Well, it's been awhile since I posted anything.  I don't really have internet service in my cabin, once in a while I can get my email, but not often.  I have been so busy I haven't taken any new photos.  I finally snapped off a few today.  It was kind of cloudy so don't know how well they will show up and I'm not taking the time to photoshop them.

Right now I am sitting in the clubhouse, watching a Parelli Level 4 Finesse DVD that Greg was watching when I came in to make my dinner.  Salad is sitting beside me, ready to go up to the cabin to eat ( couldn't find any salad dressing down here.)

Work has been fine, Sharon and I share an office, Ann is right next door.  Ann has a 15 year old Akita mix "Buster" and a 9 month old mini Doxy "Stella" that come to the office with her, so I get a dog fix!   I have been putting together student packets for the first 3 courses, starting May 7th.

Gabriel is taking some time to settle in.  He spends alot of time pacing the perimeter of his pen.  I can see him from my desk so have been keeping track of him every day.  Tonight I took  him into the "arena grande", which is 300' x 300' and turned him loose to play.  He spent the first 30 mins grazing all the grass along the fence line, then rolled and rolled and rolled in the deep, soft, damp dirt  (we had a big rain storm last nite.)  Then he finally ran around and played with me a little.  He just needed time to play like a horse out of his pen.

It was very warm and dry here the first 4 days, then the last couple have been windy and cool, and the big rain storm last nite.

I will try to put a couple of todays photos up, then call it a nite.  Hope you are all doing well, I miss my buddies back home, 2 and 4 legged!

Debbie

This was me the first day Pam and I got here, but I just got it off my camera.

Gabriel at the place we stayed for 3 days, before moving onto the ranch.  My apartment is upstairs, behind the big boat.  The mountain in the background is called "broken off mountain", original, huh?!

It is really a sheer cut on this but it isn't showing up to well

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View from my desk, Gabriel in middle of pic, VERY tiny!  Clubhouse in foreground with red roof.  I walk from here up to the horses and back about 5 times a day.

View from my desk, to the left of the previous photo.  It isn't showing up, but beyond the farthest ridge that you are seeing, are absolutely breathtaking snow covered mountains, part of the rockies.

View from Gabriels pen across to my cabin.  It is red roof just above the lower left side of the big white arena cover.  It is a looooong way to walk and uphill all the way.The club house is in the foreground, my office just to the right and behind it.

Gabe and Chance in thier muddy pens after the rainstorm last nite.

view from my cabin looking over to
Gabriel.  He is about in the middle of the photo, but to fare to see it.

A zoomed in shot of the previous photo, Gabe in the middle of photo, just to the left of the tack room.

That's all folks!

Finally on Parelli Ranch!

Well,  Gabriel and I are finally moved on to the Parelli ranch.  He is in a large pen with his traveling mate "Chance" right next to him and I am in my little cabin.  I have spread out and taken over the whole cabin, since I am the only one in here for now.  There may be another person in here later, but I don't know where she will put her stuff!

The cabin is about 12x14, has 2 sets of bunk beds.  One for sleeping in and the other 3 for stowing my stuff!  It has lots of rustic shelves, a hanging rod across 1 corner, electricity and a propane heater!  There is a hose right outside and hopefully tomorrow the porti-potti will be set up close!  It's a long hike down to the lodge bathroom! I have a little refrigerator (thanks to Sarah) and a small microwave, so am all set for times the  kitchen is not open (like most of this first week.)  After that, all meals and snacks should be available in the lodge.

Greg's cabin is right next door.  He and I took our 2 ponies for a long walk all around the ranch.  Lots of grass eating for them so we have their vote of approval on the new digs! I got to play online in the "big top" covered arena, sooooooooooooo cool! Tomorrow after work I plan to ride Gabriel around this place and really check it out.

I don't have a very strong internet connection here in the cabin, and it keeps kicking me off so Skyping is not working at the moment.  Maybe I can get it better tomorrow. Some sort of booster is on the roof and some dsl cables are hanging inside, just not long enough to reach my computer.

tty'all later,
Debbie

Day 3 & 4

Hi  everyone!

