A friend of mine called and asked if I would like to take his horses out. They hadn't been ridden in a while and needed some exercise. Uh... Twist my arm.
Bret and I loaded up the trailer with our new found horse friends Tonka and Tears and headed East. Many a wonderful trail is to be had in this area of dessert. Washes and jumping cholla abound along with the beautiful sight of nearby surrounding mountains. What wasn't present was rain and snow. This is why I love Arizona. 5 hours to the beach, 2 hours to the snow in the winter or cool pines in the summer. Phoenicians have it made. It's January and we are in short sleeves and sun glasses and brought plenty of water. If you've never made it to this lovely state, now is the time to come. Just please drive the speed limit and stay in your lane. (that could be a good gripe for my next post.)
A little - okay a lot - saddle sore but hope to do it again soon before it gets to hot and the rattlers come out.
For my curious out of staters we were at Usery Mountain Park, the white cactus is a jumping cholla so named because the tines are so thin on the end that you can't see them when you brush up against them and so they have the appearance of jumping. They hurt something terrible when you get poked with them too. The tall skinny dark green cactus is a saguaro, and the mountains in the background are the Superstitions, home to the tale of the lost Dutchman.
