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[RC] Fun in the Sun from Deb Ambrose - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: Deb Ambrose mkkgs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== Hello to all! First, so sorry to hear of Ted Klopfenstein's injury on the last day--we camped next to him and he was a generous, humorous and kind neighbor. Lippy, my Arab/Appy and I headed down from North Carolina last Friday, after getting the characteristic late start. 500 miles of highway and byway later, we pulled in at 1am on Saturday and set up camp as quietly as possible. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and our 10 hour drive when I woke up to see Ted from Northern Indiana on 1 side and Irving McNaughton from Maine on the other. My plan was to ride 2 days, take a day off, and then see what. Sunday was rainy and cool, then a terrific windstorm came through while most were at a driving demonstration and welcome dinner at the Black Prong Equestrian Center a few miles away. That will teach me to leave camp! Word came that eight horses had gotten loose and were recaptured, and trailer awnings had performed backflips. Most gulped their dinners and returned. Camp was in an enormous, safely fenced cow pasture. Quiet returned by dark. We were off on our first 50 at 6:30, and Lippy was, to put it politely, a maniac. We started at the back as usual, but nothing doing. Pulling, head flinging, snorting, rushing. We rode with Sue Jackson and her Sedgie into the first hold, and, finally he settled in. Whew! There were some muddy stretches, but good footing underneath, as well as nice springy sections. The second loop has its share of sand, and the trail wound through endless tall pines and saw palmettos. The day was breezy and bright, and we looped out of the hold and back to camp on a parallel trail. Now, does this happen to you? I am always so happy to finish that I didn't want start the next day. That afterglow was too nice to mix with the excitement and anxiety of a consecutive day. So I slept in Tuesday, which was a repeat of Monday's trails. Wednesday took us north, on a lovely trail through some open Florida prairies, woodlands, around a dry marsh and a pretty lake. Happily, my nice sane horse made a reappearance. Part of the way was along a pretty green levy, with marsh and trees on both sides. "Pigs!! Pigs ahead!!" said Lippy, as I watched a black backside scoot into the bushes, with much snorting and splashing from his buddies. Luckily, he just planted his feet until the commotion died down. Another loop out of Black Prong, and last hold on this 55. We left with MaryAnne Maynard, and enjoyed her company on a hard gravelly road on the way in. As usual, I was confused about how long this loop would take, and thought we had another hour to go when the camp came into sight. Yeah! Again with the afterglow! I started to get a little homesick (and sick of camping in the truck--it was in the 30s a couple of nights!) so after a call to my husband while the rain came down Thursday morning, I decided to call it good and head for home. The weather cleared and warmed as we headed north, and we made it by 7pm. Trail markings were super. We're pretty used to sand, so that was not bad. The standing water and mud were new, but if you look at my ride times, you'll see I have no problem walking through such things :-). Ride management ferried out our crew bags each day, if we didn't have help, and each day you rode, your number was entered in a drawing for a custom built Kanavy saddle. Your horse kept the same number all so no build-up of grease paint. One of our highlights was meeting and briefly riding with Mary Coleman and her Morgan Hawk. She was full of good cheer and Lippy loved Hawk. She charged away at that big trot in the cool morning air and firm footing. They were quite a pair. Glad I went. This was our first multiday success, as the rider was the weak link last year in the Liberty Run heat. Between Ibuprofen and watered-down Gatorade, I hope we have that nut cracked. All the best, Deb Ambrose and Lippy, 525 miles Aberdeen, NC mkkg at mindspring dot com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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