The Wait
Now the wait began. Boomer had eaten throughout this trip and looked good after 3000 miles of travel. Farley had eaten less and lost some weight but filled back out to his pre-travel weight by the day of the ride. I think Boomer actually GAINED weight during the 10 days as he ate pound after pound of hay. We joked about his hay belly as he had certainly filled out in that area. But so much better than not eating. The stalls stayed shaded all day; definitely this was the best barn to be in. Twice I retreived Farley's empty feed pan from Boomer's stall, knowing Farley didn't clean it up. The way Boomer was eating everything in sight told me it was a case of "Hey Farley! Are you going to eat that?!? If not, let me help you clean your plate!"
Now the wait began. Boomer had eaten throughout this trip and looked good after 3000 miles of travel. Farley had eaten less and lost some weight but filled back out to his pre-travel weight by the day of the ride. I think Boomer actually GAINED weight during the 10 days as he ate pound after pound of hay. We joked about his hay belly as he had certainly filled out in that area. But so much better than not eating. The stalls stayed shaded all day; definitely this was the best barn to be in. Twice I retreived Farley's empty feed pan from Boomer's stall, knowing Farley didn't clean it up. The way Boomer was eating everything in sight told me it was a case of "Hey Farley! Are you going to eat that?!? If not, let me help you clean your plate!"
Despite my early arrival, others had beaten me to the fairgrounds. Mary from Washington state was there with her 3 children, her friend who had ridden Tevis previously and her 2 teenaged sons, and her friend's mother Lollie, or "Granny Nanny" as she was called as she was in charge of the 5 children. Those were the best group of kids as they camped under the big oak tree. Lollie kept them busy and I never heard any whining or crying. We had a good time hanging out under the tree in the evenings.
Chris had gone on Ridecamp prior to my departure asking if anyone would like to help crew for us. I had my brother Joe coming down from Seattle to help; he'd move the rig at the very least but having a 2nd person would ensure our stuff would be waiting at Robinson Flat. A local vet, Sara Harrison, responded. She had recently moved to Auburn and has the goal of riding Tevis in a few years. She had experience working Tevis as a treatment vet but wanted to see it from another view. SCORE! And, due to her riding skills, she was able to come over and take Farley out for a pre-ride on our first Friday in CA.
After much fun and readjusting, Sara finally got Farley's saddle set and tight e
nough. Chris had warned her it was a bit of a pain and that was no lie. But finally we were on the trail with a plan to ride to No Hands Bridge and back. We dropped down under the trees and onto a nice shaded trail. Very nice. But it wasn't long before the trail narrowed with an open drop off. The view was spectacular but scary. Uh oh
! This did not bode well for my nerves! After a few wrong turns (hey, we got some bonus miles in and got the see the river up close!), we made it to 
the bridge. It was awesome to ride across. Going back, I tried to envision how the trail would feel in the dark under the moon on Tevis night. I prayed I'd get to experience the thrill of crossing the bridge and traveling the final few miles. Both horses enjoyed the outing and handled the technical trail well. They certainly knew they weren't in Florida! And I was happy that my ankle felt OK while riding with the splint-like brace in place. I went through 2 20oz bottoms of water on this relatively short ride and was parched by the time we finished. We went past the trailer and up to the camper where there was cold water in the coolers. The horses just had to wait for us thirsty riders. This told me I would have to carry more bottles of fluid than usual.
On the Saturday before the big day, I had plans to run a trail 10K over in Cool. It was part of a longer 12 hour race (day or night or both for 24 hours). I had entered months ago with the thoug
ht running it would serve many purposes: stress relief, diversion from stewing about Tevis, a chance to see more of the area, a jump start to getting back into regular running, and the opportunity to meet some of the local runners. My ankle injury was not going to let me run but I still went, figuring I could volunteer. In the end, I decided to walk the 10K. I did a bit of trotting along and found myself alongside a nice lady who was going to walk it. Ah, company! We walked and talked but soon she started to strug
gle with the heat and eventually stopped. I went on to let the race director know they'd have to retrieve her from the trail as she was out of steam to continue. I found myself jogging along when the footing was safe, ankle brace in place. It felt good. In the end, I stayed around for a while and helped on Sunday morning to tear down the aid station. It was a nice way to spend some time and not obsess further about the ride.