Well, we finally arrived in Pagosa Springs at 7pm Thurs nite, all safe and sound.  We are staying in a little private apartment and the horses right outside in a small arena. The horses were happy to have a big open pen to play in.  We were happy to have a soft bed and some shut eye!  We had driven from Delta, Utah to Pagosa Springs, CO, 445 miles.  Gorgeous country!  We both wanted to unload the horses and go riding across the landscape more then once!  Chance, the horse I hauled out for Greg, another summer worker, started the trip NOT loading OR unloading from the trailer, just to hard for the poor boy.  By the 3rd day, he was loading and unloading so well,  we unloaded them for an hour rest and grazing in a big open field we found for our lunch break.  After lunch, they both hopped right back in, ready to go.

Arch just outside Moab, Utah

Maybe we could go for just a short ride from here!

We are north and east of the Grand Canyon here

Today, (Friday) we slept in (soooo nice), then drove 4 miles over to the Parelli ranch and had about a 2 hour personal tour from Ann (my new boss and Pams old Parelli instructor.)  It was awesome, my cabin is very cute,    the barns and horse playgrounds are incredible, I can't wait for Gabriel and I to try them all out! Then we spent about another hour walking around and exploring on our own, went back up to the employee cabins to look again.  So far, I will have the cabin to myself, that could change later.  Greg will have the next door cabin to himself.  I can drive the truck right up to it to unload all my stuff (hurray!) and then leave my truck parked right in front of it, walking down and up to the "office" and clubhouse (meals, showers) everyday. The cabin has electricity, 2 sets of bunks, a long pole and hangers (yippee, I didn't know if that would be available), some shelves, a little rickety desk and a chair.  Outhouse will be close right outside, not set up yet, showers down the hill, and  with the little frig and microwave I brought with me it will be perfect!

Now Pam and I are sitting in a little cafe, having a snack and accessing the internet (no WiFi or cell service where we are staying. We went to the hot springs here in town and looked at them, but they are now all privately owned and maintained and expensive to use, so that and the fact that it is about 70' and SUNNY, we decided not to do a soak today.  We found out about some up in the woods, a few miles out of town, that we can ride the horses up to, that are free.  Maybe I'll get a chance to go look at those sometime.

I'll drive Pam back to Durango tomorrow to fly home, then Sunday, move both horses and myself onto the ranch, where we will live until mid October.

Pam multi-tasking, blowing bubbles and driving!

Chimney rock, just west of Pagosa Springs

"the Big Top" arena facing Pagosa Peak

View down from my cabin

My new home!

Which one?!  (the right one)

Pam, finally here!

Going up the drive way to the ranch in the distance

If you have enjoyed this blog, leave me a message at the bottom of the page!

Thanks,

Debbie

First and Second Day, 1 Day to go!

Hi all!  Pam and I are now in the motel room, showered, fed and ready for bed, yeah!  The horses are stalled just down the street at a cute barn, separate paddocks.  ALL of us are TIRED!  We drove 498 miles today, from Reno, NV to Delta, Utah.  Half of it was straight desert roads, nice, fast.  The other half was UP and down, winding and slow.  But we took it easy for the horses, my truck did fantastic and we arrived safe and sound! We stop every 2 -3 hours for 15-30  to rest the horses, refill their hay and  for us to walk around,  limber up and change drivers.

Pam set up and application from her cell phone called "Glimpse"  so her family and mom could log onto that site from their computers and "watch" our trip travel on the map with the GPS on Pam's phone.  They said it was fun to see our progress, but when we lost cell service (most of today in the desert) it looked like we had stopped and were not moving!  Then when they tried to call and check on us, and couldn't get us, they figured it out.

Here are a few photos of the trip so far.  I took a few more at the very start, but they are in my camera out in the truck, and I am not going out to get them tonight!

Nite all, ttyl,
Debbie

Deb in Northern California

Nevada Desert

More mountains ahead!