Vacation

Matthew and I spent the last two weeks on a hectic vacation that took us around the Midwest and back.  We started off by driving ourselves, all four horses, and one cat to my parents' place in Tennessee.  After three days there, we left the animals behind and headed towards Cleveland for my college roommate Sam's wedding.  On our way to Cleveland we stopped in to visit my alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University.

 

I had to take a minute to sit in these very familiar chairs in the science center.

 

And a token photo in front of the sign.  A few things have changed, but mostly it still looked the same.

Next, we finished our drive to Cleveland for four days of activities and wedding celebrations.  I spent Friday with Sam and her family while Matthew toured a company for work and then went golfing.  Saturday included another bachelorette celebration, the rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner.  Sunday was the Big Day and then we stayed for Monday's open house party at Sam's parents' house.  We decided to use Airbnb for accommodations during our stay and it worked out perfectly.  It sure was a hectic few days though and I don't think that we went to bed before midnight any night!

 

Here is my favorite shot from the Big Day.  I still have to finish editing the rest of the hundreds of photos that I took.

 

The only photo I have of both of us, taken at the reception.  I was a bridesmaid and Matthew gave a swing dance lesson before the reception.

 

After the wedding festivities, we drove back to Tennessee and continued our vacation.  We spent most of our time riding, hiking, and playing golf.  Here are a couple of photos of my mom and I out riding.

 

Matthew also rode with me one day on Rabi.

 

The mountain laurels were gorgeous during our whole trip, but especially so on this little hike we took at Pogue Canyon.

 

And finally, another exciting part of our trip was buying a new (to us) horse trailer!  I found it near my parents' house, on craigslist, and it turned out to be exactly what we wanted.  We also managed to have a gooseneck hitch installed and sell our old trailer during our vacation, I guess it was meant to be!  The new trailer desperately needs some cleaning, so I will post more photos after I have washed it.