Sunday, March 31, 2013 - Positively the Last Ride with Brother this Season

For the third time, my brother and I went for his "last ride of the season." This time it was a lovely day! Temps just right, just a light breeze, really enjoyable. This time we headed out back, crossing the canal into the Hungryland WMA which is just behind his house. Basically just a long straight grade, leading to a pavilion next to one of the most spectacular cypress trees you'd even want to see. If even looks like it was part of a building one, with concrete walls running through it. Anyway, Apollo was brilliant, not a moment's hesitation running down and up the steep grade on the canal bank. Almost no water at this point now, for some reason, barely a trickle here, though just up the canal it seems deeper than usual. Anyway, we had a nice ride, which was the point, and everyone (including the horses, of course!) had a good time.  We even saw a deer, which Jeff says he has never seen near his place, not in fifteen years!  So it was a special day all around.

Saturday, March 30, 2013 - File Taxes, Some Shopping, Some Departure Prep

After it's final review, I was able e-file my tax return (why do they make this so complicated??), ran some errands, and started getting ready for our departure next week. Nights have still been chilly, but it's starting to warm up nicely. Monday would be the perfect day to travel, but because my brother and niece are coming in, we'll be staying longer than we had planned, and, naturally, the weather is going to heat up fast now. Just hope it's not too bad by the time we leave!

Friday, March 29, 2013 - Tax Day

Finally got a few hours of uninterrupted time to get my taxes done, YEAH! One last review tomorrow morning, e-file, and away we go!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 - Change of Plans, Again

Today we learned that my brother Glenn was coming to town next week for a funeral, and bringing his daughter with him. Since we seldom see each other, and the weather is still decidedly cold here in South Florida (and naturally worse farther north), we decided to delay our departure once again, this time until next week, at least until Wednesday, as my brother's arrival is next Tuesday. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to do my taxes! Did some shopping today, solved a few more storage and picture hanging problems, but otherwise uneventful.

Sunday, March 24, 2013 - Ride Day with Brother around Neighborhood

After days of near freezing cold nights, the weather warmed up to nearly 90 degrees today, with a rather strong breeze from the south that made it barely tolerable. Took a ride with Brother Jeff around the neighborhood for a while today. Decided to cross Indiantown Rd. and ride along the canal, but for some reason, maybe the wind, the horses were really spooky and reluctant. After about three-quarters of a mile, we decided it wasn't worth fighting them, and turned around. The rest of the ride around the neighborhood was fine, they settled down nicely. Based on my conversation with my farrier/saddle fitter, I set Apollo's saddle a lot farther back than usual, which made it almost uncomfortable for me as I was so close to the horn, but he never rodeo-ed on my at all today, so maybe that's been the problem all along! It was a really hot day, so we didn't stay out too long, but this may be the last ride with Jeff, and we enjoyed it. Still looking forward to getting out of here this week!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - Cold Front Delays our Departure

A check of the weather is showing some pretty cold weather coming in, so we decided to postpone our Thursday departure for a few days. Managed to get the farrier out here today, a lucky break that he was in the area, and got the horses a nice trim. He's also been studying saddle fitting, and commented on some spots on my horse's back that he thought might be due to a poorly fitting saddle. We chatted for awhile, which was helpful, and gave me some ideas as to how I can improve the saddle fit. It's even possible Apollo's rodeo-ing might have to do with an improper saddle fit. Who'd have thunk? I've been using the same saddle for years and never thought we had a fit problem. Worth checking out though, always welcome advice (whether I take it or not : -).

Monday, March 18, 2013 - Delivered the Marathon and Enjoyed Hubby's B-day

Got up bright and early, having hooked up the Marathon last night, grabbed some breakfast and headed down to Lantana, the new home of the Marathon. We met the buyers at the bank, got our payment, then hauled the old gal to her new home a few blocks away. What's amazing is that she'll be parked less than a mile away from where I lived when I first met my husband over 27 years ago! The first place we lived together, on the intra-coastal just a few blocks away. Incredible! We spent several hours getting her set up, explaining everything, walking them through the basics, as they have never had an RV before. We finally said our goodbyes, then Hubby and I set out in search of an Indian Restaurant to celebrate his birthday. We found a fabulous place next to the nearly empty Palm Beach Mall called Indus, and enjoyed a thoroughly wonderful meal. Headed home, anxious to start making plans for our departure, now that we have accomplished our main goal here, changing out the RV. We have high hopes of getting out of here soon! It's been great being here, but we've been in one place just too darn long!

