A Trip Delayed

We were supposed to go, but we didn't. Our SC vacation was scheduled to start. However, there was a client meeting Carrie was asked to attend east of Richmond. Carrie was hurrying up and waiting, but the call never came. 

Not that we knew that when we went to the barn. Carrie had asked me to come help with Nibs training and to let Shane get some fresh air.

Carrie's goals of the day included installing a camera in the trailer. The camera would link to her cellphone.

Finding a good vantage point was tricky.

But once found, duct tape came to the rescue. Think of it as a trial mounting.

Nested camera shot.

Meanwhile, ducks.

I didn't help at all with the camera. The main thing I did was say, "Don't worry, he's okay." 

Nibs didn't come when Carrie called because she was hiding from the heat in the run-to.

Presto! Ponies.

Shane and I circumnavigated the lakes.

Shane really, really, really wants to go fishing here.

I saw some tiny fish up the hill, but  nothing the camera could catch.

It turned out Carrie didn't need me. She loaded Nibs on her own while I watched Shane.

Nibs did so well, Carrie decided to take her for a spin.

She made a few laps around the garage.

Nibs was still doing well, so Carrie decided to push it a little further.

After two laps, she continued on down the driveway...

...and went off!

As did Shane, but in a different direction.

Carrie came back a little bit later. She'd driven Nibs down the road half a mile to the middle school, turned around, and cruised back.

Carrie said could hear Nibs squealing in the back. Nibs was scared, but didn't do anything silly.

Nibs was happy to be back on property and eating.

Hi, Nibs.

Carrie unloaded Nibs to show her everything was alright. Then she wanted to reload Nibs to show her the trailer hadn't changed. Nibs hesitated, but eventually was coaxed on.

After the trailer ride, Carrie wanted to leave Nibs on a positive note. She brought her in for a brush down and some treats.

She let Shane help some with the brushing. Shane asked a question about horse teeth and Carrie let him have a look. Nibs still has her baby teeth.

The real excitement came afterward. Carrie asked if we wanted to ride in the back of the trailer while she parked it.

We got to experience it from the horse side of things! Carrie did a quick lap around the garage before backing up to unhitch.

We loved it. I hadn't thought Carrie would have allowed it, but I was wrong!

Since we were already in a barn mood, Carrie set the chickens up for vacation week when we got back home. Shane asked if he could hold a bird. He did.

We were set for a quiet evening afterward. Only Rah knocked. He asked if I could take him and his mom down to the bike non-profit to get his bike fixed. I said, "Come back in an hour."

It was a good thing Shane and I cleaned out the car last week.

I drove around to pick up Rah's mom. She says she has trouble walking longer distances, and it's a good example for young boys to be considerate.

When we got there, Rah's mom sat down and left him to go figure something out.

I watched at first. It's not my rodeo, so I wasn't going to swoop in to take charge. It's not a bad thing to let kids try and act independently.

I did make my way over and start a conversation later. I can't hold back the teaching instinct. Rah was asking me the names of certain parts and we started to talk to the guys fixing the bike. I noticed that Rah started to fade back eventually and found myself the point of contact before the end.

One worker left and when the second one took a look at Rah's bike he said, "It's junk. Want a new bike?" It was a generous move and I said so.

Rah's mom asked Rah to ask me if I would take them by Food Lion afterward. I wanted to know if it was a quick trip. Assured it was, I agreed.

Little did I know, Charlottesville City decided to rip up all the pavement right before rush hour on the street that headed out of the city and to the Food Lion.

I got home in time for the laptop die. Really, it had gasped for breath before the bike jaunt, but we didn't pronounce it firmly dead until after I was home. The power button refused to respond.

It had lasted six years (mostly).

We went to Costco after scouting some deals online and decided to pull the trigger. The deal was good enough and Costco has a good return policy, so we figured we'd do a trial run. Carrie laughed when the salesman picked up the sample laptop ("It's so heavy!" he said. "You should see our old laptop!" She replied).

Carrie connected it to the router and started setting it up once we got home.

I would have liked to have left for SC, but it turned out God had a better plan. We packed, we played, Shane went to bed, and then Carrie and I hung out until we went to bed.