I had packed as much as I could the night before and thrown it out into the camp trailer. There was not too much else to do Friday morning. I checked in with my mom and told her to come over at 9:45 AM so we could get the camp trailer hooked up to her Explorer. The unfortunate part about this weekend was that I did not have my List so at times I felt a bit overwhelmed. I knew I was forgetting stuff but I didn't know what. I was sure to pack both kids coats this time since last month I had forgotten Levi's coat.
I checked in with Ruth and she sounded like she was pretty well on schedule as well to meet at our house at 10 AM. When she arrived I loaded up Ellie and myself into her Avalanche and we went out to get Sinwaan. (She already had her trailer attached with Otto loaded). In the meantime Matt drove the camper down to Milton to get gasoline.
Sinwaan was ready for an adventure and curious to see who was in the trailer. Ruth helped me load up my gear - basically all we had to do was unload it from mine and put it into hers. I put on Sinwaan's shipping boots and loaded him up. We talked to Doug & Cindy a bit as we waited for Matt to meet us. Finally it was time to go.
We stopped at the Touchet gas station because where Matt fueled up there was no air for the tires and my mom had a low tire on the car. I heard Sinwaan banging around a little bit on the trailer getting onto the highway so I checked on him. He had one rear boot too low and on the same side the front boot was flipped up. I don't know how he did that but he wasn't injured so I started out by trying to fix his rear boot without unloading him. I had about half the velcro undone when I felt a sensation on my arm. At first I thought maybe Matt had snuck up and touched me but then I quickly realized it was raining large apples from the sky. Sinwaan was crapping on me! YUK! I backed away as fast as I could and saw a big streak on my arm. I got a baby wipe out of the diaper bag and cleaned up but I could still feel something warm and damp. I turned my sleeve around and there was still some on my sleeve. YUK! So I ran over to the camp trailer and changed my shirt too. After that I unloaded Sinwaan so I could redo those boots without the danger of more dirty laundry. Ruth cleaned out the trailer, and he loaded back up without much trouble - on our way to Kittitas!
We stopped only once at a rest area so everyone could use the bathroom. I had told my mom we could probably stop somewhere along the way for lunch but Ruth went a different way that was (for the most part) flat, although devoid of towns, so there was no where to buy lunch. We had apples and granola bars at the rest area to tie us over as we were not all that far from Ride Camp.
Driving along Interstate-90 Ruth told me "You will see ride camp before we get there, it is right along the highway." True to her word, we drove right past it. It was the strangest sight I have seen in some time. Right next to I-90 there was ride camp with about 50 horse trailers all lined up. It must have looked very curious to passer-bys. We had to drive down to the next exit (115, Kittitas) and then turn what seemed to be the wrong direction and then go through a little town and back around and along the interstate on a parallel road until we finally crept up on it. Gail had done a nice job putting up signs and ribbons at all the turns. We had a huge trailer ahead of us that we followed in with Montana plates. Ruth and I wondered where in Montana they were from but didn't get around to finding them again to ask.
The weather was fantastic! 70s with very low wind. We were hopeful for tomorrow, although heard people say it was predicted to be 60s with a bit more wind. Ride camp was very much like Home On The Range, with lots of grass and tall bunches, although it was right next to I-90. I didn't hear the traffic after awhile but some people complained about it. There were lots of little holes and it didn't take long before I saw an occupant - a tiny mouse. They were all over the place and very brave. One came up in the middle of Levi's "dirt valley" ran across and went down another hole. I didn't mind them because they were so small and cute.
I don't recall what time we arrived but it was in the neighborhood of 3 pm. I have never gotten to ride camp so early the day before. It was awesome! We set up camp (not too far from water and the porta-potties) and had a fantastic lunch prepared by my mom. 
After that we went over to get our ride cards and the information station was an empty slant-load horse trailer. There was a big map of the area taped to the front and a couple of tables inside with all the ride info. I was glad to see this ride was divided into two loops for the 25s - and the first loop was considerably longer. Mentally it is easier for me to get a long loop out of the way and then go back out after the hold for a short loop. We vetted through and both horses looked good. I was pleased when the scribe walked over with a red grease stick to mark Sinwaan with his number - #21. Ruth was #19. 
