AAAAHHHHHHH.....

Thats the sound of me finally sitting down in my recliner, laptop in hand.  It has been a whirlwind of activity  since last Friday am!

Milwaukee Road Trip:

Was awesome!!!!!  I had such a good time. 

Glen and Flo picked me up at about 10 am and we headed out North.  We were running a little behind schedule, as we had to make a quick trip to Les Scwhab due to a flat tire on the truck.  Todd filled it up with air before we left the house and we made it to Chehalis just fine.

Les Schwab came thru again, fixing the flat tire (due to an errant screw), then checking and topping off the tire pressure as needed on truck and trailer.  They didn't even charge for it either. I am always surprised to get such good customer service, its refreshing!

As we crossed over to the east side of the mountains, the clouds started to disappear and we were into blue sky.  Yeah.

We pulled into ride camp about 4pm and set up camp next to fellow Renegaiters Shannon and Alex and their daughter Andreana.

I decided to let Dazzby stretch her legs a little on the lunge line, hoping that this would help her maintain her composure at the start of the ride this time.  We vetted in just as the wind was starting to pick up and headed back to the trailer for some fried chicken!!   Yes, real fried chicken!  I bet if anything can get my husband Todd to attend a ride some day, it might be the prospect of getting fried chicken.  Flo is a great cook and I eat better at ride camp that at home most of the time :)

It was Shannon's birthday and Alex actually baked a cake for the occasion.  Spice cake, mmmmm! 

So, the 50 milers were set to go out at 7am.  That meant that all of Dazzby's "herdmates" would be leaving her behind.  I decided to take her out for a walk/trot on the lunge again, in hopes of heading off the panic of getting left behind.  It worked.  As I saw Glen, Flo, and Shannon head up an over the hill I snuck the mare back into camp and she didn't turn a hair.

Finally it was our turn, we warmed up for about 1/2 hour prior to the start and Dazzby was like another horse for the start of this ride.  Good thing too, because a nice lady on a big bay Arab actually commented,
"She's doing a lot better this time, than at Home on the Range!"  Eeek, we must have made quite and impression at the start of that ride.

I let her go out right at the front of the pack, but we were quickly passed by riders trotting on the asphalt road leading to the real trail.  I just can't do it.  I think I've spent too much time fretting over those delicate Thoroughbred legs.

The trail was wide, flat and pretty soft and we hit her big trot and the first couple of miles flew by.  At one point I let her lope for about a mile.  She seemed to be really enjoying herself and I was too.

One section of the trail was pretty rocky, it is a new road made to bypass a large tunnel that used to be part of the ride trail.   We slowed down and walked through that section of trail but otherwise it was go go go!  Before I could believe it we were at the turn around.  It was about 8.5 miles out and Dazzby didn't have much interest in drinking water.  I wasn't surprised, she has gotten where she really doesn't want to drink until about mile 15.  I'm not sure if I should be worried about this or not, she usually drinks really well in the last half of the rides and gets A- or sometimes B for skin tenting at most rides.

We cruised back into camp and she pulsed down immediately, thank you AareneX- blogger, photographer, and pulse taker, a woman of many talents! 

For the second loop I actually remembered to take my camera.  This loop was on the other side of the freeway and headed into a little green valley.  It was a windy single track for the first half of the loop and was really pretty.

We saw some interesting things, I'm not sure what this is, but it was big.

The sky is so pretty on the dry side.

Once again, Dazzby was all business and we did most of this loop and the jog and lope, in just over an hour we were back to camp.

Here is my girl kickin' it by the trailer after her 25 miles.

Here are Glen and his mare Dixie getting ready to do the last loop.

Glen and Shannon finished up the 50 a short while later.  Unfortunately Flo's horse Hotshot hit some rocks on that section of trail over the tunnel and Flo decided to take a rider option at the out vet check.  It was disappointing for Flo, but its too early in the season to risk bruised or sore feet!  They will be back in action at the beautiful Mt. Adams ride later this month.

Shannon's horse Mojo just completed his second 50 and barely looked like he'd broken a sweat!  Here he is prior to vetting out, with still enough energy to spend a few minutes bobbing for apples in the big trough.

There are actually some small apple pieces floating in the water, they just don't show up well in the photo.

Potluck was great, lots of different foods, some particularly yummy brownies, and even lasagna.  I got a nice grey t-shirt too!  Another great ride, I just can't believe how incredibly SORE I was for three days post ride.  Ugh, I am obviously the weak link in this partnership.  If I ever want to try a 50 I'm going to have to find a way to do longer rides when training.  No excuses!