Quick few posts and pictures up to the present day methinks!
Early April was our marker date on getting up to New Hampshire. So the logistics behind it were pretty simple. Ali and Shauna leave a day earlier than the horses, driving in convoy that consisted of Pam's truck and trailer ( packed to the scut with all the barn things) and Shauna in Ali's car. So that left me on my ownsies in the Mini :D
It was 5am when the girlies left, so I had the barn to do myself with the help of Pam throughout part of the day. I made sure that all the horses were happy, clean and that all their belongings were all ready to go. I had to make sure that all the horses' halters had shipping fuzzies on them and that each horse had a pair of bell boots.
It was WAY too quiet that day, no Ali and Shauna, no clients just me and a handful of horses. Too weird!
D-day approached, I was up at 4am stripping the stalls trying to make my workload a little easier once the shippers start to arrive. We had three separate shippers due to come that morning. Our own being the first, which was scheduled for around 6am to take 6 horses back to Pam's. Then Alpenkonig's was due before 8am, and Remy's around then also.
It was hell for leather getting our own guys on, as the shippers were not just taking the horses, but all the feed, hay, water and feed tubs, barn utensils etc that we needed for the past 2 days. It was easily 25 degrees celsius at 6am that morning, I was a sweaty mess before the horses even got on!! Humid and dark. Totally weird.
The last friend I made in Florida!!
It was a relief when our guys finally went underway, as then all that needed to be done was strip the stalls and get the last two horses gone.
By the time all that was done, I had sweated through my shorts and t-shirt covered in a layer of shavings dust and more dust!! A shower was in dire need! There was no way that I could face driving 12hrs or more feeling stinky, itchy and icky! Quick shower, packed the mini, of course 200miles down the road I realised I left my overnight bag and all my cosmetics behind. Typical me. Don't worry folks, I got it "mailed" to me the following day.
So by the time I was ready to hit the road it was just short of 10am. I dropped Pam off at WPB airport as she was travelling off to teach a clinic and I was on my way!! Next stop, North Carolina to a hotel.
Stayed in a pretty ok hotel, all I needed was a bed really and I was off again by 6am the following morning.
I handled the drive by myself quite well. I thought about nothing really, just bopped along to the music and took in whatever sights I-95 could offer me. It was amazing how much varied landscape I passed through the first day. I drove the length of Florida, into Georgia, South Carolina and then North Carolina. I drove through the palm tree scattered landscape of Florida to big leafy green hilly states like North Carolina.
I only stopped when I really needed to. I would tie in eating, peeing and getting petrol into each stop if I could!! I really wasn't too comfortable stopping regularly since I was on my own. And I stupidly drank very little the whole drive to minimise stopping which I paid for dearly a few days after I got to New Hampshire.
Second day went smoothly, drove through North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, part of Vermont and then into New Hampshire. I knocked 2 hrs off Shauna and Ali's time for that same journey. Lads, I should have gotten a million speeding tickets! That Mini Cooper S series is a fecking rocket!!! Not only that, but it only took maybe 4 tanks of petrol for the while 1500mile trip. I am in love.
Got to Pam's about 7.30pm. It was freezing cold and a major kick up the arse, as I can now say I am a soft weather person!!
Hit the bed as soon as I was able, only to figure out at 1am that my bed was tied together with socks.
Hi Sarah-Jane, Naomi Donoghue told me that you and Shauna were blogging. It's nice to be able to follow your story, so far it sounds a bit like the book The Dressage Chronicles!
ReplyDeleteThere a great website for sharing horsey blogs if you want to reach more people, www.hay-net.co.uk. I've "met" loads of people that way.
Say hi to Shauna for me, I don't know if she'd remember me, she won the Silver Spurs the same year as my daughter.
Hi Martine! I promise that the posts will be much more detailed since we have hit NH. I am working on them as I type. I will surely check that website out, I am only happy to get more into blogging! Shauna says hello back :) Hope all is not too dreary at home.
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