Archives for 2011

Finished off the workshop by about 1:00, so we schedule a massage at the Bliss Spa, which happened to be on the 16th floor of the hotel. My chiropractor had recommended I try a deep tissue massage for my shoulder, and I discovered in their brochure in my room that they offered a sport massage that included deep tissue, so I thought I would give it a try. Hubby’s been suffering some back problems in the mornings, so he opted for a more relaxing massage. It seemed like truly an indulgence at the time, but by the time my therapist Monica was through, I felt that she had accomplished more toward achieving long term relief than any of the chiropractors or physical therapists I had gone to in the last two years combined! A great job! Hubby enjoyed his, too, so it made it a nice treat. We hadn’t gone to a spa since a cruise back in about 2004, so we figured it was time, especially since mine was truly for medical reasons. Anyway, we had a quick dinner at a French restaurant across the street (a lovely seafood bisque), then once again got to bed early, as tomorrow we move hotels and get ready for our second job here in Atlanta.

Woke up early to the alarm, but despite having put a breakfast room service request on the doorknob last night, no breakfast arrived. I finally had to call down, and it seems they had never received it, so then they had to rush the order, and we had to rush to eat it in order get to work on time. Not the way I like to start a day. In any event, we had a good session. After a long day, we had a quiet evening and an early night, once again to be able to get up early. Fortunately, we found our client was providing breakfast, so we didn’t need to worry about that again!



View from Bedroom!

Headed out early, stopping at IHOP near the airport for breakfast before arriving at the airport in plenty of time for our flight. After sitting around for over an hour, we finally got ready for boarding, preprinted passes in hand. As we passed, the gate attendant scanned our passes, then suddenly informed us that our seats had been changed. At first we thought that maybe they have found two seats together (we both had window seats, in rows 13 and 16), but as we looked further, we realized by the time we got down the jetway to the plane that they had, in fact, put us further apart, and had moved us way back in the plane, to rows 30 and 34! Both were aisles seats, both way behind the engines (we always try to get in front of the engines whenever we can, because of the noise), and Hubby’s was right next to the galley. I had a mother and child next to me, whose rest of the family was scattered elsewhere on the plane. I couldn’t believe it, that had never happened before, where I had different seats than the ones I had already printed boarding passes for! I HATE DELTA! The only nice thing I can say is that the flight attendant managed to persuade the person sitting next to Hubby to change seats with me, so at least we could sit together, but the noise was so bad I had to put ear plugs in. Hubby didn’t have any, but he has some tinnitus anyway so he usually doesn’t care. Strange, though, by the time we landed he said he couldn’t hear anything out of his left ear (the side the galley was on). Hope that goes away! I had arranged a town car to meet us, so the rest of the trip was fine. We arrived at the W Hotel downtown, which was quite another interesting adventure. The W is obviously set up for those out for what Hubby calls “a dirty weekend.” The decorating scheme was dark, dark, dark, and the main feature of the room (after the bed) was a shower with partially clear, partially translucent glass walls that formed the separation between the living area and the bathroom. In other words, you could see inside the shower from the bedroom. They had a collection of snacks and booze on a tray for sale, and also offered several packages of condoms and a bottle with a shot of oxygent in it as well. Everything a sex-crazed couple (or more) could ask for. Odd that it’s right next door to a stuffy sort of office building. Couldn’t help but notice the working girls whenever we entered and exited the hotel. Well, to each his own! Ordered Chinese delivery for dinner, then got to bed fairly early (to sleep) as we have an early and long day ahead of us.

Our plan today was to pick up hay at a nearby farm, pack and rest as much as possible, but alas, Hubby discovered that he had no dress shirts that fit him anymore. We had just bought a few new shirts not too long ago, but they were a larger size, but he didn’t realize that until today, so we had to run out to the Mall again to buy him a few shirts, as well as a couple of other items on our downsized list. Made for a longer and less restful day than we had hoped, but at least we have everything we need. Finished packing and at least got a relatively uneventful evening in.

Took the day off as much as possible, knowing it would probably be the last time for awhile. Still did some work on the computer, preparing for our two jobs in Atlanta later this week, but finally stopped in the middle of the afternoon in order to relax and watch a few movies for the rest of the day. Early morning tomorrow, as we have a septic service coming out to dump our RV tanks, a necessity as we’ve been here more than two weeks, and that’s about our limit!

