Visions of people in sweats, horses still blanketed, and dogs being exercised on leashes mingled with early morning whinnies as horses and people alike greeted the new day. Vendors were ready for business awaiting the promise of a day's worth of sales. Styrofoam cups filled with coffee were carried carefully by individuals who relished sips of the steaming brew for the forthcoming caffeine "kick"…a known essential for some of us.

The morning was brisk as everyone got down to the business at hand…the 25 and 50 mile endurance rides through the flat and mountainous desert terrain which rises and falls behind Lemmon Valley. As the photographers for this ride, we were each given a ball cap commemorating the event, handed a map of the course, and a list of the participant's numbers. With a short geography lesson, "Hmmm…we are here…ok…this is where we want to be…ok…great…got it!"…off we sped to find a location to take our pictures. Background should have been the least of my concerns, as every direction is beautiful.

Thirty minutes later…I had stopped my Suzuki Sidekick 4x4…put the hubs in…shifted into 4-wheel drive and started climbing. Thank goodness for the brightly fluorescent surveyor's streamers that had been tied out by the ride officials. They helped us most of the time…I say "most" because at one point for a reason unknown to the driver, me, we lost sight of those bush markers. I rationalized…"well, they probably ran out of tape"…so we kept going. Trust me that's the last time I rationalize about anything. Anyway, UP seemed as good a direction to go as any other. When we crossed one section of a road that used to exist before the washout…I recall my carefully padded camera equipment bouncing and lurching in their special bags in back of the vehicle. I also recall my husband's arms flailing and head snapping in the passenger seat. Without taking my eyes off the road, I calmly mentioned that there was a handle on the roof over the passenger door. He grabbed it and we kept climbing.

We got out to examine the potential of a couple of spots once we made it to the top. Oh yes, we did luck out and spot those bright streamers again, "thank you, thank you, thank you!" Stories about greener pastures must refer to me because I wanted to see what was over the next hill and the next rise before I made my choice. These would be very special photos and the location was critical.

Finally, after scraping the underside of the Sidekick on some good sized rocks in the road, we were faced with a steep incline covered with even bigger rocks. At that point I decided that the bank, to whom I was still making payments on the vehicle, would really rather that I not drive any farther…no matter what the photos would look like.

So for the next several hours we shot photos of horses and riders (in one case two horses and one rider) as they went for the gold. The time flew by while we were working…light banter from the riders was also enjoyable. Some neighborhood dogs also joined the ride just for the camaraderie I suppose. Next year maybe the club can offer an award for "Best Time, By Gosh, By Dog."

We shot five rolls of film and drove like a bat out of hell down the mountain to get the film to the processor by 2 p.m. We stopped about 20 times, jumped out of the Sidekick, shot photos of riders who were bringing up the latter part of the ride, jumped back in the Sidekick and proceeded. Pretty soon I felt like we were the clowns who jump out of the little car in the circus! All of this time I'm driving with my camera strapped around my neck, my battery pack clipped on my pocket (with more cables), and my seat belt is secured to prevent me (or my camera) from being thrown from and pinned under the wreckage "just in case."

At some point during all of this, it dawned on me that I was a very lucky woman to have married my husband. He is my partner and above all else…we were having a really great time!

It took two hours to process the film (not green proofs like last year!). Then we commandeered a booth at Cattin's in Reno to sort, stamp, mark each photo, and insert proofs in the proof books. We beat it out of Reno and made it back to Horsemen's Arena at 6:30 p.m. The barbecue was just about to wrap up and the awards segment to begin.

A photographer's dream is to have people LIKE and enjoy their photos. The participants of this ride appreciated their pictures and it was very gratifying to Jim and I. Thank you to those who made a point to say "Thank you for being up there at the top" and "We looked up at the top and couldn't believe there were two people standing up there!"

Many happy and safe rides and, God willing and the road doesn't wash out again, we hope to see you next year!