On February 28, 2008 we went for a walk at Point Reyes. On that day the weather was gorgeous. Storms had been hitting on & off for several weeks but that day was a perfect weather day. This was to be a family day. My Dad was to follow us in spirit as he was not able to make the hike & stayed home. Our son, Daniel, was not able to take the day off of work this day. He had worked out his schedule for the previous days we planned this walk but they were always rained out. His thoughts too were with us. Dave's daughter, Tina, was able to join us on the walk. My mother, the person we honored that day, would also join us on our walk. It would be her last walk to Point Reyes, a place that she would love to ride her horse & hike in.

Marian Dollard took much pride in Windy and loved to tell everyone of how well Windy did in the shows. Mom had a horse for over 30 years and when the horse passed away she turned her attentions to llamas. Of the four crias that were born on the ranch, Windy was by far the favorite. It was only fitting that they would take one last walk together.

(front row) Windy and Suzann's Mom

I think that one of the most beautiful trails you could ever go on is the Bear Valley trail. I started going here with my family. After that I walked through there with a hiking club, next it was a place to work horses for the endurance competitions that my Mom & I trained for & then Dave and I took our children. It had been over fifteen years since I have been to Point Reyes & the beauty is still overwhelming. The last time we were there was after the floods in the 80's. At that time trails were washed away and trees had fallen down. This time there were still some scars from that time long ago. There was also recent maintenance from the recent storms.

Our destination would be Arch Rock. It was a little over 4 miles from the trailhead. As in years past, it was also to be a lunch stop and a place to take in the awesome ocean views

Our walk to the coast encountered few people or wildlife. While we were there we made some friends.

On our return we started to encounter many more people. I guess it was late enough for people to pull themselves out of bed & come to the park- after all it was a little chilly earlier in the day. Many people had never seen a llama, so of course, we stopped to answer questions. This was the first trip we had been on where we were accepted by most of the horse people. At the meadow, several people came up to desensitize their horses

The meadow, we were met by another horseback rider. He stayed at a distance. His horse would freeze at the sight of Windy, then snort, back up, snort some more. This process went on for over a half hour. We watched him in the distance with some concern. I thought I recognized him from years past - he was one of the park rangers. With the tales we have heard, that park personnel & llama people do not get along, our concerns grew. After a long break at the meadow, we started back towards the trailhead. The man on horseback followed us on the way back - the remaining two miles of the trip.

The Ranger had heard there was a llama on the trail so he went out to the horses & picked out one of the 'greenest' filly he could find. He was using Windy as a training opportunity. I was worrying for nothing.

It was a beautiful day, just the way Mom would have wanted it.