Thursday, July 31, 2014 – Final Leg to North Star Stable in Ferndale, WA

Up at the crack of dawn again, which seemed darker because the trees here are so tall and dark, but we managed to get out just as early. Quickly ran into a bike race on a narrow stretch of windy road, which became problematic when traffic started coming at us, trying to pass the bikes that were three abreast (against the single file rule, we later learned). At one point, just as I came around a curve, heading into a narrow bridge, a small truck was almost completely in my lane trying to pass the cyclists, and I had to slam on my brakes, which meant Hubby had to slam on his brakes, and the horses got a jolt. Hubby said he almost didn’t stop in time, missing me by less than two feet! We finally made it into town, with wider streets, and pulled over to have breakfast at a small cafe. I discovered Apollo had torn the screen for the window, which I had to turn upside down to at least keep rings from flopping in his face, and his manger was torn out of its rivet, so I had to use a haybag as a sling to hold it up temporarily. We had a great breakfast, then carried on, soon getting off the bike route (which was still going on, a ride to Rainier, apparently), and before too long, we were on I-5. Had to detour around one accident, which added some time to the trip, but eventually we got out of the city and were back out in rural America again, yeah! Arrived at the stable at exactly noon, met the manager, Monica, and quickly made decisions about where to set up and put the horses. The horses went straight into a pasture with several other horses, and they all seemed to get along fine after a few minutes, thank goodness. Dogs got to exploring and we soon got the RV parked and plugged in. Fortunately, it’s pretty level here, we only had to use a couple of boards on one side to get us perfect, and I even managed to get the satellite dish going, though that took a long time, since I had never done it before, and a post was evidently in my way, though it might have been that the receiver was trying to record, that always creates problems with trying to find a signal, and for some reason, we keep forgetting that! Anyway, the temps here are topping out in the low-mid 80’s, so AC won’t be necessary, and we’re at the top of a small hill, so we seem to have a pretty steady breeze, even though there’s no shade. It seems pretty laid back here, and other than one German Shepherd that Billy keeps growling at, everyone seems to get along just fine, and I think it will turn out to be an excellent choice to leave everyone for the month!