Set the alarm to get an early start today, as we headed out to Northamption State Park on the west side of Rochester. I had high hopes for the trails here, as the map I downloaded indicated not one but TWO horse trailer parking areas in the park, one in the middle and one on the west side. We arrived to discover there was a big weekend festival being held here, which included a barbecue cook-off and a blues and music festival. How cool was that! The horse trailer parking area had been cordoned off for $5 event parking, but they waved us through for free, since we obviously were headed for the horse parking area for a reason. I joked with the parking guy about having to suffer riding with the smell of bbq, but he echoed the same concern as he was manning the parking lot! We arrived to find two other small trailers already there, confirming our feeling that this was a good spot. Just as we were saddling up, two women arrived off the trail, and we chatted with them for several minutes about the condition of the trails and the efficacy of the trail maps. They were very helpful, especially in helping us find the east trailhead, as there were almost no real indications in real life where it started. Seems we had to go down the road a bit, across the top of a “sledding hill”, then turn right along the brush line to the edge of a cornfield, where the trail actually began. Good thing they told us, we would have been wandering awhile looking for that one! We maneuvered the horses around the parking areas, the traffic and the people to get to the trailhead, then entered a wonderful section of thick woods on a well traveled trail. Nevertheless, there was a time or two I pulled out the camp saw to clear a few low branches that made the going tough, but for the most part, the trail was delightful. Only problem was there were no markings, and once again, we got turned around, not finding the proper loops as they were marked on the map, taking one linear trail to a road that we thought would be a loop, and after backtracking, not sure which linear trail we took. I’m still not sure how much of the actual loop we took, or how much we backtracked! Eventually we ended up back at the trailhead, so it didn’t really matter. Any time spent on the back of my horse is a good time! Besides, how often can you ride your horse while listening to live blues nearby? That was pretty cool! We had only been out for an hour or so, so we headed back toward the horse trailer, discovering that both the trailers that had been there when we arrived were gone. After a few minutes of letting the horses munch out on clover, we headed out the west trailhead, which, thankfully, was much better marked, with numbered intersections that actually corresponded with what was on the map (miracle of miracles). We looped around, going all the way to the west trailer parking area, which included having to cross a road (though there was almost no traffic on this side of the park). The trails were truly lovely, again with dirt and grass footing, but what made this one side particularly nice was that the bridle path was about 10 feet wide and mostly grass, but it immediately turned into thick woods, so there was a nice tunnel effect most of the time. It was mostly shady, which was good because it had gotten rather hot today, but the wide paths made it easy to jog and canter several time throughout the ride. We circled the various loops, not having to take the same trail twice until the last 100 yards or so to the trailer area, and arrived back about 90 minutes later having thoroughly enjoyed the ride. One of the prettier rides in a “developed” park that we’ve ever been on. Once we unsaddled the horses, we walked over to the festival in search of ice cream (our new diet lunch, since we always seem to lose weight when we have ice cream for lunch lately, believe it or not! Plus it makes a nice change…), but we didn’t find them. We only discovered folks from all over the eastern half of the country from as far away as Iowa here to compete in the cookoff. Alas, BBQ wasn’t on the diet, and how would you be able to choose one anyway? We didn’t find ice cream either, so we headed out shortly thereafter in search of the nearest ice cream shoppe. According to my GPS, that was in a nearby town of Spencerport, so we headed in that direction. Just as we arrived, we noted that the main street was cordoned off for a street festival known as Canal Days (as in Erie Canal, which runs through the middle of this and many other upstate New York towns). We barely managed to find a parking spot big enough for the horse trailer, then walked to a coffee shop first, who had surprisingly excellent coffee with a touch of cinnamon, then over to another place for some Abbots frozen custard, a local favorite. Really enjoyed that, it was very nostalgic, as we used to get that a lot as kids. Finally made it back home late in the day, have had a very fun-filled day!

We had received a package from National Bridle yesterday, some stuff we had ordered just a few days ago, so Hubby spent the day putting things away and fixing things up so they would be ready for our next ride tomorrow. I did more paperwork and finished working on the outlines for our two workshops next week.

Another day doing work-related stuff, setting up trips and writing workbooks for upcoming training sessions, while Hubby did a few chores around the “house”.

Another visit to the chiropractor today for the two of us, Hubby still waking up with a stiff back, and me still trying to straighten out my shoulder once and for all. Masochistically insisted the doctor do some serious manipulation on me, and he did. I left feeling better, but more sore, if that makes sense. At least it feels as if some progress might be occurring, but only time will tell!