he doesn't know....then they are in a boat from daybreak to 3:00pm fishing together. In my case and his, you are at least with someone you know you share one common interest with and for both of us those "interests" are something we are very passionate about. With that in mind, it's easy to make friends in those settings that you might not make in a different setting. So, I had a great time meeting Kristan and was glad to have some company for the ride to Clanton. Kristan and I headed to Clanton and got there with time to spare! The place was absolutely beautiful. It's called Creek Valley and the owner, Les Hope, was a super host. You can see my day's pictures in my shutterfly album. Take a look, Creek Valley was a beautiful place to take in and spend the morning....the Outback Riders gathered for a quick meeting and then they split up into a couple of groups. We went with the slow group and started our trip. I was quickly in my "la la land" as it has jokingly been referred to.....when I get on the trails, it's like nothing else is going on. It's so peaceful and just a great time to clear your head. But we were in a good size group and I stayed in check as much as possible. Hannah was doing great and wasn't letting anything bother her other than she was playing with her bit for most of the ride. Pretty soon, we found ourselves at one of the first hills on the trail. The next thing I knew the riders in front were all-out running their horses up this hill. I am totally not accustomed to that because the guided trail rides at the barn do not allow people to run their horses. I have to say, the first time up was a little shocking and I was wide awake by the time we got to the top....but I couldn't wait to do it again.....and we did - again and again and again! Poor Hannah will probably never want to get back on the trailer again. She and I are so out of shape and several others were commenting that their horses weren't ready for that either. Well, I want to keep Hannah and shape and I can't wait to do it again. When we got back to camp, we ate lunch and they were going out again. Kristan and I had decided our morning ride would be it for that day and we were going to load up. Several others were going to call it a day as well. The temperature was rapidly dropping from the morning temperatures we met when we first began. Earlier that morning, I was SWEATING as we loaded up and suddenly we were freezing! Back at camp, I saw the owner again and he asked me what trail we went on.....I told him that I thought we went out on the yellow trail and came back on the red trail. In a questioning tone, he said "I don't know how y'all did that....well, if you did you would have been up and down, up and down (doing his hands like a roller coaster and shaking his head)" I said - We Were! and I just laughed. It was absolutely the most fun I have ever had riding. I am looking forward to going back as soon as possible. This weekend we have a ride at our old barn where we used to board. I am keeping my 11 month old nephew this weekend so my Mom is going to go with us so we can all ride and keep James Adam. Next weekend, I plan on going to KC Ranch in Double Springs with the Outback Riders Club and am shooting to ride on Dec 2 back at Creek Valley. A view of the pavilion and one of the ponds My trailer and Yukon on the right and miles to ride out in front! Me and my dirty but good girl Hannah! Group taking a break on the trail!