After much fun and readjusting, Sara finally got Farley's saddle set and tight e
nough. Chris had warned her it was a bit of a pain and that was no lie. But finally we were on the trail with a plan to ride to No Hands Bridge and back. We dropped down under the trees and onto a nice shaded trail. Very nice. But it wasn't long before the trail narrowed with an open drop off. The view was spectacular but scary. Uh oh
! This did not bode well for my nerves! After a few wrong turns (hey, we got some bonus miles in and got the see the river up close!), we made it to 
the bridge. It was awesome to ride across. Going back, I tried to envision how the trail would feel in the dark under the moon on Tevis night. I prayed I'd get to experience the thrill of crossing the bridge and traveling the final few miles. Both horses enjoyed the outing and handled the technical trail well. They certainly knew they weren't in Florida! And I was happy that my ankle felt OK while riding with the splint-like brace in place. I went through 2 20oz bottoms of water on this relatively short ride and was parched by the time we finished. We went past the trailer and up to the camper where there was cold water in the coolers. The horses just had to wait for us thirsty riders. This told me I would have to carry more bottles of fluid than usual.On the Saturday before the big day, I had plans to run a trail 10K over in Cool. It was part of a longer 12 hour race (day or night or both for 24 hours). I had entered months ago with the thoug
ht running it would serve many purposes: stress relief, diversion from stewing about Tevis, a chance to see more of the area, a jump start to getting back into regular running, and the opportunity to meet some of the local runners. My ankle injury was not going to let me run but I still went, figuring I could volunteer. In the end, I decided to walk the 10K. I did a bit of trotting along and found myself alongside a nice lady who was going to walk it. Ah, company! We walked and talked but soon she started to strug
gle with the heat and eventually stopped. I went on to let the race director know they'd have to retrieve her from the trail as she was out of steam to continue. I found myself jogging along when the footing was safe, ankle brace in place. It felt good. In the end, I stayed around for a while and helped on Sunday morning to tear down the aid station. It was a nice way to spend some time and not obsess further about the ride.I took it easy on Sunday as I had overdone it a bit on my ankle (like, DUH! And I know better!). But it sure was fun doing it!! I had more colors appearing in the ankle from the damage I'd done. All considering, it really didn't hurt like it looked like it should hurt but that may have been due in part to use of the spli
nt brace.
nt brace.
On Monday I again rode out on the trail, this time with Mary from Washington and
her crew. We rode to No Hands Bridge without the bonus miles I did on Friday. And this time we went on to Lower Quarry and back. Another hot day but I was more prepared with extra water beyond the 2 20oz bottles I usually carry. I found the trail and dropoffs less scary which I took as a good sign. Boomer was well behaved and easy to ride while feeling strong. The trail between Lower Quarry and Hwy 49 is pretty much a racetrack compared to the other parts I'd ridden--good footing and WIDE. This would certainly be welcomed by Sunday 
morning.
her crew. We rode to No Hands Bridge without the bonus miles I did on Friday. And this time we went on to Lower Quarry and back. Another hot day but I was more prepared with extra water beyond the 2 20oz bottles I usually carry. I found the trail and dropoffs less scary which I took as a good sign. Boomer was well behaved and easy to ride while feeling strong. The trail between Lower Quarry and Hwy 49 is pretty much a racetrack compared to the other parts I'd ridden--good footing and WIDE. This would certainly be welcomed by Sunday 
morning.