Sunday, March 17, 2013 - Made a Deal on the Marathon

Finally had a true prospect come out and see the RV, yeah! They scrutinized it from top to bottom, and in the end we made a deal. It seems their plans are just to put it in the driveway of the house their kids rent from them, so they can have a place to stay when they visit, while they get a smaller camper to tour around the country with. Sounds like the perfect semi-retirement for the old girl! She's been a great and useful vehicle for us, and I'm going to miss her a lot, but now we can start to make serious plans for the rest of the spring! Yeah!

Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2013 - A Day Later...

Finally got an email from the prospective buyer, or rather a text that said he was on his way. He finally arrived in the afternoon, and he and his very young bride took a fairly brief look through the RV. Not the kind of look a true perspective buyer would give it, so I concluded they weren't really serious. He informed me he still hadn't confirmed any of his plans, and he wouldn't know anything for sure until the end of the week. Not what I wanted to hear, but at least I could get busy and really start to market it again, something I had backed off on waiting for this guy to arrive. Dropped the price again, and reposted on craigslist, waiting for the usual onslaught of scammers to toy with, hoping for at least one serious inquiry.

Monday, Mar. 11, 2013 - No Show on the Marathon

Had a doctor's appointment in the morning, rushed through it to get back to home in time to mee our prospective buyer. He had been out of the country for some time, and was coming back with his new young Filipino bride, and hoping to get some work camp-hosting in Ocala. Unfortunately, he never showed. Starting to think maybe it was just a clever scammer getting back at me for all the scammers I've jerked around over the years (my little hobby : -). Lowered the price on the RV, looking for a quicker sale, we'll see!

Sunday, Mar. 10, 2013 - Ride Day with Brother at Dupuis

Finally had a chance to take my brother out to our favorite riding spot in the area, Dupuis WMA near Indiantown. The trailer ride is just 30 minutes, but the trails here go for miles, lots of wonderful and interesting loops (for Florida). Were out for more than 3 hours, a very enjoyable ride that the horses loved, too. Several nice canters, though Apollo is still tending to rodeo on me every once in a while. Not sure what that's all about, maybe he's just bored. We're really looking forward to getting out of here, but we still have to sell the RV. Have a potential buyer coming in tomorrow to look at it!

Tuesday, Mar. 5, 2013 - Travel Day to Jupiter via Charlotte

Another long day of travel, this time we couldn't get a non-stop, so we first went to Charlotte before heading back to West Palm Beach. Nice airport in Charlotte, which is giving me some ideas for future flights from the east coast we have to do soon. Arrived back by 9:30 pm, a short drive home, a few hours to unwind before bed.

Monday, Mar. 4, 2013 - Private Group Coaching

Sunday, Mar. 3, 2013 - Hoover Dam Day

Because our client extended our stay for an extra day of work on Monday, Hubby and I decided to take a drive out to Hoover Dam. It's been decades since the last time we were here, and there was so much road construction at the time, we had no place to stop and look around. Now they have a new bridge where the main road goes which opened up last year, and a much larger observation area. We took a nice, sporty drive, planning on doing the best tour we could. Unfortunately, we discovered that because of his imbedded defibrillator, we couldn't take the two best tours because of the magnets and electricity proximity, so we ended up just wandering around the visitor center, the grounds, and of course, across the dam. Really a miraculous structure, and particularly amazing for the fact that it's probably the last government project (maybe the only one in history!) that was finished significantly ahead of schedule, and under budget! Afterwards, we took a drive into Boulder City and found a nice little ice cream parlor, where we sat next to the pink-spotted cows and enjoyed a cone before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday, Mar. 2, 2013 - Day Two of Private Training Camp

Friday, Mar 1, 2013 - Day One of Private Training Camp