Monday, April 30, 2012 - Another Ride at Cary State Forest

Set the alarm to get up early, since the forecast is calling for record highs (what else is new? It’s seems like it’s always a record something whereever we are!), so we decided to ride early before it got too hot. Had another great ride here at Cary, truly an underrated horse camp, though there are a lot of dayriders that come. I saw two large trailers yesterday, though we had the place to ourselves again today. The horses have been great, we cantered them a lot again today, and they’re starting to realize that things have changed, but I think they’re just glad to have us around again. They can see us from their highline, and I think they like it like that (I know we do!). Spent the afternoon doing paperwork and working on logistics, still have made any decisions about where we’re going next, except that it looks like Florida Caverns near Marianna, FL, which will be a good jumpoff point to get home to TN via Alabama, which, despite it’s proximity to home, we’ve never actually ridden in yet. Had a relaxing evening, though the one drawback to this place is that it’s near to the railroad (a constant problem in most parts of Florida), so I’ve been having to use earplugs here, like in so many places. Looking forward to when we can get into a place so remote and quiet I’ll be able to sleep without them! Shouldn’t be too long now!

Sunday, April 29, 2012 - Catch up on Blog and Rest Day

Too hot to ride today, so we took the day off (more or less), and I finally got caught up on this blog (sorry for the delay, but we have been a bit preoccupied lately...). I promise to do better in the future.

Saturday, April 28, 2012 - Another Ride at Cary State Forest

Headed out for a longer ride after breakfast today, taking some trails we’d never actually done before, and looping around in new configurations, which is really easy to do here, with so many combinations of trails and fire road (which are mostly grass and sand). We were out less than two hours, mostly because it got really hot earlier than we had hoped, and got out later than we had hoped, but we still did a lot more cantering than usual. Our average miles per hour has increased more than 2 miles per hour from our usual previous rides, so we’re happy about that. By the fifth or sixth canter, though, the horses were showing their tiredness, so we cut it short and headed back to the RV, where we settled in again, doing more to update the blog and other computer work. Enjoyed a movie, then off to bed. Fortunately, it’s still cooling off enough at night to have good sleeping weather, but that’s likely to change soon. Looking forward to heading north, though we still have no idea which we way we’re headed yet :-)!



Odd flower on the trail

Friday, April 27, 2012 - Shopping Day

Slept late, though woke up early and tossed and turned for a few hours. Did some shopping, and got back too late and tired to go riding. Did some computer work the rest of the afternoon, relaxed for the evening.

Thursday, April 26, 2012 - Ride Day at Cary State Forest

Couldn’t wait to get back on horseback today, so we saddled up and headed out for a short ride before it got too hot. Once the horses were warmed up, we started jogging, then cantering like crazy! They were so glad to stretch their legs, and we were so glad to be running, it was fabulous! We cantered for a longer time than I think we ever have, and we repeated it more times than ever in a short, hour ride. What a blast! Hubby is so comfortable with it now, and his seat is really improving. It’s true what Winston Churchill and Ronal Reagan both said, "No hour on the back of a horse is ever wasted." Can’t wait to keep this going! Spent the rest of the day doing computer work, including starting to get caught up on this blog (which I’m embarrassed to say, was almost a month behind!)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - Ride on Amelia Island Beach, Move to Cary

 Got up a little later than we planned, but still had plenty of time to trailer the horses over the Amelia Island for a ride on the beach. It was a perfect day! The tide was out so the beach was nice and wide, it wasn’t crowded, there was no trash on the beach at all (a huge improvement over the Costa Rican Caribbean beach, which was full of driftwood and trash), and the waves, for the first time ever when we’ve been on the beach, were tiny. The wind had been out of the west for days, and it had really laid the ocean flat, so it was a perfect day to reacquaint the horses with a beach. Usually they’re terrified of the whitecaps, but today they did just fine! We even got several fabulous canters in. This was the first time Hubby had been on Clio since we got back from CR, and he was really encouraging her to do more, and she responded beautifully. I got they impression they’ve been just as bored with walking all the time as I had, so it was a fabulous time for all of us. We spent about an hour, just a short ride to get reacquainted and to start to get them back into shape after the long layoff, and it was grand! Got back to Cheers, packed up what little stuff we had unpacked, and headed down the road. Now, we had planned on going to the West Fire Tower area in the Osceola National Forest, which would have taken about two hours to get to, but at the last minute, we decided instead to go to Cary State Forest, which is just on the west side of Jax. Since we were going to work with our Jax client next week anyway, it didn’t make much sense to waste the fuel getting there, and we’ve been the Cary a few times before and enjoyed it, plus all the straightaways here will be perfect for working on the horses’ canters, which has become our next training goal, and finally, we were going to pass right by it anyway, so we just decided to stop there. The place was empty, we had it all to ourselves, and we arrived before 4:00, so we got settled in quickly, got the horses highlined (which they seem to like better than a stall, Apollo looked almost depressed when I left him at Cheers), got the satellite dish up and running, and settled in for a week of riding, rest and catching up!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Easy Day

Little Mini cast a BIG shadow!

