Sunday, February 10, 2013

Vacation countdown

Ok, it's less than 24 hours until my vacation starts. 
I'm going to actually have my very first extended vacation in over 10 years... well, more like 7 but I'm not counting the time your Grandpa Don and I went to Ft Lauderdale to see the King Tut exhibit. What was going to be a great time got ruined the last night there. 
I'm sure I blogged about it previously, you'll have to look it up. 
The suite I've booked has a garden Jacuzzi tub, which means for the first time in forever, I'll be able to soak in a tub. 
And scratch an item off my bucket list - actually riding a horse. 
I'll have pictures, don't worry. You can see how ridiculous I look - but I don't care. 
I'll be on a real, honest to Goddess, staying at a resort, VACATION! 

(if you can't tell, this is a big thing for me) 


Sunday, February 3, 2013

Doctor's orders

Well, went in for my annual checkup, and everything is fine...except for one little thing. 
Dr. Springer and I were talking and work came up. I happened to mention that I'd set the departmental record for most overtime in a two week period (48 hours) and he asked what I was planning for a vacation. 
I mentioned that I wasn't really a vacation type person, and the crux of the discussion became that I was *going* to take a real vacation this year, no arguments from me. 
Well, that got me thinking about what I would like to do - beach? mountains? city?
Given that this discussion took place in January, going to KC was off the table. Grandpa Merlin doesn't do snow. (I know, Grandpa Don & Uncle Ian were just there...but they don't mind snow)  
And as I began listing choices, I got to thinking about whether or not I wanted "all inclusive" or "ala carte" so to speak. 
I checked out cruises, I checked out various resorts, I checked out vacation packages - nothing really seemed to fit, or there were potentially too many "extra charges" involved (as in the case of a cruise), not to mention the entire passport issue. 
Then I had an idea, and checked out dude ranches in Georgia. 
I came across one called Southern Cross, located in Madison, Georgia ... only an hour away. 
They offered a variety of packages, however the one that most interested me was their "all inclusive" - offering not only meals, but two riding sessions daily for the extent of the stay. 
So, next week, I'm spending a week (ok, 4 nights) at a dude ranch. 

A bit of a background on my equine history - I've only been on a horse 2.5 times in my life - once as a child on a led pony ride, once at a carnival on a fixed pony ride, and the last time when I was 17 and in San Diego. 
That was the half - that ride lasted only as long as it took for the horse to realize I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, and he didn't want to be ridden. The horse won. 

So that's what's going on. More later 

And Happy Birthday Andrea! 

Update: 
It was utter heaven. 
I actually rode a horse for at least 2.5 hours a day for 5 days - discovered I cannot do 4 hours on horseback though. 
And that tub. Oh. My. God. That. Tub. 
When you get older, you'll understand the sublime heaven that is a long hot soak. And since I'm 6'3" , I don't exactly fit in the standard tub. So I took full advantage of a tub that I could fit in, and soaked every night for at least an hour, sometimes more. 
Did I mention it was a Jacuzzi tub? 
And I didn't have anyone bothering me, asking when I was coming out of the bathroom, etc? 
When I wasn't horseback riding, I was reading...that's all I did, was relax, read, and ride horses. 
I'm going to do it again next year for my birthday.