Day 7 - February 7: Montana and I ventured up to Sun City to see my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Gai. They have an RV and a newly purchased park model they are renovating. Their RV grounds has room for just under 1,000 RVs/park models and tons of activities. We had a great lunch and then drove about 5 minutes to see Gai's mom and dad, Larry and Mona Kochendorfer. Mona gave me piano lessons for several years during elementary and junior high and Larry was a beloved coach in Colfax. They had an orange and grapefruit tree and Uncle Bruce showed Montana the ropes in picking them. The trees have thorns, so long-sleeves and a picker is required. We then stopped at Walmart and got more groceries, items we were missing (e.g. a knife, measuring cups, etc.), and socks and underwear to stretch out the time between laundromat stops.  

Matalyn stayed back and watched the barrel race and got to meet one of her barrel racing idols, Amberley Snyder. The movie "Walk, Ride, Rodeo" is based on her life. We then hooked up the trailer so we were ready to roll for our first barrel race on Monday.  

So far, I've been able to manage hooking up the trailer (with Matalyn) and pulling into/out of our RV spot. Hooking up and unhooking the water and electricity is easy; however, the sewer pipe is very hard to get off. I might owe the neighbor some beer for his constant help with that! 

Observation - the roads around here are strange. You can be in what appears a rural area, but the speed limit is still 35 MPH. 

Day 8 - February 8.  We rolled out at around 9 am to attend the barrel race at Dunns Arena in Litchfield Park. It's near the airforce base, so you can also watch (and hear) the jets. We did not have good luck - Montana rode Gin and she knocked her second and third barrels and Matalyn and Pippa knocked their second barrel. A knocked barrel results in no time and no opportunity for money. Matalyn also rode Breezy in an exhibition. It was their first time on a standard pattern, which is a much bigger pattern than what we are used to running in Minnesota. We came back to Buckeye and I did some work, the girls worked on school assignments, and we turned the horses out in one of the turnout pens. The girls then went and did some light riding in the big arena here at Buckeye to prepare for the barrel race on Tuesday. 

Observation - in Minnesota, when we want to "practice" on the barrel pattern (before the race), we call it an "exhibition". Here they are called "time onlys". If you say "exhibition" they have no idea what you are talking about! 

Funny story #1 - When we were at Dunns, Montana looked at me and said, "Mom, this is the life"! I looked at her said, "It is, but don't get used to it"!

Funny story #2 - Almost everyone here is from "up north". When we were at Dunns, Montana swore she saw our equine veterinarian's daughter (Alley), and sure enough, it was her (we knew she was down here)! We also parked next to two women who were from River Falls, WI. They both bought horse properties in Arizona and over-winter here with their horses.