Wagon Train

With the help of a veritable village, Mommy was able to ride on the 2011 Wagon Train, sponsored by the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon. It was quite a week! After months of prep, we loaded up too much stuff and headed over to the Ukiah area. The weather was really good (no rain!), and I was so fortunate to have support from my entire family!! First, my thank-yous:

To Mom & Dad, for making this possible by taking care of Miri and Aleaha.
To Kelly & Mike, for loaning their travel trailer, so we had real beds to sleep in and a place to corral Miri at night and naptimes.
To Jodi & Chris, for taking care of Aleaha for three nights, which was her princess-dream-come-true! (and relieved Mom & Dad a lot too)
To my friend Teri, for joining me on the trek and helping every minute with the horses AND the kids. I'm sure she needs a vacation from this vacation!
To my husband, because even though he couldn't be with us (race conflict -- AND HE WON, by the way!), he found another way to get his trailer to the racetrack, enabling us to take our pickup.

Now, a few pics. I didn't take my hands off the reins much with Arby, so I don't have any while riding. On day 4, when we were all good-n-tired, I could have attempted. But I was pooped! ;)


The view from lunch on Day 1.


The boys, after Day 1's ride. They were good boys, staying tied to the trailer each night.


The Irish Singers, our entertainment one night. That's Grandpa, second from the left.


Miri enjoys a cookie from Teri.


Day 2, taking a little break behind the wagons, as everyone was stopped.


Sleepy Jake.


Awake Jake.


Miri puttin' on the charm.


Smiley Aleaha.


The wagonmaster's wagon broke down right before the event, so she (yes, SHE :) ) needed to use her back-up vehicle, which is a stagecoach. I thought that was pretty cool.


I'm not posting a pic of every wagon, but thought a couple of representative pictures would be nice. The wagons and teams are so interesting.




This is Arby's cousin!! A lady came up and wanted to know what breed Arby was, and usually when that happens, it's because the person thinks he's Morgan. But no, he's a Quarter Horse, grandson of Doc Bar. And so it this! His name is Smoke (need to look up the rest of the name). They are full cousins. Pretty obvious family resemblance, eh? You can sure tell when they are in a crowd of other horses.


Gramma Bon smartly brought along a set of little dishes for Miri to play with. Here she is washing dishes - an activity that bought us all a bit of much needed respite.


Aleaha was really pooped after all that "wagon training", as she called it. Both girls have been catching up on their sleep for a couple of days now. Yeeeeeesssssss!