In our game, the ball has a mind of its own.

Lesson booked for 9:30 this am.  So of course last night Lexi felt the need to throw a shoe.  Superstar farrier agrees to come at 8:30 to solve this problem ;)

However, this was an unauthorized change from Her Royal Greyness's regularly scheduled program.   And she was not amused.  Oh dear.  Lexi is usually remarkably good to mount.  Today...  Not so much.  I got on a vibrating llama who was moving the second my foot hit the stirrup -- if she ever paused at all.  hmmm okay then...  Fortunately after a few strides she remembered she is, essentially, lazy.  This resulted in a bouncy walk -- which, really, is fairly ideal.  So I was okay with it.  The llama aspect I was less thrilled with, but sobeit.

She was also, as is her tendency when she is high, being remarkably spooky.   She's *really* good most of the time, but when that little switch goes in her brain...  Oh dear.  Amusing when combined with the laziness aspect as she doesn't tend to go very far -- or just straight up with all four!  But still less than ideal when you'd like something that vaguely resembles dressage.  

So coach shows up and we work and we work and we work and eventually the walk is moderately successful.  And then a horse gets turned out nearby and we start all over again ;-P  Finally we get something that can progress to the trot.  The left - her easy way - is pretty atrocious.  Just to keep life interesting, the right is mostly brilliant.  Awesome.   While pretending we actually improved and didn't just change direction, move up into the canter -- also pretty brilliant.  Woohoo!

And then go back to the left.  Oh dear.  I'd wonder if she needed her teeth done if she hadn't just had them done ;}   Yeah, that kind of ride.  Grab the bit, imitate a giraffe, and run.   On the plus side, most giraffes run with their butts tucked reasonably well underneath them ;)   This is something we've been working on.   Yeah for hill work!

Yeah, just like that
Alright so eventually we get something that vaguely resembles an acceptable canter and do some work on transitions.  Of course my coach wants the transition to sitting trot -- which, now that we've actually *found* the trot is proving to be a remarkable workout for my poor, abused, abs ;)   Pluses and minuses really.  It was, shall we say, one of those moments I was rather glad my students weren't watching.

Yeah, just like that

 However, eventually pony found a brain and rider remembered (sort of) how to ride, and the world was good.  All done.

Or not.  Apparently now it's time to jump.  Sweet.  I see no way in which this could be a poor life decision.  And the left rein was our challenging one so let's opt for gymnastics off the left.

She was a little ambitious about our tiny warm-up fence *g*   hahaha but I took that as a good sign that she wanted to play this game.  Fence grew and was a very simple concept -- placing pole, 9', vertical.  Out of the trot, no problem.  Out of the canter, jump the pole and the jump together.  Every. Single. Time.  Coach's response: "well you know spreads won't be a problem."  *sigh*

Spread the placing pole out to 12'...   You're not new here.  Yup, same game.   Apparently it's just easier to throw yourself over the fence from a ridiculous distance than tuck your butt even a little for that one extra stride.

Oh well -- ignore that minor detail for now (with instructions to do lots of bounces for homework...) and build up the gymnastic.  Last fence in the end is not super tall (maybe 3') but very wide -- wide enough that it requires a pole diagonally across the top of it so she's not inclined to step down inbetween.  Ummmm really?   Have you read the last couple paragraphs?   Definitely had to laugh at that, but if any horse would oxer the placing pole and then bounce the oxer, it'd be mine.  So the pole stayed on top.

Anyways -- it was a significantly bigger fence than I've been jumping with her and I was really pleased that it required no effort whatsoever.  Just felt like she was loping over it.  Woohoo!  Seriously -- she was putting more effort into the pole at the start of the line than the oxer at the end ;)

This grid was set along the fenceline, and she was drifting in (left) slightly.  Now the gate was open and is in the corner at the end of the line.  So option instead, jump grid, halt, turn right. Which we *almost* got.  Except we skipped the halt.  hahaha most balanced 90 degree turn out of the canter ever!  Seriously shocked the two girls coming out of the barn though -- got one of those "did you mean that to happen or is something going horribly wrong?" looks.   They stuck around to watch the entertainment of the next couple rounds and seemed to decide it was just another odd thing that crazy eventer was doing ;)

Anyways -- by the end she was jumping beautifully out of the canter, treating the placing pole like a placing pole three out of four times, and landing straight and on the correct lead.  And through it all, was jumping like a horse who has some idea how long her legs are and what to do with them.  So overall, I was pretty thrilled!

And after our ride, and the completely uneventful hack afterwards (yeah!!!), I turned her out in the valley and was super pleased to watch her go through the river of her own volition.  I currently have no xc jumps to train over, but I have a ditch, two steps, and water and she does all of them.  My horse is going to be a xc machine :)

So certainly far from a perfect ride, but it feels like we finally have *some* of the pieces to work with to start to put the puzzle together.  This is a very good thing.   And on that note -- sweet dreams.

Whenever you think you're having a bad day, just remember... some people have babies.

So it turns out a domestic goddess I am not.  Who's surprised by this?  Anybody?  Awww comeon....

hahaha and those of you who can identify and are looking for a light read -- The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella is reasonably entertaining.

Some of you may be aware I've recently moved to Paris.  No, not the exciting one that'd give this blog a whole new fun twist, the one that Weather Network doesn't even know exists in Ontario.  Whose sign at the edge of town reads "Home of the ".  Yup, that's right, it's blank.  Oh dear.  hahaha I'd take a pic but, you know, it's a good 45 second drive away.

Anyways -- I'm trying to settle here and having a whole day off with the place to myself, I figured instead of going to the barn I'd stay and organize, and just generally try to make things feel more like home.

It started out incredibly well!   As in I slept a *solid* eight hours.  Unheard of.  And woke up relaxed and happy.  Sweet.  And then I made my first mistake...  I got out of bed.  I had a book and a phone; I could've stayed there all day.  And it would've been wonderful.  But alas, I deemed productivity a better option.  Right.  About that.

Came downstairs to discover the couch had been turned into a beach.  Which would've been amazing if it meant we'd been magically transported somewhere tropical.  Unfortunately what it really meant is that Sasha brought the outdoor ring home from the farm.  Oops.  I even gave her a bath last night!  If she had that much sand in her left after the bath, can only imagine what would've happened if I hadn't bathed her.  So yes, the couch was completely covered in sand -- not a light sprinkling either, you could make castles out of this stuff.   And the floor had a fabulous exfoliating quality to it that it generally lacks.  Oh dear.

