Yeehaw and yippee kai yay

Tonight's the big night as Flounder and I head off into the wild blue yonder … on our way to Utah for a cattle drive. Yep, we're going to help run 800 head of cattle from Bryce Canyon in Utah to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I expect there'll be some moans and groans as our iron butts turn into mush on a saddle on our four-legged steeds.

In order to do a little prep work, we decided to go horseback riding with Alaska Trekking. We caught up with Steve and Kim, on Wednesday, up at Hilltop Ski Area, which was where they were working out of that day.

Flounder got a horse named Rusty. He was tall, and she looked good on him.

Flounder and Rusty.

My horse was named Doc. I was glad he was that kind of guy … kind, considerate with an awesome bedside manner. He was exactly what I needed as the last time I remember riding was a horse I owned … a palomino named Brigadier. But everyone called him Buck, and there was a good reason for that.

Self portrait of me atop Doc, but you can't see him.  I've not perfected this yet.  Actually my arm wasn't quite long enough to get that photo.

Needless to say, I was a tad nervous and a bit tense. But after about 15 minutes, things were okay. I settled in and enjoyed the rest of the hour-and-a-half ride.

Flounder and me ... on the trail.

The next day I woke up and didn't feel any ill effects. However, once I got to zumba I felt a few of those muscles I'd used the day before. Advil is my current best friend and I'll be taking a big container of it on the trip. Medicinal purposes.

Hopefully there'll be a few Facebook posts from the trail, if I have some cell coverage and a battery that lasts. Hi ho Silver, away!!