Colorado wedding

Three weeks ago we flew to Denver, Colorado for Philip's sister's wedding. It was a little dicey flying in, for when we arrived, the weather was like this:

Of course, none of the shoes I brought along were sensible for snow. I spent the entire weekend wearing high-heeled boots since they were the only ones that went above my ankle. Relatedly, RIP high-heeled boots since they were ruined by walking through the snow and ice.

We took advantage of the wonderful weather (blowing snow and precipitation) to walk around Denver and see the places Philip frequented when he lived there.

 Though I froze, I liked seeing the restaurants he hung out at and the places he played his guitar. We also checked out the architecture he studied during his Master's degree – places like the library and an art museum that looks like a rock formation. We ate pizza at Mellow Mushroom for lunch, forgetting that we were having pizza at the rehearsal dinner later that evening. No regrets.

The wedding the next evening was held at a beautiful venue made even better by all of the snow on the ground.

We had a great time partying and hanging out with his family and enjoyed lots of niece and nephew time. It was also nice to get to see the mountains again, especially when they looked like this:

I hope to return to Colorado one day soon in the spring or summer so I can actually go up into the mountains!

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Horse show travels: Augusta, GA

A recent horse show took me and a coworker to Augusta, Georgia, for the Augusta Futurity. The show is put on by the parent company of my company, so my duties were a lot more involved than usual. In addition to my normal event coverage, I also helped my coworker put together a program for Saturday night's finals, which consisted of interviewing tons of people and writing lots of little profiles about them. I had a good time at the show in spite of the cold, wet Augusta weather. For example, I woke up to this one morning:

It's not as impressive since it had already started melting, but that didn't stop children from running around outside my hotel room screaming "DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN???!??!" while throwing snowballs at each other.

Though we weren't staying on the Riverwalk, we drove over to check it out one chilly afternoon. It was beautiful in winter, and I imagine it's even prettier in spring.

 

Also, during some rare time off, I drove over to Aiken, South Carolina so that I could cross another state off my list. I chose Aiken because I read that it was a pretty horse-friendly city, and I think that description serves it well. There are parts of the town where the roads are dirt, and you'll see signs at intersections that say, "Yield to horses in intersection." We saw several people out driving horses or riding, and there were big parks for people to train in.

My next show is Texas-based, so I have no idea right now which state I'll find myself in next. All I know is that we need to get reining, cutting or cow horse events up in the Northeast states so that I can travel there! I need to cross one more state off my list to be halfway to 50!

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Horse show travels: Oklahoma City

Although I'm a native Texan, I had never been to Oklahoma until my husband and I went camping in Ardmore a few months ago. I then got to experience it again when a coworker and I drove up to Oklahoma City for the NRHA Futurity in November. Thankfully, there was no icy or bad weather during our visit, but in spite of my taking lots of Vitamin C while I was there, I still managed to come home with the Futurity Crud. But there's no time for sick days when you're trying to get a magazine out the door!

The NRHA Futurity was so much fun to watch. I made new friends, and it was exciting to celebrate with one of them when the horse he trained as a 2-year-old ended up winning the Non-Pro. Additionally, the horse and rider that I interviewed in Las Vegas after they won the Futurity Open ended up winning the whole shebang in OKC after a run-off. I absolutely ADORE that mare, and I was so excited to see her win.

Another horse I was excited to see was Smokey, aka American Pharoah's pony horse! A former reiner, he was at the Futurity to be a reining ambassador, and he demonstrated the patterns before the finals classes. He also stood (somewhat grumpily, but who can blame him) to let people take photos with him. People such as myself!

Oklahoma City was a fun way to finish my travel for the year. It's always better traveling with a coworker, and when that coworker happens to be your BFF in DFW, all the better. After a nice break for Christmas and New Years and lots of time with family and friends, I'm getting geared up to strike out again on more travels soon.

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Horse show travels: Paso Robles, CA

Whelp, this is long overdue, but in October I flew to San Jose, California, only to rent a car and drive about 2.5 hours to Paso Robles, California, for the PCCHA Futurity. While the route I took on the way over did not sport very scenic views, I went back on Highway 1, and that drive along the coast was quite beautiful!

Paso Robles is wine country, as evidenced by the many wineries that call it home. The town itself is not very big, but it does boast a good pizza place called Rustic Fire. I may have eaten there multiple times on my trip; I may crave it every day now. Don't worry about it.

Alas, I did not drink even a sip of wine, but I did see impressive expanses of grape vines as I drove through the country. On my way back to San Jose, I stopped several times whenever the view warranted it. Times like this:

And this:

It was a tad windy on the coastline:

I tried to go see Hearst Castle, but I discovered when I got to it that I had to pay for a tour that included a bus ride to the top of the mountain where it sits, and I didn't feel like spending 2.5 hours doing that or being that social. So I just looked at it from afar.

After I left Hearst Castle, I was driving along Highway 1 when I spotted a sign that said "Elephant Seal Lookout" with an arrow pointing towards a parking lot. Naturally, I swerved in. And I was not disappointed:

There were so many! And they were sleeping and arguing and making great noises...best stop yet.

I always love California and was really happy to get to go twice in 2015 (including the side trip I took to Lake Tahoe while in Reno). Maybe I'll get to visit again this year!

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