Diesel

There's a horse for sale that is very much like Kahlua -- nice, calm, broke to the nines, etc.  Went and met him today, but we weren't able to ride, as it was slippery just walking around.  He's 18 years old, grulla/white QH.  He's got quite a history on him ... but I'll get it straight from his owner and then talk about it.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to being able to ride him and have my farrier check him out to see if he would be a smart addition to my place. 

A Day with Dean

My neighbor, Dean, called me up and wanted to go for a ride on the other side of the river.  I jumped at the chance.  He is a wealth of information and a joy to listen to him talk.  He knows this area like the back of his hand and I cannot tell you how much I've learned from him.  Anyway, there was some snow on the ground, and I wasn't able to go horseback riding that day, so going with a personal tour guide to scout it for future rides was a great idea!

We went down 12th St., past Cleo's, over the river and hung a right.  Went out to Sommercamp Rd., hung a left and began our trek.  On the right side, there was a house ... seemingly normal ... until we got a better look at it.

What are all those ... oh wow!

The water in this pond is warm.  We were right near Givens Hot Springs.  Funny how the ducks all found it.

I've been here.  I've ridden along the foothills, but never straight up that road.   That's either Coyote Creek or Hardtrigger.  I'll find out.

Elephant Butte on the right there.  I didn't take photos of this area for some reason.  You drop down into some gorgeous territory on the left, I've ridden there before.  Steep mountain to go over, and Dean tells me you drop down into that beautiful ranch that you can see from the highway on the other side.  So there's another trip I'll do this summer.

Sommercamp Road where we hit Highway 95 (obviously).

We hung a right, and then a left on Poison Creek.  Passed by Jump Creek.

See that road?  I'm not sure where that goes, but I'd like to find out.

And here's the start of the road to Poison Creek.   There's the old Poison Creek Stage Station, which is actually listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, but what it doesn't tell you, is that there used to be abortions performed here when abortion was illegal here.

A place to park the trailers before that stage stop.  This will work.

We went through Marsing, where Dean showed me a couple of the houses he used to live in and where all the little widows lived.  Told me some stories that made me laugh!

We, of course, had to stop at the watering hole for a drink or two.

The nice warm stove ... but I never saw the little things on the rail before.

Dean found Joy (now there's an oxymoron if I ever saw one) and sidled up to her. 

 

And here's Janet, the best bartender!

Dean's friend, Frank, came over to visit ... and I was able to get a couple of photos of them as well.

These two ... I don't know about these two.  Couple of wild and crazy guys.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed spending an afternoon with one of my favorite people!  I hope to do it again soon.

J

Cool Stuff

Had a bit of snow the other day.  Love it.  Wish there was lots more of it!

Jaenne came over to visit for a while.  Fun seeing her!  And right after she left, I had a visitor.  Well ... the trees across the street did.  The little magpie was pissed, apparently.

Still getting used to this camera, but I am impressed with the zoom on this little thing.  If I had a tripod, this would have been really neat.

And my front yard. 

Celebration Park

Rode out at Celebration Park on Saturday with Karen.  Fun ride!  I'd like to eventually ride from Celebration Park all the way down to Swan Falls.  I love how peacefully and quietly the river just meanders through the hills.  Could watch it all day. 

See that rock thing above?  That's a dwelling built by the Chinese I believe back in the mining days.  I am going to look up the history on it.  There's several of these structures still around, but this one was largely still intact, surprisingly.

Here's an excellent depiction of how well Kahlua stands around waiting for me.  I drop the reins and she stands solid as a rock, never moving a muscle until I tell her to.  I know she looks like she's walking off on me ... but no no ... not Ms. Perfect Horse. 

I love her new headstall.  Yeah, I know it's hard to see because it's black.  That's what I love about it, besides the quality of the leather and workmanship done by J-J Leather, Jeff Attebery out of Fruitland.

And here's Karen!  She's so much fun to ride with!