Chris's Birthday Excursion - October 1999

Some pictures from the ChrisM birthday weekend.
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Table of Contents

     Introduction
     Roadtrip
     Big Bridge
     The Horse Excursion

 

Introduction

Vicki planned out the birthday well in advance. It was supposed to be a surprise, and as far as we know Chris was oblivious to the weekend's events until Saturday morning.

I brought the camera along, and took pictures for most of Saturday. I don't actually have any pictures of the Saturday night bar-b-que and bonfire, or of the Sunday brunch. I'll leave those to your imagination.

 

Roadtrip

We met at the Mercer Island park-and-ride at 7 in the morning. For those of you that know me, these pictures constitute proof that I was actually up that early.

Synchronizing cell phones Synchronizing cell phones

Doug and John in the Alpha Doug and John in the Alpha

Chris and Vicki in the Cherokee Chris and Vicki in the Cherokee

Heading into the Cascades on route 20 Heading into the Cascades on route 20

 

Big Bridge

Anyone remember what the real name of this place was? Big Dam overlook or something? Anyway, we stopped where the road crossed a deep ravine on a high bridge. Deep ravines are pretty exciting, as you can tell.

Loitering on the bridge Loitering on the bridge

Cool for cats Cool for cats

John and his git John and his git

The important thing is not to panic The important thing is not to panic

 

The Horse Excursion

Finally, we got to Winthrop and checked into our hotel (the Winthrop Inn). After a quick beer and/or nap, everyone congregated in the parking lot before we drove over to the farm to saddle up. At this point, Chris' uncle Dale (aka Curly) had locked his keys in his truck. It wasn't difficult to fix, the important thing was that everyone had an excuse to sit and drink more beer.

Milling around in the Winthrop Inn parking lot Milling around in the Winthrop Inn parking lot

We made it to the farm, and the owners (Jean and John, I seem to remember) started doling out horses. I don't remember too many horses' names, but here goes: Chris (V) was on Bullet, Alison was on Spike, I was on Dottie, Vicki was on Big Red, Chris (M) was on Big Stormy, and Doug was on Big Fart.

Chris (V) on Bullet Chris (V) on Bullet

Getting ready to leave the stables Getting ready to leave the stables

Greg and John leading the pack out of the farm Greg and John leading the pack out of the farm

Halfway across the first gully Halfway across the first gully

At this point all of the excitement occurred. First, on a steep slope, Vicki and Greg's horses got entangled, and both riders had to jump off for fear of having their horse fall on them. Then, Dana's horse decided to gallop down a hill, throwing her off for a nasty spill at the bottom. Fortunately, everyone escaped both incidents with only a few bruises.

Riding back into the stables Riding back into the stables

Relaxing at the hotel with very dirty faces Relaxing at the hotel with very dirty faces