Giddy Up Go….

Today we went on a two hour trail ride with the folks from A-OK Corral, just outside of Jackson. Linda has been dying to go horseback riding for the longest time and I’ve been the one dragging my feet. I relented this time since it’s so beautiful around here and thought it would be a fun time. It was all of the above.
Gabby (Gabriel) was our trail guide and it was nice cause we were the only riders on this trip. It’s been overcast and drizzly most of the day so maybe that scared some folks away. Wussie people…
We were gone for two hours, up through the woods onto the top of the mountain, out through the meadows and then back again. Gabby is a photojournalism student at Utah State University, about four hours away from here. She lives in Star Valley, over in the Thayne area, where we just came from doing a park. We had a great time with Gabby, talking about all sorts of things
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We learned alot from Gabby about animals and plants. She showed us a tree where a black bear had clawed it. As we rode past some aspen trees, she told us about the powdery substance that is on the tree trunk of the trees. It has medicinal features, sort of like aspirin, and she says that when the elk are getting ready to have their babies they chew on the bark to help with the birthing pain. Interesting, huh? She also showed us berries that are on lots of the bushes in the woods. She said in another week the berries will be ripe and are good to eat.
Gabby showed us the area where the Rocky movie was filmed where he trained in the snow, to get ready for his big comeback. It was in the meadow up on top of the mountain. This is also where John Wayne’s first speaking role, in a movie, was filmed…The Big Trail. They also have a famous trail riding horse, that used to be in the movies, but the details of that escape me right at this moment (the ice pack on my butt has frozen my brain so I don’t recall it anymore). Anyway, we had a wonderful time riding this evening with Gabby as our guide.
By the time we got back to the corral, my knees and thighs were talking to me (more like yelling at me). They had started to whisper nasty little comments as we departed for the ride but I sucked it up and tried to relax all of the muscles that I could. Not sure I’ll be able to walk tomorrow but it’s nothing that some ibuprofen and ice packs won’t cure. I’ll let you know how that all works out.