Days Like These~

Haze moving in off the Ocean

I had a friend say something about "Camping out & having adventures, instead of riding large loops in the same place all the time."   That the "same trails" were boring!   That really gave me pause...  I'm all for camping out & having adventures, heck - we sometimes have more than one adventure a week!   We've done our share of camping & if Butch had even more time than the generous vacation that he gets each year, we'd probably do more...  But - & It's a Big one - I never knock anyone who gets in saddle time - be it in their own backyard, on a familiar trail or out in "adventure land".  Boring is not a word that I'd connect with riding.  I ride for the joy of the ride & I feel lucky to find that joy each time I swing a leg over Farah's back.

Ride from the 8th in black, today in Red

If I could pick a favorite riding area to have close to home, Victoria would be "it"!  The diversity is astounding, the climbs can be short & steep, or long & steady.  There's space!  The space to allow a horse to gallop & gallop & even gallop some more!   Then - of course there's the views!  We are so lucky that Mr. Hauberg was as far sighted as he was, in allowing the public to use his private forested land & that the tree farms still allow us access.   There's nothing "boring" about the trails here.  I'm sure many riders would be more than happy to trade their limited trail access with ours.

One of those "boring" views that I never tire of~

No, there's something about being outdoors, being in the mountains, where I feel closest to the earth - our home - blue/green & glowing.  Orbiting around a small sun - in a large cosmos where I am but a tiny, short lived being, who enjoys the incredible luck of having these wide open spaces near in both time, space & my heart.