#23 and the arrival of Patty D.
I finally got to
wear one of the dozen tank tops I packed. It's not looking like I'll
be breaking out the shorts and swimsuit anytime soon – but 70°
and sunshine felt good. I still wasn't feeling up to a road trip. I
opted to stay in camp and practice shooting.
The random number
generator on my phone picked course number #23; my favorite. 23 has a
several elements to it I like to practice: A gate – a quick
succession of fire, a moderate gun change and a staggered rundown.
Perfect for Jack.
Normally I shoot a couple courses on J'Lo first
with Jack tied in the arena. Today I changed it up and ran Jack
first. We shot the first run as an actual pattern. We were clean. I
ran it again in a random pattern, cleaned up the balloons and swapped
to J'Lo.
Cindy joined me in
the arena. We shot #23 a couple different ways before setting up a
new pattern. In between courses, we got a text from Patty D. that she
had made it to Aguila! She had left Idaho a couple days ago and had
been working her way to Arizona. Google doesn't know Dave and Cindy's
address and it's a little hard to give directions to it without
sending somebody on a wild saguaro chase. We agreed to meet her at
Woody's in town and bring her on in.
I recognized the
expression on Patty's face when she stepped out of her rig. Road
weary, exhausted and relieved all at the same time. I call it road
drunk. Patty followed me to Crandall's and went about setting up
camp.
We set up a second
course. This one incorporated a second barrel and two gates. I
swapped back to Jack and ran the pattern like I would have to run it
at an actual shoot. I didn't warm him up much – just climbed on and
shot. We shot clean. It felt good. I feel like I am gaining more
confidence in the arena with him. It's a mental hang up on my part, I
know. As long as we take our time and not let ourselves get pressured
into taking shortcuts, we will get there.
Tomorrow....I will
introduce Patty to John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Dale Evens at the
Laundromat. Life is good.
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