Ride Between The Rivers AKA The Best Vacation: Friday

As the sun began to peek over the hills, so did Wyatt's eyes. It wasn't surprising since he always wakes up super early and I also wake up with the sun when camping. I don't understand how people sleep in when outdoors.

Everyone else in camp was still sound asleep, so we tried to keep Wyatt to a dull roar as he did his normal morning ritual of singing, reading books and playing with his toys. Eventually we headed outside for breakfast. Sarah joined us. Apparently she doesn't like honey nut Cheerios as she turned her nose up when Wyatt offered to share his cereal with her. It actually hurt his feelings and he just couldn't understand why she wouldn't slurp up the soggy cereal and milk like his dogs do at home.

Sarah always joined us for all our meals throughout the weekend. You can clearly see what she thought of her companions!

By the time we had eaten and cleaned up, the sun was getting warmer and the grass was starting to dry off from the heavy morning dew. Wyatt climbed into this hiking backpack and requested, well more like demanded, a hike. Einstein was needing to blow off some steam and I was ready to show Dusty the trails Liz and I had explored on horseback the day before.

Just as we were heading away from camp, Liz emerged from her tent. Breakfast was calling her name and she needed to check in with management to see what help they needed, so she declined our offer and we parted ways for a bit. I was thankful Dusty was carrying Wyatt on his back as the climb out of camp was worse on my own two feet. When we hit the gravel road we turned right to follow the yellow loop and retrace Griffin's and Q's steps.

We ambled down the gravel road with Einstein playing ahead of us and zig zagging up the steep hills that shoot off from the road. About 1.5 miles later Dusty spied a trail offshoot to the left that went up the hill. He turned an evil grin on me and disappeared up the trail. I cursed his insanity and followed behind.

The trail went up. Up. Up. Up. I was convinced there was no top, but followed along behind my boys as we climbed the rutted and steep trail. While it seemed to be 5 miles long, the top was really only a mile away. Once there, we both looked around in great anticipation of a wonderful view and instead saw trees. Lots and lots of trees. The tree cover was too dense to see any sweeping views, so we turned around and headed back down.

Once Wyatt realized we were done climbing and instead onto the fun part of going down, he wiggled and squirmed until we got him out of the pack. He hiked the entire way down and then all the way back to camp. The hike ended up taking 3 hours and was about 5 miles in length, so the little man hiked 2.5 miles on his own two tiny legs. We were both very proud.

Liz greeted us back in camp. She was waiting on two friends to show up and thought we could swim in the afternoon and then ride before dinner. Dusty, Wyatt and I made lunch and by the time we had cleaned up her friends had arrived. Once again, Sarah joined us for lunch, but turned down Wyatt's offer to share his hot dog.

Camp started to get a little busier Friday morning and would fill up throughout the day.

Shortly after, Dusty took Wyatt into the tent to torture him get him to nap. He never did. In fact he screamed bloody murder for nearly 30 minutes while I ignored him and Liz cringed. I knew hearing me talking outside wasn't helping matters and her friends were all set up, so we decided to hop on bareback and play in the field.

A few minutes later I was itching to explore the blue trail and I asked Liz if we could just tack up and hit the trails. l riding on a 5 year old gelding I just met bareback. She readily agreed. Liz, Dan, Orion and I all climbed out of camp and made a left onto the gravel road 30 minutes later while Dusty loaded Wyatt into the truck to see if a car ride might help him fall asleep.

Having put down 8 miles the day before and with a tough 50 the next day, Liz wanted to keep it quiet on the ride. We headed down the trail and I got to know Dan and Orion as we went. They are both great riders and super interesting to talk to. They live a life very different from my own and he is active in the native American community. He was fascinating to talk to. The miles flew by once again.

We logged about 4 miles or so on that ride and kept it slower due to the steeper terrain. Griffin was a little unsure what to do in a large group of horses, but he behaved himself and was once again a joy to ride. Once we got the horses tucked back into their pens, we all decided it was time to swim. Wyatt hadn't fallen asleep even in the truck and we needed to keep him happy.

At some point Liz vetted Q in with all A's and looking good.

All day long we had been hearing how warm the river was. Everyone who climbed out dripping wet were smiling and really happy with the swimming hole. We hit the water and I swear I nearly froze to death. There is no way anyone could think that was warm!!! In SC, by mid June the water is about 80 degrees and feels like taking a bath unless it has just rained. Even then it is still a cozy 70. That water was not cozy. I refused to go in past my knees. Liz splashed me. In pure muscle memory retaliation I splashed Dusty. Not a good idea. He picked me up and threw me into the deep water and under I went.

When I popped back up Wyatt was laughing big belly laughs. Apparently, mommy getting thrown under water is hilarious. From then on I stayed in, but I'm telling you all it was not warm.

We managed to stay in for a good hour or so before Wyatt's teeth started chattering. I saw a good exit strategy, blamed it on the kid (hey, you have to have some benefit being a mom) and out we scooted for dry land.

A soaking wet Einstein after he joined us at the swimming hole

At some point Dom and Mike arrived while I was taking a nap and I got to meet another wonderful blogger. The weekend was very busy for them riding for another group and I unfortunately didn't get to spend much time with them.

That night was the hog roast and they once again out did themselves with food. I paid zero attention to the meeting knowing I wasn't going to be riding the next day and instead talked and ate myself stuffed.

Around about then Dusty looked at me with his evil grin. He asked if he could run the ride the next day. Um? What?

