From Fallon to Twin Falls to Pocatello

 From Fallon, we traveled to Twin Falls, Idaho.  We stayed at Carol Sherman's place, called Western Barns.  Carol was not the most hospitable host we have experienced.  I asked if she had an outhouse and she offered that the closest gas station was about two miles away or I was welcome to use one of the horse stalls.  There wasn't any real riding nearby, but she said we could ride in the sugar beet fields behind her house.  So, we did.  This was an interesting experience as the sugar beet fields were crisscrossed with irrigation canals.  The smell of sugar clung to our clothes.  It felt like we were riding through cotton candy.  It also was a bit of struggle keeping the horses from grabbing snatches of sugar beet to eat.

We went to the local IHOP for breakfast this morning.  The waitress asked Ari how he wanted his eggs.  Ari said, "Cooked".  I had to explain to him that she meant scrambled, fried, sunny side up or over easy.  The food was so slow getting to our table, the waitress kept coming over to apologize.  After thirty minutes, she comped our orange juice.  After 45 minutes, she came by to tell us she was giving us 10% off our meal.  We weren't complaining, we were just sitting there.  We figured if the kitchen took too long we would eventually get the entire meal for free.

On the way to our next stop - Pocatello, Idaho - we went to the Sawtooth National Forest.  This was about three hours out of our way.  The last hour was spent on a dirt road going between 10 and 20 mph.  At one point, I got so frustrated by how long it was taking that I pulled the rig over to the side of the road and told Ari we could get to the forest faster if we rode there on horseback.  So, we tacked up and tried to ride there and almost immediately hit a cattle guard.  A cattle guard, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a series of pipes laid parallel to each other.  Cattles can't cross it because their legs will fall between the cracks and get stuck.  Horses can't cross a cattle guard either without breaking a leg.  So, we sucked it up, reloaded the horses and drove the remaining distance into the park.

It was worth the drive.  The horses loved the trails.  Oberon couldn't get enough of the grass.  There was a nice creek that ran through the park.  At one point on the trail, we found a catfish that had gotten caught trying to go downstream and had gotten hung up on the rocks.  Ari dismounted, picked up the catfish and placed him downstream from the rocks. 

We are in Pocatello tonight.  Our horses are sharing a box stall at a barn in town.  The barn is located near the race track and so Oberon and Laertes are bunking down with a bunch of race horses.  They are sharing the same box stall because Oberon went nuts when we separated the two horses into stalls next to each other.  Once Oberon was placed in the same stall as Laertes, he calmed down considerably.

The Snake River near Twin Falls, Idaho

Shoshone Falls - Idaho claims this is the Yosemite of the area.  While the falls are beautiful and impressive, Yosemite has nothing to fear - their reputation and beauty exceeds the Shoshone Falls.

Riding in the Sawtooth National Forest

Getting ready to ride in the Sawtooth National Forest

In the Sawtooth National Forest

We stopped to get some more feed for the horses in Kimberly, Idaho.  The feed store had bins with chicks (1.50 each).  If you hold one up to your ear, you hear "cheep cheep cheep".

Getting the horses ready to load up

 

 

The Perrine Bridge over the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho

 

 

 

Tomorrow we plan to ride in the Cherry Springs Nature Reserve south of Pocatello and then head to Driggs and the Grand Teton Mountains.

Laertes was a bit traumatized at the corral in Fallon.  The barn manager had rigged electrical tape around the corral.  Laertes leaned too far over the water trough and accidentally sparked.  He was extremely upset and refused to go near any water.

We moved him over to his stall and put water in our collapsible bucket that we use on trail rides.  Laertes would then touch the bucket with the tip of his nose to make sure it wouldn't spark before he took a drink.

It sprinkled off and on, so we weren't able to do any riding.  Instead, we ended up going to a movie at the Fallon Theatre.  The theatre in the downtown area has not been upgraded since the 1960s.  They still use an old-fashioned projector and sound system.  The seats are similar to folding chairs with no cup holders.  The screen is up on a small stage with curtains.  It was a blast from the past.  Ari & I felt like we were kids again.  As we left the theatre, we felt we were going "Back to the Future".

At the Bakery Cafe where we had breakfast in Fallon, Nevada.  This was mounted next to the cashier.  The local Republican Women's group is holding a raffle and the prize is a Ruger LCR revolver.  I can't even imagine something like this happening in the bay area.

After six hours on the road, we finally arrived at Elko, Nevada and our next barn.  Laertes peers out at me from the corral.

Oberon was very happy to get out of the trailer and able to stretch his legs.

Those are thunder clouds overhead - so once again it doesn't look like we'll be able to trail ride.  Luckily, this place has a covered arena, so we can saddle up and ride in the arena to get any kinks out of the horses.

Ari saddles up Oberon.

We let Laertes and Oberon share their stall after the ride in the arena.  They are happier bunking together.

Tomorrow we head into Idaho. 

Traveling to Wyoming

Our second day was spent outside of Reno near the Washoe Lake State Park.  Our horses shared a nice corral at the Rugged R Ranch.

We rode right off the ranch to the sand dunes by the lake.  In the background, you can see parasailors on the lake.  Oberon loved the dunes, especially running up and down the steep hillsides.  Laertes was a little less happy since he has shorter legs.  It was a wonderful ride, though.

 On the way to our next stop outside of Fallon, Nevada, we say a sign for a tiger habitat.  This was really just one guy and his girlfriend who were keeping six full six tigers in large cages in their backyard.  In Nevada, anyone can own wild animals with the proper permits.

Tiger Pete went into each cage and cuddled the tigers so we could see what a great relationship he had with them.

He was nice enough to take my camera and get some pictures for us so we could have some up close and personal pictures of the tigers.

Ari was very happy to get to meet the tigers.  They all looked well taken care of and seemed happy.

Tiger Pete outside of Fallon, Nevada from elisemoss on Vimeo.

Pete is not the best with a camera or video

I handed him the camera to take a video of the tigers and so there are some periods where he took video of the ground and the gate.

Silver Sage Ranch

After our stop at the tigers, we put our horses up at the Silver Sage Ranch outside of Fallon, Nevada.

The weather was a bit overcast and there were some sprinkles, so I am not sure if we are going to be able to ride.  Tomorrow, we travel to Elko, Nevada.