A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

Wednesday 5/27/09
We rode from Watrous to Wagon Mound, NM today. 13 miles of which were on roads of the 17 miles total. There were 22 riders riding today, and we all posed for picture taking at the 500 mile marker of our journey. That means that I’ve ridden almost as far as Kansas City to Dallas! We had to wear rain gear today due to showers and thundershowers this afternoon. We got under a highway underpass during one of the thunderstorms and waited it out. We moved camp to an open grass field near Wagon Mound, NM. It was about 6 ½ hours on horseback, and we arrived around 2:30 this afternoon before returning to the camp in Watrous to get our trailers. We had our new camp set up by 5:00 PM. I had Ali re-shod today, and his first set of shoes were worn out, but lasted over 500 miles. Glad I didn’t go with the rubber boots.

Tuesday 5/26/09
We rode today from Railroad Cattle Pens near Las Vegas, NM to a ranch near the small town of Watrous, NM. The setting for the ride was a rocky, craggy valley with a narrow winding country road. It reminded me some of the roads in Italy. We also rode through a very narrow and rocky canyon with only enough passage for one horse at a time. We had to duck under evergreen trees and allow our horses to pick their footing through the rocks and downed logs. We had to cross a stream several times. Ali had a tough afternoon because we got separated from most of the other riders. He was anxious about being alone. We arrived at the new campsite about 20 minutes after the lead riders. We then went back to the Cattle Pens to retrieve our trailers. Then, I went back to Las Vegas, NM to get repair parts for my propane tank. A hose had broken that goes from one tank to the regulator. Luckily it was only a 10-minute fix. I also needed a tire repaired. Richard Lupardus, another rider from Missouri, was kind enough to take it to the repair shop for me. A large thorn had punctured it. I arrived at the new campsite about 6:30 that evening. I tended to Ali, ate my Subway sandwich for dinner and called it a night.

Memorial Day 5/25/09
We left camp on the west side of Las Vegas, NM at 7:45 AM on Memorial Day. We had not gotten out of camp until we had our first serious horse wreck. Liz Malcome had her horse bolt and she came off her horse. She suffered many bruises and a broken wrist, but she will be okay. We rode through Box Canyon southwest of Las Vegas. It’s another scenic area that cannot be seen from any road or highway. Pictures just don’t do it justice! We had a long, hard day of riding to an old railroad shipyard that was used for shipping cattle back east many years ago. We put our horses up here for the night. We returned to our old campsite and moved to the Cattle Pens. Today we rode a total of 21 miles and rode several miles along the ruts and depressions caused by the travelers of the Santa Fe Trail.

Sunday 5/24/09
On Sunday, I woke to find that my refrigerator wasn’t working, and my frozen food was partially thawed. I missed Memorial Day church service in the old church in El Cerrito, NM. I took the refrigerator apart and cleaned up all the fins in the burner area. Dust and dirt from the roads we have been using had built up to the point it had stopped working. It’s now running again. I rode Ali bareback around camp for about an hour during the afternoon. He seemed to enjoy the exercise.