Well it’s now nearly 11pm ( 12/21/08) and I’m happy to say Kaylee and I took that ride today.  We had a spectacular time in spite of the gloomy weather.  We didn’t go all that far, just across the road and up to the top of a small mountain.  That put us in a great spot for looking down over one of the many rock quarries in the area.

It suddenly occurred to me as we entered the clearing at the top of the mountain that it was hunting season.  What a stupid thing that was to forget.  I’m happy to report it was only a realization and we didn’t suffer any actual consequences but it did jar me when I realized it.  I thought of it when I saw a tree stand at the top of the mountain we decided to visit.  That cut our ride short as I made a hasty retreat back down to the public roads, passing a small pile of shell casings as we descended.

Kaylee suffered her first trailblazing injury today.  She was scratched on the neck as we fought our way through a less than friendly spot on the path that had become clogged with overgrowth.  Just a small spot, but one we had to plow through and as we did, we found some of the bramble included the thorny variety.

I’ll post pictures from today’s ride in my next post, just too late tonight.  There is a view from the mountain top, a variety of other pictures we took today and photos of an old barn we briefly explored.  I’ve been trying to get over there to look in that barn since we moved here.  Just idle curiosity since it has stood empty for countless years now.  I also included some photos of those wicked little thorns and the tangle of growth we clawed our way through to get to the mountain top.  It felt like Everest to Kaylee

It was a thrilling day.  Sometimes it’s the little things in life that seem like a big treat.  Not having had the time to ride in the recent past has made me really appreciate even small excursions like today.

Happy trails.