First task -- vacuum.   Np.  Like most boys, Chris enjoys his toys -- even the mundane work-related ones, and as such has a pretty top quality vacuum.   Which did an awesome job on the floor.  And then didn't want to release the hose to let me do the couch.  Boooo.  And being A - not mine, and B - likely more money that I'd be inclined to spend on a vacuum, I deemed it best not to force the issue.  And so the entire stand-up vacuum got loaded onto the couch to eradicate the beach.   The kinda awkward you'd see on a bad romcom *sigh*   But it did, in fact, do the job.   Score: Laur 1, Inanimate object: 0.

Let Sash back in the house and she curls up on the couch while I putz around making breakfast.   When she comes to see if I'm inclined to share, I discover...  Not a beach exactly, but a definite sandbar.  Poor puppy has to have another bath -- possibly her least favourite thing ever.  And I got to vacuum the couch a second time.   So. Much. Fun.   Let me tell you.   And Tucker had a huge temper tantrum when Sasha got a bath.  Barking and growling in serious attack mode.  Seriously dog?  You *really* want me to throw you in the tub too?   So random.

But now only part of the house is clean.  Which makes the rest of the house look really bad.  Argh.  Toss on some laundry and while that's going clean more.  Definitely not what I was aiming for with my day, but sobeit.  Plans change.  In my world they change more often than they play out ;)

Cleaning the kitchen and the stove is disgusting so taking the various pieces apart to clean.  Let me tell you, people may mock my microwave and telephone style of cooking, but my stove *never* gets dirty!  Significantly easier to keep a kitchen clean when you never use it ;-P    Anyways, lift off the burner protector (I'm sure that has a better name) and a huge piece comes off that, well, I'm pretty sure is not supposed to...  hmmmm Try to put it back on and it won't attach.  I can see how it *should* attach, but it's just not inclined to co-operate.   Gas stove.  Don't think I'll play that game.  Score:  Laur 1, Inanimate object 1.

Anyways -- with things a little less sandy, and slightly cleaner, I could start organizing.  Go to put up a picture...  And promptly knock another one -- that's actually my favourite -- to the ground.   Glass everywhere.  *sigh*   Score:  Laur 1, Inanimate object 2.   Get picture hung with minimal difficulty.  Add buying replacement glass and rehanging the original photo to my list of things to do.  Score: Laur 2, Inanimate object 3.

Okay so list of errands:  deposit cheque at bank, drop mail in mailbox, pick up some things at the store -- I even had a list!  Lists are good.  Especially on days when the inanimate objects have a chance of winning.  And now get new glass for frame.  And I got smart and brought the frame *with* me.  Score: Laur 3, Inanimate object 3.

Walk to town.  Yes seriously -- I slept through my morning run remember.  And town is...  Well not quite the size of Paris ;-)   Carrying my mail, phone, wallet, and keys.  The world is good.   Until I get to the bank.  Ummmm did you notice the cheque was *not* on that list.  Fail.  Score: Laur 2, Inanimate object 3.   Ah well, stupid should hurt.

The store actually had everything on my list!  Woohoo!  But, that unfortunately was counteracted by the fact that the photo store was not open.  Seriously.  Welcome to Paris.  Apparently they don't open on Wednesdays.  So random.  On the plus side, I also discovered an ice-cream hole-in-the-wall (literally, like a drive through window for ice cream).  On the down side, it was also closed.   Boo.   So just considering that a net zero on the score chart.

Actually remembered to detour and drop the mail off!   Normally that wouldn't be worth a point, but today I'm scrounging ;)   Score: Laur 3, Inanimate object 3.   Get home, still a little bummed about the picture frame fail and decide the porch needs to be swept.  You'd think I might've figured out by now that today is not a good day for domestic tasks?   But apparently too much sleep makes me stupid.  So sweeping away, reasonably productive, until I move something and come up with my hand covered in sap.  Ugh.   Score:  Laur 3, Inanimate object 4.

Giving up on the great outdoors, manage to get stuff put away all good, and decide to attempt the stove again.  This time after just a little fiddling it went back into place.  Woohoo!   Score: Laur 4, Inanimate object 4.

And I deemed that a good time to quit ;)  Will attempt another trip to the bank shortly, but for now I'm going to just pretend today hasn't started yet.

Websites and Registries and Photos, oh my!

So continuing the list of random wedding things that surprised me...

First of all, I've googled "... etiquette" more times in the last two weeks than my entire life cumulatively.  Admittedly that's not saying much, but still.  It's excessive.  And when you're done reading all the rules, at the bottom it basically has a codicil that states "none of this applies to destination weddings".  Sheesh.

So we decided a website would be a good method of disbursing all of the relevant information.  Sweet.  I know websites.  Easy.  But then I foolishly googled to see what others had done.  Oh dear.  But in the midst of all the chaos of Too Much Information, I realized there are several good free sites available and picked one of those.  It's not nearly as customizable as I'd like, but it's free and it's fast and it's well laid out.  Fine.

Deciding it would do, I spent a fair amount of time entering information from the travel agent and deleting sections I didn't like.  "Our Proposal" ummm no.  Those who should know either asked me already or read my blog.  The website is for actually useful information, not storytelling.  That being said, there will have to be a little bit of storytelling as Chris convinced me it was reasonable to leave the "About Us" page up -- since the vast majority of the people attending likely only know one of us.  But that's all we need.

Anyways -- all good right?  Except, websites like photos.  Not a ton, perhaps, but at least some.  And Chris has a pretty serious aversion to cameras.  So as a result, pretty well the only photos of the two of us together are the ones taken in Cuba -- where we were very rarely dressed appropriately for a wedding website ;)

So we called our wedding photographer (did I mention we already have a wedding photographer?  Oh yeah, we're just that good!), and asked if he could do some engagement photos.   Seriously.  I actually just wrote that sentence.  Don't entirely believe it myself, but it is, in fact, true.

Well Joe agreed and suggested that the best time for outdoor photos is either sunset or sunrise.  Which would be lovely, except that I'm generally working at sunset and Chris is generally working at sunrise.  Hmmmm weekend it is.  But this weekend both our evenings were booked, and so that is how we ended up doing a photoshoot at 7:30 in the morning.  Oh the things we do for love ;)   Or at least for the trappings that go along with love.

This lighting is why the early-morning start.
Love this shot!

Actually went really well and I had a surprisingly good time with it.