After all that was done we saddled up and went for a ride. My first pre-ride! Matt was going to hike along with us but he was so tired he took a nap instead. Ruth showed me the way since she had done this ride the year before on Topper. The rail trail was wide and sandy and had great footing and good views of the surrounding hills. Leaving camp you went out on a dirt road and then climbed up to the rail trail which gave you a prime view of ride camp - but I forgot to take a photo. We went down about a mile and then turned around and went back down so we could check out the other loop. To get to that one you had to walk on the road, which took you under I-90 and over to a cattle guard. The gate was not open and we didn't want to take the horses over the guard so we turned around and went back to camp. I was glad that Sinwaan experienced the overpass because I have never ridden him under one before. He did just fine.On the way back to the trailer we ran into Gail Williams (the ride manager) and talked to her a bit about where/when Matt could go tomorrow morning to take ride photos. She thought if she dropped him off at the tunnel (about 4 mi out) shortly after 6 am he should be able to get photos of everyone within 3 hours coming through there. Oh boy, I knew he would not be thrilled about such an early start. Gail said any time a car drove out there she had to call the Army and let them know who and what and when and for how long since there is a training base out there due to the terrain being so similar to Afghanistan. Matt would also have to wear an orange vest. After chatting with her it was getting close to 7 pm and that is when the ride meeting was scheduled so we untacked and put the horses up for the night. Sinwaan settled right into his paddock and ate.
Just before the ride meeting Levi met another little boy named Aiden who was a year older. They played chase for about 10 minutes and got too far away so I had to go and round Levi up. After that we told the kids to stay close and I talked to Aiden's mom, Andi. When ride meeting started I told Levi he had to sit with us and be quiet so everyone could hear. He was not obedient and made quite a bit of noise which made everyone disgruntled so I finally sent him back to the camper with my mom.
During the meeting Gail and Dr Jen talked about the tunnel. They explained that you could go through it if you wanted to, but only westbound (coming back), and that if you had never been through it, don't try it now. One man asked 'If I have never been through it, how am I supposed to get that experience?" Gail told him to come back another weekend when there was not a ride, or pre-ride it the day before. Dr Jen explained that she was not very gentle with people that needed treatment. I also heard that pigeons have built nests in the tunnel and they like to fly out and spook your horse, there are rocks to trip over, sometimes concrete falls from the ceiling, you just can't see in a large part of it because it is pitch black, etc. There was a lot said about how dangerous it was and how there have been wrecks in the tunnel the past two years that resulted in people being taken out by ambulance. Well that sealed it for me. I don't need to try the tunnel. I had bought glow sticks and even a fancy green light for my helmet. Oh well.
It would be an early morning so I headed back and gave Matt the news. He set our phone alarm for 5:15 AM. My mom set her phone alarm for 5:15 AM. I talked to Ruth and she said her alarm was set for 5:30 AM. Satisfied that we would not sleep through the start for the 75s & 50s (going out together since there were only 3 75s) I went to bed.
Since I didn't have a List this time I forgot our pillows. I also forgot any kind of serving spoon or spatula for cooking.
Levi could not go to sleep. He whispered and fidgeted and got up and down until about 11 pm. That kept us all up (except Ellie, who somehow managed to fall asleep right on schedule and she slept all night long). When he finally crashed then the wind picked up and the front shield on our camp trailer squeaked and banged all night long. Then it started raining and there were a couple of really big gusts and I laid in bed and prayed that Sinwaan was ok. I hoped he was getting some sleep and I hoped his pen wouldn't blow away. I worried about Levi's plastic toys and our camp chairs all outside. I worried that our front shield wold get caught just wrong in the wind and rip off and land on Ruth's tent. I worried about everything. Needless to say, I didn't sleep one wink. My mom didn't sleep either.
1 comment:
Hey lucky number 21; and in red too!
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