The Northampton Team head off to Pagosa Springs, Colorado
4th - 11th September 2006

The team with Pat Parelli from left to right:

Dawn Amour
Evelyn Essam
Dawn Moreton
Dawn Emmerson
Julia Bye
Carole Ryan

The first flight was to Washington DC not Denver as first thought and it was a 7.5hr flight. Approx 5 hrs into the flight my chest got tight and I started to have problems breathing. "Is there a Doctor on board, we have a medical emergency" Oh Gosh am I causing a fuss. Soon Carole and I were put in business class seats where I was helped by a surgeon and a doctor.

There was talk of landing the plane in Canada at a cost of £20,000 to the airline and missed connections to the passengers. Somehow I don't think that would have got me any brownie points. Luckily we arrived in Washingotn DC okay but I wasn't out the woods yet. 4 paramedics came on board, give me a nebuliser (mine wouldn't work) and Phew! Decided I was fit to travel after debating whether I needed hospital treatment. All the while, all I could think of was " I gotta get to Colorado"

Did I mention how the steward stood up front and called down the aisle "Complimentary Champagne" then walked past all the passengers to give my 4 friends their drinks. I bet the other passengers wondered where their chanpagne was. Sorry guys none for you. Finally after a 4hr flight to Denver, a 1.5hr flight to Durango, picking up our hire car and driving an hour to Pegosa Springs we finally reached our accommodation at the "High County Lodge" (See photo below)

Next morning we found there was no kettle, no welcome coffee or anything. I managed to blow a fuse, we locked ourselves out the cabin and the housekeeper had to take the grid of the porch door to get us back in. One electric fan that happened to hover over Dawn Amour's bed looked rather unsteady so that wasn't used again and we ended up late to meet Hoppy (Dawn M) and Evelyn (who were staying at another hotel) But hey! What fun. LOL

By the time we had lunch, got a few bearings of where we were we looked at what we could do and set off shopping......A woman's world....We met Don the owner of Boot Hill Saddlery where we had a great laugh and took photo's. Then Don said to us "Do you go Hunting?" Reply = no, he asks again so we say yes, "Good, now I can say I have seen your hunting licence and give you all 10% discount" he tells us. Wow ! What generosity, that wouldn't happen back in the UK. After spending a fast fortune between us, having a good chatter and a tour of his horses we set off for the "Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park"

We booked a 2hr Trail ride for the next day and took advantage of a half price entry fee ($3) to see the wild animals that were there. WILD ANIMALS...yep, Grizzly and Black Bears, Wild Cats, Mountain Lions, Wolves as well as goats, a Stag and loads of cute bunnies. Oh and horses as well. We also seen some beautiful humming birds that fluttered right next to us as they fed from the above feeders.

First on the agenda was a trip to the Parelli Office, not as we expected as we thought we could buy things there, I did get my July issue of Savvy News though as two issues failed to arrive. We all got a Parelli pen as well. We found where the conference was and took a drive down just to make sure we knew where to go on Friday. We were also advised to get there early to get parked and get good seats.....early..sure was...try 5.30am...gonna have baggy eye's.

Wednesday 2pm and we were off on our trail ride.

What surprised us was seeing 5 horses tied to a hitching rail in the forest with no one watching them. The ride itself was just what we all needed, a 2hr ride walking through the forest high up...and boy was it high, if you get vertigo don't look down. I rode a lovely appaloosa with a white blaze as we strolled along.(Photo Below)
	Suddenly Randy our guide...yes Randy was his name...pointed out a Deer or was it an Elk..I dunno but as she walked gently away her baby came tottling along. Suddenly baby stopped and just stared at us like we were the attraction as we stopped and stared back. Ahh How cute..I'd love a cuddle.We didn't see any other animals, no bears not even a bird. Maybe for birds the climate is too thin..
Everyone loved the ride and Evelyn was found chatting away to Randy. Hoppy (aka Dawn M) sported a new technique to dodging bushes and branches by swinging her broken leg high up in the saddle sporting a side saddle posture in a western saddle. Once the ride was over we dismounted then rushed off to the ladies (rest room as the americans call them) Okay so in reality is was a bush but a well needed bush LOL. Then suddenly...uh oh!....What is that lurking in the bushes...it's a bear....a big brown grizzly bear...."Arggghhh" BUT! Hang a mo, bears don't have fingers...It's Carole with her Bear Hat..Hee Hee!! We finished the day by going shopping...yes again..then went on to a Chineses restaurant that served big tasty meals...delicious....	Evelyn Essam & Julia Bye

Thursday Another early start and soon we are all on the road to Denver to catch the Steam Train to Silverton. The plan was to get the train there and the shuttle back so that we could do some last minute shopping in Pegosa Springs. "Shopping again..you woman... the reader thinks and rolls their eyes". The shuttle was full so a full day was in store. At this stage I couldn't see the engine but the carriages were wooden and definitely cowboy style. I fell asleep for a few hours but for the time I was awake I saw some beautiful sights, one of which you can see above left titled "View from the Train". The other was of a big beautiful lake with a cabin and small jetty, the river was so clam, not a ripple in sight, not even effected by the breeze. So peaceful and serene..tranquility comes to mind. So peaceful that this is when I fell asleep. The time whizzed by and soon we were pulling into Silverton.

Walking through the town of Silverton we saw a variety of old time stores, the Saloon for a drink or four where we found Carole propping up the beams, the Jail House were the woman of leisure where often housed for their activities. Hmm ! What were Carole and I doing there? Plenty of places to eat and Julia enjoyed her Turkey Corn Dog as you can see by the photo with Dawn Amour laughing at her in the background. Not forgetting shopping in the vast array of stores with plenty to buy for yourself and friends oh and family, don't forget the family..

The down side was all the modern cars parked every where, pity! It would have helped create a beter atmosphere if the cars were parked out of sight and they could have placed a couple of life sized model horses outside the saloon etc to make it look more authentic. We had 2 1/2 hrs to look around which wasn't long as it felt like we had very little time and I am sure there were a couple of stores we missed. We wanted to get a group photo of us dressed up but time was against us. Yep definitly need more time to appreciate the town more. All too quickly it was 2.15pm and time to board the train back to Denver...Uh Oh! Guess who slept the entire journey back? At least I was quiet....LOL.