Teri's Saguaro

For the past ten years Steve and I have lived next door to Theresa Gartland (Teri). Teri turned out to be the best friend that I have ever had. We both shared a love for horses,dogs and tortoises.  

Teri was the caretaker for my animals when Steve and I traveled. We rode our horses together. She ended up working with us at Steve's dental office. In fact we put a gate into the fence between our properties for easier access back and forth. We have shared a lot of good times and some extremely hard and sad personal times with each other.  We have always had each other's back!

Teri had two saguaro cacti made from horseshoes on her property.  She would light them up at Christmas time with hundreds of lights. So fun. The one pictured above was the smaller of the two but it was actually made with horseshoes that Teri's own horses had worn.  

Recently Teri moved from next door to out of state.  although I have been very sad that my best friend has moved on I know that due to circumstance this is what she needed to do.  Before she left she gifted the horseshoe cactus to me. She knew I had always secretly coveted it!

It was no small feat moving this cacti as it was cemented in cement and it weighs ?? a lot! Steve did a great job working with another neighbor Tom and Tom's tractor moving it here.  They had to cut it with a torch saw.Tom had to weld the bottom and Steve had to dig a rather large hole and pour 1180 pounds of concrete!  

The above picture is the cactus transplanted to our backyard. I love it! Of course I will have great memories of Teri when I look at it.  I will continue to light it up at Christmas time with a smile. 

 Teri helping at a roundup vaccinating,castrating,branding calves.

 Teri on her handsome buckskin gelding Big Jim before a trail ride.  

Tonto Natural Bridge With 5 Guys

The end of June I went with the Boulder Mountain Ward Young Women to hike the Tonto Natural Bridge. It was a fun hike and I couldn't wait to take some of our grandsons on the hike.

The Tonto Natural Bridge is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. It has been inn the making for thousands of years. The bridge stands 183 feet high over a 400 foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point.

In 1877 David Gowan discovered the bridge as he was chased by Apaches. Gowan hid for two days and three nights in one of the several caves that dot the inside of the bridge.  He left the cave on the third day to explore the tunnel and green valley surrounding it. Gowan then claimed squatter's rights.

In 1898 he persuaded his nephew, David Gown Goodfellow to bring his family over from Scottland and permanently settle the land.  After a week of difficult travel from Flagstaff, they arrived at the edge of the mountain and lowered their possessions down the 500 foot slopes into the valley by ropes and burros.

Steve and I set off with Crew (almost 10),Cole (8),Brexton (8),Cash (6) and Miller (5). We had a great time and everyone did better then I had expected.  We saw a few small waterfalls,tadpoles in small pockets of water and javelina.

We stopped at Mackeys Grill in Payson for lunch and at scoops for ice cream!

 Tadpoles in the above picture. 

 Waterfall off the top of the bridge.

Salt River Wild Horses and Piper Swims

Today we went to the Salt River so Cutter and Piper could swim. I wanted to post this picture of some of the Salt River Wild Horses. They were in the area were we always take the dogs.  Last week when we were kayaking we saw this same band of horses. They crossed the river just in front of our kayaks. At that time this little colt wasn't born yet. Today it was apparent this colt is only days old.  

My dogs began barking at the horses and the band rushed forward to surround the two young ones. It was a treat to witness. The dark horse in the center of the picture is the stallion.

 Today with very little coaxing Piper came out into the water with me deep enough to swim.  I think she enjoyed it! She came out several mores times and she would swim around me before heading back to shore.  Good job Piper!

Evan Spends the Night

Brannon and Amanda's beautiful baby boy came to stay the night with Papa and G-Mama.  He is such a sweet,handsome boy! We enjoyed spending some quality time with this sweet baby.

 Isn't this a happy picture to send to Evan's Mom and Dad? He was smiling at his Papa!

We took Evan out to see the horses for the first time. He is a brave little boy,no tears! Sometimes these big horses can scare the little ones. Santannah was very interested in Evan.

New Kayaks

July was a busy month for Steve and I.  I had a Ward Girls Camp,a Stake Girls Camp,a trip to San Diego and our trip to Panaca,Nevada for the Sesquicentennial Celebration. When I was food shopping for Stake Girls Camp I noticed Costco had kayaks on sale for an extremely good price.  We came back and bought two but they sat in the garage waiting for our adventures to be over.

Monday morning we decided to try them out kayaking down the Salt River.  We had a great time and the kayaks worked beautifully.

I wish I had a camera but didn't want to get one wet! There was a group of wild horses in the river as we came around a bend.  The grey stallion decided to move his herd across the river right in front of us. There was a young colt with the group who was reluctant to cross as it was deep and he would be swimming.  His mom stayed back with him to encourage and push him (literally) along. He finally took the plunge and crossed.  Beautiful scenery and wildlife!   