Later that afternoon, my brother arrived. He'd been wisely staying in Donner-Tahoe at a friend's, avoiding the oppressive heat wave. He set up his tent at the top of the hill, later to be deemed "Uppity Acres" by Chris. Prime spot out of the way. He's a very experienced camper so knew how to live well with minimal stuff. That evening we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town Auburn. Loved the salsa and chips. But it was hot salsa and my gut wasn't happy later. I swear it made my internal temperature go up 5 degrees and as it was hot (upper 90s but that was cooler than over the weekend), I felt like I was cooking. Still, the food was worth the suffering.
Tuesday, Chris flew in. We were both excited. And, naturally, the flight was delayed. It's always that way when the anticipation is so high. I had left Auburn early so I could get an oil change on the truck plus do some shopping. I ended up with plenty of shopping time which me
ant I spent plenty of money. But finally Chris arrived. We stopped for lunch and then got back to the fairgrounds. Farley stood and looked when he saw Chris, as if he couldn't believe she was there. He definitely seemed happier. We took the horses for a walk down the road to the overlook and then over to the finish line area. Some people were there picking blackberries. They were huge berries. Other people came by and started talking to us and Chris ended up interviewed for thehorse.com. Way cool!
Tuesday, Chris flew in. We were both excited. And, naturally, the flight was delayed. It's always that way when the anticipation is so high. I had left Auburn early so I could get an oil change on the truck plus do some shopping. I ended up with plenty of shopping time which me
ant I spent plenty of money. But finally Chris arrived. We stopped for lunch and then got back to the fairgrounds. Farley stood and looked when he saw Chris, as if he couldn't believe she was there. He definitely seemed happier. We took the horses for a walk down the road to the overlook and then over to the finish line area. Some people were there picking blackberries. They were huge berries. Other people came by and started talking to us and Chris ended up interviewed for thehorse.com. Way cool!On Weds Chris and I went to breakfast in Old Town. We went to Awful Annies that is the opposite of the name. They have a nice porch area to sit on. As we were seated we noticed a sign that said "Due to unfortunate events, dogs are no longer permitted." Well, you know we had to ask what the "unfortunate events" were! Seems there were 2--one involving a dog fight and another in which a doberman had bitten our waitress. Makes some of the dog events during ride meetings seem minor!
After our wonderful breakfast we went for a ride. Unlike my first reaction (EEK!), Chris loved the narrow trail high above the river. Her repeated "OMG, IT'S BEAUTIFUL" soon was shortened to "You know!" We rode along to the bridge, taking pictures along the way. When we turned to head back, Farley trotted ahead. Boomer was concerned watching his buddy leave and moved out after him. About 1/3rd from the end of No Hands, he went into a canter which had me whooping and hollering. By the time he reached the end of the bridge, he was in a gallop and I was laughing and trying to pull him up. He had figured out which way was home and home was where he was heading. The ride back 
was much quicker than the ride out as the horses knew the way back. We hoped to repeat the trip Sunday morning.
Thursday morning we went to Denny's for breakfast, with Joe and Sara meeting us there so we could get our plan together. Our super crew of 2 (SC2) hit it off well. We had a good time laughing and talking about all sorts of things totally unrelated to the ride. It was funny when the waitress realized that Tevis was on Saturday as I don't think they had really thought about it. The vets meet there for breakfast that morning as do a lot of crew people. I hope they were ready!
We spent the rest of Thursday getting stuff together. Due to Robie Park's dustiness, I decided we'd go up on Friday as the horses were happy and comfortable in their stalls. Chris and I hit the grocery store and tried to figure out what we'd want to eat on ride day plus buy food for Friday. We got everything set and relaxed.
