Playdates and leftovers

We all miss Emma.

Piper misses her so much.

I'm not even kind of ready to start thinking about another dog, so we're giving her the next best thing: Lots of Tang time!

Yesterday, Alexey and Tori dropped him off on their way to the Renaissance Festival.

Despite the heat, the dogs had a big day, filled with errands...

and televised golf.

Happy Tang.

Happy Pipes.

Unfortunately, when Alexey and Tori came to pick him up, they did arrive empty handed. Instead, they brought with them all my unsold BreyerFest sales horses.

Hello, Darrell!

Truth be told, I am not sad that some of these still belong to me.

But this one? I really want him to go away.

There is an identical model for sale on eBay right now. Mine would cost approximately $250 less than that.

Please, someone, give this horse a home. Piper needs the money to buy more treats for herself and Tang!

Riding my horse

The last time I wrote a post about riding Sage was on my birthday... So, more than seven months ago.

Not too long after that, we had a big regression.

I didn't write about it, because honestly, I didn't want advice. Sage and I have a really solid support team made up of experienced people who know our strengths and weaknesses and understand our goals. These are the people I turn to for guidance. 

And besides, I guarantee all the suggestions I'd get here are things we were already doing. Tack fit? Check! Uclers? Check! Teeth? Check! Sand? Check! Body work? Check! Animal communicator? Check! Patience and willingness to start over? Check, check, check!

Last month, I decided we werefinallty  ready to start riding again. We don't have a round pen at my barn, so I used the turnout. It's not ideal - there are horses on the other side of the fences - but it was good enough to solidify brakes and steering.

We did five rides in there. Then I spent a week with James, Guppy and Mercury.

I came home tired and ragged. I didn't even think about riding Sage until last Tuesday. The turnout wasn't available so I got on in the ring. 

That went reasonably well - no one died anyway! - so we did it again on Friday. 

Today, we joined forces with Heather and Jet to ride laps around the arena.

Look at us go!

I know it doesn't look like much, but this means the world to me.

Good girl, Sage!

No pressure, but October is coming, and we have a date with the Red Tree!

Traveling circus

In my lifetime, I have traveled tens of thousands of miles with dogs.

Piper

My dogs,

Emma, obviously

my bosses' dogs,

Mardi and Holiday

my coworkers' dogs,

Jasmine

my friends' dogs.

Tank and Riley

So many miles.

Darcy

So many dogs.

Abbie

I've also roadtripped with horses, but never - not even one time - have I shared a vehicle with a cat...

or a snake.

I guess I was due.

Earlier this month, I helped my son, James, move from Loveland, Colorado to Madison, Wisconsin with his cat, Guppy, and his girlfriend's snake, Mercury. It was a long trip made longer by lack of proper preparations, but somehow, we made it work.

Credit goes to Guppy/Kimmy - she goes by both names - for being perhaps the sweetest, most amenable cat ever.

Props also to James, for consulting with his vet before we left. He was able to administer some light sedatives throughout the trip, which made things easier for everyone.

"I feel goooood."

Guppy rode in a small dog cat carrier between the seats, and was mostly - but not entirely - quiet.

We let her out every time we stopped, and sometimes we stopped just to let her out. 

We were all in this together and we made it work.

Between Loveland and Madison, we overnighted in two hotels.

Kimmy much preferred this to riding in the truck.

She had a big time exploring every...

single...

inch of both those rooms!

As for Mercury, he was a good traveler, too. In fact, most of the time it was almost like he wasn't there. He rode inside a knotted pillowcase, which was placed on a blanket within a plastic tub with holes in the sides. The tub was placed under my seat in the truck. At the hotel, he stayed in the bathroom with a heat lamp. 

in the Colorado apartment before we left

We didn't feed him or give him any water. I am a mammal person, and I found this incomprehensible. As the trip dragged on days, I started to get very concerned about his health and well-being. Fortunately, my concerns were unfounded. He came out of the pillowcase in fine shape and made himself right at home in Madison.

In regards to travel, dogs are always and forever my first choice of companion. However, I have to admit, I enjoyed road tripping with Guppy and Mercury. 

And James, too. Of course.

The road goes on forever

After twenty eight hours of near non-stop packing, James and I climbed into the U-Haul truck and hit the road.

The first part was also the worst part. Northeastern Colorado is flat and empty and the roads are raggedy.

After three hours of that, we were both relieved when we crossed into Nebraska.

A lot of my hobby friends were also on the road that day, heading to Lexington, Kentucky. I snapped a picture of the sign for the Nebraska Lexington in solidarity.

A few minutes later, I waved to Margaret as we rolled past Kearney.

The original plan was to stop in Omaha, but after our extremely late start, there was simply no way. We found a decent roadside hotel in Grand Island, and called it a night.

The next morning we were right back at it. We powered through the rest of Nebraska and crossed into Iowa.

It takes five hours to drive across Iowa, but the time passed quickly.

I waved to Prairie Meadows, where Carol and I stayed during another road trip back in 2016...

and we both oohed and aahed over all the pretty rainbows.

Hello, Wyoming! What are doing out here?

As we neared Dubuque, the skies grew dark and stormy.

Sure enough, it was raining as we drove over the Mississippi River...

and into Wisconsin.

The skies cleared as we drove through the limestone bluffs. 

The last part of our drive was dark and wet.

We were exhausted by the time we reached the trailer drop-off point.

As much as we both wanted to push through to Madison, we decided safe was better than sorry. We found another hotel, and checked ourselves in for the night. The next morning, we made the short drive to James' new home and spent the rest of the day unpacking and getting settled.

In contrast to the first twenty eight hours, I really enjoyed this part of the week. Aside from a bit of rain at the end, the weather was fine, the conversation lively, and James did a really good job of driving. I can be a bit of a nervous passenger, but I was completely comfortable riding with him.

But here's the thing I haven't told you: It wasn't just James and I in that U-Haul.

The other members of our party were Guppy/Kimmy...

and Mercury.

And let me tell you, traveling with a cat and a snake was a whole new experience for me!

To be continued.