Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - Ride Day at Davis Mountain

Had a rough night, worrying about how to solve all the problems with these little burrs, but by the time I got up to let the dogs out, I had a plan. I took four small plastic bags and filled the bottoms with toilet paper, then used hair bands to hold them on. I put these on our big dog Marina and though she tried a couple of times to shake them off, once I let her out, I think she realized the purpose behind the booties and went on about her business. She still didn't go very far though. The little dog Billy, I put him on a lease and carried him to the driveway, which was mostly dirt, and walked him along the edge, avoiding the grassy areas as much as possible, and managed to keep his agony to a minimum, though he still picked up a burr or two that I had to brush off with my gloves on. That solved, after breakfast we headed out to ride the 7+ miles of trails here at Davis Mountain (named after former Secretary of War and later President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis). We especially careful not to get any burrs under the horses' saddles (it's not just a saying, it's true there's little more maniacal than a horse with a burr under his saddle!), and headed out the trailhead. At first the trail was mostly the dirt road, then we crossed several rocky creek beds following the electrical poles. Finally we turned off and headed up the mountain switchbacks. The trails were very rocky, but we waited until we were a mile or so out before putting their boots only, mainly because I wanted my gelding to have something else to think about than taking off on me. After no trailriding for nearly a month, and feed that was mostly alfalfa, he was more than a little frisky. Fortunately, since the first 2.5 miles was almost all uphill, he settled down in short order, and was soon back to his old self. The trail was a lot of switchbacks, and the rocks were rather loose, causing them to slip occasionally. There was one place where two trees looked like they had been split in the middle and the trail went right through them, which was kind of interesting. Near the top, the trail splits, so we headed right toward the overlook about 1.2 miles away. It was still a little climb, but had more level ground, though the ground was still mostly rocky. At the overlook, the view was quite stunning. We could see an observatory on the top of a hill to the west, and a couple of huge covered fields, at least 20-30 acres, maybe much more due south. It was a great 360 panorama. After about 10 minutes of observation and rest (the horses stood perfectly still, and seemed to be taking in the sights as much as we were) before heading back down to the intersection, where we stopped for lunch at a bench under a tree. Afterward, we headed out the other trail, toward Sheep Pen Canyon, passing an old cistern that hace "Abirel 8, 1948" carved in the cement of the trough. Don't know if it was a date, age or name but it was very impressive stonework. This trail was more level and offered a few places where the ground was good for trots and canters, so we sped along that leg whenever we could, until we reached the park boundary 1.5 miles out. We headed back and made it back to camp before 4:00, about a four hour ride. At one point, my gelding got a little ticked at the rocks and shook his head a bit (he's a comedian, my horse), but otherwise it was enjoyable and uneventful. We thoroughly enjoyed being back in the saddle again after our long absence, and I senses the horses were glad to get back on the trail as well. Gave them some oats as a reward, and bedded them down for the night, made one more excursion with the dogs after dinner (what a pain these burrs are!), and settled down for the evening.

Monday, December 6, 2010 - Travel Day to Davis Mountain State Park

After a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a few things, we headed out to Davis Mountain, passing through Pecos, TX (Home of the famous Judge Roy Bean courtroom), arriving at the State Park around 2:30. After buying a Texas State Park Annual Pass and paying for our camping through Thursday morning, we drove down to the dump and filled up with potable water at a nearby site, then headed across the road to the primitive equestrian area, which had a locked gate. There truly are no facilities for horses, except a water trough that had apparently just been fixed today (I'm glad we didn't head down here last Friday like we had originally planned!), but managed to string a highline between a couple of tall evergreen bushes (or low trees, depending on how you want to look at it :-). Then we made a horrifying discovery. The entire field where we were parked was infested with the nastiest, prickliest burrs we have ever encountered. Whereas the burrs in Colorado could cling like crazy, they were soft, though almost impossible to get off. The ones in New Mexico were prickly, but they stayed in one piece when you flicked them off. These.... these are not only as sharp as a ball of needles, when you try to remove them the point breaks off and become like slivers, and the only way to get 8hem out of your skin is with tweezers! The dogs were paralyzed within steps when we let them out, and we couldn't believe how terribly painful these little things are! We had to use gloves to pull them off their feet, until we found our little rubber brush, which whisks them away fairly easily, at least off clothes and shoes and dog feet. We're SO glad we only paid through Thursday morning (though Hubby had originally wanted to stay longer, but was glad afterward I talked him out of it), and would probably leave earlier if we hadn't paid through then. I hope it's not like this at our next stop, Big Bend, or it's going to be a very short stay there as well!

Sunday, December 5, 2010 - Rest and Blog Day

Slept until almost 10:30 this morning! Obviously we needed the rest, and it certainly did wonders for my aches and pains. Hubby fed the horses for me this morning, and we spent the day watching TV, getting caught up on the blog and generally vegging out for the day, finishing the last of the laundry and otherwise getting prepared for our departure tomorrow.

