January 25, 2016

January 25, 2016

One of Aimee’s favorite things to do on vacation is ride a horse.  She has ridden on the beach, in the mountains, in Hawaii, and even in the Badlands, but never in Arizona, our home.  My sister being in town is a good excuse to try it here. 

After calling for a reservation, we head north to the little town of Oracle, AZ, grabbing a bite of lunch on our way.  Oracle lies on the north slope of the Catalina Mountains and is almost 2000 feet higher than Tucson.  The temperature is in the low 50’s and we can see snow covering the mountains not so far above us.  Good thing we all brought jackets.

The ranch and stables are on the edge of the Coronado National Forest.  A ranch hand gets our horses saddled, and helps us mount our steeds.  From there we set out on a two-hour adventure farther up the Catalina Mountains.  It feels like we are in the Old West until my sister, Jean, a novice rider makes us feel like we are really City Slickers.  Her horse, Copper, decides this is just a one-hour ride and turns back downhill prematurely, despite my sister’s coaxing.  Only a big tug from our guide gets her back on track.

Midway on our ride we reach a high point where we are rewarded with great views of the valley below.  We stop for photos.  We look like the cast of Bonanza!  On the way down, the horses know they are going home and they speed up.  My brother-in-law’s horse, Bubba, trots ahead accentuating his saddle sores.  Back at the ranch we are all ready to dismount and silently happy to know we are in the automobile era.