1st Road Trip:

      I'm not quite sure just how the idea of a "road trip" came about, but Connie, Lianne, and I came up with the notion that it would be great to ride in the Southwest. Trailering our own horses that far was out of the question; Lianne was the busy mother of 4 youngsters, Connie's funeral home businesses kept her tied down, and I was still teaching. However, we decided we could manage a few days off. So we got plane tickets, lined up a Memorial Day trailride with an outfitter in Apache Junction, AZ and set out the minute school let out on Friday for summer vacation. It was May 1996.

     Enroute via Southwest Airlines, a silly conversation took place which set the tone for the entire trip! Peals of laughter, tears running mascara down our cheeks........look out, AZ, here we come! Ron, a best friend and former resident of Arcola, met us at the airport and helped us find the way to our hotel the Hilton South Pointe. We relaxed by the pool after unpacking our boots, cantle bags, water bottles, half-chaps, and other riding gear we'd brought along.

      To pass time while waiting for Monday's ride, we zipped around Phoenix and surrounding area to check out horse farms. Our first stop was the famous Tom Chauncey Arabian Farm. I had called several months ahead to ask permission to visit and was told just to stop in. I'd never seen so many beautiful Arabian horses on one farm! The trainers/handlers we encountered as we toured the farm treated us like royalty; they could not have been more polite and informative. As strange as life can be, we found that one of the employees had previously worked in IL at a nearby Arabian farm. Another day, we ventured up to the Cave Creek area and visited another Arabian farm that I'd called months earlier. It was a much smaller farm than Chauncey's and offered a whole lot less in friendliness. We kept the tour short and decided not to make any purchases, leaving our wallets still fat with our $300 in traveller's checks! On we went to a private "For Sale" ad we'd found in the paper. There we found a nice gray gelding some young lady was selling for a friend. As she struggled to put a halter on the horse upside down, she finally announced that she knew nothing about horses and would we help? Nice horse; no sale.

     Days later, the ride we'd waited months for finally arrived. Dressed in our riding gear, we set out from Phoenix for the 35 mile drive to the stable at Apache Junction. We were REALLY excited about a day-long trailride through the beautiful Superstition Mountains! As we approached the check-in booth, one of the bedraggled pony-tailed wranglers looked up from his stooped position and loudly drawled for all to hear: "WELLLL, LOOK-A HERE.  IF IT AIN'T THE 3 GREENHORNS FROM BARNUM AND BAILEY CIRCUS, BOYS. LOOK-A HERE."

     WHAT????? Could he possibly be speaking to US? We stopped short in our tracks, practically stacking one atop the other! It seemed like an eternity, but we finally gathered our restored pride and proceeded to pay and sign the waivers promising not to sue if we were bucked into the cactus or over a mountain. And we didn't even yank that dude's pony-tail or konk out his remaining tooth! But, thus, a legend was born--we now refer to ourselves as the Greenhorns, or simply the GH's.

     The ride was everything we'd dreamed of and more. I had a nice little gray named Ghost. Lianne rode Sadie, Connie rode ???, and Ron had Nip. Nip had a bit of a problem with stumbling, but so did Ron! So, we quit worrying and figured horse and rider were well paired up. Nip manuevered all the tough spots and brought Ron safely back to the trailhead at day's end.

     There were a lot of highlights along the ride. Weaver's Needle, a huge rock formation, made a picturesque backround for our many pictures. Riding among the saguaro, ochotillo, cholla, etc. had us constantly pointing and clicking our shutters. Lunch on the trail gave us a nice break, but we came to RIDE! Needless to say, the day went much too fast! (Though Ron's stiff legs disagreed!!!)