Definitely not the most formal or technical photo of the day,
but it makes me smile every time I see it.

And that should've been the end.  But no, apparently we need registries.  Three according to the etiquette-consensus.  We shouldn't need any.  We're going away.  People are paying a lot of money to come to our wedding.  We don't need or want gifts, or showers, or anything else.  But still people keep asking, and our mothers strongly recommended we do the registry thing.  And really, a wise person doesn't ignore a strong recommendation from their mother.  So we sucked it up and hit up a store, where we met Debbie, the poor woman whose job it was to help us set up our registry.  You've heard of a hostile witness?  hahaha well she had the wedding version.  We did mostly behave ourselves.  At one point she mentioned she had a hard time knowing when we were being serious.  Oops.  hahaha but we got through it all and escaped with only a few scars ;)  And even Debbie was smiling -- although that might've been because we were done *g*

When we got home we discovered the concept of a honeymoon registry.  Way better idea -- we "need" the most amazing trip ever far more than we need place-mats. hahaha so then it was back to Google to see what'd be involved in setting that up.  That one was actually fun, because it lead to daydreaming about said honeymoon -- we're aiming for Zanzibar.  Seriously.  Awesome.

So we still have one more to go to appease the etiquette gods, and we will get it done at some point.  When both Chris and I have time.  And the store's open.  Cause, you know, those things all coincide at least once in a while.  I'm sure.

And in the end we have some photos that I'm really happy with, gave Debbie something to do at work, and by the time we get our invitations, the website will be ready to launch.  The world is good.

Oh and Chris' parents met my parents for the first time this weekend.  But that's a different story ;)

Happy bunny day :)

Lexi's growing again!  Sheesh.  Not exactly what I needed but sobeit.  Otherwise, things are going well with her -- I'm enjoying riding again.  Esp now that we can be outside!  Mostly ;)

For my readers who check in mostly for horse stuff -- consider yourself forewarned.  I'm sorry, but that's it.

Cause yeah, for some reason far more on my mind these days is wedding stuff.   Wow.  I'ts a little insane.  I can't believe how often I'm surprised by pieces of it.  Am so glad we're going away.  That was definitely an awesome life choice.

First surprise -- two weeks to get my ring resized.  Nooooo!  For the men out there who don't comprehend the horror of this situation -- picture being given the best new toy/game/tool/car you can imagine.  Now telling everybody you have it, and having every single one of them want to see it.  And then not being able to use -- or even see! -- it for two weeks.  Yeah.  Times ten ;)   But then the mother of one of my students, who happens to own Avalon Jewelry, said they could get it done for me by Saturday if I brought it in by Tuesday.  Done.  Woohoo!   And I'll tell ya -- Saturday, despite how tight timing was that day between work and meeting w/ the travel agent, we still detoured so I could get my ring back ;)

Yes - travel agent.  I've never really worked with one before -- I usually just google and go.  But Chris and I figured for the wedding it would make sense to work with somebody who does this for a living.  First challenge -- find one!  There are *tons* of travel agents, how do you pick?  Well we wanted somebody we could meet face to face, which narrowed the selection dramatically.   Also wanted somebody with a reasonable amount of experience who was familiar with Costa Rica.   Yup - if you haven't caught that little detail yet, we're getting married in Costa Rica.  But neither Chris nor I have ever been there before.  No worries -- Google did its thing and soon enough we had an Oakville-based agent who specializes in Costa Rica and Jamaica.  Sweet.  We exchanged some emails and we arranged to meet on Saturday after I finished teaching.  After meeting her I was super excited and impressed.  She knew her stuff asked intelligent questions and was able to answer the questions Chris and I had.  I compared online prices with those she got for us and hers were significantly reduced.  So pretty happy all around :)

So all good right?   Getting married on the beach -- show up and go.

If only...

"What are your colours?"

"Do you have your dress yet?"

"What are you wearing to the rehersal dinner?"

I...  Wait, what???  Right, not even going to address the last one ;)

Yup all of those are questions I've heard in the last week.  The first I only just stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Colours?  Really?  But soon enough in random conversation with Chris I realized we actually did have colours based on what he wants to wear.  Imagine that :)    Ahead of the game really!

A dress?  I only just got a ring!  hahaha oh dear.  But I get that -- apparently it takes months to order a dress.  So I'll have to suck it up and go dress shopping sooner than later.  Will be an interesting scheduling challenge as both my mum and C's want to be there.  Oh dear.  And, well, I need Steph there because I'm not allowed to make clothing choices on my own.   For now though, Emily's narrowing them down for me online ;)

Invitations are almost ready to go.  Mostly just waiting for confirmation that we have the date and time we want.  But design etc all done.  Was astounded at the online options.  10,000 + results for beach wedding invites.  It's enough to make you close the computer and find something else to do ;)

But inviting people is one of the things I've been pleasantly surprised about.  Everybody seems super excited to come -- whether for the wedding or for the location ;)   It seems Costa Rica is on a lot of people's lists :)  Sweet!

Reactions have also been a lot of fun.  Seeing how excited people are makes it even more exciting for me.  I'm continually surprised by it, but it's all good :)  And  yes, I'm *still* grinning.  Starting to feel a little ridiculous about it, but hey - it's a once in a lifetime thing :)

Lots more coming, but it's sunny out so I'm off.  Cheers!

Best. Dog Walk. Ever!

OMG I'm getting married!!!!!!!!

hahaha nobody's going to accuse me of burying the lead today ;-P   And yes, it is so very worth capital letters and exclamation marks.   Lots of them.  In fact I think it deserves more.  So for good measure:  Chris proposed this afternoon and WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I try really hard not to include the really personal parts of my life on here.  Some of my friends have told me they like being mentioned -- they get names and stories.  Some are okay with me retelling stories, but I just do so without names.  And some things, simply, don't belong on the internet.  But this one, this one I'm claiming for myself.  And with a roll of the eyes, Chris agreed to me writing about it *g*

So let's recap the weekend shall we?   Saturday was pretty standard -- taught some, rode some, knocked out a few walls (okay, so my definition of standard might have changed in recent times -- sobeit).  Regardless, other than that I had a truly decent ride that I was legitimately happy with, and shooting paintballs indoors is all kinds of entertaining, there was really nothing to write home about.  Or even blog ;)

