What a Weekend!

I had a great weekend! I had helped my son-in-law's family with some baking late in the week. They were hosting the Appalachian Wagon Train for the weekend and were putting on a feed for them Saturday night following their ride. The train arrived on Friday after traveling from Farmers Inn in Sigel, PA. I stopped by their encampment on Friday evening and it was so much fun to see all the wagons and the beautiful horses as well as the folks dressed in period clothing. You can see some photos of this on my daughter Katy's blog.

I had been planning on riding with the wagon train on Saturday along with Chris, my son-in-law, but his father had a health issue arise which necessitated a change in plans. Well, Chris's one uncle, who had ridden on one of the wagons that day, urged me to go ahead and ride on Saturday after all. There was plenty of other help so I wouldn't be missed and it really was an opportunity that doesn't come along every day. So... I couldn't resist! We trailered Coby over on Saturday morning, gave him a bath and tacked him up. Chris took a few spins on him for fun.

I was permitted to ride Coby at the end of the wagon train... riding drag I guess you could call it... LOL! There were several other riders, all regular members of the wagon train. They were so nice and welcoming. I quickly felt accepted and part of the group.

Coby did really well. Since I've owned him, he's never been with a huge number of horses and so it was a new experience all the way around for both of us. We pulled out of the encampment at about 10:30 a.m. and started on our 10-mile trek, roundabout to Corsica, PA. Coby threw

a little attitude every time I mounted up but we quickly overcame that. Two of my grandkids--Madelyn and Xavier--were riding in a covered wagon directly in front of where I rode. So, in addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery along the route that we traveled, I got to interact with the kids... talking back and forth, waving to each other and just smiling at the whole experience.

I had a great time and Coby did awesome! I have to admit that once we got back, I was whipped! Chris and I trailered Coby on home where I gave him a nice scoop of grain and turned him out. Then I promptly went inside and fell fast asleep for 2 hours! And talk about sore!!! Yeah, well... it's been 4 days and I just now feel back to normal! LOL! It was worth it, though. Here's a photo of me just before falling in with the rest of the wagon train. The photos of both Chris and I were taken by Joe Miholics who was there taking pictures while the wagon train was camped out. Joe and his wife have a photography business, Captured Moments Photography, and

they've made a slide show of some of the photos that he took of the various participants in the Appalachian Wagon Train. Check them out if you'd like...