On Friday, we were on the road by about 8:30. I dreaded the drive over the mountains so it was another slow process. The drive up to the turnoff for the ridecamp turned out to be hard for my truck. I'm not sure what that was about but we were soon crawling at about 25mph while I watched the temperature gauge creep up past midway. This was the first time that had happened on the entire trip and it worried me. I had a long line of cars behind me when I finally reached the turn. I took a deep breath of relief as I drove towards the gate that is used in the winter to close that road off. There was a red Audi parked so the opening was blocked enough that I could not get by. I yelled to the driver to pull up and instead he put it reverse! I screamed for him to stop and when he did, he was about 1 inch from hitting my left front stall on my trailer. I was already stressed and now this idiot!! He finally got his brain engaged and pulled all the way forward and I was able to get by. Up the paved road we went without a problem, my nerves jangling but starting to ease up. Then the right turn that you need to make on the gravel road popped up. I tried to turn but my 25mph speed was too much and I started to slide on the gravel. I think I just about pushed that brake pedal through the floorboard while I prayed that we'd stop in time. The truck stopped, I reversed a bit, and got the turn done. By this time, I was done with this whole Tevis thing, the final little drive to camp pushing me over the edge. Chris laughed and stayed calm and I eventually settled back down but I was very happy to park that rig! We ended up re-evaluating where we'd parked and moved closer in and very near a porta-potty.
We got camp set up with Farley on the Hi-Tie and Boomer tied to the other side of the trailer. Boomer could not see Farley at first and got very upset but Farley eventually moved so Boomer could see him so he settled down. Boomer kindly flipped his 5 gallon water bucket soon after I filled it. I had not hauled a lot of water so this was going to be a problem. Later that day, once Sara and Joe made it, they used Sara's wagon to get more water. Both horses ate and drank well while in camp. I think waiting until Friday morning to go up was the right decision as the horses didn't have much time to get spun up due to the camp atmosphere. By staying in Auburn, they had another day of good eating and drinking in them, something I think made a difference for both.
We checked in and got our packets, then loaded up the horses with their tack and walked down to the vetting area. After dropping our tack, we went to the vet. I was so nervous, way more nervous than I'd ever been at a vetting. When the vet asked how I was doing, I told hi
m my stomach was churning and I felt like puking. He laughed and said "It's ONLY Tevis so why be nervous!?" The vetting went fine and the moment arrived when the volunteer put the huge 139 on either side of Boomer's rump. Considering the size of Boomer's backside, his numbers were gigantic! Both horses seemed relaxed as we went back to the rig. Now it was time for some shopping and then the first time Tevis riders 
meeting at 3pm. I'd sat through 2 of these when I had crewed but there is always something new to learn.
One thing that Cathy Perry stressed was not rushing at the beginning. Since she was going for her 20th buckle, we figured whe was a good authority on ride tactics.
was much quicker than the ride out as the horses knew the way back. We hoped to repeat the trip Sunday morning.Thursday morning we went to Denny's for breakfast, with Joe and Sara meeting us there so we could get our plan together. Our super crew of 2 (SC2) hit it off well. We had a good time laughing and talking about all sorts of things totally unrelated to the ride. It was funny when the waitress realized that Tevis was on Saturday as I don't think they had really thought about it. The vets meet there for breakfast that morning as do a lot of crew people. I hope they were ready!
We spent the rest of Thursday getting stuff together. Due to Robie Park's dustiness, I decided we'd go up on Friday as the horses were happy and comfortable in their stalls. Chris and I hit the grocery store and tried to figure out what we'd want to eat on ride day plus buy food for Friday. We got everything set and relaxed.
On Friday, we were on the road by about 8:30. I dreaded the drive over the mountains so it was another slow process. The drive up to the turnoff for the ridecamp turned out to be hard for my truck. I'm not sure what that was about but we were soon crawling at about 25mph while I watched the temperature gauge creep up past midway. This was the first time that had happened on the entire trip and it worried me. I had a long line of cars behind me when I finally reached the turn. I took a deep breath of relief as I drove towards the gate that is used in the winter to close that road off. There was a red Audi parked so the opening was blocked enough that I could not get by. I yelled to the driver to pull up and instead he put it reverse! I screamed for him to stop and when he did, he was about 1 inch from hitting my left front stall on my trailer. I was already stressed and now this idiot!! He finally got his brain engaged and pulled all the way forward and I was able to get by. Up the paved road we went without a problem, my nerves jangling but starting to ease up. Then the right turn that you need to make on the gravel road popped up. I tried to turn but my 25mph speed was too much and I started to slide on the gravel. I think I just about pushed that brake pedal through the floorboard while I prayed that we'd stop in time. The truck stopped, I reversed a bit, and got the turn done. By this time, I was done with this whole Tevis thing, the final little drive to camp pushing me over the edge. Chris laughed and stayed calm and I eventually settled back down but I was very happy to park that rig! We ended up re-evaluating where we'd parked and moved closer in and very near a porta-potty.
