We drove a little over an hour west to reach our friend’s house for the Christmas in July party I mentioned last week. And when we left our town, the weather was not cooperating.
.
.
Thankfully it was drier in her neck of the woods and let me tell you, the property she recently purchased definitely qualifies as out of the way.
.
.
After a long ride on a bumpy dirt road, her place came into view.
.
.
.
As you can see, her main reason for buying this place was ample room for horses.
The house is a bit odd. It looks large, but isn’t…. with a surprisingly small kitchen and bedrooms.
.
.
Numerous outbuildings are scattered around, as are decks and staircases.
.
.
One of which….
.
.
Lead to goats. Boots, Buckles and Gypsy to be precise.
Updates are posted every few days on our town’s Facebook page.
.
.
It’s become a bit of a hoot.
.
.
Apparently this goat was given to the owners a few weeks ago and as soon as they opened the pen to transfer it to their yard… it ran off. They’ve tried putting out food, luring it with other goats and even set up a warm shelter near where it’s been spotted… but nothing works. It runs from everyone who tries to catch it.
.
.
In 2020, this is what passes for hard news in my town.
My little town’s FB page has been lighting up with some interesting sightings lately.
One woman kept posting but no one believed her.
Well….
I’d say that’s pretty definitive proof.
To be honest I’m surprised we’ve never had this issue. We’ve seen evidence of Yogi in our backyard and woods. (and even on the deck one winter. Yikes!) But he’s never raided our feeders, for which I’m grateful.
They’re lovely creatures, but quite destructive.
The sightings continue…. which prompted this latest post.
Though our condo unit wasn’t the greatest, I have to admit the mountain sunrises were rather nice.
But before I jump into the day’s activities…. I have to tell you about our first night. We spent it in a spacious king size bed with 6 snuggly goose down pillows and comforter. At 2:00am I rolled over, stretched out my leg and felt… something hard. ( No, not that. I’ve been waking up to that for years…. I recognize it.)
This was down at my feet. Hard, light weight and bumpy. But I was half asleep and wrote it off to part of a twisted sheet.
It wasn’t.
When I got up the next morning and made the bed?
I found these.
Yup.
Four rubber duckies hiding at the very bottom of the bed where the comforter is tucked under the mattress.
I don’t know about you, but that was a first for me.
Free ducks!
Give this resort 5 stars…
Mints on pillows? Pffft. That’s for amateurs.
Plastic waterfowl is where it’s at.
Anyway –
Leaving the resort everyday looked like this…
So free ducks aside, I’m not complaining.
We passed this ski season bar everyday as well.
Poor lonely mug.
Our first excursion took us to Grafton Notch.
And yes, that’s really the name.
(Here’s where we begin the rocks and trees, trees and rocks part of our story.)
Clambering around the granite boulders, you find the falls.
And you have to admit, for rocks…. they’re pretty awesome.
Walk the charming leaf strewn path…
Across the cute little bridge…
And there are more rocks.
The mini falls and pools are a favorite swimming spot in summer, and rage with fury during the spring snow melt.
Falls seen, experienced and photographed, the husband begins what would become his epic “I will leave my mark on every state and national park portapotty I can find” challenge.
Who says we don’t know how to have fun on vacation?
Last month? It was my first time at a barrel racing competition.
If you know me, you know I’m not the yeehaw rodeo girl type. I don’t do twangy Grand Old Opry music and I’ve never owned a pair of cowboy boots. But the sister of a friend…. who is 53 and recently went through a bad breakup…. did what any lonely single woman does at that age.
She got a horse.
To be precise, she rescued a 17 year old horse who was being neglected and half starved at a highly suspect stable.
It’s been a long slow road back to health, but their bond is strong.
And in just 2 years she’s learned not only how to ride, but how to barrel ride and compete…. so we had to show up in support.
Horses and horse trailers lined the field.
And this darling little fellow who lives at the neighboring farm strolled the grounds looking for handouts and treats.
Clearly I wasn’t the only one who thought he was sweet. This man followed him around with a GoPro and went in for a serious close up.
The event was late in starting…
But her horse was chill… and took a nap.
Our dinner reservations were for 7:15 and the normal competition schedule was switched to let the children’s division go first….. so we only got to see one round with our friend.
She’s still learning, and her horse is still underweight… but she’s getting there.
The bleachers crowd went wild!
Okay, not exactly.
There was one bleacher, and the crowd consisted of one family with a screaming child …. but the 4 legged beggar who found some spilled popcorn looked excited.
Still, it was fun….and we hope to go again when we can stay longer.
Although from the decibel level and type of music that plays constantly in the background?
