Wednesday, March 30, 2011

On the Trail

Finally, I made it out of my drive way, trailer in tow, dog in the back seat and horse in the trailer.  Unfortunately, the inside of my living quarters looks like a episode of  "Hoarders".
I had an uneventful drive, which is always nice

I'm in Pryor, Oklahoma which is almost exactly 300 miles from my house.  I'm staying with an Endurance Riding friend.. Buddy is learning about "new friends".  He was exposed to 2 goats and a miniture pig upon arrival.  After  he unloaded from the trailer,  he got lots of exercise trembling, snorting and spinning in circles.  He is in a stall now and can't seem to keep his eyes off of his "new friends".  It's because he thinks they will eat him.
Lexi, Rich and I went for Mexican food tonight.  Pretty yummy stuff.   I was quite the party pooper, as as soon as we got back I went  and fed Buddy, walked Charlie and said I was going to the trailer, I've been sorting and arranging things and making the bed.  Can't anyone find an easier way to put on sheets on a bed  in the nose of a gooseneck?

Tomorrow, I head into Texas to the Tarrant Ranch Ride site. But we go to breakfast first..  First things first.. and part of seeing the country is seeing it from the inside of local eating establishments I always say.

 Hey wasn't I going to lose 30 pounds while I'm on this adventure?  Hmmmm  

Night all, don't forget to feed the fish...

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Less than 1 week to blast off!

Wow, time flies while you procrastinate.  I have less than a week until I leave.  Still making progress in getting ready.

Seems like yesterday, my emotions changed from feeling stressed and overwhelmed to being excited and looking  forward to finishing all the packing and prep work and hitting the road.

I've gotten the trailer and truck worked on and ready to go.  Lowell added some storage drawers  in my kitchen cabinets which will really help with storage. Betty helped me clean the bathroom. She made the shower shine, it hasn't been that clean since I bought it.   (should I admit that?)

 Granddaughter Lena came over and spent the day on Saturday.  She wanted to ride Rebel and tell him goodbye.  We rode around the neighborhood until the thunder made us stop.

Sunday, I met Lisa and Diane and we rode on a glorious early spring day enjoying the trails at Rudolph Bennett, south of Moberly, Mo.  The trails are all weather and sustainable, great to ride there any time of the year.  I took Rebel with me and Lisa took him back to the barn she boards at.  So Buddy came home all alone.

I was pretty sad watching Buddy look for his friends, horses are such herd animals.. He whinnied and looked  everywhere he could for them. Then he came over to me and wanted me to scratch him.  Hopefully he will figure out that Charlie and I will be his herd for right now.  As long as he thinks I'm the boss mare we'll do fine.

I have my first stop planned out.  I'm staying overnight in Pryor, Oklahoma with Alexis Jones.  She is an OCER member and an Endurance riding friend.

A new adventure has been added, I am going to Fairbanks, Alaska in July.  Sue Flag is going to judge a NATRC ride and I'm going to go with her.  I'll be able to compete a horse offered to me by the ride manager Laurie Knutilla.  We plan to spend 2 weeks up there.    That will be a huge blast!

I couldn't do this trip without all of the support and offers of places to stay, or  horses to ride.  My NATRC friends and Endurance friends are such good folks and kind and generous friends.  Thanks guys.. you all keep me going!

Next time I post, let's see how far I've gotten on the packing.. anyone want to lay any bets?

By the way, I've updated  my map, for those of you who want to follow the trip visually.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Counting down.. 2 weeks and counting

I have 2 weeks before I leave on the "Great Adventure".  My plans currently are to leave on March 29th or 30th to go to a NATRC ride in Bullard, Texas.  From there, on to visit a friend in Miami, New Mexico before going on to the next  NATRC ride in Farmington, New Mexico.

 Bullard is about 640 miles from my house.  I want to drive about 6 -7 hours a day, so will look for an overnight spot.

 I plan to start out for New Mexico on Monday after the Texas ride.  I'm going to Susie Jones' home which is near Miami, New Mexico.  That leg is about 700 miles, so another overnight location will need to be nailed down.  From Susie's, I'll go on to the Farmington, New Mexico area for the NATRC ride.  That's a short haul, around 350 miles.  So no overnight stop on that leg.

I was able to ride Buddy for the first time on Saturday. Only got 6 miles in, but really wanted to see how I would do with hooking up the trailer, loading and unloading the horse and tacking up.  All of that went well, considering my wrist is still healing.

Right now, I'm filled with a mixture of emotions, excited to leave, worried I won't be prepared in time (I'm a hell of a procrastinator), thinking of all the bad things that could happen, but then so looking forward to  riding  in new places and visiting friends and family.   I have an Uncle, Aunt and cousins in Portland, Oregon who I'd like to see when I go to the ride in Washington.

So far, I'm planning on competing in Texas, New Mexico, Northern and Southern California and Washington. There is a NATRC ride near Fairbanks, Alaska, perhaps I could find someone to loan me a trusty mount?  I've looked up how far that ride is from Auburn, California  and it's 3600 miles one way.   That helped me make up my mind about loading up Charlie and  Buddy and  heading north to Alaska..   (Which isn't gonna happen).

Today was a busy day, getting my trailer back from the repair shop, I had  preventative maintenance and only 1 repair done.  Lowell and I got the water lines un-winterized and  Lowell began installing some slide out drawers to improve my storage in the kitchen area.

Thursday is a  day set aside for major trailer  interior cleaning, then repacking and restocking.  I know everyday from now on will be completely focused on getting ready to go and telling friends and family "see you",  it's not good bye, it's just "see ya later"

On that note..  I'll believe I'll close and "see ya later"   Don't forget to feed my fish..