Slept late again, but finally feeling fully rested. Drove up to Webster to spend the afternoon with the cousins, finally having an opportunity to spend time with the whole family, hadn’t had the chance to speak with the husbands before. Had a wonderful day, food, family and friends! Doesn’t get any better! Got home just before dark, hooked up the horse trailer, sat with the girls (our hosts) a few minutes, then off to bed.

After another rest day yesterday, we finally felt rested enough to tackle the job of changing out the tire, which, with a new and wonderful bottle jack, only took about 10 minutes. Put a few things away, took down the laundry line, and generally got ready for our departure on Tuesday.

Slept in pretty late, feeling very tired from our busy week, then got up and starting doing laundry. After breakfast, we headed out to Walmart in Geneseo to do some much needed shopping, including a 12 ton bottle jack to replace our broken one, so we might finally be able to transfer the new tire onto the RV and put the spare back where it belongs. Still tired from traveling yesterday, but we did sit out on the deck with the ladies for a few hours, chatting away like old friends. They are holding a yard sale, and did pretty well today. A nice evening!

After two days of working with our client, and a quick trip to a couple of Western wear shops where we found a perfect black leather vest for Hubby to wear on the cattle drive in January (not to mention he loves it so much he’s wearing it every waking moment so far), we headed back home (being wherever the RV, horses and dogs are, which is in Caledonia, NY today). We arrived back at the farm right around 8:00, were met with wriggly dogs that were very happy to see us, and visited with the ladies for a bit before heading up to the RV. When I walked into the bedroom I found clear evidence of a little separation anxiety from Lola. The bed had been completely torn apart, all the blankets and the top sheet, which had great chunks chewed out of it, were on the floor, and one of the pillow cases had been equally chewed into shreds. Then to top it off, a big pile of vomit sat on top, though fortunately it was pretty dry. I quickly stripped the bed and cleaned it all up, let it dry, then made the bed up for the night. Silly girl, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the first time she’s been cooped up without us since we got her, so I guess I should have expected something like this, though I thought because she was older she might not suffer from it. I’m sure it will get better as she matures. Not the best end to a long day, but it could have been worse!

Set the alarm for 7:00, and was out by 7:50 for our 10:00 flight. Ten minutes from the house we got a text saying the flight was delayed and hour, so I rerouted to the post office to drop off some mail I was otherwise going to send from Texas. Ten minutes after that, we got another text saying the flight was cancelled altogether! This is the first time we’ve flown United in decades (or maybe never, I can’t remember, it’s been so long!), and this is a very auspicious beginning. Shortly after that, I got another text saying that the flight had been rerouted through Newark, but now wouldn’t get in until four hours after our original arrival. Not a happy camper with that one! We decided to stop for breakfast at an IHOP, not the best one we’ve ever been in, but it did the job. Arrived at the airport by 10:15, went promptly to the United counter to get our itinerary, where we discovered the new flights included two stops! Hubby and I, whenever possible, insist on direct flights, as we both hate the ups and downs of takeoffs and landings. The only other alternative was to have a four hour layover in Newark and not arrive until after 9:00! This was not a very happy situation. Fortunately, the lady at the counter then offered to check other airlines, and found a Delta flight that left at noon for Atlanta, then connected with a flight that would have us arrive in San Antonio at 5:00, a huge improvement. Normally, I don’t fly Delta, as every time we’ve ever flown Delta has been a disaster in a whole variety of ways, but at least they had a flight going, and beggars can’t be choosers, as they say. At least the schedule was a good one. We got the paperwork, headed to Delta, they issued us a boarding pass, though no seating assignment, including TSA Pre-boarding, which made us very happy. We even got really good seats, better than the puddle jumper we had originally been booked on. Got through to the gate in no time, where they started boarding within 15 minutes or so, though they insisted on taking our carry-on bag and checking it. An uneventful flight to Atlanta, a quick cheese and fruit plate before we soon were boarding another flight on what looked like a brand spanking new 757, where they were assigning seats as we went (guessing they changed equipment at the last minute) and got good seats, again, on the wing. I’m happy as long as we’re not behind the wings, which is where we were on the original flight, so all worked out beautifully! But just when I thought we would be able to give Delta a pass, the curse continued. We arrived at baggage claim to discover our confiscated carry-on was nowhere to be found. We eventually went to the service desk and discovered that our bag was still in Atlanta, but would be sent on the next flight and delivered to the hotel, sometime between 4-6 hours after it arrived here. In other words, probably the middle of the night! So much for my plans for hanging out at the pool for the evening. They gave us a couple of tiny cosmetic bags with the tiniest of supplies before sending us on our way. We took the shuttle to the car rental, and one good piece of news, my Alamo gift of a double upgrade (which they sent me as a birthday present), became a triple upgrade, as they had more premium cars than full size, and let me take a nice big Chrysler. Got to the hotel in no time, got checked into a very nice room, returned to the lobby for a few complimentary glasses of wine before ordering delivery Chinese and watching a movie. More good news, the bag arrived just after 10:00, a great relief to us both! Still, Delta is not moving up on my list of preferred airlines, sorry!

Woke up just after 9:00 to the sound of rain on the roof (not fair, the forecast hadn’t said rain at all!), so I threw on a coverup and ran outside to get my laundry down. It was almost dry, but had gotten sprinkled on, so I had to hang it out again once the show passed and the sun came out. Did another couple of loads of laundry, and thankfully the wind picked up and blew some of the humidity away, so my later loads dried very quickly. Paced ourselves throughout the day, packing, cleaning, vacuuming, getting the dogs’ stuff ready for the ladies so they could take care of them, before finally settling down for the evening.

Didn’t bother to set the alarm, as we only had a 3 ½ hour drive today, with no real stops except Tractor Supply to pick up some Balancer. We managed to pack up, exchange contact numbers with several of our neighbors, and finish at the dump before 10:30 or so. The Tractor Supply in Lowville didn’t have the Balancer, so we ended up stopping at the one in Webster, our second stop (after frozen custard along Route 104), arriving at the alpaca farm in Caledonia right around 3:00. In less than an hour the horses were settled into their new pasture (the old one was now housing a new boarder), the RV was watered and electrified, the satellite dish was up, and the washing machine was working up a storm. Chatted with the ladies who owned it for a while, then settled into the evening, hanging out laundry and watching movies until bedtime.

Though we had planned to ride today, for some reason we were both feeling tired, plus it was very cloudy and cool today, so we decided to do some prep work for our Saturday departure, and ride tomorrow, as the forecast is for mostly sunny skies and warmer. We had planned, once again, to change the spare tire out for the new one, which currently resides in the spare tire rack under the RV, but Hubby wasn’t able to solve the problem with the bottle jack. Though he refilled it with hydraulic oil and followed all the usual guidelines, it simply refused to pump, so we weren’t able to complete that job, again. A new jack is now on the shopping list! We transferred the hay from the horse trailer into the back of the pickup truck, which was easy since the bales or pretty light, and put away what we could. A mundane day, but necessary.

Took a nice rest today, though I spent much of the day writing, which, even though it’s work, doesn’t require a lot of energy. Nice and quiet in camp today. We’ve had another neighbor move in across from us, folks we saw here last time, and we got reacquainted. I also had another long talk with the ranger, thanking him for his patience and leniency with us, and I think he appreciated that. A decent, quiet day.