2000 North American Young Riders' Championships
Parker, Colorado, USA
2nd - 6th August 2000

Astrid Daily: August 2nd

Woke up round 6 AM because JJ and I had to leave round 7 AM to beat the traffic. Mary stayed in the camper as she wanted to get some work done and she just didn't feel up to the ride which takes 40 minutes (from the hotel to High Prairie farms). The 225 South was no problem but then we got on Parker Road and due to a small fender bender we got stuck in this major jam turning the ride into a 1 h 15 minutes trip. The first thing JJ said is, "I'm not doing this every day you know, I'll stay in the camper tonight." After finally getting to the show, we had to set up the boot completely which meant sweeping the carpets, getting the camper cleaned up inside (which is always a huge mess after a day's work) and set up the tables with flowers and folders that hold the invoices.

Today wouldn't be too busy. Preliminary jumping was the first competition being held at this 2000 NAYRC. Mary and JJ went out to take pictures while I stayed at the camper to handle customers. In the afternoon the eventers had their horse inspection and this is always a fun happening. The eventing horses are presented in such a classy way, completely braided and cleaned (some horses even had the Canada flag or a flower groomed into their coat). Only one horse didn't pass the jog. The day went by rather quickly and nothing really special happened. The dressage riders were allowed to train in the show ring and of course every single rider took advantage of that having their horse get acquainted with the judges' boxes.

We took off pretty early, Mary and I, and stopped at a Mexican restaurant along the way. I had my traditional fajitas which were super and I drank a margarita. At the hotel, I was finally able to get something posted online but it was blood, sweat and tears to do it. Mary's AOL connection and AOL in general is crap. In order to get something FTPed (posted online) you have to wait hours. But still, it's an internet connection and that's why I tried to get a 250 hours free internet with AOL. I tried registering myself online but it said that I had to dial a 1-800 number for verification and that's what I did. In the end I spoke to 7 AOL telephone operators which tried to talk me into letting AOL take over charge of Mary's long distance phone calls. I didn't know what was going on so I backed out of it (one conversation was even recorded). Who the hell do they think they are. I had enough of it and went to bed.