In which a Virtual Trail Ride is proposed, and the "rules" explained

The Virtual Potluck was lovely, thanks to everyone who participated. I'm sure I gained less weight from your contributions than I did from the Actual Party at the farm this weekend.

Which leads me to a proposal:

Who would like to take a Virtual Trail Ride with me?

We can start at my place. Send me the names of the people you want to bring with you, and the names of the horses you will "bring." Descriptions are good: "you'll recognize my bright bay horse because I will braid daisies into her mane" or "I dress my old grey pony in pink-and-orange tack so the hunters won't shoot us accidently."

I live in the upper-left-hand corner of the United States--send me some information about your location, and we'll route the ride right past your house. I'm thinking that, since it's Virtual, we can easily visit dp and Jean in Canada, allhorsestuff in Oregon, Kate in Illinois, Funder in Ohio, Leah Fry and Mindy in Texas, and Lytha in Germany--all in the same week, and no Coggins certificate required!

As we pass through YOUR region, you'll want to share descriptions of your local trails, and the regional food we will be able to taste while "visiting." Calories are no problem, and you won't even need to provide Certified Weed-Free Hay for this event!

I'll start with my info:


I'll be riding Fiddle, my 7-year-old dark brown standardbred mare, who will be wearing her trademark purple biothane gear. She will need to be in the back of the line because her manners are sometimes very bad!





My sweetheart Jim will ride Hana, a bright red chestnut Arab (she wears green--perfect for a redhead),





and we'll put Jim's son Willy on my old standardbred mare Story

--who died in 2006, but who will never be forgotten-- she is PERFECT for a beginner on a virtual trail ride!






When the trail ride passes through my part of the Swampland, I'll take you up into the foothills trails east of our house.


The prevalent color here is GREEN--the trees, the plants, and even the water (that's algae, don't drink it).


Many of our trails are built over old logging roads, and you'll sometimes see logging equipment from the 1960's or earlier abandoned beside the trail. Our "stumps" are famous here--early settlers would have photos taken of a bunch of loggers inside the cut of an old-growth Douglass Fir tree.



Most of the trees are gone now, but the stumps remain (surrounded by large, younger trees), and the stumps still carry the "springboard marks" where loggers carved out a place to stand in order to cut down these gigantic trees.


We'll travel up high enough so we can admire the mountains around us and the lovely Puget Sound below us. On a Virtual Trail Ride, all the horses are fit and sound, and the riders never get tired, sore, cranky or sunburned!




Returning to Haiku Farm at the end of the day,

we will feast on pit-barbequed salmon and corn on the cob,

green beans fresh from the garden,

Jim's home-brewed brown ale,

and blackberry pie for desert.



Bring your raingear for this leg of the journey, because we can have unexpected precipitation even in the summer, calling forth the sounds of frogs to sing you and your horses to sleep at night.

Who else wants to play?