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April 22, 2013: Trip Plans

Sunny outside. I’m very restless. Can’t get no more work done inside. Comes a time when a gal’s just gotta saddle up her pony and giddy up. So giddy up my pony and I go. Which pony? You might ask? Doesn’t matter, all today will go giddy up at one time or another, with one another or solo. So giddy up we all go.

Pete and I are mulling over the idea of upgrading, and getting a three horse trailer. Seeing Bill’s Featherlite made us aware of the possibilities. Sturdy, lots of storage, oh yeah, and built in feed mangers. I said to Kaylene, “I want. I’m a writer and therefore always want.” A tough call, for sure. So the search is on.



We’re going to sell the Toyota Tundra and our Sundowner two horse trailer.

I just took a look at Bernice Ende’s website. She’s a long rider with thousands of miles under her belt. She’s now getting ready to do an Idaho/Montana loop. She rides and packs Fiords. Very impressive.

We’re soon going to revamp the website and have it focused (like before) exclusively on the pre-trip planning and trip itself. No more musings about manure. Pete’s going to come up with a new design in his Photoshop class. (I really did bow out.)

I’ll go into full-time trip preparation mode after I return from Portland. I’m leaving on April 28 and returning on May 6. I’m going to assist my sister in moving my mother to her new digs, an apartment in a senior center. Thank dog that both are in Portland, a rather progressive town, as opposed to Detroit, a not so progressive town.

Pete has two weeks of school left. He’ll be done when I get back. If we locate and purchase a trailer, he’ll go and pick it up and drive it back home. He might bring back a horse, to defray travel costs. He might also pick up some hay—I’m going to suggest that he set up some hay drops.

In the meantime the horses need to be tended to and ridden. Last night I spent three hours pen cleaning. I was tired beforehand, and even more tired after. I don’t understand – I was borderline compulsive and kept it clean all winter. Still,
it was a mess – a thin layer of manure and hay scum was on top of the snowmelt.

At one point – the sun was settling – Hrimmi came over to me and stood quietly as I gave her a scratch. This made it all worth it. It gave purpose to an arduous and at times seemingly senseless endeavor.

Next: 113: 4/23/13: Serious Road Tripping