OUR EXTREME DREAM

      My mom came to visit this weekend. Cory and I took her to the Jacksonville Zoo to see all of the renovations and new attractions.  

     After the zoo, we went to some friends' house to swim and eat.

     I had orignally posted several pictures from our visit to the zoo.  However, the computer locked up twice.  Therefore, HERE are the rest of the pics.

     PERFECT!  That is the only word I can come up with for this weekend.

     Erik and I met up with some friends to ride our motorcycles.  It was the first time I had been on mine in about a year.  I was somewhat nervous about it.  However, Erik assured me it was like riding a bicycle.  He was right!

     We rode the loop to Fernandina out Heckcsher Drive and back up 17.  It's was about 50 miles.  We had lunch at The Surf along the way.  The weather was perfect for cruising. 

     I had forgotten how much I love my motorcycle.  I have never been a very good passenger.  I am questioning if I even want to sell it.  The money would be nice (could pay off some bills), but the thrill and the freedom from riding your my bike is amazing.

     On Saturday Cory and I rode with Chele, Marilyn, and Traci K. at Shangri-La in Ocala, FL. It's part Greenway trail system. We made the trip to take our chances in a Poker Ride to benefit a local trail riding group.

     We followed the red trail loop on our first trip out.  It was a short ride, only about an hour and a half.  Upon returning to the trailhead, we took a short break and drew our poker hand.   Unfortunately, none of us had the winning hand.  No worries though.  Our real reason for coming was to explore new trails.

     We tried to hit every trail in Shangri-La area. We rode blue, yellow, red, one color we're not sure of, and green (our favorite).  We rode all the way to some hard road, up and over hills, down little valleys, and through some VERY close trees. There were some narrow trails through places that looked like a jungle.  There were areas where tall tress blocked the sun and made it appear almost cloudy out. We rode past many large rocks with and without trees growing out of the top that made the some of the horses spook. Let's just say the place was amazing!

     We would definitely call this an advanced trail ride. There were no passengers today. We really had to pay attention and actively ride our horses almost the entire time. Cory rode it like a trooper and hung in through the whole ride, which was about 4 hours all together. It was the most advanced ride she has been so far. She and Beauty have become fabulous partners.  They have no fear of trotting off and/or picking on Mommy and Linc.  Go Cory!

     All and all, we would like to say it was well worth the drive to Ocala. It is a very nice place to ride and hopefully will allow camping again very soon so you can hang out over night and relax. YEE-HAW!

     Earlier this week, the mules down the road broke their fence in the pasture and escaped.  Thankfully, they made it down the road without getting hurt and wound up in my neighbor's front yard.  The owners are out of town, so we had to get creative.  I now have Sharon's mares in Faith's paddock, and the mules are at their house till they return.

     HAHAHA, we had the poop scared out of us this morning.  Remember how I told you the neighbor had turned the power off.  Well, ever since then we have had rats in the the feed room.  So anyway, I was leaving to head home, and I heard a plop.  I figured it was a rat,  Nope, looked over to see a 3-4 foot snake slithering down from the top blanket to one on the bottom.

     Of course, I had to get a picture, so I went home to get the camera.  Cory came back with me.  She wanted to see it too (or so she thought).  When I opened the door, a rat went flying out.  The snake was obviously on the hunt for some breakfast.  I couldn't see all of him, so I grabbed the broom.  This pissed him off, and he struck it.  That was all Cory could take.  She went running out of the feed room and refused to come back in.  I laughed so hard!

     Here's our little friend.

     Cory and I took a trip to Thomasville to visit my mom and stepdad this weekend.

     On Friday, I chose to audit a clinic at Buckwild Ranch in Quitman.  The trainer was one of the participants in the Gatorland Makeover.  He seemed like a very knowledgeable horse person, and I enjoyed watching him.

     On Saturday, I spent the day with the family.  We went to Valdosta to hit some stores.  Found some killer deals at Kohls.  I am not one for shopping (not anymore).  However, I do love a good bargain.  After shopping, we went to Mori's for sushi.  Mmmm... it was delicious.

     On Sunday, I spent the day hooking up all the toys that mom and David picked up the day before.  I am by no means a computer geek, but I am good at reading directions and problem solving.  By the end of the day, I had installed a new monitor; hooked up a wireless router, keyboard, and mouse; got David's laptop going; set up an account with Napster for David and tried to load up his MP3 player (unfortunately it was defective).

     We really enjoyed our visit.  It's nice to slow down once in a while.  Although, I must admit I was happy to return to my hectic life on Monday.  It just feels weird not having a million things to do.

     I took a few pics on Sunday.  Excuse my messy look.  I never even made it out of my pjs that day.

     Making a tile for the garden.  Grandma and Cory

     Grandpa and Cory

     Me and Cory

   Mom, Cory, and me

     The finished product

     Cory & Bella

HERE are the rest of the pics.

     I was without a truck today, so Cory and I put on our suits and headed next door.  It's been a few weeks since we'd given everyone a bath.  Seemed like a good thing to do.

     Cory wanted to ride Beauty before her haircut and bath.  She didn't last too long because it;s just so damn HOT here.

     Mommy had the camera ready at just the right moment.

     Beauty got a bath.

     Then Faith and Izzy got one.  Poor Faith is so faded from the sun.  I cannot wait till she is home under the shade trees.  Erik is super busy trying to open up a motorcycle shop, Wicked Cycles, with Anthony and Tommy.  He'll get my fence built one day.

     After all of the girls, I gave Linc a bath.

     I tried turning him out, but unfortunately he must have taken some pitbull lessons from Rocky.  He was terrorizing Faith.  I was afraid someone was going to get hurt, so I wound up putting her in the pen.  Poor thing, he got her hormones raging.  She was squirting all of over the place.  Made Skylar and Morco curl their lips.

     Rocky was the last to get a bath just because he's so mean to everyone.  I have to keep a constant eye on him when I turn him out since he's bound to challenge somebody.

If those aren't enough pics, HERE's the rest.