Urgh computers

42 days till hittin' the trail . . .

So I thought I had the hang of this whole technology thing back when I was 11 or 12. Turns out it keeps changin' or something, and I'm hopelessly inept. Just spent a couple of hours updating my webpage and then in one itsy-bitsy mouse click undid everything I'd done. I guess that's just how it goes.

I had a great ride with Rua, Yoakum, and one of my landlords' horses the other day. My roommate's friend, Tim, rode my landlords' horse. Meagan, my roommate, became the 4th person to ever ride Rua, and I rode Yoakum. Rua and Yoakum were both amazingly well behaved. No bucks this time :D

I rode Rua before we all went out to take the edge off her for Meagan, and we made the very unpleasant discovery of a large spool of wire. Of course my mare found all this with her hind legs, every horse lovers nightmare. I told her to whoa, and she stood stock still while I dismounted and untangled her. I'm so glad we have that trust. I'm sure we'll be in close corners with wire more than once over the summer.

So . . . sponsorship plans. I'm going decorated. Spots for endorsements are available on my chaps, vest, saddle and saddlepad for $100 per 2 square inches. Let me know if you're interested. The hat's also up for grabs, but that's extra :) JD from Shodown gave me this idea and generously offered to be the first sponsor. Yay, there's a start :)

Have a good one,
Erin

Workin' . . .

50 days till hittin' the trail . . .

I'm at work right now sellin' rhinestone belts and grass seed. When the customers disappear I go fold Carhartt sweatshirts, read a book on packin', or search the Western Horseman for potential sponsors. I wish I didn't have to work so much, so I could focus on trip preparation. However, money talks, and I gotta buy gas. I get tomorrow off though for school work and trip prep.

I rode Yoakum and Rua yesterday. Rua was awesome. We galloped about three quarters of a mile and walked another mile or so. She's in real good shape for just coming out of winter. Yoakum was feelin' a wee bit frisky and threw a few good bucks in after running down a bank. I was glad I put a saddle on him. It's a good thing I'm ridin' my horse for 3100 miles. If I rode Yoakum the mule the whole way, no one would be able to put up with me afterwards. I'd be a little too . . . inflexible for most people.

So, bad news. I heard back from National Geographic. The back story is I applied for a Young Explorers Grant from their Expeditions Council. They approved my preapplication, and I submitted the full application. They just denied it with a very polite form letter. I'm now actively seeking sponsorship from private sources. If anyone has any leads, please let me know. I'm lookin' for equipment, supplies, and/or cash. Pretty much I'll take what I can get. I'm of course more than willing to cooperate with marketing departments. Did I mention my mare's gorgeous? I'm not half bad myself either ;)


Have a good one,
Erin

Howdy Y'all

Well, here I am at 3:00 in the morning . . . finally making a blog. I think I've been planning to do this for at least 5 months. For some reason I prefer playing with my horses to messing around with computers. It's a lot more fun, and my horses' brains make much more sense to me than the inner workings of this computer. I'm gonna end up one of the those old ladies who can't stand technology and harps on and on about "the good ol' days".

53 days till hittin' the trail and about 100 days worth of work left to do. Working 30 hours a week, going to school full time so I can graduate, AND planning this adventure keeps me pretty busy. I'm startin' to think I'll sleep more on the trail than I do at home. I'll keep this blog updated with new developments, so y'all can keep up with me. While I'm on the trail my father will periodically update it when he hears from me. Today's big accomplishment . . . tarping my hay before it rains tonight and actually getting the webpage up. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more productive.

Night,
Erin

p.s. This is actually blog attempt #2. The first two posts were origninally published on another site that refused to link properly from my webpage.