Panaca,Nevada Sesquicentennial Celebration July 24-26, 2014

My mother,Ina Mae Wadsworth Wimsatt was born and raised in Panaca,Nevada. I spent time each summer with my grandparents,James Allen and Lois Stewart Wadsworth,cousins,siblings and parents in Panaca as I was growing up. 

This quaint little town was every child's dream. I was surrounded by family with a freedom I didn't get to experience at home in El Cajon, California. It was in Panaca that I rode my first horse,drove my first vehicle (my Uncle Leo's truck and I was under age),swam in the local swimming holes (the Big Ditch and the Spring),walked to the store for treats with a quarter,visited the Malt Shop for a malt or a meal,ate food freshly picked from my grandparents garden,slopped the pigs,gathered eggs,crossed the bull's corral without getting gored, watched Granny bake cinnamon rolls,pies,donuts and much more,climbed the Court Rock and slept under the stars with Granny on the bed she kept outside....I could continue this list but I think you get the idea!

This July Panaca rolled out the red carpet and celebrated its Sesquicentennial milestone. 150 years ago Panaca was settled by our Pioneer Ancestors. This was a party we didn't want to miss.  My parents and I rented an RV and our journey began. We drove to Panaca with Brexton,Nixin and Presley,three of my grandchildren.  My two sons and their wives Brinton and Allison and Trey and Jenna came with their children. Brinton's children I already listed and Trey's daughters, Montana and Harlee. My brother Paul,his wife Joanne, and his entire family, Justin his son,Jeni and her husband Chris and their children Ethan and Ryann all came. 

We stayed at Young's RV in Caliente,Nevada and loved the facilities there. The first picture you see is of a deer visiting the RV park.  We saw them each day we were there.

 The Spring is a favorite swimming hole. That is Brexton and Ethan getting ready to jump.

 The Panaca Merchantile is now the Heritage Center. I took pictures of the collage my Mom and I put together for the Heritage Center. The cabinet below was my Granny's kitchen cabinet now in the Heritage Center.

 This statue honoring the first settlers of Panaca was unveiled. We are proud of our Pioneer ancestry.

 The 24th of July parade was the best ever this year.  All of the children said it was their favorite Panaca experience.

 We tie-died shirts before we came. Not only did the kids have fun making the shirts they loved to wear them also. Yes, they looked cute. Trey and Jenna's VW bus was a perfect backdrop for these pictures!

 Another favorite of the grandkids is Uncle Pete's backyard. Pete Horlacher is married to my mother's younger sister Delores. We stopped by for a visit and you can see a good time was had by all.

 Brexton's handstand on the bus and he was victorious at air hockey!

Mount Baldy Ride June 7,2014

I finally did it!

For the last four years I have wanted to take Santannah up Mount Baldy in the White Mountains of Arizona.

 Ken Glasco,a friend of mine, organizes a Mount Baldy ride each spring and fall. It seemed that every time the ride was scheduled something prevented me from being able to do the ride. This year I was determined nothing was going to get in the way. I was going to ride Mount Baldy.

I invited my friend Mary Morrow and her Arabian gelding Cali. Mary is an endurance rider. Cali was recently honored as a decade horse meaning Mary and Cali have been competing in endurance for ten years doing 50 mile races. I have been riding with Mary for the last couple of years,not endurance racing, she and Cali have really helped Santannah and I become a better team.

I want to say that our Mount Baldy ride was by far the most beautiful ride Santannah and I have ever done. The scenery reminded me of Pine Valley,Utah. I spent time there in my youth, camping and enjoying our Wadsworth family reunions. 

We were not able to make it to the top of Mount Baldy due to the deadfall that had not yet been cleared.  We rode over and around downed trees in our pursuit of the summit. Then we encountered the tree that could not be passed.  There was no way around or over.  Mary said,"I haven't taught my horse to crawl yet!" We turned back slightly disappointed yet elated that we could ride back through the green,grassy meadow alongside the Little Colorado river.  I'm told that Baldy's unpredictability is part of the experience. You have a small window of opportunity to try and conquer the mountain. April you may have snow. May can be windy. June can be dry and the forest could actually be closed due to fire hazard. July and August you might have thunderstorms that would keep you off the mountain.

Would I be willing to give it another try? Absolutely!

 Mary and I decided we needed a good breakfast so we headed to Wal-Mart for donuts and milk! A little sugar goes a long way LOL.

At the Mount Baldy West Trail #94 getting ready to ride. Top picture is Ken's horse Polk. Lower picture is my horse Santannah and Mary's horse Cali on the right.

 

Every time we stopped our horses couldn't wait to graze on the grass that is hard to find at home in the desert. 

