A Perfect Vacation

I just returned from one of the best vacations in my life.  I took my horse, Indira, and rode in Big Bend State Park with two friends.  We had a guide, Armando, and he led us on one of the most challenging rides of my life.  We rode along narrow trails with sheer drop offs. We had lunch in a creek bed with high walls providing shade.  We rode through a movie set.  It was like stepping back in time 100 years.

The next day we went to the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine, Texas.  I was amazed at the talent.  They recited the poems from memory and some of them were 10-15 minutes long.  The music was original and from people who really experience life on a ranch.  That night we met friends from Utopia and had dinner at the Reata.  It was good food, good wine, good company.

We rode in Big Bend National Park the next day.  It was a bit windy but Indira did well. I love riding with friends that enjoy their horses and being outdoors.  We sang How Great Thou Art as we rode along and my heart was happy.  We rode for several miles until we found a cut off to a primitive campsite near the Rio Grande.  We found shade under a mesquite tree and had our lunch there.  We walked the horses down to the river to water them.  It is so quiet and isolated.  It is the desert and you don't even see or hear a bird.

Our final full day was very windy so we made the decision not to ride.  Wise choice, as Indira ran circles in her pen like a crazy horse.  June and I drove to the Chisos Basin in Big Bend and hiked up to the Window.  It is almost a 1000 ft. climb from the beginning of the trail but it was worth it.  You can see for 100 miles when you make it to the window.

That evening God gave us the best view of the full moon from the deck of the house we stayed in.  It rose over the mountains and it was the perfect way to end a perfect vacation.

From a quiet to a busy week

I have spent this Sunday at home and quiet.  Spoken to two people on the phone but otherwise it has been silent with just the tick of the clock.  Can't say I have too many days like this but felt like I needed it.  Time to recharge, to just settle, to think.  I have to admit I feel a tinge of guilt because I'm not "doing something".  Tomorrow will be here and I have a week full of "doing" so I'm resting.  That is what Sundays are suppose to be about anyways.

I don't really care about football so there won't be any super bowl party here.  I am going to water the garden, take a walk and tend to the animals.  I will be driving 9 hours tomorrow to North Texas to recruit at West Texas A&M.  Last year when I made that trip I went with Stephen and we hiked the Palo Duro Canyon.  It was beautiful.

I made tamales with some friends on Friday.  It was for the Laurel Tree Restaurant and they were gourmet tamales.  We made two kinds, shrimp and chili chicken.  I can't wait to try them.  Laurel was going to steam them and she will bring me some when we do stained glass at my place.  I'm so thankful for new opportunities to do things and spend time with friends.  It makes life fun.

Yesterday, I went to a horse auction in Round Mountain with my friend, Erika.  We found a horse we liked and decided on a price we would pay.  We have a good eye because the horse we liked sold for more money than any other horse.  Like thousands more!  Needless to say we came home with no horse.  I had to leave my horse trailer with my Uncle because the axial was out of alignment and it had ruined one of my tires.  I'm hoping he can fix it and I'll pick it up next weekend when I am over there for the North American Trail Riders Conference.

My cousin, Judy, has a daughter named Brooke that is horse crazy.  She is 10 years old and I am taking her to a clinic for youth riders next Saturday.  I have to share this horse bug with everyone I can.  I remember when Ryan and Blake were 10 years old and they did a ride or two with me.  Good times, camping and riding.  Looking at the stars, sitting around a fire, just letting the peace of it all soak in.

I leave for Terlingua the end of this month.  It will be a week long vacation for me with two other ladies and our horses.  I haven't done anything quiet like this before but it fits right in with what I enjoy doing so I think I'll like it.  I'll have a new saddle and hopefully a fixed trailer by then.  Lots to look forward to.  I was reading a book called Everything this morning and I really liked what it said, "God beckons us always forward, onward and upward."  I pray that each of us opens the eyes of our heart to see and then we have the courage to step forward.  HAPPY TRAILS!