Slept late this morning, had an easy load out this morning, got back to the stable, everyone happy to see us. Unpacked and mostly lazed around (albeit alway on my computer doing SOMEthing). Enjoyed watching the animals graze around the property, and a mother hen teaching her four baby chicks how to scratch around for food. A nice relaxing day, as we came down hard from all the tensions of the last week or so. Love this pic at the end of the day, that’s a mini horse, but it still casts a big shadow!

Monday, April 23, 2012 - Work Day

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the skyline of Jax. Spent the day with our client doing personal coaching. Change of plans, second day of work to be postponed until new staffer is hired, could be next week, likely later. A decision was made to have us back to help with speech preparation with our client next week, so we’re going to stick around the area until then, recharging our batteries and taking a break from all the excitement and physical labor we’ve been experiencing lately, and to get caught up on a lot of paperwork that’s been pushed to the back burner for months now. Had a pleasant evening in the hotel (though I have to say, this Hyatt has a LOT of customer service problems...), before retiring at a reasonable hour.

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - Discharge and Travel to Jax

Jax Skyline

Cheers Horse Ranch

Got up before dawn in order to be at the hospital early to press the issue of Hubby’s release. He hadn’t even had breakfast yet when I got there at 7:15! Sat around awhile waiting for doctor’s to visit and comment, last one to give discharge approval finally showed up around 9:30. From there our very efficient nurse Craig whipped through the discharge papers while Hubby showered, and we were out of there by just after 10:00. I had done as much packing and departure prep as I could, and it wasn’t long before the horses were loaded and we were on our way! Arrived at our next stable, the Cheers Horse Ranch near Yulee. We chose this spot because it’s the closest one we could find to Amelia Island, one of (if not THE) only beach in Florida where horses are permitted. We hope to have time to go riding on the beach before heading out to wherever (we haven’t decided where yet!) It was a very busy place, with a birthday party going on, and lots of activities, and all the horses there seemed happy and mostly healthy, though there were a couple of skinny rescues Debbie (the owner) had just acquired. It didn’t take long to get set up, and soon we were overlooking the round pen with a mini trotting around it. Horses were put up in nice box stalls in the barn, and Billy was allowed to roam around, but we kept Marina on a leash at all times, as there were lots of cats around, and apparently Marina plays too rough with cats, a sad lesson we learned at my brother’s house. In any event, we packed up and headed into the Jax Hyatt where I client had booked us a room, once again leaving our critters and stuff behind in someone elses’ care. Can’t wait till we’re back on a normal schedule, all this darn work keeps interfering with our riding time! : -). But at least we’re able to stash away some extra money for the inevitable dry times...

Saturday, April 21, 2012 - Hospital

Morning view of Goat in Tree

Good news, the swelling has gone down enough to take surgery off the table, but not enough to be discharged from the hospital, so we spent the day together until I had to leave to get home in time to take care of the animals. Sorry we had to miss our second day of observing at the Dolphin, but staying health ALWAYS takes priority! It looks like he’ll be discharged tomorrow morning, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. One of us HAS to be in Jax tomorrow night for work days Monday and Tuesday, and I’d hate to have to go alone!

Friday, April 20, 2012 - ER and Admittance to Hospital

Woke up to Hubby having swelling in his finger spreading to his hand and heading down to the wrist. Dressed for work, but headed straight for the nearest hospital, Florida Hospital at Celebration, where we were admitted into ER in very short order. After a battery of tests (though I could have told them what he really needed was a round of antibiotics), they finally started him on an IV of (you guessed it) antibiotics, several hours into it. After much alarmist discussion about possible surgery on his arm (!!), they transferred him via ambulance (really??) to their hospital downtown to be looked at by their orthopedists. More tests, more doctors, more antibiotics, and they finally decided to wait until the next day before deciding anything. I headed back to the hotel to check out while they were transporting him, then spent the day by his side unti about 7:00 when I left to feed the animals and get back before dark. Not the way we were planning on spending the day! Swelling in his finger had gone down a bit by the time I left, though, so we’re hopeful we dodged the bullet of surgery and more serious complications, which apparently was a distinct possibility, had the bacterial infection spread further.

