Cali-forn-i-a Here we come!

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I posted...but when you read the next few posts, you will understand why.

After staying at Cape Blanco, we continued down the Oregon coast and on into Californ-I-A where we spent the night free in the parking lot of a casino at Smith River, CA.  That’s not the kind of place I would ordinarily hang out, but

A New Love?

A few days ago, Dave and I were walking on the sand at Cannon Beach.  The wind was blowing hard against our backs.  Rain and sand were pelting us from that direction but in front of us was another phenomenon.  The beach sand, even though it was wet, was blowing in "trails."  I would have thought that blowing sand would be quite random, but not so!  The "trails" were quite plain.  I even took a video thinking:  There must be an object lesson in that!

A Strange Twist or Another God Thing?

Since we had not had any confirmation about me working at the Study Center in FL, Dave and I started investigating some winter alternatives before we arrived at Debbie Williams'.  Dave became very interested and excited about the possibility of spending the winter months of DEC and JAN in the Baja.  It was inexpensive, a new place, and most of all...warm.  But

First Resource or Last Resort?

We arrived at  Debbie Williams' Kozy Manor on TH afternoon, OCT 29.  We were there to help set up and teach at the Pacific Northwest Parelli Rally.  FRI was busy with the set up and I caught up with a farrier to trim the girls. (It was Sean Plumlee who had actually been my farrier back in CO years ago!)  Saturday and Sunday the event center was filled with instructors, volunteers and participants in spite of the worse rain they had seen in months!  Each day featured 25-30 different classes/workshops, with and without horses in all of the four savvies.  Over $6000 was raised for the youth, horse welfare, therapeutic, and educational scholarship efforts of the Parelli Foundation.

We had planned to depart on MON, but Debbie began rounding up student lessons for me so we stayed on and it's a good thing we did.

One of Life’s Characters

Devil’s Garden—Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

At first glance it looked like a pine bush instead of a tree.  Upon closer inspections we found that the “bush” was formed because the trunk of the “tree" was lying on top of the ground.  As our eyes followed the horizontal stem, it did not seem to go into the ground.  It was, in fact, attached to a sliver of a stump that seemed quite dead—BUT the tree/bush was quite alive and, except for its odd orientation, quite healthy.  Of course, I took a picture, and then said, “There must be an object lesson in that!”

Open Doors

We have had very limited internet access the last couple of weeks, but I prepared blogs!   So you will be getting several close together here the next few days.  Enjoy!

Bruneau Dunes State Park, ID

That blob is a gnat on the lens!

Gnats!  In my nose!  In my ears!  Trying to get into my mouth and eyes.  Swarms of them!  I have only ever experienced something like this once before—mosquitoes in north Wisconsin.  Thank God these were not biting humans!  But the poor horses ears!

Dave did not seemed to be as bothered by them, so he took care of the horses and I went into the motor home…only to be greeted by

Lessons Learned Falling Off Horses

After I sent out the latest newsletter, I got several reprimands because people could not find the blog about the second fall...I realized I had written it in my journal but not on the web...so here it is.

From the Cut Foot Sioux Horse Camp (MN), we rode out about a mile.  JoyFull was on high alert and had already spooked a couple of times.  I was riding defensively—one hand on her neck with the rein in a California roll and the other holding on to the fork of the saddle.  The trail was 6-10 feet wide but surrounded by thick fall forest.  (Think crackling noises and constant motion in the trees/leaves.)  JoyFull stepped across a small down tree and as she made the step forward with her hind foot,