Great Smokey Mountains

Bobby and I just got back from a weekend in Tennessee and the Great Smokey Mountains.

We stayed at an older hotel in Gatlinburg, but the rooms were clean and large.

We walked up and down the strip in Gatlinburg, rode the sky lift and checked out the craft fair in the convention center. The town was not what I expected - I thought it would be a quaint town, not an amusement strip. (Pigeon Forge was even worse, but I guess if you have kids - it would be fun.)

We drove through the Smokey Mountain National Forest to Cade's Cove. The drive through the forest, the rivers and trails were amazing. On the way back, we stopped along the river and Bobby got to dip his toes in the cold stream. He used to drive trucks through the area and always wanted to come back some day to stop and enjoy.The next day we drove to Cherokee, NC, which was another slight disappointment. The drive through the forest was again inspiring and the Indian Village was entertaining and educational. We stopped at an overlook to take pictures, checked out an old grist mill and took a short hike down a STEEP trail.All in all, we LOVED the mountains and the people were all very friendly. Next time we head that way, we'll find a small town or camp. Here are the rest of the photos and videos we took.

Good bye Oz-Man

Ozzie, one of our barn cats and good buddy passed away on Tuesday. I found him on my way out to feed up in the wee hours of the morning - there was no evidence of trauma or foul play. He was 9 years old and was part of our family from the time we adopted him at about 5 to 6 weeks old. Rest in peace; you will be missed.

Everything's going so well !.....

Everything's going so well !..... a quote from one of my favorite movies and soundtrack - "Moulin Rouge".

Last night, my husband and I went to the World Golf Village to watch our nephew Julian test for his black belt in Taekwando. He did so well - we were very proud of his accomplishment! Watching and hearing the goings on brought back fun memories of when I was a student of Tang Soo Do some 10 years ago.

Julian, Bobby and Me

Today, I decided to load Stylin and drive 20 miles to one of our favorite riding spots - Black Creek Ravines Conservation Area. Although I was hoping to beat the heat and get a ride in before the rain, we didn't hit the actual trail until 9:30am. We met several hikers and Stylin performed her ambassador duty by letting the kids pet her and admire her crystal blue eyes. (folks always comment on her eyes)I took this picture of us in the trailer door mirror.

Lots of the trails were flooded, which I've never seen at this location before. We did a lot of cantering.....we're still trying to get a consistant easy lope on a loose rein. We are practicing the method of putting a lot of miles in at the canter and allowing Stylin to decide to slow down on her own. (a la Mugwump and Clinton Anderson) It works pretty well in the yard or in an arena, but today on the trails, she sped up and didn't get tired before we kept running into fallen trees and other debris which caused me to have to stop her. During one stretch, I was allowing her to go at her own speed and she spooked sideways at some imagined booger - I stayed on just fine and we didn't lose stride, but I did pee my pants a little. (Some older gals may understand where I'm coming from.) I managed to get a short video of us cantering with my cell phone, but the quality didn't come out well and you can't hear the sound. Stylin had her newest Rythym Bead Necklace on and she was making a melodious canter down the trail. I really like the necklaces that we purchase from Zephyr Equine Gifts - especially when I'm riding alone. Today we saw a deer, a hawk and a blue heron.

This area is usually high and dry.

We stayed on the trails on high ground and didn't venture down to the creek this time. I absolutely enjoyed the hour and 1/2 we spent on the trail and kept thinking how blessed I am to be able to enjoy the great outdoors on my wonderful horses. God is good!

This limb is a noggin knocker if you're not on a short horse like Stylin!

A Day in the Life ...

I actually turned down an offer to go riding this morning - I just couldn't bear getting up so early today and had some chores to do since I had to work yesterday. I slept in till about 7:30 and then didn't even get dressed until 9:00. It felt good to do nothing....( I know - I was supposed to do chores!)

Went grocery shopping then picked up Mom to take her to Hobby Lobby with me. My sister and I took a free drawing class there today. We really didn't learn a whole lot - it was geared towards beginners - but we look forward to some painting classes later.

I got a bonus buy today at the Dollar Tree - a really good horse book -"Everyday Trail Riding" by Eliza R.L. McGraw. I've never found any horse books there before and there was just the one copy. It has a lot of common sense stuff for beginners and interesting items for someone like me whose been trail riding for years along with great photographs.

I'm babysitting my "granddog" Millie this weekend and she's such a good girl. She's the greybeard in the picture below. We were sitting on the front porch enjoying a small breeze. The other two are Sarah and Jesse.

Bobby cooked dinner for us, I took a 20 minute nap and then walked the dogs in the neighborhood for about 30 minutes. When we got back , I pulled Stylin out of the pen and rode her for a little while in the back yard. I was going to have Bobby take a video of us but the camera's batteries were dead so he snapped a picture with my phone. I love to ride bareback at home and usually don't bother with a bridle, but always use a saddle and almost always use a bridle when we trail ride. Also, you'll see my lovely grey and brown hair when I ride at home but it'll be smashed under my helmet when I'm on the trail. :-)

Fed up the girls, snapped a few more phone camera pics (my arm isn't quite long enough for self portraits of me and Style), gathered the 2 eggs for today and came in for the evening. What a great day - I'm blessed!

Rusty and Dixie on the Fourth of July

This is Rusty...he's a 4 yr old Quarter Horse. He's a handsome and very calm guy.

Here's Traci on Rusty - he's her husband's horse that she's putting some hours on.

And this is me on my good ole girl, Dixie.

We had a decent 2 hour ride starting at 8:30 am. (we'll have to start earlier next time - it was pretty ding dang hot by 10:30) While we were walking down one trail with ditches on each side, I caught sight of a critter that I thought might be a small gator. We stopped, backed up a little, and saw that it was a humongous cottonmouth. He just sat there, semi coiled with his head raised out of the water, showing his light colored throat. He wasn't leaving his cool spot for the likes of us. It did make us leary of splashing through any murky water for the rest of the ride. I left my camera in the truck so I took the ride pictures with my cell phone....not too bad for a cheesy cell phone camera.

After getting home and cleaned up, I made my yummy shrimp dip, then Bobby and I went to some friends' house to enjoy an Independence Day get together with the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs. I even got my big behind in the pool !

Happy Independence Day from KD and Becky !