Leaving Yosemite after horseback riding for two hours

Yee-haw....we just got back to the RV, had a cowboy dinner of beans and hot dogs (I fixed em') and are now headed to visit with Susan Riddle Reed (one of my oldest and dearest friends from Ft. Knox). She lives just outside of San Francisco - San Ramon. Can't wait to see her and her beautiful daughters, Catherine and Erika.

We did it - we rode horses (well Ken rode Henrietta the mule - I'm not kidding) for two hours through the beautiful Yosemite park and even saw some deer along the way. We saw a brown bear at the water falls yesterday - but he was far enough away that it wasn't a threat. He was just thirsty. I am now a huge fan of Yosemite....maybe my overall favorite - thus far (but I keep saying that with each park). I can tell you this as a statement of FACT...two hours on a horse is too long for ANYONE who isn't used to riding. Even the little kids who were riding behind us were whining, "My butt hurts, when do we get back to the barn." Hey, they have soft groin bones (I'm sure there is an official name for those bones)...and my 53 year old butt-bones are definitely not soft~. When I got off the horse, I could barely stand up. My knees took the brunt of the pain. The riding part came slowly back to me (when Dad was in Nam...my aunt taught me how to ride...but I didn't have a horse after that so I didn't keep up with it). Today, I pulled my horse back a bit so that I could urge him on to trot every now and again during the trail ride. All the kids wanted to be behind my horse so they could "go fast." LOL If one horse took off trotting, those following did the same. Ken and Henrietta were in the back of the pack - moving pretty slow...he just told me that his horse (ummmm, mule) was over 20 years old - but very sweet, and she was very partial to the mule in front of her, Laverne. He said Laverne had a gas problem, which made his two hour trip very interesting. I'm still laughing at how he told of his adventure on Henrietta following very closely, nudged up to Laverne's behind the entire ride through the park. We had to stop for Advil and Excedrin before driving back to the RV. Ken took most of the photos. I have yet to see them...but will post them now.
We will hang out with Susan all day tomorrow and tomorrow night and then head to register for the games. Susan mentioned driving down to wine country - which made Ken smile. I think he will like this much better than the mule ride. We saw the registrant's names for the Senior Games/Olympics - and we are so going to get slaughtered in these games....but we knew that coming in. We will most likely be the only participants who are relatively new to the game. Still, when I think of where we were two years ago when we first walked out on to the courts in Louisville...I know it was worth the challenge.
I just ordered the Lucille Ball movie, The Long Long Trailer...and had it delivered to a friend's home along our route (Bruce Kuehnl in Portland, Oregon - he is going to share his beach house with us for a couple of days). One of our Southern Indiana Extra Milers, Cathy Guthrie, suggested watching this movie...I vaguely recall watching it in my younger years - I'm sure it will mean more after this trip. I can tell you this about RV living...I have lost nearly every fingernail (I lost the 8th one today)...I have a cut on my head from a cabinet that I left open, bruises all over my body from bumping into things in the small space (and this is a large RV)...my makeup routine has been shortened significantly to no more than 2-3 minutes and I'm outa' the RV and on the road. The hair is a ponytail or pigtails...or some other low maintenance do. I'm learning to cook in a confection/microwave oven combo, which is interesting. Ken has become quite proficient in hooking and unhooking everything from the auto to the sewer thingee - which hasn't been as bad as he thought it would be - but we only stay where there are full utility (otherwise know as hook-ups). RV living has come a long way - but it is still cozy.
Okay, nuff already...we are almost at San Ramon. Nite~ Carol and Ken