Thursday, April 19, 2012 - Observer Day at the Dolphin

Dolphin Lobby

Quickly packed in the morning, dressed in our business clothes, and headed out to the Dolphin Hotel at Disney for our day of observations. Joined out friends/hosts for lunch, then spent the afternoon observing a panel, to whom we offered a few tidbits of advice before heading up to our room to change for dinner. Hubby’s finger, the one that the dog had nipped the day before, suddenly began to swell up unexpectedly, getting red and hot and twice the normal size. We continued our evening, enjoying a very nice dinner at the catered dinner, including a wonderful presentation by a young woman touting the virtues of community college, before heading back to the room. By then, Hubby was having severe chills, and the swelling in his finger had increased even worse. He took a painkiller before going to bed, but it was so swollen, it hurt to the touch, and I was getting pretty worried. Decided to see what happened by morning before deciding what to do next.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - Move to Orlando

Jade Meadows backyard

Finished packing in the morning, then headed out via the back route to Orlando, fighting with my Verizon Navigator all the way, as she kept trying to get me back to I-95 as if there was no Beeline Highway or 441. Very frustrating. Arrived at Jade Meadows Stables in Kissimmee, had quite a bit of trouble getting into the place, with very low hanging branches from their beautiful live oaks, but it did make it difficult. No one warned us about the stable dog Benny, who evidently doesn’t like strangers much, and while I noticed his curled lip, Hubby got distracted at the same moment he was reaching down to pet the dog, who promptly nipped his fingers, breaking the skin a bit on his fingers. Nothing serious, apparently, so we continued setting up the RV and getting the horses settled. Satellite dish was so hopeless we didn’t even try, and we managed to get settled in for a relaxing evening, the horses safely stored away in the round pen next to us.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - And More Cleaning and Work

More time on the computer, more time doing spring cleaning, but mostly spent the day getting ready to leave tomorrow. After three months here (at least, our STUFF was here), it’s time to move on. We had originally planned to stay until the end of the month and to commute to two jobs in central Florida, but the second job moved up to Jacksonville, so it didn’t make sense to commute that far, so we decided to leave now. Finalized the logistics of a stable so that we could spend the night with our hosts in Orlando at the Dolphin Hotel in Disney on Thursday. Packed everything we could in preparation for our move tomorrow.

Monday, April 16, 2012 - More Cleaning

Today I tackled the drawers in the van, which is laid out like a walk-in closet with hanging clothes and drawers. Hubby and I gathered everything that didn’t fit any more (because of our weight loss since last year, over 35 pounds each!), including some really nice suits of his that were hardly worn, and drove them down to the North Shore Animal League Thrift Store in Jupiter to donate them to their no-kill animal shelter. We also donated the rest of our floor panels (they came in boxes of 6, one box we only used one, naturally), and some other items we got tired of carrying around with us and weren’t likely to ever use again. Long hot day, but well worth it by the time we got done, lots more room and access to the "extra" closet now!

Sunday, April 15, 2012 - Last Ride Day with Brother

Brother discovers "You Are Here" on Hungryland kiosk

Took most of the day to work on logistics for the week, until my brother was finally ready to go for his last ride (we left at 3:00!), this time heading out the old Indiantown grade (after crossing the canal) to the west toward Pratt Whitney road. Mostly walking again... Sigh... After reaching the road, we turned around and headed back, passing a couple walking their little dog on the trail. About halfway back, the horses started to go crazy, snorting and stomping. We assumed it was pigs, being that it was so late in the day and they would likely be coming out then. Then I suddenly noticed an animal about 100 feet ahead of us. At first I thought it was a dog, as it was about the size of Marina, our lab mix (70 pounds), and it, too, was a gold color. Then it started to move across the road, and it moved like a cat. I quickly pointed it out to my brother, and he got a good look, too, before it went into the woods on the other side of the road. We both agreed it had to be a Florida panther, a highly endangered animal that only has an estimated 100-160 members, though according to a map I saw on Wikipedia as to their range, not as far east as we saw this one. We rode back to the couple with the dog to let them know they might want to keep an eye on their dog so it didn’t become cat food, then headed back again, still fighting with the horses, who were not happy we were going back toward where the cat was! We finally passed the area and they eventually settled down. Later we saw some cyclists and warned them about the cat, too, and we had a discussion about a sighting that they had had some time ago, but when they called it in, the "authorities" tried to convince them it had to be a bobcat, not a panther (we all knew the difference) but they couldn’t be persuaded. I decided not to report it, as I believe the animals are better off without our intervention most of the time anyway. It was pretty cool though! Got back late (not surprising considering when we started), got the horses settled in, chatted with my brother for a bit over a beer, then settled in for dinner and a quiet evening.