Saturday, December 4, 2010 - Rode in the Arena

Decided to ride the horses in the arena today, as they hadn't been ridden in weeks now, and the feed we bought in Albuquerque seemed to be more alfalfa than grass so they were starting to get a bit antsy. Saddled up in the afternoon and rode around for about half an hour before some other riders showed up. We decided to continue, to see how the horses behaved with other horses were around, and for the most part they were just fine once they got used to the idea. Hubby had been trying to get his mare to canter all day and hadn't succeeded until the other horses were there, and my gelding lit off after her, going first at a canter, then at a full-fledged gallop. When I tried to slow him down he decided to kick up his heels, which, at that pace, got me off balance and I took a fall, though I managed to hang onto both my horse and my hat (a true cowboy test!). I was winded for a few moments, but then climbed back aboard and rode around a bit more before we exited the arena. Since they had worked up a sweat, and it was warm enough, we gave the horses a bath before putting them away, and I carried on and gave the new pickup a bath as well. I kept getting an electrical shock, and after some exploration, discovered the outlet that we were plugged into was the cause. I switched it to the upper plug and that seemed to solve the problem. Finally I came in and sat down, and after a while, not surprisingly, got a bit stiff. Falling off a horse is a bit like having a car crash, you don't really know where it hurts for a while. It wasn't too bad, though, I actually had more pain in my shoulder (which I'm still trying to straighten out, and had spent a couple of hours working on it earlier in the morning) but I'm getting close! Went to bed fairly early, anticipating taking the day off tomorrow.

Friday, December 3, 2010 - Shopping and Errands

Spent the morning getting caught up on work, then went shopping for some essentials. Had originally planned on heading out today, but decided to stay and do some laundry while we had water and electric, something not likely for the next few weeks, or possibly even the rest of the month. We decided the weather would allow us to stay until Monday, though it's supposed to be a bit cooler on Sunday, but the stalls seem quite cozy and the horses are better off here than out on a highline. At one point, we decided the horses needed to get a little exercise, so we walked them down to the arena and let them loose. I made a tactical error, assuming the arena was secure, but by the time I realized the far entrance was open the horses had discovered it and slipped out. Despite numerous runs and corrals of piping, they managed to beat the maze and find their way out to the parking area, then to the grass next to it. Fortunately, that was in the opposite direction from the road, and it only took us a few minutes to catch them, after which we secured the entire arena and let them run around for a bit. Otherwise an uneventful day.

Thursday, December 2, 2010 - Day Two at Carlsbad Caverns

Set the alarm to get up early, because the first guided tour was at 10:00. We arrived just after 9:30, signed up for the tour and headed down the meet the group. Our guide as Ranger Andrea, and she set off at a pace that had most of us (we were a mostly older crowd) breathing heavily, with one poor woman practically having a heart attack before we stopped to look at a dead bat. After that we went much slower, going through the three rooms that make up the tour. At one point they turned the lights out just to let us experience total blackness, then we moved on from there. Hubby and I remembered that we had been through this room before, when it didn't require a guide, but they apparently instigated guided tours during the 90's to "protect" the cavern from those rare few would desecrate them. If we had simply walked it, even at our slow pace, we would have been through in no more than 30 minutes, but because it was a tour, we had to comply with their schedule, listening to mostly propaganda with very little substance or information. Anyway, after 90 minutes we were done. We stopped in the lower snack area for a cup of coffee and a small tub of salad (macaroni for me, potato for Hubby), and decided since it was still so early, we would take the Natural Entrance trail again. We originally thought we'd start at the bottom and work up as far as we could, but quickly realized that was a fool's errand, so we walked from the visitors center to the entrance and headed down. The change between last time we were here and now was incredible, and not for the good. When we went down in 1988, there were paths that were well marked and easy to follow, but had a natural surface that allowed you to get a feel for what the early explorers experienced. Granted, it wasn't as crude as being lowered in a guano bucket or climbing down a ladder as early visitors had to, you could still feel connected to the wonder they must have felt as they descended. Not so anymore. Now there's a paved path, they've built stone walls along both sides and completely reconfigured the opening, adding amphitheater seating at the opening, and there's a HANDRAIL on the trail! It was like walking in a Disney World queue (albeit a steep one), but it was no more interesting than that.
There was no sense of wonder or awe or respect for the early visitors, because it was just too "safe" to make any connection whatsoever. Really disappointing, and shocking to know that our National Park Service, which is supposed to preserve these sites for future generations, in fact ruined it for them. They should be ashamed of themselves that they made it so commercial and unnatural (quite ironic considering it's the "Natural Entrance"). I supposed if you've never been it would be okay, but compared to our memories, it was an awful disappointment. Finished off the museum, bought a few items in the gift store and headed back to the Arena, glad we could check the Big Room off our bucket list, doubtful we'll ever come back again because of the destruction they've inflicted here.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - A Day at Carlsbad Caverns

After doing some usual morning chores, we headed out to the Caverns before noon. We decided to take the self-guided walking tour of the Big Room, something we knew we had missed the last time we were here back in 1988. While the beauty of the Caverns was unchanged, the pathways and visitor center was much more commercial than we remembered it. We hadn't done the Big Room before so we couldn't compare it for sure, but it didn't seem to have the same natural cave feel that we remembered. Nevertheless, we spent more than two hours on the 1 mile trail (that was listed as being a one hour tour, but obviously that was only if you rushed through it), taking out time to really enjoy it, but getting passed by many others in a bigger hurry than we were. Afterward we walked through part of the museum in the visitor's center, then decided we needed to come back tomorrow to take the King's Palace tour and the rest of the museum. Got back around dusk, tended the horses and settled down for the evening.