Riding in the car

Anybody else follow Equestrian Ink? Mugwump's post reminded me of something I used to do growing up - and I still do it occasionally even now. Any guesses as to what?

I won't keep you in suspense.

When I wasn't happily turning pages - yes, I'm one of those annoying people who can read absolutely anywhere, including the back of a big yellow bus bouncing down a dirt road without getting the slightest bit sick - I was staring out the window, imagining myself galloping along over whatever terrain we happened to be driving past.

The color of the horses I rode varied through the years - I think a blue roan with a flowing, jet black mane and tail was my mount of choice for a long time after I read Zane Grey's Valley of the Wild Horses, and there were bays, steel grays, sorrels and buckskins now and then. I don't remember every daydreaming paints or palaminos, though - too much white to keep clean of grass stains and mud, even in my imagination - or possibly, there just weren't too many nice specimens of either around where I happened to be? Whatever the reason, my imaginary horses were usually more earth-toned than not.

These days my out-the-window mount is most often a bright red chestnut - he has the requisite flowing mane and tail, and if he's on the round side and not terribly tall, he suits me just fine. Of course, in my fantasies, Sunny's usually a bit more cooperative....

How about you? Did you/do you daydream in technicolor about sailing across ditches and charging up hillsides while the wheels turn round?

Rain delay excursion

I had to take a trip up north for work last week. Coming home I took the back roads just for fun. (It's still a huge novelty for me to have more than one way to get anywhere - and the whole roads-laid-out-in-a-one-mile-grid thing? Fabulous! It's really hard to get lost.)

Anyway, I was within a few miles or so of home but coming at it from a direction I don't ordinarily when I stumbled on this really cool trestle bridge. One lane only, over a pretty little creek winding along between some photogenic bluffs.

Since it was raining, thundering and lightening-ing close enough to delay the football game for about half an hour this afternoon, what better time to revisit the bridge and take pictures? Yes, I'm that silly on occasion. But see if it wasn't worth it!



That last picture? T was driving. He, of course, wouldn't get out of the truck, but thought I might like a nice stroll in the rain, so let the truck idle slowly up the road while I fooled with the camera.... I will get him for that later!

SD goes to Michigan

How short, and yet how sweet one week can be. Friday before last at almost exactly 10 PM we had the truck loaded and the kids buckled into the back seat. Stops at the post office, the bank, and the gas station accomplished, we headed out for Upper Michigan to spend a week pinballing between the big lakes, visiting my folks, fishing, and indulging in other (sadly) non-horsey activities.

Sunrise in Wisconsin

It's a long drive, and longer with all of us - why is it that pit-stops are never necessary simultaneously? But the sunrise in Wisconsin was beautiful. Right before I took this we passed a loaded cattle truck which appeared to have completely missed a curve and "emergency stopped" across the oncoming lane into a small stand of trees. I'm guessing from the lack of skid marks that the driver fell asleep. Thankfully, although the underneath of the engine compartment had to be shredded, the cab was undamaged, the driver was out and moving around and the cargo appeared to be upright, as well. The state police were on scene and everything was well in hand, so we didn't stop to offer assistance.

This year we were just in time for some beautiful ripe blueberries and even the mosquitoes and swarms of deer flies couldn't keep us from picking. (I've been reading all those jam and jelly descriptions Latigo Liz over at Cowgirl Up has been posting with my mouth watering, so I'm looking forward to trying my hand at some wild blueberry jam.)

Wild Blueberries
(well, these particular ones were black...)

The kids and T fished in Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and most successfully in MacDonald Lake right down the road from my folks.

Fishing at Grand Marais (Lake Superior)

"If I don't look at it, I'm safe..."

Some of us weren't as excited about all the water - my mom's Belgian, Yancy, thought it was just fine staying dry, thank you very much!

Yancey on alert

She was much more entertained keeping watch over the rustling bushes while they fished off the dam at MacDonald Lake.

The Moving Wall, the half size replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall, was in Manistique while we were there, and we took the opportunity to stop and pay our respects. It was very moving, no pun intended. Although I've visited the real thing, it's incredibly touching to hear the hush and see the tokens left by survivors and their families.

At the Moving Wall

We also visited the Eva Burrell Animal Shelter (a.k.a the Humane Society of Schoolcraft County) and played with the kittens for a while. My folks volunteer, and it's always fun to see the animals. I usually try to help on their day when I'm home, but the kids hadn't been yet. M had a great time with the kittens, but we'd agreed beforehand that we couldn't take one home with us - not only would Mabel and Snowball have objections, but 14 hours in a truck, not to mention two days camping across Wisconsin with a kitten.... Not gonna happen this trip!

Adorable, or what?

Can't say enough good things about the shelter, though. Like all shelters, they end up with a lot of dumped animals nobody wants, or people can't afford to keep. Not enough spay and neuter, and with the economy what it is, lots of older, hard to place pets. They make a great effort to get everything successfully and responsibly re-homed.

Sunset over MacDonald Lake

Unfortunately, after many long walks, gorgeous sunsets, lots of wonderful meals, happy hours of fishing and hysterical games of golf (the card game, not the ball & stick variety), our trip had to come to an end.

Now that we're home it's laundry, school planning, and lots of memories to file away.

Places I'd love to ride...

I drove out to Pierre Wednesday for a meeting and T and the kids went along for the ride since they've never been. Rather than come back the same way as always, south along Hwy 83 to I-90, we took Hwy 34 all the way across to 37, and then down.


View Larger Map

I would absolutely LOVE to ride some of that country! I took pictures, but unfortunately, they don't do it justice. While I've been lucky enough in past years to ride in the Medicine Creek area (Medicine Creek Ranch, now owned by the Ness Family), the landscape north of the Missouri is equally spectacular.

We had rain on the way...
And haze on the way back... Now wouldn't this be prettier from horseback?Other places I'd love to ride: Ireland, Australia, Iceland... I keep drooling over the pony trekking articles, but unless I win the lottery, I figure I'd better dream a bit closer to home for now. North and West River SD is probably doable!