Quiet, Hazy Day Ride~

Farah hears some;thing :-)

Butch was busy at home,  I managed to squeeze in another ride with Lynn.  This time at Lord Hill.  The day started out sunny, but within a short while, we could actually see a haze move across the trails.  Very high humidity too, with the river so close.  It didn't take much trotting to work up a sweat.  There were families hiking on the trails, ladies walking, more people on foot than we'd seen in a while there.

At the River~

We headed down to the river, thinking that we'd all cool off, but the "beach" was still under water!  It was Aug. last year last time I'd been here with Lynn & we'd waded the horses in - so still a month or so to go.

Our Route~

Covering most of the park, we rode about ten-miles & called it good.  I've about worn this set of shoes off Farah's feet.  Called the farrier to ask about moving our scheduled appointment up a week.  Fingers crossed he'll fit us in! 

Biking on the Trail~

Grandson Ben & our bikes!

The Bronco is way more used to having the horse trailer on the back than a bike rack!  But with Ben visiting for a couple days, we thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce him to the Centennial Trail! 

Ben & his BMX

The "tradition" has been created, to start all trail "newbies" under the arch in Snohomish.  The day started out hazy, but it was pretty warm & we started off at a nice pace, Ben well out in the lead!

Ben leads the way~

Ben didn't expect to see any other BMX bikes out there, but as we moved north, two boys passed us going toward Snohomish - both riding bikes similar to Ben's.  It's an uphill grade, so before long...

The bikes needed a rest~ :-)

We sat for a while on the bench overlooking the Pilchuck River - what a perfect way to spend a morning?  We continued on, Ben asked if we had any particular destination?   Not really - a little further up we saw a Bald Eagle!

He's the white spot, 1/3rd of the way up from the grass in the frame

At just under five-miles we crossed Machias Rd. & could see the roof of Machias Station up ahead!  That looked like a good stopping point to us both!  Ben showed me some of the tricks he can do with that bike!  We decided to start back & Ben wanted to switch bikes.  OK, I was game...  after less than 100 ft. - my respect for Grandson Ben leaped up several notches!   Talk about Hard to Ride!  Wow!  Effort expended is Huge!  Especially when the boys don't even sit on the seats~!  Good kid that he is - we switched back!  Our round-trip even with me forgetting to turn the GPS back on after our break, was over ten-miles.

On the way back, we had a little "head-wind" - but also the downhill grade, so made good time!  Enough good time that we headed for the bakery!  A cup of soup & sandwich hit the spot!

At home, we did chores & waited for Butch to get home so that the three of us could go riding again!  This time we decided to leave from Haller Park in Arlington & head north over the bridge.  It was just a stellar evening - birds singing, people friendly & blue evening sky.

Ben & Butch on the Haller Bridge

Ben & I were a bit worn...  I was anyway!  So we decided on the Bryant Store as our destination stop.   Ben was again staying Way out in front of the two of us!   He has No gears though!  It was about 3-miles of beautiful trail to the bench at the Bryant trail-head.   The bikes were complaining - so after another short break, we were headed back, with dinner on our minds!

Butch & Ben under the arch~

On our way we stopped for a photo under the arch!  Once back at the park, Ben did some swinging while we loaded the bikes.  Another 6-mile ride!  So, on Ben's first time on the trail, he rode that BMX well over 17-miles!  What a kid!  Someday...  want to be able to ride the Whitehorse trail all the way to Darrington!  I think I'll take Farah!!!  :-)

Parade Pony~

We head for the Parade Route

What a Spectacular Day for a Easter Parade!  No nicer old-fashioned town than Snohomish to enjoy it!  Butch was busy helping with the work involved in having over fifteen horses going through a downtown at maximum capacity with spectators lining the streets!  So... didn't have time to take photos.

Farah & Bella!  Photo by Janelle

Janelle, did her usual fantastic job at organizing,  this Saddle-up event, watching her running up front ahead of the horses, giving a loud whistle - to alert all the throngs of people that we were coming through was impressive!  Once up onto the main street, we again moved down to a quiet area by the river to wait until the signal from another volunteer - that it was time to move into our place in the procession.  As I've experienced before with Jas, that first view of a street lined with so many people was a real shock to Farah!  When the the horse next to us, started having issues - we found our friends Dena & Bella & just moved over during one of  our drill-team maneuvers to pair up with them :-) 

Our route through town, also where we started our CT ride on Thursday.

Many thanks to my friend Joyce, owner of Seamstress Unlimited - for sewing Farah's rump rug & paddle pad cover!  Also to my cousin Jackie of Quilter's Fix in Sheridan, WY for finding the bandana fabric - our Saddle-Up logo!  As always - a Huge thank you to my husband, the very best horse husband in the world!

Lord Hill Ride~

Lord Hill GPS

Lord Hill Regional Park - I hadn't ridden there in years!  Since the day - Liz - you will remember the day - when you, Butch & I went riding.  Don't want to even think about how many years that's been.  Strange too, since it's just a 20-mile drive from home!  With the downed tree, we didn't get to make the loop that my friends, more familiar with the park had planned.  Nonetheless - we did cover a few miles.  It was wet, slippery in places - but over all, not a bad place at all to inhale the smells of a really nice summer day.  When we split up to take different approaches to the outlook - the other two of our party saw two beautiful doe's! 

Looking out~

After talking to Liz yesterday, I hesitated in correcting Farah for her jump over the small ditch with running water...  It was a smoother jump than usual - but she had less distance to cover!  :-)  Cato - the man - walked right across like a gentleman - but Farah refused to follow his lead.   We did enjoy some side-by-side walking without incident & Farah has really improved when following other horses.  Now... it's time for her very overdue bath!