St Jude's Benefit Trail Ride

   Saturday, my friend Caitlyn and I trailered the horses to Brighton for a St. Jude's benefit trail ride. It's asked that you make a donation and all proceeds go to the children's hospital. We arrived right at 10am when it was supposed to be starting. It didn't look like anyone was in a rush, many horses weren't even tacked up, so we made our way to what we thought was the registration table, which was actually a nourishment stand for a 10K going on. We asked where the St Jude's table was and they pointed us in the correct direction, but not before giving us bottles of water and offering bananas and bagels to us!
   This was the most laid back and slightly disorganized St Jude's event I have been to, as I have been to one before in Florida. They weren't quite sure where to put our donations, they weren't quite sure how much we should donate (the flyer said $10, but they seemed to be willing to take anything, or nothing at all!), and really the only information we received was lunch was at noon! So we headed out on the trail and had such a lovely time! The weather was hot and sunny and Caitlyn was great company. I forgot to mention, Caitlyn and I met through a mutual friend/coworker of Arni's. She is from Florida as well, went to the same university as I did, grew up showing horses, and is married to a Swedish man, I'd say we have just a few things in common.....
   After the ride we returned for a BBQ lunch and then received raffle tickets for some horsey prizes they were giving away. Well, due to their not being a tremendous amount of riders, and many of them still out on the trail while the raffle was being drawn, Caitlyn and I walked away with huge amounts of loot! The best part to all this was the grand prize of a 100 gallon water trough, that was won by Caitlyn! I told her she could take it home for a redneck bathtub, but she insisted we leave it at my barn for my gang. She's a swell gal!
   Sunday we enjoyed a luxuriously lazy morning sipping espresso on our balcony, soaking up the sunshine, and generally just enjoying each others company! I can't even begin to explain how blessed I feel to have married Árni =) After a trip to Wally-World to outfit by bike with some new accessories ( I am riding my bike to work now as it is so close to my house!), we headed over to Nina &Paul's horse for a late lunch of pan seared jumbo scallops over fresh salad courtesy of Chef Paul. They really spoil us! We ended the nice afternoon with a game of Settlers of Catan.
    What a great weekend!