Mini Vacation

Tahoe....

One of my favorite places in the world!!!

Tuesday my husband and I joined a group from his work at Zephyr Cove Stables Lake Tahoe for "a guided horseback ride, lasting about one hour, followed by a hearty campsite dinner. "

A vague message greeted us Tuesday upon rising that said something like, "people are canceling like crazy. Call the organizer." No answer at the organizers number.

I should take a moment here to refer you to my May 19 post http://luckyzmom-luckyzmom.blogspot.com/2007/05/graduation-day-gone-wild.html where a highly anticipated event was recently unavoidably missed. Also a few years earlier another highly anticipated group trip was cancelled. So my husband was loosing confidence fast. We had arranged to stay overnight at a South Shore hotel and take a boat ride the next day, so I told him, "It doesn't matter if we don't get to ride horses. We will have a great time anyway." He agreed.

So we packed up our pointy toe cowboy boots, our ten gallon hats, camera, binoculars, waterjug, sunscreen . . . . . (you get the point, we were prepared) and headed off on the scenic route to Lake Tahoe. I started oooooh-ing and aaaaah-ing early with frequent sighs mixed in. It's just me and is endearing to some and irritating to others.

The handout from the organizer read, "We will meet at the stables at 4:00, giving us enough time to saddle up and tame our Mangy Beast." We arrived a few minutes early, expecting that at the very least the organizer would be there. There was no one, but, we were ready to ride all by ourselves. Finally we received a call clarifying what was going on. The ride would still happen, but if there weren't at least ten people we wouldn't get fed. So, that was a horse of a different color which brightened us up considerably because we knew there were a whole lot of great places to eat in the area.

A fun bunch of people joined us talking about the storm clouds and lightening some had experienced on the way up. A few sprinkles fell as we were helped onto our horses. Then, off we went into the forest in groups of four, following a guide up the mountain. The scenery took my breathe away. Staying on the horse was no small challenge for me. This was not a stroll in the park. The trail was, at times, seemingly straight up, straight down, only a foot or two wide, rocky, dusty, and on more than one occassion my horse's hoof would slip and I was sure I was going to go ass over teakettle back where we came from or get crushed by my horse or trampled by my husband's horse behind me. It was a fine adventure!!!! and I loved every minute.

I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I expected because of the degree of attention needed to stay in the saddle and the constant motion. We stopped only briefly when someone got out of line (usually me) or needed to catch up or when one of the horses needed a potty break. (All the horses following behind would step around "it", whether liquid or solid). Therefore, I barely was able to get my camera out of the bag hanging around my neck before we started moving again. The pictures I took were taken, literally point and shoot and a hope you would get something. They turned out to be blurs.

luckyzdad, Jane, Cindy, Dale, Carol, Marcie, Lynda

After we returned to the stables and dismounted (I sorta fell off) we were taken to the campsite on bales of hay for dinner. We had some drinks while we shared andlaughed before digging into the chow that had been cooked on these grills fashioned from huge oil barrels; teriyaki beef, grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, barbecue beans, grilled garlic bread, green salad and sa'mores. Everyone agreed that the food was spectacular. We jawed around the campfire awhile, as some pitched horseshoes. A totally enjoyable experience we agreed as we walked back to our cars, said our thank yous and goodbyes and drove away.