The mother-in-law is in training and today’s exercise involves hiking up North Mountain near where we live. It’s not a long hike but it is a test to see how she feels after scaling this puny mountain. She makes it as high as the trail will let her go and is treated to a wonderfully clear view of the downtown Phoenix skyline. Jutta is in training for an attempt next month to hike into and more importantly, hike out of, the Grand Canyon.

Off the trail and on to another trail of sorts, the horse trail. It was time for another horseback riding lesson. First though we had to get my mother-in-law her first pair of blue jeans – $9 at Walmart. Caroline lent her a pair of boots, Celia supplied the hat and I offered an extra lift to get Jutta back into the saddle.