Sundays Chris and I have come to consider "lazy Sundays".  As in we try not to book anything ambitious or do anything reasonably productive.  At first this was challenging for both of us as we tend to be a *little* type A...  But, especially after the crash course in Cuba, we've gotten quite good at it.  And I can't speak for Chris, but I, at least, have grown fond of and am fairly protective of my lazy Sundays.  So today we had not-very-much planned.  A friend of mine was here from out of town, so we were meeting him for lunch.  And we'd spoken vaguely a few days earlier of taking advantage of the almost-spring-like weather to take the dogs out for a decent walk.  That was the entire extent of our plans -- that I was aware of anyways ;)

So lunch was great.  I didn't get to see C last time he was in town, so really good to catch up.  After lunch we dropped by some other friends of mine who live in that town, but unfortunately they were away.  Ah well.  Had some free time and weather was nice so went for a bit of a drive.  Only issue is, by the time we got back I was feeling really motion sick.  Boooo :(   Hasn't happened in *ages* but is so less-than-pleasant when it does.   Fortunately, I know from past experience that if I just stay very still for a while and drink some water, I'm usually fine.  I also know that if I ignore it, it gets worse, not better.  So despite the fact that both Chris and the dogs were pretty excited for the aforementioned walk, I begged a half-hour to recover.

Fortunately it worked and shortly thereafter we were off...  Headed to the rail trail with two very excited dogs.  Sun shining, temperature all kinds of civilized.  Trail was wet in places but entirely navigable.  So we're having a good time walking along, enjoying the weather and the views.  Rail trail in that section follows the river, so some stunning views.  At one point we could see deer grazing on the opposite bank.  Super cool.  Only thing is, the trail is mostly wooded, which means not as warm, which means it's still snowy.  Not really a big deal, except Chris managed to get both feet soaked.  Booo.  I asked if he wanted to go back, but he said no, so all good.  But then I hit an issue that had never occurred to me -- you see when I get motion sickness, I'm uber sensitive to it for several hours afterwards...   And the slipping and sliding on the snow was making me nauseous.  I suggested we go back and follow the trail the other way -- where it'd been out of the woods and therefore no snow.

But Chris wanted to keep going; said there was a bridge just up ahead -- we'd go there.  Okay, I can suck it up.  Once I realized he had a destination in mind sobeit.  And yes, you'd think I might've clued in.  Might've had the slightest idea.  But you had the first paragraph, you *know* where this is going.  I did not ;-P   And in my own defense, Chris - for reasons surpassing understanding - seems to actually love this little town of his and often will take me places just to show me something.  Like our random drive that morning, was to look at a cool farm.  And it's almost always something worth seeing, so I've learned to go along with these things...   He also offered to turn back, but the combination of a specific target (cause lets be honest, the rail trail goes a lot farther than we could walk in one day!) and the fact that we magically ended up in an area that the snow had all melted so I wasn't feeling worse worked out and we kept going.

Anyways - sure enough, we could shortly see the bridge he was talking about.  Or, more accurately, what used to be the bridge -- all that remains are the stone pillars (supports?  I admit to being too distracted to Google the correct terminology right this second.  Proposal to get to you know!).  I suspect Chris might've had a specific spot farther along, but I saw two benches.  And, of course, was oblivious to his plans...  And was still feeling quite ill and knowing if I sat for even five minutes, I'd feel a ton better and be able to actually enjoy the rest of the hike.  So I dragged him and the two dogs over to sit down.

Bench in memory of Gertrude and Allen.  Would like to know their story...

So we sat for a moment watching the stunning view of the river, well framed by the stone remains.  The dogs were being reasonably civilized at our feet -- neither pulling on the leashes or being silly. Nobody around anywhere -- our own private paradise.

And all of a sudden he had a ring in his hand and was asking me to marry him.

I'm still shaking as I write this.  I am so totally unbelievably happy.  The yes was a given :)   Fortunately I was wearing sunglasses so he didn't see how teary my eyes got.  Yup, about some things I am very much a girl.

We sat for quite a while watching the water, enjoying the moment, and just being together.  I love that we can be quiet together; I need quiet to function.  It was...  Absolutely perfect really.

When we got home pretty much the first thing I did was call my parents, and then my aunt Linda.  Those calls were a lot of fun to make -- I think they're almost as excited as I am :)  That was awesome.  Then we met up with Chris' parents for dinner.  They were super enthusiastic and very welcoming -- almost made me get all kinds of teary again.  Who is this person? ;)  I sent a message to one of my best friends asking her to call me if she was still up -- she lives in France and the time difference was not in my favour here...   After dinner called and texted a few close friends -- again so much fun.

And then...  The Facebook post.   I don't do "relationship" statuses as a rule.  To me, relationships are private and don't belong on the internet; the same reason for the absence from the blog.  Actually I remember when Chris and I started dating, having a conversation about it and saying that I couldn't imagine actually changing it until I was engaged to somebody...   Hahaha so jumping from several years of "none" to "engaged" with nothing inbetween -- got all kinds of fun comments!   My phone rang just as Chris was posting, so I approved it and then went away to talk.

When I came back, Facebook had exploded.  It was an almost overwhelming top to an unbelievable day.  The cheers and love and well wishes from everybody was so wonderful.  Those I'm close with and some I haven't seen since high school -- and yet all took the time to "like" and comment.  Took only a second or two, yet actually meant so much.

So yes, between this and whatever my soon-to-come next career will be, suffice to say this is yet another year of major life changes *g*    Should make for some entertaining blog posts if nothing else ;)

So happy.  Incredibly, over-the-top, she who writes compulsively can't come up with the words, happy.

Thanks Chris.  I love you.

Does it still count as a learning experience if you stay *on* the horse?

My editor once told me a story should have a point.  I'm not sure I always agree with that, but for those who do the point is simple: my pony was awesome!   The end.

The longer version isn't much different -- just longer :)   In review, I decided on Sun to take Lexi to a clinic I knew nothing about with a clinician I'd never heard of.  Brilliant.  But I liked the idea of the clinic and was disappointed I wasn't going to get to see the Tuesday version, so decided I'd give this a go.

My last post reviewed how much longer everything takes for the first couple outings of the season; fortunately I had the *very* civilized ride time of noon.  This gave lots of time for the silliness that just happens...  

And sure enough, I went to hook up my trailer and it was like this:

Booooo.  It has to be *on* the block for my truck to fit under it...   Laura and I deemed we couldn't lift it, or even move it slightly *sigh*   But fortunately Frank could!  hahaha he lifted it up so I could slide the block back underneath and we were good to go :)  As far as unexpected delays go, it really wasn't too bad...

