Road Trip Part 2! The Trip Home

 We woke up early, before the free hotel breakfast was available and before Starbucks was open. We headed to the barn and grabbed Leche. She loaded with minimal fuss as we closed the trailer up and made our final checks before saying goodbye. We hit the road earlier than Cortney expected, as she had budgeted for about an hour of loading sillies.

We did manage to find an open Starbucks as we got closer to the highway, and because it was still awfully early for a Sunday, we just parked in the middle of the parking lot with no mind for spaces while we grabbed breakfast and drinks. 

On the trip home we had clear skies to watch the sun rise over the same fields we'd watched it set on less than 36 hours before.

Shasta in the distance, we're nearing the end of California

At our first rest stop, I checked on Leche and discovered that she'd pulled (likely pawed) almost everything that was stored in front of her including my Back on Track sheet, most of a hay bale and various other sundries. She'd also pooped and peed on everything. She stood calmly and watched me while I extricated everything and relocated it to a safer spot.

The aftermath. All that lovely hay and alfalfa just churned into the shavings. Ugh.

It was great to see Shasta getting larger, as it meant we were  nearing Oregon!

The funny ski area, with even less snow!

Every check on Miss Thing revealed a slightly surprised filly who looked expectantly out the door at the new sights. She did not exhibit any signs of nervousness and stood quietly. 

In Oregon, at our diesel stop, I made a mash for Leche, since she was refusing water plain water (filled at the California barn). I was concerned about colic and wanted to get her as hydrated as possible. She happily ate the horse soup I concocted and we both ended up wearing it.

The last rest stop before Portland, OR

What a relief and whirlwind to make it back to this sign!

Washington was quick to remind us that she is Washington as the rain set in and we got several calls from family hoping we'd get in before the sn*w hit.

On the approach to Seattle.

Exiting off the freeway, to cross the trestle into Lake Stevens!

Lights on the water of the Lake

Headlights at the barn

We let Leche loose in the arena so she could stretch her legs and roll if she wanted. She was curious, exploring every corner! She peed and everything looked lovely.

I tucked her into her new stall and got her blanket on. The temperature was dropping and we were in for frozen precipitation. Welcome to Washington!

A Saturday in California

 Our plans at the barn started mid morning so we woke up leisurely and grabbed free hotel breakfast. Then Cortney grabbed Starbucks because the coffee in the room was gross while I hit up CVS because my allergies WOKE UP in California and I was in desperate need of a nasal spray and zyrtec.

We found the Windows background!

See all these flowering trees? Almonds!  It was apparently the almond festival that day.

Smelled absolutely fragrant but I was immediately beset by a stuffy nose and itchy swollen eyes.

Our trip coincided with some absolutely lovely weather in the middle of a ton of rain the area was getting. So it was a dead horse day, and rightly so.

Leche was easily retrievable in the paddock and I stood her at the trailer and groomed her

She was a bit antsy, but nothing that couldn't be worked on.

We met up with Keila and got to chatting about all things breeding and registries. She's a wealth of information and Cortney and I had so much fun and learned a ton. 

Excuse me madam, front legs need to come out of two holes, not one.

She was so shiny after I groomed her, but it was not to be for much longer.

She was very polite as I led her around. Keila tossed a saddle on her to just wear and get used to and we left her in a stall with some grain and went to meet her dad!

This is Dubarry, or Dubs. He's massive but a very very good boy. Definitely the type of manners you want a stallion to have.

He has a Dad Bod currently, but also luscious locks. We were told to stay back as Keila led him out for some round pen time because he'd been cooped up due to rain. His 'antics' were exceedingly polite and Cortney and I both laughed. He never invaded space, he never hit the end of the lead, he just got a bit prancy.

He had stopped competing due to an injury, and isn't currently because Keila doesn't have a rider who can showcase him to his potential. But his kiddos in Europe are doing incredibly well. 

After meeting Dubs, we got a tour of all the Dubabies on the property. Here's Cortney getting loved on by three very curious yearlings. 

After that it was back to Leche for some trailer loading work.

Trailer loading was NBD. She started to try some of the same tricks Gwyn used to do and it made me giggle. She was easy to correct and redirect and high value alfalfa made the trailer a fun place for her and she stood calmly and ate for a while. 

She backed off like it was nothing and loaded back on one more time for good measure. We left it at that and figured if we needed to be patient in the morning, that was fine. 

After that, Cortney and I needed break from the sun, we were NOT used to it! So we hit up the local Tack Store in town because I'd heard so many amazing things about this place and it definitely delivered. 

If only these came in adult sizes!!

We had dinner with barn folks and said goodnight to Leche as I gave her another dose of Ulcergard. 

And grabbed this awesome picture of the horse statue!

We headed back to the hotel to crash. It was going to be an early day for the drive back!