It all starts or ends here, however you want to look at it.

Fitting I think the the hotel chosen for the 2011 AERC convention would have an impressive life size bronze pony express rider sculpture standing right at the entrance.  I couldn't have planned this any better.  Terry Ross (my XP crew chief extraordinaire) and I made our separate ways to Reno,  me by plane and Terry by white knuckled blizzard driving to meet "The Duck".

The Duck aka Dr.  Dave Nicholson called us all together to meet, great and introduce himself to us apprehensive , excited pony riders.  All I can say right now is that it is going to be an epic adventure for me and my friends.  Many of my fears of not "being ready" or "capable"  have been put to rest all there is to this is drive to Mo.  get your horse out of the trailer and ride west.....well that's what the Duck said....At least I have quit trying to over think the whole thing and turned myself around to ride the wave and have FUN...The countdown is on :)

Waking up the Blog

Wow, has it really been since 2008? Hard to believe I've aged 3 years since my last post and yes I'm still taking pictures but I have a newish job that takes way too much of my time. Here are a few of the pictures I've snapped during my hiatus.

Fall

Most people close to me would be surprised to find out that fall is my favorite time of year, being the sun worshiper I am, and this has been an especially outstanding one. Sadly I have been working long hours and haven't been able to be out in it as much as I would like.

The mountains call my name day and night and it is all I can do to resist climbing up the rocky trails that lead to the fire painted vine maples, chantrelles and mountain huckleberries that only grow in the alpine meadows.

Most of the serious heart throbs of my life have been Scorpio's. Everything about the fall takes my breath away and all my major life changes have been born in the fall.

I live where it rains, alot. More than my body wants to tolerate. So I find myself heading to the "dry side of the mountains" frequently. There is almost nothing like the mind freeing landscape of prairie or desert to the "coasters". Off I went with my camera to soak up some sun, warmth, clean wind and snap a few pics. I am from here, it is no surprise that I have been trying to figure out how to get back to it my entire adult life.

This is my fourth trip with the "new camera", I will not count the third trip as I went to a birthday party and my people shots are bad. I'll stick to what I am doing until I figure out how to capture faces without all the shadows.

2nd Day

Ok...I just had to go out again today and take more pictures!! The hunt is on. Driving by a small rural rodeo grounds I spotted a large congregation of horse trailers, well I'm a horse lover so I stopped to see what was going on.

Turns out the locals were having a barrel racing competition. I know that moving targets are hard, I'm new at this and should stick with landscapes for awhile. But, I couldn't resist and here are some of the pictures, see what you think.

New Camera

Years ago I used to think myself a camera buff. I enjoyed the hunt for the perfect photo and fancied myself a decent hobbyist. Many years later I've found myself without a fun and interesting way to spend free time besides my norm and I remembered that at one time I yearned to be a professional photographer. What ever happened to that idealistic young women who thought she could do anything she wanted with her life? Guess what, she is still ALIVE!!!

Just yesterday (Saturday) with no clear goals for the day I decided to go refrigerator shopping. Yup, I do have purpose. There were no refers at the Best Buy that fit my dimensions and on the way out of the store I spied the camera section. DANGER. After turning down just about every sales person in the store trying to make a buck, a quiet kind of young man sided up to me and said, "boy, there are some really nice camera's out these days." That is all she wrote folks, I left the store $1400 poorer with a bag FULL OF CAMERA STUFF!!!!

Off I went, on the hunt for the perfect picture. Time went backward and I was young and idealistic again, with my camera, my dog, a bottle of water and a car full of gas. Five hundred miles later, I managed to shoot a couple of savers, now I have to figure out how to use the thing!!