Quickly got Lexi ready.  Her braids were embarrassingly atrocious -- the only thing worse would've been her completely wild unbraided mane.  But it was made up for it with the ever-important stunning tail *g*  Which, I'll admit, I even wrapped before leaving.  I don't think I've ever actually used a tail wrap before, but I know how nervous she is about trailering so...  Why not ;)  Pony loaded like a prostar -- but then promptly had a meltdown once she was on.  So I headed out quickly in hopes she would settle and the drive was uneventful.

Unloading, however, I genuinely thought she might flip the trailer :(   Was trying to figure out how I could safely get her out alone when Becky arrived.  "You were gone for long enough, I thought I should come make sure you were both still alive."  hahaha Yeah for extra hands!  With her, had Lexi off and calmer in seconds.

Stalls were in the arena, which was awesome from my pov as it gave Lexi an hour to settle in the arena I was going to ride in.  Pretty sweet.  Kitty's lesson was just starting when we got there, so L wasn't even alone in the arena.  She settled pretty much instantly.

So the clinic itself.  Had to wear a funky jacket with bright pink stripes on it.  Have you met me?  ;)  All the other jackets were green, but no, I get the pink one.  Sheesh.  Ah well.  The point, however, was to be able to clearly see any misalignment in position.  Russell also placed a white dot on the back of the saddle and on the middle of Lexi's croup so alignment would be very obvious.

Yes there are pictures, but they're on the other computer so can't get them tonight.   Later :)

It was deemed that I sit quite straight.  Yeah!  I *think* I'm fairly aware of my flaws as a rider, but you don't know what you don't know right?  So there was definitely a moment of hmmmmm I wonder...  

Russell videoed a bit at the beginning -- super high frames/second rate so when we watched it back it played in slow motion.   Had his computer hooked up to a TV screen so we could watch mounted and auditors could see as well.  Really interesting and useful.

He asked what I wanted to work on (I'm quite certain she was the greenest horse of the day by several years).   I said we were mostly there to let her see the world, but if we could get forward and into some form of contact, that'd be wonderful.

Well at about that point, we got all sorts of practice experiencing the world.  MH's three great danes darted in the ring barking.  And here we have why I always have Sasha in the ring with the horses...   I'm not sure Lexi knew exactly what they were (dogs?  odd looking ponies?  giant goats? -- yes she lives with a variety of critters) but she kept it together.   Gave them a good stink-eye and grew a hand or so, but didn't react otherwise.  I was so very impressed.  She was actually far more concerned about the auditors who arrived late with noisy fast-food bags ;)   Those she hasn't seen before!  hahaha

It was interesting to note that when he asked how I felt about the speed, we differed in answer.  I felt she was too slow; he said no - she was moving and tracking up well.  We settled on she was moving but behind the leg, and worked to fix that.We did a lot of work on getting her in front of the leg.  He took my dressage whip away, preferring instead the "pony club kick".  It probably looked fairly ugly, but it worked.  He also focused on my well known bad habit of reins too long *sigh* -- and the video made me cringe, because of course as a coach, when I see it, I know how wrong it is...   And an unknown habit of turning my right wrist slightly.  Totally random, but when I fixed it, it helped.  The other one was "if you cluck, you know she's behind your leg."  Such a simple obvious statement, but absolutely correct.  And an instant auditory clue that I need to solve that problem Right Now.

I was concerned about my recent habit of my legs doing strange and unusual things entirely of their own volition.  He decided I was doing too much to support my horse and that I needed to teach her to carry herself and create her own impulsion and once that happened, my legs would fix themselves.   A little easier said than done, but even within the hour or so a noticeable difference.  So that was a huge relief!   Again, the pony club kick played a big role *g*

Also interesting was he had me do far more with my hands than I'm accustomed to -- but the end result with my horse was fabulous, and on the video it looked like I was doing nothing.  So subtle aids, but more of them.  And how did he pick up on that one?

He got on my horse!   Woohoo!   First time I've seen Lexi ridden.   He asked permission several times -- didn't seem convinced that I actually was totally okay with him getting on.   Rode around for a while -- employed the pony club kick himself.  And shortly she looked like a really impressive horse!   One that could actually go somewhere and do some stuff ;-P

Yup, just like that.  Complete with pretty tail...

Anyways yes, had me fairly stoked for the horse I could have...   When I got back on she still felt the same, but now I had a better idea what I was aiming for -- and I think we got moments of it.  The video seems to imply so.  I know we would've if I'd actually managed to shorten my reins!  Ugh.  This summer's goal -- fix that particular bad habit.  Sheesh.

Have always found the use of video to be particularly beneficial in my own riding.  Forever grateful to friends I manage to bribe to film my schooling even snippits...  So very useful.  So this clinic which incorporated slow-motion video was brilliant for me.  Russel was an excellent coach -- very positive, but with a good eye and reliance on simple basics.

And to round it out, MH's stable manager Becky was super-helpful.  Above and beyond helping me deal with my silly pony and settle in.

So all round an excellent outing.  Photos and maybe video later :)

But I have a lesson tomorrow am, so off for now.

Spring cleaning

By the end of show season each year, I can go from not even considering going anywhere to out the door with show turnout in well under twenty mins.  Slightly longer if I have to braid, but generally fast.  Everything is clean, organized and ready.  And that includes the horse.

Right now however...

Oh dear.

So Lexi's been in work for a couple weeks now.  I fear it's going to take forever and a day to get her fit *sigh*, but at least she's working consistently, has three gaits (usually), and is navigating from one side of a jump to the other (we won't give it the lofty title of "jumping" quite yet).  All good.

She also more closely resembles a lama having a bad hair day then a fancy grey TBX.  'Sok - realistically won't  be showing till June at least; lots of time for her to shed out, build some muscle, have a bath or two and just generally look like a horse.

Sadly I'm not even exaggerating...

Oh and our arena's so dusty that every piece of tack I own has a layer of filth on it I suspect may need an ice pick to break through.  But this is what spring's about right?  Eventually the sun comes out and the mud dries up and we can clean them (and us!) up, and the world is good again.  Perfect.

Except spring has yet to...  well... spring.  Ugh.   And on Sunday I randomly decided to enter a clinic.  On Wednesday.  Not too worried about the fitness level as focus is on details of rider position, so she mostly just needs to be there.  But turnout...

Right, remember that twenty-minute turn around time?   It doesn't exist at the start of the season.  Especially at the start of the season after a move.   Oh dear.

