Birthday Ride at Juan Tomas Open Space

It's been my yearly tradition to ride on my birthday for as long as I can remember. This year my birthday fell on Labor Day so at first I couldn't get anyone to ride with me because they were worried the trails would be too crowded.

But eventually. two of my riding buddies decided to join me and off we went to one of my favorite local areas to ride: Juan Tomas Open Space.

Saddled up and ready to ride!

Well, immediately, we all realized that even though it was technically a holiday, no one appeared to be recreating out in the forest, because we never saw anyone else on the trails all day.

We had the trails all to ourselves! What an awesome birthday gift for me and my Apache mare!

Loretta and her gaited gelding, Duke joined us for my birthday ride.

And Yvonne and her mare, Etta Bay were with us to celebrate, too!

Birthday trail riding selfie!

The trails were quiet and peaceful!

We rode off-trail to one of my favorite lunch locations in a meadow surrounded by tall ponderosas.

Relaxing and enjoying my birthday lunch.

Yvonne relaxing during our lunch break.

Loretta and Yvonne sitting on our lunch log.

Yvonne laying back for a post-lunch siesta!

Feeling my birthday zen! Not a care in the world!

Back on the trail again riding through groves of lush, green scrub oaks.

Such beautiful trails!

Yvonne and Etta Bay riding through a rock garden on the trail.

It was a hot day, so riding beneath the shade trees was heavenly!

There was lots of green grass for our ponies to munch.

After we rode back to our trailers, we watered our horses, then tied them to some trees in the shade.

Then Loretta surprised me with several different flavors of birthday cake!

Yvonne sharing some birthday cake with me.

And of course, we all enjoyed some ice-cold birthday beer!

My favorite local beer: Bone Chiller from Sierra Blanca Brewery!!

Loretta enjoying some birthday cake.

And after I finished my Bone Chiller, Loretta gave me one of her Dos Equis. It's a rare treat to have two beers post-ride! What a fantastic birthday ride and celebration!!

Life is Good!

Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs 50th Birthday Celebration

For the last couple days of my 50 Birthday Week, my friends and I planned an overnight at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs and Spa. Two days of soaking and mudding along with a night in the cozy historic hotel. 

The scenery around the mineral springs and spa are beautiful and serene, purely New Mexico!

The mineral spring pools were varied and spread throughout the resort area.

After soaking for a bit, I sprawled out on a chair. Later on, I even crawled into one of those blissfully comfortable hammocks and took a nap!

My friend Yvonne with the beautiful rock backdrop.

Me and my buddy Yvonne!

My friend Gin and I!

And me and my friend Ginny!

Yvonne, me and Ginny at one of the mineral springs pools.

Later that evening, after about 4-5 hours of soaking, we went back to the room to enjoy our own happy hour and get cleaned up for dinner. And my friends surprised me with gifts!

A cute hat and a lovely framed picture with images of me and my very special Apache mare.

And a bunch more goodies, a fun sign for my chicken coop, socks, and a few other goodies not shown.

The entire weekend, I never had to pay for a single meal. My friends took turns treating me in restaurants for all of my breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
The following are just a few photos from some of those delicious meals!

This was the fancy 50th Birthday dessert that the Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs and Spa Restaurant served me, along with a birthday song, of course!

Thankfully, there were four delicious truffles...one for me and one for each of my friends! 

During dinner, there was a powerful rain storm that even caused the electricity to briefly shut off.
But by the time we were finished with our meal, the storm had passed.
After dinner, we went back to our room and put our bathing suits back on and we made our way out to the mineral springs to soak some more. The air smelled so fresh and clean after the rain storm, but we were grateful for the comforting warmth of the mineral springs pools, because the temperature had cooled off considerable and was quite cold out of the waters.
We ended up soaking until they closed the pools at 10pm. It was heaven! 

After a cozy and comfortable good night's rest, we woke up and had a delicious breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then we made our way back out to the mineral springs. After soaking for a couple hours, we decided it was time to head over to the mud pool.

The sink to the left of my friend Gin sprayed continuous smooth, watery mud. We stood there and scooped up handfuls of the slippery, warm mud and painted it all over our bodies with our hands. We even helped each other spread the mud onto each other's backs. 

The idea of mudding, is to sit out in the sun and allow the sun to bake and dry the mud, so it helps draw out toxins and tighten the skin.

My muddy selfie!

Yvonne and I getting muddy together!

Me and my buddy Gin having fun getting muddy!

Ginny and I posing with mud on our face....A big disgrace, kicking our cans all over the place....singing..... we will, we will, rock you!" (Sorry...I couldn't help it! haha)

A nice (and muddy) mineral springs visitor offered to take a photo of the four of us bathing beauties covered in mud!

