Last Saturday Patti and I had the opportunity to try a different style of riding with Milton Joseph from the Windwalker Expeditions. What a great experience that was. Joseph, as he likes to be called, met us at El Petragal by the Boulders, off Scottsdale Road and a little south of the Carefree Hiway.

He picked us up there and trailered us and the horses to the Tonto National Forest by Seven Springs north of Cave Creek.

Once we arrived, Joseph unloaded and saddled the horses and we were ready for a ride of a lifetime.

The horses we rode were Arabian horses trained and saddled for endurance racing. Those are races that may run from 25-50 miles. If you look closely at the saddles you will notice they do not have a saddlehorn. That’s to keep you from rubbing your stomach as you lean forward to climb.

We had an incredible experience and learned a lot from the very patient Joseph about handling endurance trained horses.

When we arrived at our destination we were provided a tremendous lunch(Pastrami sandwich and chips) provided by AJ’s Fine Foods, and enjoyed the waterfall where we rested.

The day was windy but we would do it again in a heartbeat.Patti and I cannot say enough good things about Joseph and Shelly, the owners. We were treated like family. This style of riding is so much different then stable riding and the horses much more responsive.

We would recommend anyone, especially kids, if you want a terrific day spent on horseback with beautiful country, deer, quail and javelina you need to contact Joseph or Shelly at the Windwalker Expeditions.

THROUGHOUT HISTORY THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THAT ONE WOMAN THAT COULD BRING US TO, WHAT I REFER TO AS, “MELTDOWN”,… HELEN OF TROY, GUINEVERE, IN MORE RECENT TIMES CAROL LOMBARD/CLARK GABLE OR KATHERINE HEPBURN/ SPENCER TRACY YOU GET THE PICTURE. THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM MELTDOWN, FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS STORY, WOULD REFER TO THAT WEAK KNEED FEELING YOU MIGHT HAVE WHILE LOOKING DOWN YOUR SITES AT A HUGE BUCK/BULL. IN THE OUTDOORS INDUSTRY IT’S REFERRED TO AS “BUCK FEVER” BUT WORSE. YOU KNOW, YOUR BRAINS KINDA FALL OUT, YOU CAN’T REMEMBER YOUR NAME THEN YOU HAVE JUST EXPERIENCED “MELTDOWN”.
“MELTDOWN”, OCCURRED FOR ME AGAIN FIVE YEARS AGO AT A 30 YEAR REUNION OF MARYVALE HIGH SCHOOL, THE CLASS OF 72. I SAY AGAIN BECAUSE I HAD NOT HAD THAT FEELING IN A LONG TIME. HER NAME WAS PATTI SAMMONS, THIS BEAUTIFUL BRUNETTE WITH THE SWEETEST SMILE, AND THE MOST HYPNOTIC GREEN EYES, AFTER NOT SEEING HER FOR 30 YEARS, SHE STILL HAD THE SAME “MELTDOWN”, EFFECT ON ME THAT SHE DID WHEN WE DATED IN HIGH SCHOOL. THE ISSUE THEN WAS, I WAS MARRIED, SO THAT FEELING WAS SHORT LIVED WHEN MY WIFE AT THAT TIME CAME UP AND BOLDLY INTRODUCED HERSELF. THAT WAS THE END OF THAT. LET’S TRAVEL BACK IN TIME FOR A MOMENT. PATTI AND I DATED OFF AND ON, FROM JUNIOR YEAR UNTIL AFTER HIGH SCHOOL. DURING THAT TIME WE WERE ALWAYS CLOSE BUT BECAUSE OF OUR STUBBORN IRISH NATURE, WE WERE BOTH ALWAYS RIGHT. WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU? I THINK THE JUNIOR/SENIOR PROM WAS THE LAST BIG DATE FOR US, OUTSIDE OF A FEW FLURRIES. AFTER HIGH SCHOOL, WE SAW EACH OTHER ONLY A COUPLE OF TIMES AND THEN I MOVED TO MONTANA AND WE LOST TOUCH WITH ONE ANOTHER COMPLETELY. UNTIL ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO, I HAD MOVED BACK DOWN TO PHOENIX AND I CALLED HER IN CALIFORNIA. WE TALKED ABOUT GETTING TOGETHER BUT IT NEVER MATERIALIZED.

THEN, ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO, I CALLED HER AND LEFT MY EMAIL ADDRESS ON HER PHONE.
IT WAS ABOUT SIX WEEKS LATER SHE EMAILED ME, “HEY STRANGER”. IT WAS FUN AT FIRST TALKING OLD TIMES AT VILLAGE INN PIZZA PARLOR, FLOATING THE RIVER, THAT WAS BEFORE YOU HAD TO TAKE THE BUS, AND A LOT OF OLD FEELINGS WE HAD FOR ONE ANOTHER STARTED TO COME TO THE SURFACE.

NOW I HAD ALWAYS BEEN MADDLY IN LOVE WITH PATTI, EVEN AFTER THE BREAKUPS, BUT THERE WAS NO WAY SHE WAS GOING TO KNOW THAT, I’D RATHER DIE,,,, UNTIL NOW.
WE HAVE PLANS TO SPEND A FEW DAYS DURING HER BIRTHDAY UP AT THE VILLAGE AT CHRISTOPHER CREEK GOOD WINE FROM THE ESTERLINA VINYARDS OF CALIFORNIA, COMPLIMENTS OF GOOD FRIEND JOE JANISCH, DARK RASBERRY CHOCOLATE FROM MY OTHER GOOD FRIENDS JOE AND MARISA CERRETA. . AND ENTERPRISE IS SUPPLYING THE SUV TO GET US THERE. IT’S GOING TO BE QUIET WITH NO CELL PHONES, JUST A ROMANTIC WEEKEND AND WHO KNOWS? YEAH, I KNOW,,,,”MELT DOWN!!”