So I went to the barn early today.  Rode my horse, using the logic that a tired horse is more likely to stand patiently than a fresh one.  Okay, step one, tired horse in cross-ties.  Now, priorities...

About that...   Please refer back to the above picture.   Where does one even start?

Well let's see the challenges:
- every time I groom this horse I take off a small pony in shedding hair
- her mane...   Oh dear, I don't think I should even mention the mane...  Long flowingness yes...  but flowing in all directions in copious amounts.  And short little stubby pieces for good luck.  On the plus side -- she's so finicky about her mane (wait, the plus side is coming!) that I actually deal with it every day so she gets used to it.  This is almost working.  It does not, however, mean that the mane is neatly pulled, braidable, or even able to get a comb through.
- her tail, of the long flowing variety that every little girl dreams of, has seen neither brush nor shampoo in months.
- all the body parts that are traditionally trimmed....  Umm yeah - can't even see them.
- she closely resembles the above photo in colour.  Except, unlike the lama, Lexi is traditionally grey.

What she could potentially look like ;)

Where would you start?   Well let's go with what's going to make the biggest difference.  It's too cold for a bath, so elbow grease will have to do what it can for the colour.   And not too bad...  There are a few marks that aren't quite presentable, but at least the average person could make a stab at guessing what colour she's supposed to be.

Clipping?   Right.  Not going to happen.  My horse has yet to meet clippers and isn't big on new experiences.  I have neither the time nor the patience for that game today.  And my clippers need to be replaced.  I also don't want to trim around her fetlocks as we're entering mud season so I'd prefer she have at least some protection.  So, shaggy it is.

The tail...  Hmmmmm potential there.   Except it's currently one long dreadlock.  Ugh.  Okay.

So a few years ago I rented an apartment that had previously been owned for several years by a smoker.  I spent the first few weeks cleaning the walls.  Gross yellow stuff poured down the walls seemingly endlessly.  Cleaning Lexi's tail was worse.

But after several shampoos (thanks to Lilly for *finding* said shampoo!), multiple buckets of water, some conditioner, and a whole lot of patience, we had a barbie-doll tail again :)   Woohoo!

Okay, progress...  Now about that mane...   Ummmm nope.  Sorry.  So I threw the worlds worst braids in and deemed it done.  Will pick up some hairspray tonight or tomorrow and do what needs to be done ;)

Scissors trimmed up her oh-so-attractive beard and the lama was transformed into something that vaguely resembles a horse.

Next up - tack.  That'll take an hour or two, but shouldn't be too complicated ;)   Shoveling out the trailer otoh...

hahaha well we'll make it there tomorrow.  Unfit, shaggy, sort-of broke...  But with a really great tail.  That's gotta count for something, right?  ;)

Wish us luck!

Ever had the kind of day where you trip over a sunbeam?

Okay -- so this winter Lexi pretty much had off...  Can't imagine why.  Regardless, the last couple weeks she's been slowly getting back into work.   She's a fun horse.  More challenging in unusual ways than I'd expected.  But the only thing I don't care for is that from the beginning though has always been behind the leg and rather lazy.  Not my usual type.  There's a whole lot of TB in her, but I've yet to see it.

Anyways -- decided after seeing a video (ugh, video...) of me playing around on her the other day that it's time to get her in front of my leg and going forward.  Fine.  Goal established.

Alright, well I don't know who told my horse about said goal.  But "you want forward, I'll give you forward."  She was super quiet grooming and tacking up -- normal at that time of day.  Head down to the arena -- she grew a little walking around.  Fair, given that I set up a course since the last time she was in there.  First sign I might be in trouble -- we had to discuss standing to mount.  This hasn't been an issue for a very long time.

Ummmm okay.  Start walking.  Very hollow, very high, very add.  But still in a walk.  And a short icky walk of varying numbers of beats.  Blah.  Okay up to trot.  Ummmmm trot traditionally has two beats...   Nope.  Cantering.   I don't know where she thought she was going to go in an indoor ring, but she was going to get there today.   Reasonably agreeable -- other than one massive buck (so glad she didn't repeat that; a second one would've tossed me) she would let me steer and was holding her line, but faster and faster...  Minor series of hoppy type bucks -- those were pretty funny although I was a little concerned they might lead to the real ones again.

Around and around...  Switch direction and do the same thing the other way.  Kid on a merry-go-round.  Faster than I remember merry-go-rounds being as a kid, but fairly amusing.  And conveniently she's still not very fit, so eventually she got tired and deigned to trot.  On the plus side, my concerns about her not having enough speed for xc are pretty much gone now ;)

Rest of the ride was amazing.  Forward.  Awesome, huge, floaty trot.  So much fun.   Did have a good laugh when she tripped over a sunbeam though.  Sadly, I'm not even kidding.  We'll put it down to not having seen sun in a while ;)   

I have no idea where this horse came from, but I'm really hoping she sticks around!

I was in the middle before I knew that I'd begun...

Crazy long day and slightly exhausted but not the least bit tired?   Are you new?  If so, consider yourself forewarned -- that's a wicked combination.  This morning seems a very long time ago.  And honestly, nothing interesting happened.

Let's see...

Well just left that on that phrase and spent an couple *hours* watching Lizzie Bennett.  Had a good laugh at her talking to "imaginary Charlotte".  I think I need "imaginary Jen" ;)   Hahaha - was totally addicted to this series and then my world blew up and it kind of got forgotten, but today it was remembered.  For anybody who needs a new fun time waster, you're welcome:

Wow -- looked at that one having just finished episode 100.  What a change.  So sad there are no more :(   Now what? ;)     Lots of good one liners -- that's probably why I was so addicted.   Was silly for the first ummm 85 or so and then quickly became remarkably darker.   Far more so than I remember the book being, but maybe just because it's updated to current times. Today's line was about close friends/family when something goes wrong:  "It's not about doing anything; it's just about being here."   Just struck me somehow as being very accurate.  And sometimes the hardest thing to do when you really want to help.  Or, for that matter, the thing you need most...  That's what Sasha's for :)

Said super puppy is sleeping at my feet while I type.  She does that a whole lot more since Bailey's been around.  Apparently puppy sitting is exhausting :)   Really want to get Sasha back in agility and give her something fun to do.  And me, tbh.  I need a new hobby till either the weather gets better or I get employed *g*  Really hard to plan anything though not knowing if/when I'll be working.  Puppy class I'd sign up for is Thurs afternoons, but as soon as I'm employed that won't be an option...