He didn't see why he couldn't just run the course. I wasn't riding, so I could be on toddler detail while he ran. I reminded him that I was going to crew for Liz, but I could help and watch Wyatt for the most part. He planned to leave just as the last 50s headed out of camp and before the LDs started. He has run endurance rides before, so he knew to be courteous and cautious around the horses and to not mess up anyone's race. I agreed, but with the condition that if Liz was needing more help or Wyatt was being a PIA to handle solo he would be pulled at the LD mark. He agreed.

Wyatt adored Kenai and spent most of the weekend giving him huge hugs.

Ride Between the Rivers 50, AKA The Best Vacation: Thursday

Do you know what requires more equipment, clothing and food than an endurance ride? Camping with a toddler. Holy crap, that kiddo required a lot of stuff.

I have now attempted four times to write a nice, concise and entertaining post that would include all the fun we had the four days we were away. It isn't possible. Then I wrote out one extremely long post that covered it all, but I was too bored to finish it and if I am bored writing it then I know you will be bored reading it.  Instead you get to experience a mini series.

Ok....

Thursday 7/30/15.

The work week leading up to our departure was slamming busy. Good for actually paying the bills for once, bad for having any time to do anything else. When Wednesday came and I got home around 9pm yet again and still had to grocery shop and pack for the trip, I knew we wouldn't be leaving the next morning as early as planned.

Still, we managed to pack the truck for three humans and one dog for a long weekend camping and be out the door by 8 am. Pretty amazing really. We swung by the barn to wrap Gem's hoof and grab my saddle, pad and girth to take with us. I was really sad to be leaving the barn without hooking up the trailer and bringing Gem along with me, but such is life. We managed to hit the road for real by 8:45 am.

Somewhere along the way Dusty spotted a deer alongside the road munching away on the bright green WV grass.

D: Look Wyatt. A deer.
W: No, Daddy. That's a chicken.
D: No, I'm pretty sure that's a deer.
W: No. It goes cock a doodle doo. Its a chicken.

Hard to argue with that logic.

Einstein was absolutely amazing. This was his first extended car ride and he just spent the time snoozing between us in the front of the truck. He earned some major brownie points.



He just chilled the entire ride.

As we got closer and closer, my excitement began to soar and I left behind my pity party of having to leave my mare behind. This trip had ceased to be about horses and had turned into our first family vacation and a much needed one at that.

8ish hours after we left home we crested a hill and saw ride camp spread out in all its glory below:

The road sides were most excellent making it very hard to get lost getting to camp

Driving up and looking down on camp nestled between the hills.

Camp was pretty empty Thursday afternoon since the ride wasn't until Saturday. This field would fill up quickly the next 24 hours.

As we wound down the gravel drive, I looked up the text Liz had sent with a picture of her camp. We planned to set up beside her and I had promised her that Wyatt was no louder than the average drunk endurance rider. I'm not so sure that I kept that promise. Sorry Liz!! We found her right where she said she would be: tucked away beside the river in the shade of some trees.

I jumped right out of the truck (technically it may still have been moving a little) and ran over to say hello. I was so happy to be there!! We hugged and even though we had just met, it felt like hugging an old friend.

We set up our tent and met our other neighbor for the weekend. Her name was Cindy and she had entered the 50 on her 15 year old home bred Arab mare, Sara. Cindy was extraordinarily nice and welcoming and we gabbed a lot over the course of the weekend. Her mare joined us for breakfast each morning, begged hot dogs off us for lunch and avidly listened in on Wyatt's reading time. She was a great mare.

Camp sits in a small, privately owned valley stuck between the river and tree covered hills. The only way out is back up the very steep drive to the gravel road. After settling in, Liz came over and offered up a ride to see the trails. Then she followed this with one of the sweetest things ever: she had scrounged up red tack for Griffin (he usually wears green or orange) as well as a red and black club shirt for me. It was something so small, so seemingly insignificant and yet it made all the difference in the world to me. Liz is amazing.

Liz's Q and Griffin

We headed up the hill and I will admit to being slightly nervous to be on a 5 year old. He was an excellent boy though and we charged up the hill in a deep canter. Once on the gravel roads, Liz informed me that we would need to lead and I was all too familiar with the reasons behind it. It turns out that mentally Gem and Q are pretty similar and I could fully relate to and understand Liz as she dealt with Q on the trails.

Photo credit to the hubby. Griffin looked very handsome in his tack.

We rode part of the yellow loop which crossed over the river and headed along ATV trails. We talked and laughed and the trail just flew by under us. Before I knew it we were heading back to camp and Liz exclaimed that we had done 8 mile. Ooops!! Sorry, Q! Griffin had been a blast to ride. He was forward and forgiving and man does he eat up the trail with his stride. Whereas Gem will put in a 1 mph walk (seriously, I have clocked her going that slow in the past), he effortlessly laid down a 4-5 mph walk in the hills. If he shows any interest in the whole endurance thing, people need to watch out. He will be a force to reckon with.

We made it back and headed over to the "pot luck". Now, I despise pot lucks. Truly, deeply and fully. Pot lucks and I have a bad history and so when she had said it was a pot luck I had taken a deep breath and made sure my own cooler was fully stocked back in camp. When we walked over my jaw dropped. This was no pot luck. This was a full on feast. They just kept dumping out loads of delicious smelling  food in heaps: corn, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, salads, fish, wings, peppers. It never ended and all of us were stuffed to the gills by the end.

After dinner, we waddled back to camp and the three of us crashed under the stars with Wyatt for his first night ever in a tent. He did great and slept the night away with minimal fuss and hopefully sweet dreams.