You know, we're really, really super blessed that we like to travel, being a military family - and even more so in that our children (yes, all NINE of them!) love to travel as well! I know so many families who hate taking trips and don't even going for a drive... now, don't get me wrong - I love being home (boy howdy! and I'd sure love to be home a whole lot more after our last few weeks of constant busy!!) but I do love going for a nice scenic drive, too!
Yesterday we were blessed with just such a venture. We headed out to Missoula - I've never been there before - and was just kicking myself for having forgotten to bring along a camera! We saw some amazing postcard worthy landscapes - we even drove THROUGH a big, fluffy, white cloud! (I didn't know that was possible, but I guess we were high enough in the mountains and the clouds were low enough... the sky above them was a beautiful blue, the sun shining brightly, and it was warm! At least in the mid 40s, so we only wore light jackets and didn't need our bulky coats! :)
The purpose of the trip was to go look at some horses that were offered to us - "free to a good home" - friend of a friend arrangement. Well, about 3 hours each way, and just gorgeous views!!
So, the horses... you know, my four oldest girls (also the four oldest children, ha) are taking horse education classes through our local 4-H program/ extension office - and of course I'm there, too, since I don't "drop and run" with the kids' activities - so I've been able to glean a lot from the gal who teaches the class, which proved exceedingly helpful as we went to check out these horses!
Now, I know how the old saying goes, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" - but I'm guessing that whoever said it was trying to give away a horse with really bad teeth - maybe killer morning breath to boot! However, I've learned that looking at the teeth (**after** looking at feet, legs, gait, etc) is very important - and can give some good clues about a horse's health. Not to mention that a horse with bad teeth won't be able to eat well and will have problems with droping feed, and consequently dropping weight. So, I looked at feet, at movement, at gait... at teeth... whew - you know, horses have really BIG teeth!! But I digress - it was neat how I was able to use what I learned listening in to the kids' horse teacher's instruction, and I noticed several things - some positive and some not - about the horses we were looking at. We did not take the trailer with us - it was a "go see it" trip, with the assurance that we would not be able to make an emotional snap decision that may or may not be a good one - because we have to go home and think about it and then decide. Both horses, just on the side note category, have promise... both are older - one is just HUGE height wise, the other is much smaller but a trivky catch and had been abused by a previous owner, so he's pretty head shy - once he was haltered (and I learned a new trick on haltering, too! yeah!) he was much more docile. (amazing the difference in his temperament between haltered and unhaltered) So now it's a matter of really thinking through it all and making a decision. Humpf - that's the hard part!
We also looked at a couple of minis - which were absolutely adorable!! however, they have not been socialized, so they would not be a good match for our family - at least that decision was an easy one!!
The drive back was quiet - half of the kids fell asleep after all the running amok around the place we went to see the horses - our kids went exploring with their kids, and so long as they stayed within sight and whistle range, that was ok. They ran and played hard for the almost 2 hours that we were there, and I was very thankful that we had remembered to grab a change of clothes for all of the little ones before we left the house!! So, dry clothes (it was pretty muddy out) and energy spent, it made for an extremely quiet ride back home - I even dozed off a little while during the trip! (yes, my husband was driving, so that was ok! haha - and he was so caffeinated that he was wide awake for the drive. I tell ya, whoever created that Monster energy drink stuff must have a degree in science or something - but whew does it stink!! ah well, TJ likes the taste of it, so I guess that's what really matters. :)
So the drive back home was restful and yet more beautiful scenery, and still wishing I had thought to grab my camera before we headed out! We also saw some good camping places en route, so I'm sure we'll be back up that way some time for a camping trip and I'll take pictures then!
Now to decide on those horses....
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