Cowboy Take Me Away

I awoke very early this morning with the nervous excitement of a little kid on Christmas. Today was the day of the horse! It was finally the day that I would spend my morning with a cowboy (are they still called that in Oregon?) and a couple of horses, meandering through the forest and along the river, as I had arranged a private ride. Breezy was the name of the trusty mare that would carry me on this part of my journey. Tim was the name of my personal cowboy. He was a handsome (quite adorable, in fact) guy about my age, and, as it turns out, a former Kindergarten teacher. Even after talking with him I couldn't figure out how one goes from being a Kindergarten teacher to a full time cowboy. I would love my career path to include living on a farm, riding horses and raising all sorts of animals (especially cute little goats). I guess in the mean time 5th grade will have to do. Anyways, the ride was extremely relaxing as we chatted and took in the scenery. There were good opportunities for viewing wildlife, including a fawn and it's mother, many ground squirrels (which look like mini prairie dogs), and red tailed hawks perched along the trail. We were able to trot and even canter a bit since I was considered an experienced rider, in hours spent on horseback only, I have no idea what I am doing! It has been about 5 years since I've last ridden, but it was super easy to get right back into the swing of it...just like riding a bike...a huge, living, breathing bike---with a mind of it's own. No big deal. The horses were neck reined, which means you only need one hand to "steer". This is a welcome change from horses I've ridden in the past where you need to have both hands on the reins.

Sleepy horses...

After my ride I was able to hang around the stables for a bit and watch the horses...who were sleeping! They hadn't even been out on rides yet! When I arrived in the morning the horses were being led from the pasture where they had been over night, to the corrals by the stables. They ate a little breakfast, then some of them proceeded to take a nap! My kind of horses!

Sadly, it was time to head back to the house to pack and get ready to say goodbye to Sunriver and hello to Portland. I really enjoyed my time in Sunriver, and wish I could stay for quite a long time. I will definitely return. My travel companion for this leg of the trip was Sir Grumpy. It was a beautiful 4 hour drive through the mountains. We even passed through Detroit along the way....Detroit, Oregon that is!

Grumpy

Upon arriving in Beaverton (our Portland area destination...Aunt Karen's house) I had a few glorious hours of down time. I slyly procured the latest edition of People Magazine from the mailbox and grabbed a chair on the deck. Now, I don't often read magazines like People, but when I find a copy around I tend to find them very entertaining. This one was no different. One of two gems that really cracked me up was that Snoop Dogg is now Snoop Lion (???), which I really just don't understand at all (probably a good thing for my IQ).Perhaps I should just change my name every now and then for the heck of it??? The other is that Kim Kardashian named her baby North....with the last name of West....North West....really?!?! Come on! Clearly I'm not current on any of this, as I seem to be the only one who wasn't aware of either of these atrocities. I should have taken a nap.

I have mentioned before that I do not like to fly. Watching footage of the recent plane crash in San Francisco is not helping at all. Tonight on the news they showed a statistic, that if you are sitting in the rear of the plane you are 40% more likely to survive a crash. Well, that's just great....I actually paid more to sit right up in the front of the plane on my flight home Monday night....paid more for the unsafe seats....makes total sense. I am sure it will be just fine, and if it's not, hopefully I'll be sound asleep!

The highlight of the evening was a visit from my Nana, whom I have not seen in a very long time (more than a year). I had the luxury of meeting her new boyfriend, Dave. He was super nice, but having heard a few stories this weekend (not blog appropriate), it was a little awkward.

The night ended perfectly with a little fire in the fire pit, a little Frank Sinatra (Uncle Steve's choice), and a little target practice off the back porch....just soda cans, no animals were harmed in the making of this blog...

One more glorious day of vacation!!!