Thursday, our performance went wonderfully (and trust me, you will notice a trend here). And we even got a pleasant surprise: instead of having to perform for an hour straight (our Sound of Music routine was half an hour), we would get two extra half hour slots Friday and Saturday. That definitely made life easier!
My week would be full of great people, and my parents were no exception. They drove down from Wisconsin to watch us for a couple days, and while neither of them are horse people, they had a great time. My dad, an architect and "jack of all trades," was thrilled to look at the buildings and the grounds. He had a great viewpoint from Ingrid's (illegal) electric bike.
Well, we thought it would be illegal at first. Before we arrived at WEG, we were given a long list (think dozens of pages) of rules, regulations, and prohibited items. Essentially, any form of transportation besides your own two feet was not allowed. And in some cases, these rules were ENFORCED! WEG's facebook told us every day that umbrellas still were not allowed. (Who cares about scoring? I need to be reminded about UMBRELLAS!) And one international competitor was handcuffed for trying to get into the international barn without proper identification...poor guy.
That being said, not all rules were enforced. You could bring in food and water no problem. And you could definitely ride bikes, and if you are lucky enough to be friends with Ingrid and Carlo, you could ride electric bikes! My dad loved these things; we basically lost him for an entire afternoon. Every once in a while, we'd see him zipping around, wind in his hair, and he'd update us on something new and exciting; did you know the roofs on those buildings are new? They laid this sod last fall. By Thursday, he had it all figured out; I have no doubt that if we had stayed for another few days, he would have gotten access anywhere. He was hanging out with people from the international barn. One helpful chap even told him that he couldn't get into the barn with the ID he had on, but all he had to do was go to this trailer, get his picture taken, and receive a special armband and he was in. Honestly, how cool is my dad?
Thursday night, while the exhaustion was beginning to hit us, we wanted to experience Lexington, and this was our chance. So Stevie, Brenda, Ingrid, Carlo, Carlo's friend, Franz, and I went out. And man, Lexington was hopping! I'm not sure if it's always like that, but there were people everywhere, some sort of outdoor festival, and lots of places with live music and dancing. Of course, by that point all we wanted to do was sit down and eat, and we found a great place to do that, too. After contemplating going to a club, our fatigue won and we went back to our respective sleeping areas.
For me, you might remember that was a hotel room with eight people total. Besides Stevie and I, the other girls were teenagers, and here's a shout-out to them: HOW has got some great youth! They were studious, polite, got along with each other, and had a wonderful time. I really can't say enough good stuff about these girls, and I'm so glad I had a chance to spend time with them.
Next up: Freestyle Friday!
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