Saturday, April 14, 2012 - Tax Completion and Chore Day

Spent the morning finishing up and double checking everything on my taxes, then filed it electronically, first time I’ve done that (there was always something that stopped me before, some particular that needed to be done by printing it, but not this time!) Spent the rest of the day on chores and more spring cleaning. This WILL GET DONE before we leave!

Friday, April 13, 2012 - Tax Prep Day

Slept fairly late, but couldn’t get it off my mind that today was Tax Day, so before long I was up and gathering all the stuff I needed to complete the task. In previous years, I just printed up a report with all the expenses and income and filled in the blanks with Turbo Tax, but last year I finally upgraded my antique bookkeeping program (it wasn’t even Y2K ready, would you believe!) with Quicken, so I had high hopes that it would be easier. Turned out it did a pretty good job, I just had to make some corrections to input that I had entered (particularly from the beginning of the year when I was first getting used to the program), and before long I was importing the info to Turbo Tax. One thing I have to say about Quicken that I love, it downloads most of my accounts directly so I don’t have to input everything by hand, which used to take me HOURS AND HOURS with my previous program. Now I just review and correct anything, and that takes almost no time at all. It only took all day because I was being extra cautious about being as accurate as before when I did it by hand, which ended up taking more time to double and triple check. Happy with the outcome though!

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - Work Day and Flight Back

Early morning, as we had scheduled another individual coaching session with a client, worked until almost 3:00, then headed out to the airport for our flight home. No first class this time, but we weren’t too far back from the front, which helps. We were out and headed back home again in no time, arriving in the dark again. Again greeted the kids who were jumping for joy, with promises that this will be the last time they’ll be left for a while (well, as much as possible, but we’ve been so busy with work these days!) Really cutting into our riding time : -) Too tired to even bring the bags in, a quick show then off to bed.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - Work Day

Day Two of our workshop, not so much time on our feet, Hubby doing most of the work today. Good group, all seemed to be happy with the outcome. Had dinner with our friend Steve (who lives and works at Andrews AFB), who drove over and joined us at the hotel. A pleasant evening as always, broke up around 9:00, off to bed!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - Work Day

Day One of our workshop, eight hours on my feet talking, late dinner, crash.

Monday, April 9, 2012 - Rest Day in DC

Had a room service breakfast and lazed in for most of the day, went down to check out the room late in the day to make sure everything was ready. A nice room to work in, got everything set up and on the tables as needed. Called for a Thai delivery for dinner, very nice! Despite all this down time, it seems like we’re still on the edge of recovering from all our recent adventures and activities, just barely enough to have a fantastic Workshop tomorrow!

Sunday, April 8, 2012 - Fly to DC

Had an early morning flight out of W. Palm Beach, so we were up long before the crack of dawn, and arrived in plenty of time. We had decided to upgrade to First Class, so we were expecting breakfast on the plane, but apparently all USAir gives you is a choice of "snacks" which included mostly chips and nuts, not exactly what I consider breakfast food. We decided to have breakfast at the airport Burger King just so we would starve or be forced to eat even junkier food than bacon and egg croissants. An uneventful flight, disappointed in the breakfast snacks as expected, and couldn’t even get a mimosa like I was hoping! I can justify champagne with a mimosa for breakfast, but not chardonnay... Ended up with straight grapefruit juice. Arrived at the hotel by 11:00 am, but they managed to find a room ready for us, a high floor with a great view of the city, and especially the Air Force Memorial at the Pentagon, gorgeous if you’ve never seen it! Relaxed the rest of the day, just did more computer work and workshop preparation.

Saturday, April 7, 2012 - Ride Day with Brother

Spent part of the day packing, but managed to squeeze in a ride with my brother. We’ve all been so busy, we haven’t had much time to go riding, and since we’re leaving tomorrow for a job in DC, today was our only chance. We took a relatively short ride along the back of the canal, along the old Indiantown Road over to Cypress Creek WMA. He’s never been through back there before, so he enjoyed it thoroughly. I was a bit frustrated, as I really wanted to do more trotting and cantering, especially after all I had done in CR, but he was satisfied to mostly walk and sight-see, so I had to be satisfied I was at least back on my horse. One thing I know for sure, I’m going to expect a lot more from Apollo once Hubby and I start riding together again! Got back late in the afternoon (well, we started late : -), finished packing, then called it a night. Early start tomorrow!

