I took a trip home last week to visit my parents. I haven’t been down to their place in Arizona for a while. Dad got bucked off his horse several weeks ago and got a little beat up, so I figured I’d better get on down there and check on him. He’s convalescing well and I’m sure he’ll be back to himself in not too long.

Anyway, during my drive home I decided to take the “scenic” route and take a look at some of the country Dad and I would have traveled through, if we had been able to finish last year’s pack trip. Those of you who follow my blog will remember that we had to cut our trip short last year, due to the drought. There wasn’t a drop of water between Flagstaff and the Utah border last summer and there were wildfires all around. It was a bad year for a long-distance horse pack trip.

After we ended last year’s trip, Dad told me it was unlikely he’d be able to continue with me. Dad’s nearly 83 now, so I knew it was coming. Still, the desire to complete the full distance, from the US/Mexico border to the Canadian border, is still with me. I brought up the idea last fall of making the legs of the trip shorter, so that I don’t have to take so much time off work all at once. I wondered if Dad thought he might go on some of the shorter legs, if we kept them down to a week or two. He seemed to like that idea as well as I do. So, that’s what I think I’ll be planning to cover the rest of the distance…another 2,500 miles. It will take several more years.

However, during my drive home, after a lot of thinking about it, I decided not to continue the trip this year. I will push the next leg, from Flagstaff to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, off until next spring. There is just too much going on this year. My main horse, Lizzy, is in foal, due about September. I’ll need to start taking it easy on her before long. My new horse, J, isn’t even broke to ride yet. Since Dad got rid of his bucker and sold the mule, Honey, I’ll need another horse to bring us up to snuff. That all adds up to a rush job to get ready for this year. I have all the gear, and even the food stuffs, but the horses aren’t ready.

Things have been picking up at work this spring, as well. I could use the extra income to help pay back money I borrowed from savings for the trip. Additionally, I still need to finish the pony saddle I’m making for one of my grandkids. I have several other saddlery projects I need to get done after that. In fact, I have a number of other projects I need to get done.

Not only that, but my second daughter will be having twins this fall, right about the time my extended family will be having our family reunion in Arizona. Some time this year, my wife and I hope to be able to take a trip to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary (which happens to be March 20).

I think, for this year at least, wisdom dictates that I try to get some of these other things taken care of before I head back out on my Mexico-to-Canada pack trip. The extra preparation time can’t hurt either. By the time next April rolls around, I should have my horses all squared away and in shape, Lizzy’s foal should be weaned, and Dad and I should have ourselves in better shape. I may even have myself a new saddle – one of my own making.

So, after a lot of thinking…that’s the plan going forward.