Living the dream.....

After an uneventful flight but culture shock in LA I have made it to Pagosa, and met up with my fellow fastrackers!! I thought I waas fairly culturally aware but nothing prepared me for 3 hours in Terminal 1 of LA Airport - quite unbelievable and not going to go into it here...
I met up with Kim-Jo in the tiny Durango airport (my plane there took 24 people and my head almost touched the roof - overhead lockers too small for the average cabin bag.) The weather was sunny but with thunder, and the 50 odd miles took about an hour after we had found our way out of the airport - not really difficult but challenging after about 20 hours of zero sleep and getting in to a right hand drive car for the first time.
The scenery really is beautiful - and so different to NZ. We passed the Parelli sign on our way to our accomodation - Kim-Jo was desperate to go down there but I was just too tired - oh to be 21 again!!

Slept like a log and up at 6.30 this morning. Today we went to the Parelli Centre as the others were meeting their horses. So odd to see horses travel all together with no dividers, and they all seem so calm and LB. I am the designated driver being the only one old enough - scary eh!
Fleur (Holland), Kim-Jo (Belgium) and Sophie (UK) are sharing the accomodation and are in the pic.

anyway, the Centre is just AMAZING!!!! such an incredible atmosphere of peace and serenity, but think it may be different tomorrow with 50 odd students and horses milling around. Everything seems smaller than on the TV - just as beautiful though. It really is a special place. The first person I saw - Russell, riding along the road on Liberty Belle - no longer that foal seen on the dvds a few years ago, obviously. he was off to move cattle. Then later on I saw Jackie, who looks incredibly suntanned and well.

I also met my lease horse Pierson who is SUCH a sweetie - he really liked me (today, anyway!) and just kept licking my hands - his owner said she had never seen him be like that before and shes had him 12 years. She and her husband are just lovely, and gave me bluberry tea and peaches in brandy that they were preparing for eating in winter. They have 2 huge cats who can't go outside or they'll be eaten by Mountain lions - they live in a very rurual area on the edge of the reserve. They also have big pyranean type dogs as protection from wildife.
Tonight we met up with about 40 other students for the fastrack in a place called....Boss Hoggs...!! which is naturally just as you'd imagine....all good fun.

Anyway, up at 6.30 to be at the centre by 8 for check in - should be a great day. talking to the other students though every one I have met has more riding experience than me - what a lot I am going to learn, and I have faith in Pierson that he was the right horse to choose...

brain will be busy tonight...