Love this place! Easy trip down, wish we could stay and ride but there’s a blizzard on our heels, and we’re determined to make it to Florida by tomorrow to outrun the cold!

Worked with our client yesterday, then had dinner at a nice little Indian restaurant in Lorton Market Plaza. Weather forecasts dropping temps tomorrow and snow by Friday, so we are definitely heading south asap. Up at 7:00, out by 9:20, one stop at Wal-Mart for groceries, and off the Dee and Paul’s!

Tackled the pile of mail we rec’d on Saturday, spent the whole day getting caught up on paperwork and bookkeeping. Very wet, warm and humid this morning (almost 70 degrees!), but gradually cleared out and cooled down as the day wore on. Would have loved to go for a ride today, but the trails would have just been too sloppy after all the rain we had overnight. I suspect the horses are getting tired of standing around, I just hope we’ll get a ride in soon, before they go on strike! May be back in Florida before all the stars are aligned to accomplish that, which hopefully will be by the weekend.

Hubby finally insisted on seeing the final championship football games today, so he set up the Dish and I reinstated our signal, which I had put on vacation hold since December. We were starting to get low on movies on the DVR anyway, so it’s time to stock up! Expecting rain overnight tonight, so we’ll be putting the horses in the trailer to keep them dry. An uneventful day other than that. I was going to start on my pile of mail, and decided to wait until Monday, as though it was the beginning of a real work week. Go Peyton!

Hubby went grocery shopping, then we spent the rest of the day resting, trying to finish recovering from the cold. Also been having a problem with a shoulder muscle that started at a knot in my shoulder blade and ran all up and down the length of my body. Almost like a segment of muscle had been displaced over the wrong side of my shoulder. Started almost a year ago after an over-exertion with a chain saw, had a major improvement in November when it felt like most of the muscle found it’s home, then finally think we got the last of it today, using lots of stretching and a hand-held shiatsu massager. Will know better if we succeeded once the swelling goes down and things have a chance to settle. Spent the day catching up on some reading, too damp and cold to ride while we’re still a little sick. Rec’d our mail as well, so I’ll have plenty to do Monday.

Slept late, woke up with a little sore throat again, so Hubby took care of the horses and dogs, and we took the day off, reading and resting, trying to get rid of the last of this cold!

Worked with our client this afternoon, had a nice meal at our favorite Thai restaurant next to Capitol Hill, then ran into some rain just as we got back to camp. Temps not too bad, so left horses out for the night.

Left our friends at Cherry Hill B&B about 9:00 this morning, headed out to pick up some hay on our way to DC, at Owens hay farm south of Blackstone, VA. Nice mixed grass hay at $4/sq. bale, though we were on our own for loading up. The seller showed up just as we were finished loading. Hubby had a hard time getting out, needed a pull which the seller gladly provided. The rest of the trip was uneventful. Warm greetings from Dale (as in Dale Evans!) at Pohick Bay Regional Park, less than 20 miles from DC, a great campground that doesn’t necessarily cater to horses, but does allow them (as long as you’re willing to pick up after them). There are some great trails here as well, for both the hiker and the equestrian. The park is next to the famous Gunston Hall, which lets you ride the mile around the perimeter of its field, but Pohick Bay has some delightful woodsy trails, and, if you take it far enough, even leads you to a stable and training center a few miles out. Not terribly well-marked, and a few are dead-ends that don’t tell you they’re dead ends until you’re there, but interesting nonetheless. We’re hoping to get a ride in over the weekend, but the weather forecast indicates cold, and tomorrow, rain, sleet and snow. Good thing we’re working with a client tomorrow, though I expect the drive to DC to be harrowing under these predicted conditions!

Up at 7:00, out by 8:20 (seems like that’s becoming the standard!), another beautiful clear day. Uneventful drive except for our Wal-Mart stop in Oxford, NC. Followed Gracie (my phone GPS, so that when I turn it off upon arrival, I can say “Good night, Gracie”), but the store she took us to was gone. Fortunately, there was a local woman eating in her car in the parking lot, so I asked her where it moved to, and she kindly gave me directions, just another two miles away. No gas there yet (under construction, from the looks of the bulldozer in the corner), so had to stop again for that. Good to get in North Carolina, though, because the prices go up considerably once you cross the Virginia line.

Arrived around 3:30 to hugs and greetings from Dee and Paul, who generously let us put our horses in a nice little fenced-in pasture, instead of the paddock, which they loved! Enough grass to eat, and it wasn’t long before they had a roll, evidenced by their wet and slightly muddy backs. Dee and Paul had dinner plans, so off they went at 5:00 (after some specially-flavored 🙂 decaf coffee). Time to get caught up on work, get to bed early, and prepare for our client in Washington, DC on Thurdsay.

Had a wonderful, quiet night’s sleep, woke up ready to try out another new trail! There are about 4.5 miles of trails right out of the equestrian camp, two loops and a connector, well-marked with blue blazes every 10-20 yards. At first I thought that was overkill, but as the trail narrowed and the forest grew thicker, we needed them that often! Very little evidence of much use, which, from our perspective, was great! The ride was about 90 minutes, with really only one short opportunity to trot/canter, on a sandy road toward the end of the last loop. A good thing, too, as my horse was tired of walking and really wanted to go! (which he tried to do once in the woods, bad horse!:-)

I have to say, this was one of the most interesting trails we’ve been on, albeit a short trail. It was mostly pines, with some magnolias, and everything was covered with delightful hanging moss, which my horse eyed carefully the first time, then figured out that it wasn’t going to leap out and swallow him up and he took the rest of the ride in stride. Terrain was easy, a few gentle slopes, footing was excellent, all pine needles and hard sand, no water or mud at all, despite the rain from the previous morning. Just a delightful short little ride.

For longer trips, there’s a connector trail to the Manchester State Forest next door. There’s a $5 per person fee for riding those trails, but there’s another 15 miles or so over there. Permits must be purchased at their ranger station.

Hubby fighting a returning cold, so he went to bed as soon as we got back, had a lovely nap until cocktail hour. Tomorrow, off the Dee and Paul’s!