Picture above is of the actual container the 3 horses are loaded into before being put on the plane.  That is disinfectant in the pic as well.

After Tevis, on Sunday morning just after the Haggin Cup judging, Jeremy and I  loaded up Cleo and Stirgess and headed back to Lake Tahoe.  We drove 2+ hours East, unloaded and cared for Stirgess and Cleo and then loaded up Kutt, Marvel and Kingley and headed West.

6 hours of heading West later, around 8 pm we arrived in San Jose at our pasture.  Kingley got to go out but Kutt and Marvel were offered a drink and saddled up.  We couldn't afford to not ride them as we had an 18 mile beach ride scheduled for 7:30 am Monday morning (low tide) and we did not want a tie up.  As we cantered along in the dark, I smiled and laughed as I told Jeremy that I bet no one else who rode Tevis the day before was galloping in the dark on Sunday night!

The beach ride went really well on Monday and Wed.  Becky and Pete joined us too.  Friday we rode once more and then all throughout the week our amazing body worker, Dixie Snyder worked on us and the horses multiple times.  Very awesome.

The horses were scheduled to fly on Tuesday.  On Friday we were told that it would be a few days delayed!  After a lot of back and forth, the horses needed to be at the airport earlier than the original plan.  They needed to be at Jetpets at LAX at 3 pm on Sunday.  We carpooled and had all three horses in Becky and Judith's rig by 8 am and we were headed South.

The drive went by quickly, we made one stop for lunch/fuel.  As we drove down the Grapevine into Los Angeles the temp outside hit 108 F.  Damn!  We had one mishap with the GPS taking us to some vacant lot instead of Jetpets but we were really close to where we needed to be.

The horses settled in just fine at Jetpets after being inspected by the USDA vet and then weighed for the flight weight calculations.  Then we drove all of the gear to another location to get it all loaded into a crate.

When all of that was wrapped up we found our way to Andre and Nicole
Ruggeri's house.  It is in Rancho Palos Verdes.  The horses are at their house and the views of the ocean are breath taking.  We had a very relaxing dinner with them at their house and enjoyed the perfect weather during our outdoor meal over looking the ocean.

Jeremy was to fly with the horses on an all freight flight.  The flight would take off at 5 am so we needed to leave the house by 2 am.  When the alarm went off we all got ready after 1:45 mins of sleep.  We got into the truck and we were surprisingly awake.  As Jeremy started the truck he noticed he had a voice mail.  The flight had been postponed and it would be leaving at 7:20 am.  We piled out of the truck and went back to sleep.  The second alarm went off and it was MUCH harder to wake up the second time.

Jeremy and the horses loaded up without any problems.  After we said our good byes we headed back to the Ruggeri's to sleep.  It was about 6 am when we got back.  I set my alarm for 9 and passed out.  About 20 mins later Jeremy started sending cool pics of the horses on the tarmac getting loaded into the plane.  Very cool, I easily feel back asleep.

When we awoke for the 3rd time of the day, at 9 am we had some cereal and hung out for a bit and then Nicole made an appointment for Becky and I to get Manicures and Pedicures.  It is really hard to prepare for a World Championship:)  I got Red, White and Blue toes and pink sparkles on my fingers.  Very fun.

After that Nicole took us to the beach with a cooler full of lunch packed and we hung out for a couple of hours relaxing on the sand.  Nicole went boogie boarding and we walked in the water.

The beach was followed by a shower and an enjoyable dinner out with Andre and Nicole, Becky and Judith.  The weather was perfect.

Jeremy should be in Luxemburg right now.  He will be there all day Tuesday, then spend the night and hit the road Wed including crossing the channel on a ferry and then he will be at the barn with the three guys, I hope it is going smoothly. 

Becky, Judith and I fly out of LAX at 5:50 pm Tuesday night.  Holly, my sister, flys out tomorrow from Austin Texas.  She will arrive about an hour earlier than us in Heathrow.  It will be up to her and I to navigate on the wrong side of the car, wrong side of the road to find our cottage.  It is about a 2+ hour drive, plenty of room for error!  Wish us luck.
Heather