Sleepy Sasha

In the interim though -- trying to get all those things done that I wanted to do "when I had more time". hahaha -- or, more accurately, that I felt I *should* do when I had more time, since I tend to fit in the things I really want *g*   Things that should get done: paperwork, cleaning, editing, wading through boxes in the basement...  Things that are *actually* getting done: riding my horse, playing with my dog, catching up with friends, relaxing at C's (which effectively eliminates *everything* in the should category in one move), reading, going to the gym -- okay that last one is usually in the should category, but it's good stress relief and makes me feel better, so for now... ;)

AND I had my first swimming lesson ;)  hahaha yeah, random eh?   Partially inspired by hopes of future beach trips and partially by being somewhat appalled how incapable I currently am trying to make it from Point A to Point B effectively in the water.   It. Was. Brutal.   Seriously.   Half-hour lesson had me more physically exhausted than two hours in the gym would've.  Coach was good -- tough, but effective ;)   Only four people in the class, so lots of attention.  Two are really strong, one less so.  All very welcoming. Good environment.  But yeah, crashed pretty hard after.  No lessons this week for March Break, so we'll see next week. Avoiding the gym mostly too since it's all chaos.

Having lots of fun with Lexi.   Sadly she seems to have forgotten where her legs are in the few months off, but she's remembering quickly :)   Lunging today involved the barrels.  oohhhhh, awwwww....  hahaha but absolutely no drama whatsoever.  Those who remember the first effort will understand *g*  Fairly impressed about that.  And amazing form.  So once again, have hope for the future *g*   Would love to free jump her again, but setup not ideal for that.  Ah well.   Just have to wait till she's confident enough to play that game with a rider :)   Signed up for a clinic end of April -- so have to keep being productive now ;)  Looking forward to riding tomorrow.  It sounds like I might even have a babysitter, so that should make the barrels a complete non-issue.  Should.  Theoretically.

35 degrees and sunny

Subject line wasn't a daydream -- it actually happened!

35 degrees and sunny.   Sound like a dream?   Yeah, me too.  But a couple weeks ago it was reality.  No, I haven't lost it.  With the aid of travel miles and a suitcase, I found myself in Cuba.  In a heat wave.  You can hate me now >;-P

If it makes you feel any better, the day we left my alarm clock went off at 2:30.  Ummm that'd be am. Which means I hadn't technically fallen asleep yet.   Got to the airport, checked in, wandered around for a bit, and boarded the plane.  With a disproportionate number of very young children.  Argh.   Fortunately once we took off, they all settled.

Most amazing feeling to leave in record low winter temps and get off the plane, outside, to feel 35 degrees and sunny.  Amazing.  It suddenly doesn't matter that you'll be waiting in endless lines, because...  You're warm.  And really, this winter, what else matters?

Getting through security took quite a while, but wasn't any big deal.  My bag was literally the last one loaded onto the baggage carousel.  There's always that moment of panic of "did it make it"?   Or Chris, who just assumed I missed it and it'd be over with the other stacked ones ;-P   Such faith!  But it did make it, it was just last.  In this case though, it really didn't matter since the buses weren't leaving anybody behind.  Not like getting off the plane in Europe and fighting your way out for the first cab so you can get on your way.  Nope, here you're on island time.  Manoeuvred our way past the very helpful men offering to drive us there *g*, paused briefly at the one selling drinks, and found our bus.  It was surprisingly well organized and efficient.  Yes, I actually typed that sentence.  Sarcasm free.

The drive was about an hour and a half.  We had a tour guide who gave a run down about basic Cuban etiquette (summarized: tip everybody) and some traditional tourism info about the areas we were driving through.  Mostly though we were warm and happy.  That was what mattered.  A good section of the trip was over a causeway -- most of the tour sites say go *despite* it, but since I'm a huge fan of water, I actually really enjoyed it.

At the resort we were greeted with a welcome cocktail for checkin.  We were a little confused as it seemed as though we should collect our luggage, but eventually it was made clear it would be delivered to our rooms. Okay.  Then we hit another pause when they wanted to collect our passports "to be picked up in two hours".  Ummmm no.   A surprising number of passports were left there, but neither Chris nor I were that trusting.  We were told it was because they were required by law to photocopy them.  Okay - nbd.  We went to the front desk and let them photocopy them there.   We also wanted to upgrade to the "Diamond Club" so figured we'd do that at the same time.  Which would've been a fabulous plan except their credit card machine was down and we didn't have cash yet.  *sigh*  Oh well.  Almost time for the beach!

Head upstairs and the room was lovely.  Except...  It had two beds stuck together.  Which would've been perfect, had I still been travelling with Kerri.  Our bags arrived, but we chose not to unpack, deeming future us could deal with the whole issue.  Instead went in search of food.  Found it -- or Cuba's substitute anyways.  A large buffet, but meh quality food.  Not bad, in that it was all edible, but definitely not something you'd be proud to serve somebody.  After lunch with some running around we managed to get our room changed and our upgrade accomplished.  The staff member who came with us to help us relocate our bags to our new room was awesome.  Friendly, enthusiastic, and full of helpful advice.  Helped regenerate a good mood :)  Well that and, 35 degrees and sunny.

Boardwalk to the beach

And so the rest of the day was spent on the beach.  As were the next several ;)   OMG that beach.  I like the ocean.  I like beaches.  As a result, I've been to a lot of them.  This one just might've been the nicest one *ever*.  The only possible exception was hidden in the Whitsunday Islands, and, realistically, that's way out of budget to go back and compare ;)   Don't get me wrong, I loved the beach in Varadaro.  But this one was better.  Significantly.  To compound it's natural beauty, the staff did an phenomenal job of keeping it clean.  Both from tourist garbage and the ocean's natural decorations ;)  Oh, and did I mention the ice-cream guy who wandered around late morning every day?   Think of the one who used to roll through suburban neighbourhoods on a bike.  This was a push rather than a bike (ummm beach people!) but otherwise exactly the same.  Complete with a ringing bell.   Now being 35 deg and sunny, the ice cream melted at a ridiculous rate.  But was easy enough to stroll into the ocean to clean off ;)  Kinda the absolutely perfect finishing touch to the beach.

What more do you need?

Oh wait, if that wasn't enough, there were little catamarans on the beach that were going out for short sails every day -- these were included with the vacation so we went out twice.  Nice way to break up an oh-so-stressful day of beach and pool.  I know, life's rough.  Did I mention 35 deg and sunny?

