Archives for June 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012 – Another Fabulous Ride at Barkcamp
Friday, June 8, 2012 – FABULOUS Ride Day at Barkcamp SP
Thursday, June 7, 2012 – Rest Day
Spent the day resting, working on the computer, making calls and sending emails to solve more upcoming logistical challenges, and otherwise lazed around for the day.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 – Hay and Travel Day to Barkcamp State Park, OH
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 – Lunch with Friends in Dayton
Had a nice sleep-in, grabbed a quick fruit breakfast before heading out “The Country Club” to meet with our friends Jane and Bob. Had a fantastic lunch with them, we talked for three hours! The poor waitress had to wait almost an hour before we could stop talking long enough to look at a menu and order! It was a great time, and we made plans to see each other again at the end of July, where we have a SURPRISE outing we’ll share with you later. We’ll also see Jane in August, as she does work with us for big events, and we have a big event booked at the end of August. Anyway, after we said our good-byes, we headed out to the health food store to get more of the Biofreeze-type cooling gel I found, as well as some organic trail mix and a few other items. A quick trip to Wal-mart for some other supplies, and we were back at camp by 5:00.
Monday, June 4, 2012 – Last Ride Day at Caesar’s Creek
Mama Deer |
Another beautiful day, perfect weather with cool nights and temperate days, such a relief after the 99 degrees in Illinois! Headed out on the longer trail today, though the entire loop is about 19 miles, we have no intention of going that far, just out to a mid-point and back. We decided to make that mid-point a boat ramp, and again, we had some lovely trots and canters along the way. Saw a deer on the trail, and after it ran off to the left, I saw a tiny fawn that couldn’t have been more than a few days old run off the to right. Naturally, Mama didn’t go far, so I managed to get a picture of her, but baby became invisible, all those spots disappearing in the woods. Part of the trail was actually an old, overgrown paved road, but it was so narrow it was more like a trail. We don’t mind tarmac much, it’s gravel that drives us nuts! We only got lost once, when the poor markings prevented us from making the right turn onto the Cliffs Loop, which turned out to be our favorite trail, so we ended up taking it backwards from how we intended, and we had to re-do the front half of the loop, which was no problem. We liked that loop because it had a nice turn-off where someone had put up a swing-line for jumping into the lake, and it was a good 20-25 foot drop to the water, so it looked very inviting! Had I been younger or dumber, or been with folks who would’ve dared me to, I might have been tempted! But with just Hubby, well, I had to take precautions and do the safe thing… :- ). As we headed back to camp, we decided to complete the circuit by taking the final few loop trails west of the campground, and they turned out to be very nice as well, older woods than we’d seen in most places, nice and deep, with a few mild ravines, just the way we like them. Overall the trails here have been very nice, just a few areas of stone and gravel, more mud than we like but not insurmountable, and I’d rather have mud than gravel any day! Headed back, had another nice chat with the ladies across the way, and learned that one of them made hay, which I am in need of, so I was happy to make a deal to pick some up on our way out on Wednesday. They, too, are leaving on Wednesday, so it all works out just fine. Got everyone settled in and fed, and had a relaxing evening.
Sunday, June 3, 2012 – Very Nice Ride Day at Caesar’s Creek
Saturday, June 2, 2012 – Runaround Day
Hubby’s itches have been spreading and making him miserable for the last week, sleeping poorly and trying to resist scratching incessantly, so I decided we needed to get a few more remedies than we already had. Neem oil seemed to be working well, so I found a health food store nearby and picked up a bottle, as well as some oatmeal soap to help with the itching. I also stopped at a couple of other stores to pick up some groceries and other odds and ends, before heading back to camp, picking up some generator gas at the last stop. Settled in for the evening, with a stellar satellite signal, as the area was quite open.
Friday, June 1, 2012 – Travel Day to Caesar’s Creek State Park near Dayton, OH
Always impressive skyline of Cincinnati |
As always, what should have been a short day of driving turned into a longer than expected day of driving and running around, though ultimately, it was very nice leaving the negativity of the Hoosier National Forest. We had forgotten about the time change in Indiana (one of the few states that ignores Daylight Savings Time, so half the time it’s on Eastern time and half the year it’s on Central time), so by the time we found a restaurant, they were on lunch, so we didn’t get breakfast. The drive along the river was very enjoyable, though, mostly farmland and a few small quaint towns right on the banks of the Ohio. A stop at Flying J in Ft. Mitchell, KY for fuel before heading to Caesar Creek State Park southeast of Dayton, OH. Research had indicated that there were several central water sources available, but what they failed to mention was that that access was a hand pump. Nothing like ancient Egyptian technology in the 21st century in America! Fortunately, I was able to find a garden hose in front of the (closed) Ranger station a few miles away, and filled the RV and the 55-gallon barrel for the horses before coming back to set up. A nice campground, very park-like, but the high-lines, once again, are the stupid design with a rail across the middle and a cable above it. Fortunately, there were even spaces between the high-lines which provided us with the posts necessary to put up our own high-line in between : -). That worked fine, and the rest of the setup was easy, and we were settled down by 5:00. Around 6:30 a ranger came by, asking (as always) about our payment, but he didn’t press when we explained our methods, so no hard feelings when he left. There was only one vehicle that looked like it was prepared to park overnight, and oddly, several day-riders were parked in the camping area, despite a day parking area nearby. No worries, we got out spot for the weekend now!
Thursday, May 31, 2012 – Change of Plans and Rest Day
Hubby and I were so exhausted from yesterday that despite our desire to leave immediately, we just couldn’t muster the energy, so we figured we could get out early enough tomorrow to still get a decent site at our next stop in Ohio. We crashed the entire day, though I still had to accomplish some logistical planning while Hubby read on his Kindle. Can’t wait to get out of here, it just has such a bad feeling about it in so many ways!