The Long Haul - Day One

This past Wednesday was the day I've been waiting for for a long time. That morning I gleefully locked our back door from the inside, leaving the keys to the rental house resting on the kitchen counter. As I covered my head with my hoodie I sent a smirk skyward at the drizzling rain that was just beginning to grow heavier. Contentment overcame me as I reveled in the fact that I would no longer have to deal with the Portland drizzle. I blinked my eyes, to clear them of the tiny rain drops that collected on my eyelashes and easily slid into the drivers seat of my husband's car. Without a glance backward we headed south to the barn to load Rose.

Saying goodbye to
Green Meadow Farm

A half-hour later we arrived at Green Meadow Farm and found a quiet barn full of horses contentedly eating their morning hay. Rose happily met me at the gate to come in from the rain. After a quick grooming session and loading my remaining tack into the trailer, it was time to load the girl and head down the road. Rose was a bit perplexed by the shavings in the trailer, but stepped right on and investigated her hay and water bucket while she quietly waited for the back door to close and for the truck to get underway. As we drove out of the drive I gave one glance back at the barn and felt a sadness come over me. We learned so much at that barn, Rose and I, and we had some wonderful barn-mates. I would miss GMF, this I knew, but I looked north towards the mountains in anticipation of returning to a life and a home that I have desperately longed for.

Rose learning about
rest stops and air breaks

As planned, we hauled Rose loose in our two horse slant as a box stall and stopped approximately every two hours for 20-30 minutes to give her a break. At the first stop she anticipated getting off the trailer and seemed a bit mystified by the rest stop and lack of other horses. Amid a few calls she manage to drink and eat a bit before we were underway again. The rest of the day went much the same way. In total with our breaks, it took us about seven hours to get from Sherwood, Oregon, to our overnight spot in Spokane, Washington.

Rose relaxing in her
stall for the night.

Rose stayed at the Spokane Sport Horse Farm in an overnight stall. I would definitely recommend the place for overnight stabling and will use them again. The rate was fair, $20, and included shavings and an automatic waterer. The stalls are well built and safe, and even have paddock runs. The only criticism I have of the place is the absolute lack of customer service. They were terrible about returning calls, but I did get better response on email. They didn't tell us where/how to pay them, nor did they greet us when we arrived at about 6:30pm. In fact, I never did meet the barn manager/owner. The staff we did meet the next morning were great, and I'm sure had I met any of them when we arrived I would have felt more comfortable with the situation. I just thought leaving my horse at a barn where I didn't meet any of the staff or any boarders was really weird.

Relaxing after a long drive!

As for the humans and dog, we checked into our luxurious accommodations at the Motel 6 and then went in search of dinner and a frosty beverage in downtown Spokane. We settled on the Steelhead Bar & Grill, and thoroughly enjoyed excellent atmosphere, great service and tasty dinner.

Stay tuned for day two...

Happy trails and swooshing tails!