Canyonlands Tour

Bobby and I just got back from a 7 day vacation in the Canyonlands. We flew out to Denver, then caught a tour bus for stops at Arches National Park, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon ending up in Las Vegas. The scenery was breathtaking and we made some new friends . I could have skipped Las Vegas - it was way too loud ! Here are some pictures of our trip..... we'd definitely go back to the Colorado Plateau. PHOTOS

Here's a portrait I did a few years ago.... I always liked this one. As you can see - I took some liberties; like changing Alan's ear position and skipping the plaid pattern on Monica's shirt. She had this done for her mom. If I had it to do over - I'd detail and shade Monica's face a lot better.

Full Week

We didn't go watch the fireworks or anything , but we had a really nice holiday. My Tennessee sister, Shelly came down for the week and left the kids at home. First time ever and I think she really enjoyed some time to herself. I'm doing well on the weight loss program and am looking forward to buying some new clothes to wear on our Canyonlands trip. Bobby and I are starting to get excited - only a week and 1/2 to go.

I took my work friend Karen on a ride this morning and I think she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Dixie took good care of her as she hasn't ridden in over 13 years. We saw four deer, enjoyed some shady trails and we even cantered. She did great !

Jenny was cooling off Ringer after a ride and decided to put a flower on his head. As with most things, he didn't seem to mind much.

Father's Day Weekend

Well, Bobby didn't get any visits from his kids, but he and I had a good weekend. All of his kids live out of town so it's hard to coordinate time together with them.

We worked in the yard putting out seed in the back where the drought and 2 inches of leaf litter had killed the grass. As soon as we got it down and covered it with hay, those dang roosters started rooting around in it. We might be having some chicken stew soon ! We also scouted out a new place to ride off of Old St Augustine Rd... it's called Julington-Durbin Preserve. We had a nice walk to the creek and back....I can't wait to take my pony there to check out the rest of the trails. The entrance is right between two huge condominium complexes but as you go down the trail it's like walking through unspoiled old Florida.

Jenny's continuing to work with Ringer a couple of times a week and he's progressing well.

Ringer's first trail ride

Jenny rode Ringer on his inaugural trail ride (without being ponied) on Saturday evening. He behaved very well and acted like it was nothing to carry a human around. We had 3 two year olds on the ride and they did better than most grown horses. My batteries quit on me so I only got a quick shot of the two of them....unfortunately he was peeing at the time. :)

Mom, Robb, JT, Melinda and I drove to Springfield, TN for Vance's high school graduation over the Memorial Day holiday. As always, it's a long drive, but well worth it. We had a wonderful and fairly uneventful visit - it was good to see Shelly and all her kids together. Tennessee was so GREEN ! I was envious of all the beautiful hay that was being cut up there; especially since we're having such a hay shortage here. The only smoke we encountered along I75 from the various wildfires still burning was right through the Valdosta, GA area.