We got camp set up with Farley on the Hi-Tie and Boomer tied to the other side of the trailer. Boomer could not see Farley at first and got very upset but Farley eventually moved so Boomer could see him so he settled down. Boomer kindly flipped his 5 gallon water bucket soon after I filled it. I had not hauled a lot of water so this was going to be a problem. Later that day, once Sara and Joe made it, they used Sara's wagon to get more water. Both horses ate and drank well while in camp. I think waiting until Friday morning to go up was the right decision as the horses didn't have much time to get spun up due to the camp atmosphere. By staying in Auburn, they had another day of good eating and drinking in them, something I think made a difference for both.
We checked in and got our packets, then loaded up the horses with their tack and walked down to the vetting area. After dropping our tack, we went to the vet. I was so nervous, way more nervous than I'd ever been at a vetting. When the vet asked how I was doing, I told hi
m my stomach was churning and I felt like puking. He laughed and said "It's ONLY Tevis so why be nervous!?" The vetting went fine and the moment arrived when the volunteer put the huge 139 on either side of Boomer's rump. Considering the size of Boomer's backside, his numbers were gigantic! Both horses seemed relaxed as we went back to the rig. Now it was time for some shopping and then the first time Tevis riders 
meeting at 3pm. I'd sat through 2 of these when I had crewed but there is always something new to learn.One thing that Cathy Perry stressed was not rushing at the beginning. Since she was going for her 20th buckle, we figured whe was a good authority on ride tactics.
Our SC2 went to the crew meeting at 5 to glean some tidbits there. Soon the time of the ride meeting was near and we'd yet to finish putting together our crew stuff for the next day. I felt so disorganized. How could one hang around for days on end and then have to scramble to get stuff together?! We grabbed out dinner and chairs and started the hike to the meeting area. Joe said he knew a shortcut. That sounded great so we followed. We were foolish. We blindly followed a person who has hiked up mountains and through woods all over the NW. His shortcut may have been shorter, and certainly less dusty, but it was not a stroll in the park. We started laughing so hard about the supposed path that it impeded our progress further. There I was, bad ankle and all, staggering through the woods, stepping on branches and rocks, going down hills, and trying to stay upright. But we did make it in one piece, still laughing away as we found a spot to sit. The ride meeting was much shorter than I'd remembered from the past and this was a good thing as I recall walking back to the rigs in the dark. We still had daylight when it was over which really helped in our final preparations.
I went over everything again with my brother. He assured me he'd be fine moving the rig and that Sara would go straight up to Robinson Flat while he dropped the rig off at the fairgrounds and picked up his jeep. I got in bed around 10 and then remembered a few other things I wanted so it was probably 10:30 before I really settled down. I was surprised that I was able to sleep but I did fall asleep after a bit when my brain finally wore itself down and stopped whirling. We were here and ready to start the ride of a lifetime.
I went over everything again with my brother. He assured me he'd be fine moving the rig and that Sara would go straight up to Robinson Flat while he dropped the rig off at the fairgrounds and picked up his jeep. I got in bed around 10 and then remembered a few other things I wanted so it was probably 10:30 before I really settled down. I was surprised that I was able to sleep but I did fall asleep after a bit when my brain finally wore itself down and stopped whirling. We were here and ready to start the ride of a lifetime.
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