Caballos del Sol

Arizona wildflowers ~ Interesting how they bud pink and bloom white.

Wow! What a week. I could probably get a month's worth o' mileage out of the happenings of The Vacation. But, since it was compressed into 6 short days perhaps I'll try to compress it here, as well.

I'm reluctantly coming back to reality after a week long vacation with our horses at an event called the Caballos del Sol benefit trail ride. It benefits horse organizations. But, mostly it just benefits horse lovers like me who get to saddle up and disappear from reality for awhile.

More Arizona Wildflowers (I don't know the names ~ do you?)

Gracie

Ever experienced that feeling of dread at the end of a super-fantabulous vacation?

On the last day of a blissful week, not connected to voice mail, email or any other aspect of the workaday world...   

I petted sweet Gracie and kind of wished this week would never end.

That I could really and truly just ride off into the sunset.

Karen and her Mustang, Red. That's Al in the background: 75 years young.

Toward a 5 star spa, of course, because one week of camping is plenty of hardship for this lazy butt. My hard-working horse could benefit from a massage, too.

This was my 3rd year on the Caballos del Sol trail ride. And, good luck finding out anything about it. There's no website. No contact info. Half the people submitting applications get turned away.

That Rental RV in the foreground was mine, all mine. (For the week. :)

It's a super secret horse affair. A tiny postcard shows up around Christmas time hinting at the location.

Come March, we're given directions to a private ranch somewhere in Arizona, where we set up an RV city and ride the Apache Wilderness. Each morning, heading out on a new trail, prettier than the one the day before.

We laughed non-stop for 5 fab days.

Then we packed up the horses and reluctantly headed back to civilization. Where the second I reached a cellphone service area my poor little gadget practically exploded... with hundreds of emails, cranky voice mails plus a few texts that made me absolutely batty:

Text #1: I need a place to stay ~ can I spend the summer with you? (Huh???)
Text #2: Your dog has been barking for 2 solid days! (Whaa??)
Text #3: I borrowed your car. Man! It's fast! (The nerve.)
Text #4: I think something is broken; there's water gushing all over your basement. (Argh.)

At which point I turned off the phone. Sigh.

"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." ~ Jennifer Unlimited

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* Caballos del Sol = Horses of the Sun