I Would Drive 500 Miles, and I Would Drive 500 More…

Every year, I really, really look forward to heading back to Wellington for the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) season…but every year, I really, really don’t look forward to making the 1,100+ mile drive south.
 
With that said, I’m fortunate that I’m always able to split it up over at least two days, and I only make the trek via car once a year. (Kudos to all of my groom, shipping, general horse friends that make that drive frequently…don’t know how you do it!)
 
This year, I left PA on December 2 and actually split the drive up over three days with a great overnight pitstop in the Middleburg and Purcellville, VA area for a friend and former coworker, Rebecca’s, baby shower.
 
Me, Rebecca, Ann (and Pumba and Leila) outside of the Chronicle of the Horse offices in Middleburg

I’d somehow never been to Middleburg before, despite a number of friends and horse connections there, and now I need to book a weekend getaway at the Salamander Resort stat!!

While I know Middleburg is old news to a lot of my horse friends, I’m now so in love with that little town! While there, Rebecca, another friend and former colleague (who now works for the Chronicle of the Horse), Ann, and I had lunch at the Red Horse Tavern and went to the Fun Shop (which was so, so cute and was not actually anything like the Weasleys’ Joke Shop from Harry Potter which is what I envisioned when Rebecca told me we were going to the Fun Shop…). We also visited the Chronicle of the Horse office and checked out all of their past archives which I thought was awesome! (Pumba also enjoyed romping around the dog-friendly offices.)

Other than having a great time at the baby shower, there’s not much to share about driving 900+ miles on I-95…

Pumba slept. I performed all parts of Hamilton. We stopped at Zaxby’s as soon as we got far enough south. And eventually, we ended up back in sunny Wellington!! 😀

Pumba has acquired a new Wellington dog roomie and best friend for the winter, Triton

 Oh and somewhere amidst my time in PA to FL I acquired a boyfriend! He’s a pretty good one, so I’m sure I’ll be sharing more in the weeks to come. 😉

It’s been a great two weeks back in Wellington so far – I’ve loved getting back into my Florida routine, back into riding…back into warm weather!  But now as I write this I’m off to board a flight to head back up north! A relatively pointless blog post for now – just saying ‘hey! I’m here; blogs still here!’ 😉 More to come from PA!

Perks of being back in Wellington include starting mornings like this.
About the author
Hi! I'm Emily, a 30-year-old, full-time public relations CEO and Christian, and part-time equestrian and workout enthusiast. I run my own public relations firm, RandolphPR, and share bits and pieces of my life here at EmilyRiden.com!