 Mary 

 Ken

 Beautiful right?

 I love this picture. I was taking pictures of Ken and Santannah decided to join Ken and Polk.

The pictures confirm that we had a great ride!

Costa Rica November 2013

In November 0f 2013 Steve and I were fortunate enough to go to Costa Rica with our very good friends Wandal and Martha Winn.  We traveled to Costa Rica on Thanksgiving day. I did have a turkey sandwich at the airport during our layover.  We were also in Costa Rica on my 57th birthday!

I have posted a lot of pictures for this trip and when they posted they did so in random order and I don't want to take the time to redo the posting. I'm going to leave it as it is as give a narrative.

While traveling from Arenal to MonteVerde we stopped in a sleepy little town for a little break. 

 On the road to MonteVerde everything was so green,a little of and this beautiful bull in pasture.

 This was a common sight. They would move their bulls around by walking them down the streets and through the towns. Sometimes they would hold onto the bull's tail or wave a large palm frond behind the bull.

 In Monte Verde we stayed in these cute bungalows. We didn't stay anywhere with heating and there were a few times I would have liked that.  The view from this room was beautiful,lush and green everywhere the eye could see. 

 While staying at our bungalow we discovered that the area was teaming with very hard working, industrious red ants.  Not the best picture but you can see this ant is carrying a stick4 plus times his size. They were bringing things like this back to the nest and traveling long distances to get there.  We watched them for a long time. Extremely entertaining.

 We ate at this quaint restaurant in MonteVerde and returned the next day for the orchid tour.

 This isn't a very good picture but here is a Coati.  These animals are seen everywhere in Costa Rica. We had a group of 7 or 8 run across the road in front of our bus in Monte Verde on our way to Salvatura for zip-lining and hanging bridges.

 I have zip-lined before and enjoyed it. After zip-lining at Salvatura in Costa Rica I realize my prior zip-lining experiences were but a small dot on the ocean.  This zip-line rocked! My helmet was a little large. I felt so cool doing the zip-line, I didn't realize till I looked at my picture the guide took that I looked like a dork. I still feel pretty hard-core and cool!

 While in Monte Verde during our orchid tour we saw this tree loaded with what would soon be butterflies.

 While I was zip-lining Wandal and Martha did the hanging bridges tour. I could see some of this as I was zip-lining. Steve has a fear of heights so he went on the reptile tour,he was the only one on his tour. He likes to tell that story.  

 Beautiful views!

 We learned that there are 340 different orchids that are indigenous to Costa Rica.  We didn't see all of all of them but it seems we came pretty close.

 Orchids come in all colors and sizes. Some are so small we needed magnifying glasses to see them. Thy provided the magnifying glasses on our tour.

I can't resist taking a horse picture. Their corral was overgrown with greenery. So different from our home in Arizona. 

 On our way to Jaco Beach we stopped to take the Crocodile Man Tour.  We did indeed see large crocodile up close and personal. we also saw about 30 different species of birds. Our guide was very knowledgeable. Great tour. Beautiful scenery!

 Something tells me that teasing a large crocodile with a chicken leg is not the brightest idea.

 This cute family owns a Pizzeria in Monte Verde. When we were trying to find our lodging accommodations we ended up a little lost. I really had to use the bathroom. Just when I thought I was going to burst we happened upon the Pizzeria. I used the restroom,Wandal and Steve had a soda. We decided to go back there the next evening for dinner. Very good pizza and a very nice family,Oscar his wife and little boy.

 Our first and our last nights were spent in San Jose. This was the hotel we stayed in both nights.

 Wandal and Martha

 On our way from San Jose to Arenal we stopped in this little town to walk the garden and visit the beautiful church.  The church was decorated for a wedding.  We read all of the posted wedding"banns".

 The church was very ornate and very beautiful.

While  in Arenal we stayed at the Tilajari Resort. I would recommend this place. Very nice.

 The flora and fauna in Costa Rica are amazing. Do you see the large iguana sunning on top of the trees.

 Then there is the little guy.

 We visited the hot springs in Arenal and they have a sanctuary there where we saw cats like the Maragay,mountain lions also sloths and toucans.

 On my 57th birthday everyone humored me and we rode horses through the cloud forest. It was a dream come true!

 We went to a wonderful restaurant  for my birthday dinner. Steve ordered the special which he said was delicious but the stake was larger than the plate! I fell in love with  the Heart of Palm salads in Costa Rica. Steve who only likes thousand island dressing didn't care for the Heart of Palm salad so I got to eat his!

I didn't know what most of the flora in Costa Rica was named but they were so beautiful. This one fascinated me. 

It was a wonderful,eventful,adventurous trip. Going on this trip with Wandal and Martha made it even more special.  Good times,noodle salad to be sure