Beach catamarans

Actually, in the interest of full disclosure, I should be honest.  It did rain twice: once, on our first morning, when we were in the meeting about all the excursions and "things you should know"; it was done by the time we were ready to go to the beach.  The second time was when we were on a bus on the north side of the country -- apparently that rain didn't make it to the resort.  hahaha but other than that, legit 35 deg and sunny the whole time we were there.  Significantly warmer than the last time I went.  Apparently they were having a heat wave.  I was pretty stoked about it.

So the beach was stunning.  Unbelievably so.  Unfortunately the rest of the resort we probably wouldn't return to.  Our beach was shared with one other resort that everybody we spoke to loved -- so that would probably be a smarter choice.  For instance, in our hotel room maid service was okay -- but often the floors weren't swept, the coffee was never refilled, and the mini-bar only sometimes.  We usually had hot water or cold water but not always at the same time and once had none at all.  Others we spoke with were having more dramatic issues though, so we just learned to be strategic about when we wanted to shower ;)   As to the food, we very quickly figured out that it was much better if you went to the grills rather than the buffets, so we did that for most meals.  We booked our a la carte meals with the diamond concierge -- I tell you, that upgrade was well worth it :) and were good to go.  Upgrade included better service in the meal areas, waiter service on the beach and super staff in both locations -- maybe all over the resort, but definitely seemed above and beyond in those areas.  We quickly came to have some favourite staff :)  Upgrade also included different types (presumably better quality) alcohol, but tbh, I wouldn't know the difference ;)

To be honest, I thought I'd be bored out of my little mind.  We spent a *lot* more time on the beach than any other resort-type vacation I've been on -- mostly because there really wasn't anything else to do.  But I was so exhausted and just done that it was actually amazing.

Sat and listened for a while; this guy was smiling and singing away.  So expressive.
PC - Chris

We did go on one excursion, to Trinidad.  That'd be Cuba's version, not the one you're thinking of >;-P  If it had been an hour's drive instead of a three-hour drive, it might've been okay.  Honestly though, I felt it was too long a trip for too little.  We met some interesting characters and yes there was definitely some interesting architecture, but it was a long, not-so-interesting day.  I think also the fact that I was so fascinated by Havana when Ker and I were there, made the comparison harder.

In Trinidad
PC - Chris

Ah well though, even though we were super late (island time) we made it back minutes before our dinner reservation.  We might not have been dressed appropriately, but they fed us anyways ;)  All good.

Note the island time...  All the clocks were like that.

Our last day was spent on a dolphin-free dolphin-patting expedition.  hahaha perhaps I should clarify.  This trip involves snorkling and visiting the dolphinarium to stand on a platform and have them swim around you.  The first part appealed, especially for Chris who'd never snorkeled before, but the second didn't appeal to either of us.  Conveniently though, once a week they run a trip for those with "moral objections" that does snorkling at two different sites instead of the dolphin visit.  Tbh, I wasn't entirely convinced two snorkel options would be worth the cost of the trip, but C seemed excited about it and, well, I'm generally pretty happy to spend a day out on a boat :)  Sobeit.

Turns out Chris' pocket-camera works reasonably well under water :)
PC - Chris

Soooo glad we did.  Possibly the best day of the trip :)  The snorkeling was, comparatively, meh.  Kinda on par with the food comparison realistically.   But while I've never been a food connoisseur, I learned to dive in the Great Barrier Reef -- so my expectations might be a little warped ;)   Chris, however, is both a strong swimmer (I swim at least as well as I play rugby), and new to the sport -- so watching him take in the experience was all kinds of fun.   The first site was a small reef that was unfortunately all-but-destroyed.  It was quite shallow, and hundreds of beginner snorkelers had long since crushed and squished just about everything.  The second one though was 3-4m deep -- far enough that with nobody having any dive gear it was reasonably undisturbed.  Crystal clear water AND it was a wreck.  Which, I've never done any wreck diving so I was pretty fascinated by it.  It was awesome. In the most literal sense of the word.

Chris investigating the wreck

Back on the boat -- mini, out of order story here...  When we first got on everybody was finding places to sit on the benches etc -- benches were all covered under a tarp and surrounded the bar.  I was slightly ahead of Chris (single file entrance) and asked if he had a preference.   Nope, me neither.   Then at about the same second we both noticed the nets at the front of the boat.  Nets with people lounging on them.  Wait!  I have a preference!  hahaha fortunately for both that preference was the same.  The nets were, admittedly, less than comfortable, but being out in the sun, lying down on a giant catamaran...   That can't be beat.  And they were significantly *more* comfortable after the first swim when we kept our towels out to lie on.  Live and learn ;)

Amazing day on the catamaran!

So this wonderful creation sails us to a *stunning* seemingly deserted beach with one of the biggest sandbars I've ever seen.  We went for a walk along the sandbar, played with the camera, made some sand art, and just generally enjoyed life until the boat threatened to sail away without us.  We weren't the last back on board!  We *might've* been second-last ;-P

We started by just photographing other people's sand art - I mean really, one person's
"Cuba 2014" is the same as another's, right?   And vacation *is* all about laziness.
But then Chris drew this one, entirely to humour me I'm sure :)  And it worked.

Last stop was lunch, although it was well after lunch.  This is the only part of the day I was disappointed in. First, I was expecting a beach picnic or bbq or some variation.  But no, they took those who object to the dolphinarium, to the dolphinarium for lunch.  Ummmm poor planning guys.  And then lunch was, imo, the worst meal of the trip.  I think Chris enjoyed his more than I did, but I basically ate crackers and pineapple.  Random combination, I know, but you make due with what's there.

Then it was just the sail back.  The rest of the day we'd been motoring rather than sailing, but on the way home they raised a sail and killed the engine for a while.  Admittedly drifting rather than sailing, but it was an absolutely perfect end to the day.  And the trip.

I think I had that goofy grin on my face the whole trip!

Coming home was long line after long line after long line.  Getting out of the country is more tedious than getting in.  BUT, do-it-yourself customs when we got home was fabulous.  Unbelievably fast.  One of the few good things about returning home :)   We also have a new appreciation for 5-star washrooms (ummm to clarify what claims an island five stars: a door, a seat, tp, a toilet that flushes, and paper towel to dry your hands), and clocks that tell time.

So yes, it was amazing.  Especially in this winter from hell.  And I can't wait for the next trip!

Till next time...