Maine Scout Jamboree & The Pinnacle Ride/Hike

Dad & my brother took the boys to the Maine Scout Jamboree. I'm told that it was awesome!! I sure have enjoyed the photos. It looks like they got to do alot of really cool things. The guys came home for some homemade pizza, and then went back in the evening for the live band, an amazing laser light show and BIG fireworks display...Dad is going to write more about their adventures later...

My sister-in-law & I stayed home with my neice & youngest nephew. We saddled up Lily & Tillie and walked the kiddos all over the place for a couple of hours. They had a blast and the horses were GREAT!! They each took a turn riding both Lily & Tillie. We started out walking round and round in the round pen, but the horses were so good that we decided to walk them down to the mailbox. My neice took a saddlebag and carried the mail up for me. Boy, didn't she feel special! While she was riding Tillie in the pen, she practiced jumping off, spinning around in the saddle and even standing UP in the saddle! (Shhhh! Don't tell Grammie!)



The weather was picture PERFECT today, so after a YUMMY breakfast of Belgian waffles, we saddled up Kitch, Lily & Tillie for a ride/hike up the Pinnacle. Dad took the 5 boys and Daisy, drove halfway up the mountain and then they hiked up and met us at the top. My neice rode Lily while I led her, my brother rode Tillie & my sister-in-law rode Kitch. Did you catch that? "My neice rode Lily while I led her." Yup, I got to hike ALL the way to the top of the Pinnacle and back this morning!! I figure that MORE than makes up for anything naugty I ate last week! ;-) It's quite a climb, let me tell you. All the horses were great - although we practically had to push them up the trail. They're so lazy! The hardest part for me was the really long steep climb up the back side of the mountain. I knew it would be a tough climb, but I hadn't counted on the other horses getting ahead of me and Lily dragging me to go as fast as possible because she didn't want to get left behind. OUCH!! It felt like my lungs were going to burst and my legs were like jelly by the time we got to the next level spot. But, once I rested I was good to go some more.

When we got to the top, we all enjoyed the awesome view. The foliage is still very colorful, but Mount Washington isn't white anymore - what little snow they got last week has melted in this unseasonably warm weather that we have been enjoying. The kids climbed all over the HUGE boulders that make up the top of the mountain. We did some group photos, Daddy marked the GPS and then we headed back down, this time with Dad up on Kitch, my nephew on Lily, with me leading, and my brother up on Tillie again. The horses had had a rest, and of course, going down is much easier than up, so Lily had a bit too much energy for being held back behind the other horses. She bucked a couple of times. Fortunately, my nephew thought it was cool and like being a cowboy in a rodeo! Other than that she was such an amazingly good girl for a baby. My sister-in-law did the hike down with the other kiddos and Daisy, and met us back at home. The only problem was that she was wearing my cowboy boots for riding and as comfortable as they are, they are NOT a hiking boot. Ouchy...

After a quick lunch of reheated pizza, my brother drove his family home, and Dad laid down for a nap. I started uploading photos! Then, by mid-afternoon we were back in the saddle. This time with our next door neighbor, who was riding his mare, Lady. We rode Kitch & Tillie again and wandered around in our own woodlands, trying to find new trails. We also took him down to see the waterfall - he hadn't been down there yet. It was a nice quiet ride, except that his mare was in heat, which meant that Tillie had to defend her position as Kitch's girlfriend and kick at the other mare anytime she got too close! VERY annoying!! (not to mention dangerous.) What she doesn't know is that Kitch and Lady share adjacent pastures, so they are longtime pals. She would be soooo jealous. ;-)