For the second spring in a row, Opa and I have ditched the PNW for the heat, dust, altitude, starry nights, and adventures of the high desert. Two weeks in the company of our fave New Mexicans, the Thrussells, warms us up and dries us out. We call this spring interlude “Summer Camp”.
Many popular summer camps include horses. Ours did.
Ghost Ranch, located in Abiquiu, NM, is famous for its cattle rustling history, for its landscape-inspired artist, and for cowboy movies. Having missed out on a van tour last year (and we all know why), we eagerly sought reservations in February for our May visit. Then! One of us discovered that for a bigger wad of cash we could ride on a horse rather than sit in a van — and after confirming that the other three adventurers were agreeable, she plunked down our gold for a 90 minute trail ride.
Although Abiquiu is a mere 45 minutes from Thrussell Home Base, we elected to double the fun and find an AirBnB right in town for two nights. Our quaint and comfy casita included a fully equipped kitchen, spacious rooms decked out in tasteful southwest decor, a private patio with views of cows grazing just beyond the fence, and a bit of drama when a coyote showed up one morn. Plus, there were hummingbirds and a hummingbird moth. And a Chow-Chow.
Were there any pre-trail-ride jitters the evening before? Was anyone remembering the last time she rode a horse and how ridiculous she looked trying to dismount? Who laughed nervously when one of our party was told he’d be riding Bone Crusher?
Who’s the most excited to ride a horsie today?
However, after being expertly paired with Nacho, Tonka, Little Bit, and Bishop, and having paid careful attention to the demo on mounting, sitting, steering, squeezing, keeping a horse length between the horses, leaning correctly through the arroyos, and hollering “potty break!” when one’s steed pulled off the trail to do his business, we were lined up according to horsie personality and off we rode into the desert. (For the record, my horse and Jessica’s were besties, so Little Bit didn’t mind one little bit that Bishop was crowding him the whole time. Thanks, boys.)
Three minutes later, were ready to quit our day jobs and move to Abiquiqui. We loved our wrangler, we loved being by ourselves in the desert, we loved our horsies.
Unless next spring’s Summer Camp includes a horseback rerun, we may have to boycott.
Of course, Summer Camp involved much more than a 90-minute horse ride, and I shall get to parts II (Baking with Jessica) and III (Camping in Chaco) shortly.