Where In The World Is The Funmobile??: Whooaaaa Geraldine

Friday 29 May

First of all, no, there is no post from yesterday. Took most of the day to drive to Cedar City for the emergency software retrieval. Happy to say the trip planner is back on line so I know where I'm going again. Nice drive, but I'm too lazy to do a post.

Today was a treat. We took a half day "horseback" ride down into Bryce Canyon. If you've been around horse places, you know they are usually populated with colorful people. Here was no exception. Stereotype cowboy/girl wranglers, although probably for real, and the paying customers a broad swath from people who looked like they knew what they were doing, to greenhorns like me. Not to mention the chippie in daisy dukes and black tights who mysteriously found her place second in line behind the trail guide, Tim, (in aviator glasses).

My horse, Geraldine was actually a mule, as were 80% of the other "horses". (Or is it 40% since a mule is half horse.) Anyway, I was a bit off-put being assigned a mule since we were paying for a horse. (Should'a been 1/2 price.) Didn't seem very cowboy-like.

Never having ridden a mule I wasn't sure what to expect, but shortly into the ride I realized I was 100% putting my life into the ~~hands~~ hooves of an ass descending 1,000 feet down a very narrow trail with precipitous drop-offs. I also quickly found out that mules prefer to hug the outside edge of the trail and swing their head out over the abyss as they make hairpin turns. The trail guide gave some inane reason for that, but I'm convinced it was just to scare the ju-ju-bees out of the rider. Lastly, a mule doesn't trot, it hops, (if and when it decides to go faster).

Once I got used to knowing that I had little (actually no) control over the transport, (and thus my life), it was great to just sit back and enjoy the incredible scenery unfolding at every bend as shown below.