Friday, April 6, 2012 - Finishing Touches

Stained and polyurethaned all of the extra bits and pieces while Hubby installed what he could that was prefinished. Everything dry and installed by the end of the day, now it looks even MORE fabulous! Also put new trip around the back door, it had rotted at some point, not sure how or when, but I did discover water gets trapped in the back door, but drains when you hold the door open for a few minutes, not sure where it’s coming from but glad to know how to avoid it doing any more damage. This was a job LONG waiting to be done, and we’re thrilled it finally is finished, and delighted with how it looks. Whew!

Thursday, April 5, 2012 - Floor Installation Part II

Apollo and his bug-eating bird

Finished off the floor today, it looks FABULOUS! It didn’t take long to finish it off, so then we went out to get all the trim, corner molding, stain, etc. in order to finish the job. Too late to do any more by the time we got back, so we settled down for the evening to recharge our batteries.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - Floor Installation Part I

While I continued spring cleaning, Hubby (with my intermittent help) started to lay the floor. We had bought an Armstrong Click-Lock laminate that actually looks like a beautiful Italian stone, what’s known as a floating floor, so it was just a matter of cutting it to shape, locking it together, and nudging up to the corners. The only challenge was where it fit into the slide, that took us quite a while to get right. Worked late again, got about half the floor finished. As always, everything takes precisely twice as long to do as you think it will!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - Spring Cleaning and Floor Prep Day

Time to get busy getting ready to move out, now that spring is here. Spent the day doing spring cleaning while Hubby started to prep the kitchen floor, to finish the job we started back in January, i.e. actually laying a new floor down on top of the repairs he made. It’s already been bought, we have just been storing it until we had time (and deadline) to tackle it. I spend the day feverishly trying to get the rest of my big spring cleaning done, a slow but necessary process. Didn’t stop til well after 7:00, exhausting ourselves, but we know it’s the only way to get the job done!

Monday, April 2, 2012 - Doctor Day

Hubby had a doctor’s appointment, just a follow-up to his back shots, one last adjustment today, and we’re done!

Sunday, April 1, 2012 - Rest Day

Finally finished up the laundry, made it a relaxing movie day.

Saturday, March 31, 2012 - Rest Day

More of the same, laundry, rest, repeat.

Friday, March 30, 2012 - Rest and Shopping Day

Woke up at 6:00 Costa Rican Time (about 8:00 Eastern : -), went out once to do necessary shopping, then spent the rest of the day unpacking, doing laundry, and doing our best to relax and get caught up.

Thursday, March 29, 2012 - Travel Day Home (to the Critters and RV, anyway)

Last view of garden statue

Hotel Restaurant

Breakfast buffet again, final packing, then once again our friend Paulo met us and drove us to the airport. Final goodbyes, much security at the airport (they even had another go on the jetway from the gate to the plane! Made me drink two whole bottles of water just to keep from losing them! Nuts!), then settled in for the relatively short flight home. Landed in Miami a little behind schedule, about 6:00, no problems, had the shuttle from the car park place come and get us, and off we went! Arrived back at my brother’s in the evening, barely had enough energy to say hello and good-night to him, reunited with the kids (little Billy was beside himself with whimpering and squeaking, Marina just wiggled and wiggled her fat bum!) Settled down for a short evening, then crashed, thrilled with our vacation, glad to be back with the kids, kind of sorry we have to get back to the grind, but definitely with our batteries recharged and rejuvenated!


Last view of mountains of San Jose





Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - REST DAY!!!

 Slept late, went down to the usual breakfast buffet in this fabulous hotel (though I have to admit, I finally had to pass on the Gallo Pinto, CR’s national breakfast food. I’ve had just about as much frijoles and arroz, i.e. rice and beans, as I can take right now!) The day was blustery and cool, a refreshing change from the heat we’ve been experiencing everywhere else in CR, but not a good day for the pool, so we ended up staying in our room, reading and sleeping, not ONCE tempted to turn on the TV. At home it ALWAYS on, but we haven’t had access, and now we don’t really have interest. I’m sure nothing has changed much since we left! Went back to the bar around 3:00 for ice cream and coffee (and a little something extra just to celebrate our vacation), then went back up for more rest. Finished off the day with a lovely dinner before packing and retiring early, preparing for our early wakeup tomorrow.