Renegade, here we come...

Friday morning I awoke after a good nights rest, but Matt said he could not sleep at all thanks to a new alarm clock I bought on clearance at Wal-Mart. I guess the tick tock tick tock above his head was too much for him. I had set the alarm for 8 am to test it out and was disheartened when it went off at 8:15 am. I had taken the day off work to get packed and ready for our trip north to Naches, WA for the Renegade Rendezvous ride. It was surprising how much I already had accomplished by 10 am!

Ruth had to work until noon so that was my goal time to have everything ready other than Sinwaan. We touched base about 9:30 and then again about 12:30 when I was heading out to the barn. I was able to bathe Sinwaan and shampoo his mane and tail, but only got about half of his mane braided before Ruth arrived. We loaded the trailer and I looked around for anything I might have forgotten. Didn't see anything pertinent so we headed back for the house. Mom's Explorer was already hooked up to the camp trailer (Jet) and ready to go. All that was left to be done was to pack the cooler and buy some ice on the way out of town.

As a side note about Jet, we had attempted to fill the water tank earlier this week and much to our dismay discovered a leak(s) in the pipe(s). Looks like we're going to do without a shower again this year. Oh well.

On the road at a reasonable hour, we were able to make decent time and arrived just about when Google maps said we would (about 3+ hrs). The gravel road in was easy to find, directions were direct and there were signs out pointing the way. There was lots of daylight left when we pulled into Ride Camp. Seeing people parked precariously along the edges of a grassy meadow in the shade, we decided to settle in close to the "honey bucket" as mother calls it, and a watering trough. It may not be shady, but it was level, and grassy for the horses' portable corral.


What a delightful location for a Ride Camp! This ride is situated in the Wenatchee National Forest and it felt so good to be in a REAL forest again! Huge trees everywhere you looked, and mountains! We could hear a creek from our location in the center of the meadow, and when you looked straight up the sky was blue and cloudless and enormous. It took me back to my childhood, camping in the woods on the east coast. I have loved all the rides I attended up to this point, but I just knew this one would be special. No sagebrush, and the smell of pine trees.

After unloading the horses, I held onto their leads so they could graze while Ruth set up the corral, Matt put the jack stands under the trailer and mother tended to Levi. Our home base was ready in record time. I couldn't help but notice that Sinwaan's tailhead had some sort of weird mohawk going on. I put some detangler on it and brushed it out before we vetted in.

Maybe in part because I was wearing my Team Miaa Miaa shirt, I had a number of people come over to me this weekend and tell me how much they enjoyed my videos on YouTube - referring to the photos I put together with music from the Lakeview Ranch ride. One lady even really liked the one Matt made of Cache Hollow Rd. I guess I need to get busy and create ones for my last two rides now also!



I asked a passer-by where the registration was and a kind lady directed me towards a specific tree on the other side of numerous trailers lined up. The horses seemed content and relaxed. Might as well go and get vetted in before the ride meeting. It wasn't hard to find. They had some orange cones set out to mark the trot-out area in a clearing nearby. We were pre-entered so it was just a matter of picking up our vet cards and written instructions on the ride. Matt tagged along to take some photos, and Mother and Levi inspected pine cones and horse manure on the walk up.



A young man came over to mark our horses with the grease stick and asked what color we would like. I noticed he was holding a red one so I said "Red please!" and he said OK and went over to mark Topper first. I think Ruth may have liked a different color but this guy was quick. In no time flat he had put a "T1" on Topper's rump to designate her as the first-entered trail rider. She thought maybe that would have to be her special number since she was T1 at HOTR also. Sinwaan and I again got our lucky #21.

Sinwaan vetted through with straight A's on his card and a pulse of 40. I was pleased. Topper also vetted through with good scores, although I can't recall specifics. I chatted with Andy Denome DVM a little bit before we headed back, he told me his wife used to ride endurance, and now this was their first time to be vetting a ride. They were both very nice. Ruth and I put the horses in the paddock and fed them their dinner and hoped they would get along ok. I prepared dinner, which was our traditional Friday-ride-night haystacks with fritos, beans, cheese, lettuce and even mushrooms, olives and avacado this time.

We knew the ride meeting was supposed to be after 8 pm, but didn't really keep an eye on the time. I assumed they would blare the loud horn that they used at the HOTR ride, since I had seen that gigantic RV near the registration area. We busied ourselves outside after dinner by braiding our horses' manes and I also made some tack adjustments. I noticed that I had forgotten my loop-to-girth. Whoops! At least that little problem could be fixed with baling twine! Well we never heard a horn and later we heard people shouting/cheering/laughing and then a little while later saw people walking back to their trailers, carrying chairs. I asked one if the ride meeting was over and they replied 'yes.'

DRAT! I couldn't believe I missed another ride meeting. I told Ruth we had better go and talk to Gail and find out anything important that we may have missed. Well I was sure glad we took the time to do that because as it turns out, they had moved the start time UP for everyone - 25 mi riders were now starting at 6 AM instead of 7. Trail riders starting at 7 AM. The 75s and 50s were starting together at 5 AM. Gail quickly explained that this was to try and beat the heat since the temperature was supposed to be quite warm for ride day. Well that sounds fine to me, so long as I am at the starting line on time. :) I also asked her about the gear bags for the out check and she pointed to a large pile and said it would be going out on a truck at 6 am.

Not wanting to worry about that in the morning, I went straight back and packed my gear bag, and saddle bags to have them ready for tomorrow. In my gear bag went my lunch - two veggie hotdogs in buns. Matt had picked up some ketchup and mustard for me from a fast food place so I wouldn't have to worry about it spoiling, but I couldn't find them and he was already asleep! (Second item forgotten - pillows!) There was one mustard packet on the counter, so I packed it. I also packed Sinwaan's skid boots (praying I wouldn't need them) and three of my EasyBoots. I have never used them with shoes and wasn't sure what size I might end up needing, better be safe than sorry, right!? I also packed a can of peaches for my lunch, and some carrots for Sinwaan. I also packed spare reins, a frozen bottle of gatorade and an additional full water bottle. I took my gear bag back up to the pile and saw that it had already been loaded in a truck. One of the guys told me to put it in a different truck that was about 1/2 full.

My saddlebags were still mostly packed from the last ride but I swapped out the melted granola bars for 4 fresh ones, a baggie of apples for Sinwaan, a packet of tissues, some toilet paper, a knife, one of my EasyBoots, the ride notes for the 25 loop, my vet card, and water bottles with fresh cold water. It was getting fairly chilly outside by now so I hung my saddlebag on Ruth's truck bed, thinking that should help keep the water cold. I also carry a hoof pick and emergency poncho. There are so many pockets in my bag it is easy to forget what is in there, and where.

I think we went to bed about 10 PM. I set my Wal-Mart alarm knowing full well it may not even go off. Ruth set her cellphone as a backup. I could not sleep. I expected as much. I think I had finally drifted off when I heard a hoof clunk into the water bucket and I shot up in bed. The boys were at it again. Topper was having fun running Sinwaan around in circles in their paddock. Well I knew he would never be able to lay down and sleep in the paddock, so I took Sinwaan out and tied him to the trailer, thinking some rest standing would be better than none. I didn't need a tired horse in the morning, as this is rumored to be a tough ride, and all one needs to do is look at past results to know that to be a fact.