The Trek to Kentucky

Good news--the baby is nursing while someone holds the mare, and the vet tech thinks they will bond in about three days. I'm sooooo thrilled!

I felt good enough about the future of the baby to travel to Kentucky, the land of the thoroughbred and bluegrass (and hills and trees, something I sorely miss in Lubbock--which is why I now live in a pecan grove...I have trees in a land where they don't grow naturally). I didn't expect to have trouble--I had a pretty long layover in Dallas, so even if I were delayed (which isn't unusual when travelling from LBB to DFW), I was covered.

Or so I thought.

I made it to the airport in Lubbock with lots of time to spare (enough for a fine shoe shine and then some), and we arrived in Dallas on time. I spent the layover eating lunch (loaded spud) and re-reading Nina Lowe's book on Fence Judging. The plane was slightly delayed in Dallas, but we boarded and, I thought, were on our way. Not so. The pilot announced the the plane had experienced some mechanical difficulties, and that they turned out to be too much to take care of at the gate--so we had to de-plane and start over again while they "looked for a plane".

Minutes later, the loudspeaker announced that our flight was cancelled, and we would have to re-book w/ a ticket agent.

Talk about a mad scramble! And, of course, MY line was the slowest one. Why is that always the case?

I ended up getting booked on a Delta flight into Cincinnati, which arrived about two plus hours later. My bags, however, came in on American, so I had to juggle terminals to find them. I was soon in my little neon rental and on my way. And this time, I drove in 68 degrees and sunny conditions--I'll bet dressage today was breathtaking.

I got to my brother and sister-in-law's house w/out a hitch (ok, I DID take a wrong turn on 62. I keep forgetting that you have to go west to get east....Kentucky is weird like that). We went to a wonderful Mexican restaurant for dinner, and had a good chat (congrats, Rachel and JR, and Kate, let's talk about law school...). I'm SO looking forward to tomorrow when I take that incredible drive down Paris Pike and Iron Works road to the Kentucky Horse Park and the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. Until tomorrow, then.