Pics from Belgium

Here is a few pics of my favorite horse in Belgium. His name is Prianik and he is a 8yr old Akhal-Teke stallion.

In Baltimore

Well I made it to BWI. We got in at about 8:15 local time but it took almost two hours to get our baggage and go through customs. It was funny, because I ride horses and might have foreign soil on my boots, they sanitized them at customs.
Anyway, a friend from Bob's work Tipton traveled with me to Baltimore. We thought about trying to get a hotel room but there was nothing available in the local area. Between the shuttle ride and the cost of a room it was just too much. So now I am just sitting outside the USO and waiting for morning. Tipton had his two pets that are not allowed inside so I am keeping him company. Not sure what exactly I will do tonight but it is after midnight local time so I only have nine hours till my flight.
See everyone soon.

On my way home

So I am officially checked in for the flight back to the states. I should arrive in Cali wed afternoon. I will then head to Fort Bragg to work for the weekend and then up to Eureka for a little while to see family. Can't wait to see everyone. Elicia

Back in Turkey, again.

A picture of the race off of Michele's website. Hopefully I will have more soon.
Well I made it to Turkey arriving late at night on Tue. It is nice to be home again and see Bob and the dogs. I have been enjoying going shopping and cooking us dinner and lots of deserts. It's amazing the things you miss when living somewhere else.
The plan right now is to try and get my paperwork through so I can catch a flight home on the 20th. Hopefully it won't get delayed and I will go straight to work at RRR for memorial day weekend. Depending on how busy it is after that I will try to go spend a week or more up at Eureka visiting family.
Not sure what is going to happen in the future. Because of difficulties with Turkish customs I will have to come back to Turkey in the fall. I might then stay for a while or pack up and move home. It all depends on if Bob gets out of the Air Force or if he reenlists for another four years. Hopefully either way we will get to do more traveling around Europe.

Baggage checked

So I am going to Turkey, again. There is room on the flight so I checked my baggage and am just waiting 1.5hrs for it to board. I should get to Turkey late tonight.
I had a great time with the Austins. Wonderful family and a great contact to have here in Germany. They have a beautiful new house with a very nice guest room. Steve was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and offer to let me stay with them for two nights. Lana has been wonderful cooking great meals and letting me run around with her on errands. The kids are so well behaved and we had a great time last night playing their Wii. Seeing there life here makes me want to live in Germany.

I have a place to stay

New Update: I finally got a hold of my relatives and they are coming to pick me up. They said they would love to have me stay a few nights. Now just to see if I can get on my flight.

Trying to get home

Well I left Belgium this morning and started hopping trains to Germany. It is not a very fun experience especially because I have two regular size suitcases, a carry on and a backpack. Which are all very heavy. Also my legs still hurt from riding 65 miles just two days ago. So after a train, bus, and another train I can to Landstuhl where I had missed my last train by 2-3 minutes. I asked a taxi driver and it was only 12 euro for a ride to the base terminal so off we went.
At the terminal I signed up for the next flight to Turkey leaving on Tuesday. Hopefully there will be room and I can get on it. If not I do not think there is another flight till the end of the month. Not sure what I will do then.
So now I need somewhere to stay for the night but none of the hotels have room for the next two nights. I called off base but it is 60 euro compared to one base which is only $30, half the price. I do have relatives on base so I gave them a call, but they are not home. So now I am just sitting in the terminal not sure what to do.

Endurance in Europe

So my first ride went well. We only went 100km (about 65 miles). I am not in very good shape though so that was enough for me. My legs hurt very bad now. Some things were very interesting. The trip to the race was about 7 hours and we drove very fast. We only stopped for gas twice and they did not offer the horses water or let them out at all. In the morning we vetted in then rode the first 25 miles where we saw the vet once and she just waved us on. After that we had a vet check and a 35 min hold. The next loop was about 40 miles in which there was two vet check with about a 20 min hold each. That loop ended back at camp and I was tired and so was Peter's horse so we stopped there. It was interesting to see how they did things. Michele would meet us along the trail about every 10 miles with a bucket of water for the horses and bottles of water to pour on their necks. We did not carry any saddle bags and there was no need for a breast plate as the trail was all flat. I did not see them give the horses electro lights at all. We did the whole ride standing the trot and when Peter's horse would get tired he would use a tree branch for a crop and just push her faster. At the end we had a final vet check and then they put a electro mag blanket on the horses. Also some kind of cooling mud on their legs. There was only one other rider competing in that long of a ride besides us so I guess we placed first and second. When it came time to leave the next day we had to go find the vet on the trail and have here check the horses before we were allowed to go. It was a very interesting experience and so far I prefer endurance in the states.

I will post picture soon.