Yesterday we celebrated our nine year anniversary! Matt had planned (but then told me about, so not technically a secret ;) a whole day in Pacific City, complete with a horse back ride on the beach. I was super excited, as I love horses and never get the chance to ride them. We got there a few minutes early, changed (I had pulled out jeans, but forgot to actually pack them... thus the shorts on a horse), and chatted with the cowboy that owns the guide business. I was excited when I got assigned Charlie because his blanket matched my shirt and I knew we'd make a great picture. =) Matt humored me and took this picture right before the big injury.
Yup, you read that right.
So... right about now is when I should warn you that this story is about as weird as it sounds. I grew up riding horses with friends (lots) and loved it. We always begged my parents for a horse, but they constantly declined with the excuse that my dad was very allergic to them (which is true), although I would argue the real reason was that they're just flat out expensive. Needless to say, I'm not scared of horses nor have I ever had any horse casualties...
Anyway, you can't tell from this picture, but there were two little girls (like 15ish and 11ish, maybe?!?) that kept trying to move the horse to a different spot by pulling on his bridal strap. Meanwhile, I had leaned down to put my foot in the left stirrup and the horse got tired of the girls tugging on either side and whipped his head back at the same time. The result was a head butt by the horse to my right forehead. Although it wasn't that big of a deal, I had an instant headache and a fairly good sized goose egg. Let's be honest, horses have hard heads... My plan was to grab some Aleve from the car to tame the headache so that the ride would still be enjoyable, but once I got down the cowboy offered me an ice pack and I sat down for a while. He suggested we wait a while to ride, if we still wanted to and offered a full refund. I'm sure he was hoping to avoid having this crazy girl go bouncing off along the trail after passing out from her head injury just ten minutes earlier, or maybe he was just nice.
We chatted with cowboy Gary for a while and then decided that we'd just come back a different time to ensure the ride was completely enjoyable. I sort of imagined myself trying to hold my head as still as possible on a horse for over an hour, which didn't sound like a lot of fun. I think Gary was happy with our choice and he gave us a full refund and a free ride for next time. Maybe it was because he found out they never "offered" me a helmet like both the handlers were wearing (although I'm sure I would have declined) or maybe because we were never asked to sign the release... either way we were excited about the free ride, and do plan on returning upon complete recovery. I still think Charlie and I have a few things to work out...
We grabbed a deli sandwich and enjoyed it on the beach and then decided to hike out to the tip of the rocks and explore. Truth be told, a really long nap on the beach sounded quite fabulous, but I was afraid I might not wake up until the next day... as it turns out the head was fine as long as I didn't move it too fast and took ibuprofen every two and half hours. Not bad for a horse head-butt...
This is as good a picture as we could get...
Haystack Rock through the bushes as we hiked out to the tip.
Sometimes I forget just how beautiful the Oregon Coast is... we've definitely been spoiled living so close to the Pacific Ocean our whole lives and for some reason it seems so much more spectacular to stand at the edge and think about how we are standing on the edge of the North American continent.
God's creation is full of so much beauty and I never cease to be amazed at the little things He didn't forget to create. I'm so thankful for His beauty to remind us daily of His love for us.
We finished the evening with a delicious dinner at the Pelican Brewery with some s'mores fudge for the drive home. The food was delicious, the weather was beautiful and the company was the BEST! Thanks babe for our wonderful adventure. I'll be more careful next time!
Happy NINE years to us!!!
I love you more each day!
No comments:
Post a Comment