We had such a fabulous two days! And I can't remember having a better birthday than I had this year with my three dear friends. They really treated me well and we had such a great time together!

And for the entire following week, we all noticed how silky and smooth our skin was!

Life is Good!!  

Gutierrez Canyon 50th Birthday Ride

On my 50th Birthday, I decided I wanted a long, relaxing, all-day ride in Gutierrez Canyon. I invited my friend Yvonne to join me and we met up at the trail head parking area, and after saddling up, we mosied out to the trails. 

I have always loved riding in Gutierrez Canyon Open Space. I started taking my kids hiking there 9 years ago, even before I bought Apache and got into serious trail riding. Now I ride there all the time because it's only a 15 minute drive from my house.

And the trails are just so pretty with varied elevations. Everything from flat and sandy, to steep and rocky. Gutierrez Canyon has it all.

And the views from most of the trails are truly gorgeous!

Here's Yvonne enjoying the east side of the Sandia Mountains from one of the trails.

Apache enjoys the views, too. She loves to stop and look around and gaze at the scenery.

I think she knows I enjoy gazing at the views and taking photos so much, that she pauses to enjoy them with me. Apache truly is my best friend and the perfect trail partner.

Our Trail Selfie!

Yvonne enjoys being out in nature like I do, and often points out interesting scenery she thinks I might enjoy taking photos of.

And she is often spot-on! This trio of dead trees were very interesting and begged me to take a photo of them.

I decided we should ride almost all of the trails in Gutierrez Canyon OS and the John A Milne OS today, so we even rode the newest trails that were just built and completed this year!

We even met a couple of my horse riding friends out on the trails today! Leigh and Liz live nearby and are able to ride into Gutierrez Canyon OS often. They lead guided rides for paying customers.

 Leigh, over on the left, even took my 50th Birthday photo up at the top of this post!

And it was nice to see Liz, his wife, again, too.

It was a very hot day, so we were happy to ride beneath the shade of the trees.

Our horses enjoyed our leisurely pace on this hot day, too.

We stopped often and let our mares graze on the green grass while Yvonne and I chatted.

And we also just strolled along enjoying the peace and quiet of the trail. Yvonne is like me and doesn't like nose-to-tail riding either. We always give each other space to enjoy our time out in nature and with our equine trail partners.

Just me and my trail partner's, Trail Selfie!

Gutierrez Canyon is a fun place to ride.

On the return from one of our loops, we even ran into Leigh and Liz again! They were heading back home, while Yvonne and I were riding out to our lunch spot.

What a fun day to see fellow horseback riders and friends out on the trail!

When we arrived at our lunch spot, we tied up our horses beneath the tall ponderosa pines.

And then we toasted my 50th Birthday with mini-bottles of wine!

After a wonderfully relaxing, leisurely lunch, we mounted back up and headed out on the trails again.

Apache and I leading the way.

Yvonne and I often switch places leading or following. It's so nice to not always have to lead, and not always have to follow. We usually switch places without even discussing it. It works perfectly.

Like I said earlier, some of the trails are smooth and flat and some are steep and covered in rocks. And I love them all!

During our lunch, some clouds moved in, but we were grateful for them to help block the hot sun.

The Sandia Mountains in the distance.

Looking out over the open space area, looking east towards the Sandia Mountains.

My 50th Birthday/Sandia Mountains/Gutierrez Canyon Trail Selfie!

Such a beautiful trail as it hugs the side of the canyon hillsides. This trail didn't even exist until last year!

Yvonne and Etta Bay bringing up the rear.

Apache and I enjoy leading. It often feels like we're all alone, just the two of us, exploring the trails together.

I chose another new trail, that was just completed 2 weeks earlier, for us to ride on my 50 Birthday! This one is very narrow, but the Open Space Trail Planner designed it to provide jaw-dropping, exposed vistas of the east side of the Sandia Mountains! 

My friend Yvonne gets a little nervous on narrow, exposed trails with drop-offs, but as long as we keep moving, she's usually game to ride them with me.

The trail is cut into the hillsides and winds and twists into the natural contours of the hillsides. It makes for a fun ride!

Notice the cool stone "bridge" that was built by volunteers to help support the trail and prevent erosion.

Yvonne and I both enjoyed this new trail very much!

But it is a very narrow trail. And with the trail going up on one side and down on the other, if you meet a mountain biker, or another horseback rider, coming from the opposite direction, it will be a challenge making room for one another.

By the end of the day we had been out on the trails for about 5 hours, including a long, leisurely lunch break. Our horses got to eat lots of green grass, and we got to visit, chat and laugh. And of, course, we enjoyed being out in beautiful nature, riding our amazing equine trail partners.

I could not have asked for a better birthday way to spend my 50th Birthday!

Life is Good!!