Home Sweet Home

Well we finally made it home! I was sad to see Oregon go but I guess vacations never last, that's what makes them vacations. Dan and I promised each other (and our friends) that we would be back soon, at least to visit, although who knows where our future may take us. We really enjoyed it out there....

Our flights home weren't quite as easy as we had hoped. Both were delayed, the second one (from Denver) - having waited already for our first plane to land and for us to make the transfer - was then stopped for over an hour on the runway waiting to be de-iced and have a clear shot to take off amongst the long line of departing flights. On the plus side, we got complimentary drinks as a result.

Waiting to be de-iced in Denver

We ended up not arriving in Hartford until close to 1am, which meant we didn't get home until well after 4:00 since we had more than two hours' worth of a drive back up to Bristol. The worst part was the weather: torrential downpour (did we take Portland with us?) with some sleet and freezing rain. Yuck. At least we were still on West Coast time. Plus, Dan's amazing uncle packed us up some more delicious goodies for the homeward trek which helped keep us awake and alert.

Of course, Wednesday is my day to take care of the horses at the barn so after only 2.5hrs of sleep Dan and I had to be up and on our way. It definitely took some work to get out of bed (and I'm an early riser!), but I was excited to see Charlie. Luckily (or not?), the harsh rain had continued through the night and it was still downpouring with hurricane-like winds which meant the horses were staying in, i.e. much less work for us (no turnout or filling outside water buckets).

Disgustingly gross paddocks...and only getting soupier :(

The first thing I did when I got to the barn was give Charlie a big smooch. He seemed very happy (surprised?) to see me and immediately stuck his nose out the feed opening in the wall to nuzzle my face. What a sweetie :) His feet look good, I was pleased to see. He had gotten them done the day we left on our road trip so I hadn't seen them before we left (they weren't cheap so they'd better look good!).

As much as I missed Charlie, I was super tired and my work schedule today had been changed last minute so I didn't have a minute to spare; Dan and I finished barn chores in record time and then jetted home for a quick shower before I headed off to work...for my 9 hour day. :( I made a strong tea to drink on the way and then also stopped for a grande latte at Starbucks, definitely the reason I survived haha.

Tomorrow and Friday are also full days of work (my attempt to compensate for taking so much time off). However, I do have a 3-day weekend so that should definitely pan out to some quality Charlie-time. Now I'm running on borrowed steam having reached my 2nd (or 3rd?), wind but I'm sure as soon as my head hits the pillow I'll be out. It's nice to be sleeping in my own bed again, even if it means having a purring Charlie-cat smothering your head all night and licking your eyelids. That's love.

Charlie snuggling with Dan