Shades of Gray ~

Farah's Saddlebred pose :-)

Incredibly strange weather pattern.  Low barometric pressure - so quiet, no air moving - water on the lake almost still.  Birds were quiet, no animals about.

Lake Murray NW

It never did rain or even drizzle, temperature in the mid-60's.  Actually - to me - the perfect riding weather!  We call this "Summer"?

Our Ride - North

Linda & I did a beautiful ten-mile loop leaving from her house.  All on trails - no road - lots of walking at a nice 4-mph pace.   We only saw two hikers as we neared the trailer parking area.  Farah refused the the narrow bridge, I walked her across.  The next one, she followed Count & crossed nice & straight.  Great ride!  Erie day!

Day at the Races!

Snowbound Marquita into the home stretch!

It was a perfect day to go to the Races!  Sunshine, mid-70's, blue skies, those fluffy white clouds I love - & a light breeze!  Butch & I took Dean up on his offer to enjoy an afternoon at the track.  He had two horses running in the 8th race.  Marquita led all the way to the homestretch, when she faded & took second.   No complaints!

So much fun watching such beautiful, fit animals do what they love to do!  Run!

Dean's horse heads to the track!

The last race of the day was the most thrilling.  With a big dark bay colt fighting every inch of the way to win!  He had his neck stretched out - ears pinned back & that I'm going to win it No Matter What look as he crossed the wire - first by a nose!  Very impressive performance by a 2-year old!

The Winner!

We finished up the day with Greek style pizza & salad! 

Another Ride in the Woods~

Our ride~

Khari actually stood & let me halter her up!  Guess taking Farah has bent her out of shape!  :-)  Good!  She was more than ready to go with me!  I met Joyce about 2 p.m. at the Bracken Tree Farm.  The day was really warming up & humidity was up too!   Ms.Trail Boss led us out & into the woods!  It was so cool & shady, but the sun was strong enough to light up even the darkest areas.  We did some very technical trails that neither of us had been on in a very long time.  Long, twisty ups, long, twisty downs.  The nicest thing about it - was that the trails, for the most part - were DRY!  The horses had such Great footing!  They could actually dig in & get traction for the steepest climb!  So nice after months & months of slippery mud! 

Joyce & Annie on the far side of the new bridge!

We found ourselves in places going around the edges of the farm. I now have the "idea" of riding all the way around the perimeter & getting the results on my GPS.  Would be nice to be able to overlay the trails too - but that takes more software than I have available!
No worry over obstacles with Khari, after years of trail work, but of course we again worked on the spooking.  Rode every stride & manged to get through it without even ONE big spook!  A few small ones, but she actually felt my boots on her sides hard enough for her to grunt when she tried it coming off the shaded trails into a clearing!  Guess what?  She kept on going forward & gave up the snorty, blowy spook!  :-)

First Ride of August!

A clear blue sky day!

Linda & I finally managed to schedule a ride!  We've only been riding together for about 20 - years now, so you'd think it would get easier!  Not!  Busy schedules etc. try to interfere with our fun.  No one knows the Victoria trails better than Linda.  She's been clearing them & making them for longer than I've known her.  She used to set-up & manage two-day 100-mile Competitive Trail rides here.  They were TOUGH!  To win usually took a ten-hour ride time each day!

Farah admires the view of the sound~

I rode Farah & as usual when confronted with new surroundings & trails - she was a trooper!  Really enjoying the day, the company (she was in season & Count is Handsome) & the new experience.  Our only problem continues to be ditches.  Didn't want to work on that in a particularly muddy one, so we just took a different trail.  Her first time at the Monument, no spooking at the Big Sliver thing!  :-)

Linda & I had brought "lunch" so enjoyed the seat & admired the views.  My big disappointment, was to find cigarette butts at the base of the seat!  There's no smoking on the Tree Farm...  gee - I wonder why?  But of course people think they are above any rules.  To leave the mess though - at the foot of a memorial - is just more than I can STAND!  The next person I see smoking up there will take the brunt of my fury!  I picked them up of course & zip-locked them so that my saddle bag wouldn't stink on the ride back.

We headed back to Linda's after about four hours - didn't seem that long!

Willie Nelson!

Willie in Concert!

Just about the luckiest lady around this weekend!  On Sat. at the Lake Stevens Aqua Fest Parade, we ran into my x-employer & our good friends;  Dave, Debbie, Lee & Patti!  Dave had two second row tickets to see Willie Nelson at Snoqualmie!   After purchasing the tickets way in advance - they found that the date conflicted with other plans that day!  One ticket was open!  I jumped at the chance!

I'd enjoyed Willie's music, but really can't say that I was a die-hard "fan"... Until Now!  Seeing the entertainer in person, so "up-close & personal" was an incredible experience.  The man radiates an incredible warmth & charisma.   Then...  there's his music!  I have NOT seen such amazing guitar playing - EVER!  His voice resonates with the deep, scratchy rumble that his long-time fans know & love. 

Such contact with his audience~

The Snoqualmie Casio was the perfect venue to see such an amazing performer & the weather could not have been finer!  I feel very guilty for not offering my husband the seat...  but next time we will be sure that he goes!   Seattle Weekly article -  Dave & I get our photo in the "local" paper :-)

Connie & Dave