Monday, November 15, 2010 - Workshop Day

Spent the day facilitating Day One of our Training Camp.

Sunday, November 14, 2010 - Runaround and Moving Day

Sunday, November 14, 2010 - Runaround and Moving Day
Didn't sleep very well despite the nice bed, primarily because we kept hearing noises all night, sounded like bumper cars to me. Hubby finally figured out it was the elevator across the hall, and it was busy most of the night. Worse, he woke up feeling very ill (it always happens after going to a store where there are coughing kids), so he stayed at the hotel while I ran around getting things we needed for the workshops and some cold remedies for him, as well as groceries, as we managed to get a small refrigerator brought to the room. Got back after several hours, repacked and moved to another room, though when I checked it out, I discovered it, too, was directly across from the elevator, so I insisted we be moved again. They finally found us a room on a higher floor (always a good thing) and away from the elevator. This room, too, had a jacuzzi, and the furniture wasn't quite as worn as the previous room, though it wasn't a suite. Bed wasn't as big, but was comfortable. Once we got everything ready for the workshop tomorrow, I decided to partake of the jacuzzi to help me recover from all the activity which had made me ache. Hubby spent the day in bed taking cold remedies, and was slowly feeling better. Went to bed early, knowing we had to get up early as well.

Saturday, November 13, 2010 - Travel Day

Dropped off the van at the GMC dealer so that they can get some work done while we're going, but they didn't have anyone who could take us to the airport, so we had to call a cab. Flew through DFW to Orlando, where we will be until a week from Monday, with three jobs to do while we're there. Arrived at the hotel, the Royal Plaza in Disney World, where we discovered an error had been made in the reservation, and they weren't expecting us until tomorrow. Worse, they were fully booked up. After a long time, they finally managed to put us in a suite which had a very comfortable, HUGE king bed, but the furniture in the sitting room looked original from the 70's, with most of the padding worn out so that you could feel the metal framework underneath. The bathroom was huge as well, with a jacuzzi tub, but too tired to use it tonight. Got to bed late, with plans to sleep late as well.

Friday, November 12, 2010 - Laundry and Packing

Spent the day doing laundry and packing for our trip. This one's going to be a bit longer than usual, so packing efficiently was a must! Showed Diane all the ropes for feeding the dogs, who will have the rare privilege of being able to stay in their own beds (or rather, our bed) while we're gone, she's just going to let them out and feed them regularly. Going to miss them, but we've got to keep everyone fed, including us!

Thursday, November 11, 2010 - Travel Day to Albuquerque

Wished we had found Red Canyon sooner, but c'est la vie! Today we headed up to the city to get the animals and vehicles settled in at their new digs. We had a relatively leisurely trip, arriving just as 4:00 as agreed. Our host Diane was there to meet us, and it didn't take long to get everything and everyone where they were supposed to be. It was cooler than we expected in the evening, so we arranged to plug into electricity so we could keep the little space heaters on rather than run the furnace and burn propane the whole time. Otherwise an uneventful day.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - Ride Day at Red Canyon in the Snow!

After a very cold night, woke up wondering which was crazier, driving all this way and not taking a ride, or taking a ride when it was freezing outside. There was, in fact, some snow on the ground in the campground when we arrived, but the temps weren't too bad, in the forties and fifties, but there was a very cold wind coming from the west, which, fortunately, we were somewhat sheltered from, being on the east side of the mountain range. After getting outside and realizing it wasn't too bad, or at least, wouldn't be too bad if we dressed properly, we saddled and booted the horses and left the camp about noon, heading out the Red Canyon Trail, which was the beginning of a loop of about 7.2 miles. The first part of the trail was the most difficult, which was fine because the horses were fresh, and apparently quite happy to go for a ride. After the initial easy bit, we headed into rockier terrain, criss-crossing a creek up fairly steep terrain, but like mountain goats, our horses sailed up them with no problem. We were confronted once by a downed tree across the trail, and I wasn't sure we could get past it, because the cliff dropped away down toward the creek, and the upside seemed to have unsure footing, so I got down and walked it to see how safe it was. My trusty gelding followed right along, climbing up like it was nothing, and Hubby and his mare followed right along. I felt a little silly for not trusting him to take me on his back, but I quickly climbed back up and we proceeded onward. The trail was difficult in some places at first, but once we got past about a quarter mile of rough stuff, it became simply moderate for quite some time. The horses took quite a few breathers as we got closer to the top, understandable considering they climbed about 1100 feet in 2.5 miles. When we reached the intersection at the top, there was a clearing with some grass, so we let them graze for a bit, cognizant that we couldn't waste much time, what with the time change back to standard time this past weekend, and it getting dark here by about 5:00. We certainly didn't want to be late getting back. There were spectacular views, though, on both sides of the mountain range we had just climbed, we could even see Albuquerque in the distance! After the horses had a few minutes rest, which they needed, as evidenced by the goodly amount of sweat they had accumulated, we headed north on the Crest Trail. I had made the assumption that the Crest Trail would stay fairly level and that the returning trail would be all downhill, but I was wrong. The Crest Trail actually descended for 1.2 miles on this particular stretch (the entire trail is upwards of 18 miles), then the rest of the loop was mostly level and gradually downhill, skirting the mid-section of the mountain all the way around. Apollo sensed we were heading home, and his pace picked up a bit as well, and we made the last 3.5 miles in just an hour and fifteen minutes, pretty good considering the trail was still mosting rock and didn't lend itself to trotting, much less cantering. It did get considerably colder on the north side of the mountain, and the snow was a bit deeper, possibly 2 inches or so, which added to the challenge. It was harder to actually see the rocks on the trail, and it made it much more slippery, which made us once again grateful we were using Easy Boots rather than horseshoes, which would have slipped even worse on the rocks. Having dressed in parkas and double socks, we managed to get back without being completely frozen, and in fact, really enjoyed ourselves. We made such good time that we actually made it back by 3:15, even though I had predicted closer to four. We had the horses settled in and fed by four, and relaxed the rest of the evening, happy that we had made the decision to come here, wishing we had done it sooner. We hadn't wanted to ride in snow, but were glad that we had experienced it. The rest of the winter, however, we hope to try to stay in 70 degree weather!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - Travel Day to Red Canyon

Packed up and moved out of this spooky place, heading straight north to the Cibola NF, or at least a portion of it. I had discovered a horse camp that was only about an hour from Albuquerque, and couldn't understand why I hadn't found it before, except that I thought I remembered calling and either they didn't call back or they told me they didn't have a horse camp, I can't remember which. In any event, it was ideally located, but the only drawback was there wasn't any water there, so we stopped at the Ranger Station in Mountainair to pick up maps, and while we were there we filled out RV water tank as well as the 55 gallon drum for the horses, knowing that would be more than enough for two nights. The temperatures dropped a bit as we headed north, and the folks at the Ranger Station mentioned that they had had a "dusting" of snow up at the Red Canyon campground, so we were prepared for a cooler experience than where we had left. We arrived at the well-marked horse camp, which was only slated for RV's 22 feet in length on their website, but found a pull-through that was more than adequate for both our units, so I don't know where these numbers come from! Put the horses in each of their own 10X10 corral, realized there was no chance of a satellite signal, which didn't really matter as we had so much on DVR anyway, and were fully settled in by 4:00. The only unfortunate thing was that one of our dogs got into something that upset her stomach, and she wasn't up to eating dinner, which for her is unheard of. We were worried about her, but could only leave her to her own devices, namely eating grass and throwing up when it suited her. Went to bed concerned, but looking forward to a ride tomorrow.