Kanani En Route:

Pacific Airlift Horse Loading: Yep, horses go in a container in the back of the plane.

Kanani's great adventure--and mine--has begun. I'm told he was clipped and prettily braided to keep his long hair out of his eyes before he was loaded onto a trailer with a herd of goats for the eight and a half hour drive to LAX airport (Los Angeles.) This all happened on Friday. He was supposed to board the plane at 11:30 pm, in company with the goats and a couple of other horses, but boarding was delayed until 1:30 am.

Don't feel bad about the goats. From all accounts, he liked them. There were a bunch of white milking goats and some little black Nubian goats. Lest the scent of the goats should upset my big "brave" boy, his nostrils were dabbed with a touch of Vick's Vaporub.

Not sure what time he made it to Honolulu. There he was examined by a vet and then transported to a boarding barn to await the last leg of his journey to Maui. He will come by barge, like just about everything else that comes to Maui. Loading takes place late on Monday afternoon and the trip takes all night. I cannot visualize this (or maybe just don't want to!) but a huge crane will hoist him in his stall on and off the barge. Tugs maneuver the barge the whole trip--no one is on the barge itself, steering or watching over the cargo. It has been very windy lately, with big surf, so we are anxiously watching weather reports and hoping for no tsunamis or huge swells. This is one of the roughest ocean crossings anywhere, but please God, just this once, can't you calm the seas between here and Honolulu?

At least, he will have the company of two other horses--and maybe even his goat friends. (Will they all get seasick?)

Come Tuesday morning, he will be available for pick up at the dock at about 8:30 am.

Meanwhile, my sister Kay and I are busily preparing for his arrival. Yesterday, we took "my horse stuff" up to the ranch where I will be boarding Kanani. We found his paddock and my assigned tack locker. Kanani will have a nice large paddock with a run-in shed complete with automatic waterer. There is also a very large pasture where he can eventually be turned out with other horse buddies. He should be quite happy with this arrangement, as horses prefer being outside with shelter to being cooped up in a stall all the time.

I poked around looking for the nearest electrical outlet where I can plug in clippers when I need to clip him. Couldn't find one. So we went searching all over the property looking for an outlet--only to conclude that THERE IS NO ELECTRICITY coming into the ranch, ANYWHERE. No lights in the feed room--nada.

With all the checking I did into this facility, the one thing I neglected to ask about was: Do you by chance have electricity?

This will not bother Kanani at all--but his new human is a little shocked. Thank goodness I haven't bought clippers yet. Guess I will have to look for the cordless, rechargeable kind that I never liked in the past.

Life is about being flexible, right?

Now, please excuse me while I go check the weather report again.