Day Two of our Training Camp with our client, followed by a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant next door to the office. Then a quick trip to Tractor Supply for oats and horse munchies before collapsing into bed.
Archives for June 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012 – Work Day
Day One of our Training Camp with our client.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 – Travel Day to Binghamton, NY
Up with an early alarm, but since we had broken down almost everything yesterday, we were out of the site by about 8:00, stopped for breakfast in Horseheads, and arrived at China Pointe stables just north of Binghampton right on schedule at 10:30, with Alan waiting for us to show us around and get us settled in. Once all that was accomplished, we headed down to the Hampton and got checked in to our suite, which had a full kitchen, so then we headed out to the grocery store to stock up on essentials for the rest of the week. We were still so tired from yesterday’s walk, we ended up taking a nap in the afternoon, and slept for several hours, a much needed deposit in our sleep bank. Then I cooked a nice Delmonico steak and some veggies, we had a nice dinner, and were back in bed by 9:00. Obviously we needed even more sleep because it wasn’t long before we were out again for the night.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 – Watkins Glen State Park Walk Day
Monday, June 25, 2012 – Catch Up and Wash Day
Lots of rain, thunder and lightning overnight. It’s funny, but up here on the top of Sugar Hill, the thunder seems to just go on forever, echoing from one end of the horizon to the other, and seemingling, back again. It reminded my of growing up in nearby Rochester (NY), it was the same way up there. I can’t explain it, the sound just seems to last longer, reverberate stronger, change tempo and volume during its course, and roll around in a way I’ve never experienced anywhere else. Weird! Anyway, spent the day catching up on my blog and doing laundry, putting up a clothesline on a couple of nearby trees. The camp was empty by last night, no one here this morning, either, as expected. There was a slight chance of rain, but by the time we finished breakfast, it was clearing up, so I decided to risk it. Quite a strong, cool breeze, so I figured the clothes wouldn’t take long to dry, and I was right. A quiet day all around, nice. Tomorrow we’re planning on going over to Watkins Glen State Park and actually be tourists for the day, figure the horses will be safe if we put them in the covered stalls instead of on the highline. I’m a little worried about Hubby’s mare, she doesn’t seem to like this new hay, kind of stalky, may be hard on the old girl. I put her out in the yard to much on grass for much of the day, until I looked up and saw her eating out of Apollo’s hay bag, much to his dismay (he wasn’t about to argue with Mama). I moved her back to her hay, and she munched awhile, then they napped. The first of many days off, we probably won’t be able to ride again until at least next Tuesday or Wednesday. We reservations at Bear Mountain Springs near Walton, NY for the week.
Sunday, June 24, 2012 – Ride to Waterfall near Watkins Glen
Saturday, June 23, 2012 – Rest and ISS Sighting
Took the day off today, except I did some computer work, of course. Finally managed to find a stable in Syracuse (well, nearby Skaneateles, anyway) after much networking and referrals, thank goodness. That’s been weighing on me, but now we’ve got that set, so most of my logistics are done, at least until August, when we have a very busy schedule, too. Hubby watched TV and read and napped in his chair much of the day, good for him. The camp emptied out during the day, everyone riding but us (which is fine, I prefer empty trails to crowded ones any day!), but then I sat around the campfire with the neighbors for a while. Cherise inadvertently erased everything on her GPS (I knew I should hav downloaded everything from her yesterday, instead of just Friday’s trail!), but it did register today’s ride, so I downloaded that, then uploaded yesterday’s ride so she would have that. We’re planning on keeping in touch so I can keep collecting her trails, which will be part of the database I’m putting together (more on this later). Meanwhile, a friend of Carol’s told her that the International Space Station would be passing overhead at tonight, so I checked the NASA site and sure enough, it was taking a 3 minute pass right overhead, from the WNW to the SE, starting at 9:59. We all headed out to the middle of the campground where it was clear, and one of the group went and told the Boy Scouts, who had arrived yesterday and were jousting around all day, except when they went on a hike, and they were all looking up when we did. What a great view! We had almost perfectly clear skies, and since the sun had just set, and the ISS is so high up, it still reflected the sun so it was immensely bright until it curved off to the southeast. Really cool! I used to look for it a lot at home, but I haven’t done so lately, I’m going to have to get back to that, it was really stunning! To think that from their perspective we’re just an invisible dot down below on the face of this huge planet, whizzing by, and down here there are thousands of people watching them pass over at any given moment, all around the globe. Well, that was a highlight, and afterwards, I came back, watched another TV show with Hubby before going to bed, feeling nice and relaxed after a very enjoyable day.
Friday, June 22, 2012 – Another Ride at Six Nations to Monterey Jack’s Restaurant
Thursday, June 21, 2012 – Hay and Errand Day
Found some hay on craigslist in nearby Alpine, NY, so Hubby disconnected the truck from the RV and I headed off to get a truckload of hay. Stopped at the printer and picked up my job, which he had actually finished by Tuesday afternoon, and had an interesting conversation about local politics and exhorbitant NY taxes (a common conversation around here) before heading off to the farm. Hay was first cut Timothy, and a lot stalkier than we’re used to, especially after this last batch of soft grass hay with alfalfa that was last year’s second cut, so I’m not sure how the horses will like it. $4 a bale, very green, smelled great, so I’m hoping that will be okay, they’re usually not too fussy. Picked up another container of gas, as we’re on the generators this week, before heading back to the tower. Actually sat around outside for a little while, though it was really hot, it wasn’t too bad under the awning and here at the top of Sugar Hill. Pretty nice breeze kept the temps under 90, though down in town the thermometers were reading 96. A beautiful summer day! People started arriving for the weekend (a couple of rigs had actually come in together last night), but not so much as to feel crowded. Kept the horses on the highline so they’d stay out of trouble, though, just in case.