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.
Archives for 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012 – Last Ride Day at Caesar’s Creek
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| 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
After a night of Hubby having to get up and treating his itches several times, we had a relaxing breakfast, then saddled up for our first exploratory ride. We decided to take the two shorter loops combined, the Farmers Trace and the Moonlight Vista Trails. Once we found the trailhead (always a challenge, trailheads and intersections are the most poorly marked for some reason!), we started out on a mostly dirt trail, that had patches of mud along about 30 percent of it, so it was sloppy, but at least it wasn’t gravel!! It was mostly flat, but did wind through forest and fields, so we were able to get a few canters in. A very nice ride, about two hours or so, and it was just what we and the horses needed. One the back of one loop there’s a nice picnic area with a hitching rail and table, so we took a short break there to soak in the atmosphere. We got back to camp in time to see three women in two rigs setting up, Rhonda, Brenda (sisters) and Charlie. They live about 45 minutes north of here, but try to go camping together 3-4 times a year. I had a nice chat with them before heading back home for dinner and a relaxing evening. Hubby’s been trying something new on his itches, some leftover Biofreeze I had in the medicine cabinet, which is actually for deep muscle pain but has a very cooling effect on the skin as well, and that seems to be helping. Don’t have much left, though, but I saw something like it in the health food store yesterday, so we may be going back there on Tuesday when we go into town to have lunch with our friends (which is the reason we came to Dayton in the first place!)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
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| 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!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 – HORRIBLE Ride at Hoosier Forest
Today was one of those days when everything seemed to disappoint. After our auspicious beginning yesterday, we were in the process of saddling up in the morning when a rather rotund female ranger came by. She wanted to know why we hadn’t paid our fees yet. We explained that we didn’t know how long we were going to stay, and assured her we would pay the correct amount on the way out. After all, it is the honor system, after all. She seemed unconvinced, treating us like some kind of criminal, which fell in nicely with the mindset that would put in water spigots that have to be held open to be used, assuming everyone is a thief, doing things for their own benefit rather than the benefit of the park user. Anyway, she then asked about our horse riding permits. I said that I thought that those permits were only at state parks, not at the national forest, and she informed me that it was Congress’ fault that they didn’t give them enough money, so they had to charge a horse permit fee. I told her that we had been in many national forests, and never before had we been charged a “horse permit fee.” Then she said it was up to the local forest, which completely contradicted what she had just said, but she didn’t seem to notice that. Then we asked if she could sell us a permit, and she said, no, we had to drive 15 miles back to town and buy it from one of their vendors. I said I didn’t think it was very sensible to make us drive 30 miles to go get a permit every day we rode, since we didn’t know which days we were going to ride, and not knowing what the weather was going to be, etc., and we weren’t about to buy an annual permit just for the few days we were going to be there. She just said that law enforcement would be coming around to check, so we better get one, but she couldn’t sell us one. How stupid is THAT system?! I finally just shut up and she went on her way, but by then Hubby and I were both in a foul mood. We left camp hoping the ride would alleviate our tension, but alas, things just went from bad to worse. Hubby had put on Clio’s new Boa boots just to try them out, but I was hoping to get away without boots today, though we put them in the saddlebags just in case. Our plan was to go about 6.5 miles, just doing the first loop and coming back. The trails are set up with four loops piled on top of each other, like a snowman, but the maps didn’t indicate any different colors for each loop, just all one. We left, hoping for the best. Like many trailheads, it started out with some gravel, and we thought that as we got further along, it would thin out. Not so. The gravel was kept going. After a short while, I stopped to put on Apollo’s boots, since it seemed like it was going to stay gravel. Not natural stone, mind you, but deliberately spread gravel. It was nearly impossible to enjoy the forest, partly because we had left in such a foul mood, but mostly because the gravel just went on and on and on. When we came to our first intersection, we continued to follow the color blue, since that was the trail we were on, and because the alternative was a FULL gravel road, great honking, freshly laid gravel that I was not about to ride on. After a while longer, we started to suspect that we had gone wrong somewhere, because we were still heading north when we should have been looping east. I check the GPS and found that, indeed, we had gone too far north. Another intersection later, and we finally discovered the error of our ways (or should I say, their mapping system). All four loops were blue, but the common trail between each loop was called a “connecting” trail, and those were ALL ORANGE. No where on the map is that mentioned, but it IS mentioned on a couple of signs at intersections, in fine print. Another example of genius at work, just like the genius who decided that gravel is good footing for a horse… NOT! We were getting more and more frustrated with the place. Our 6.5 mile trip turned into 14 miles, ALL of it on gravel!! We were stunned, particularly since the ranger had said that their trails had been voted one of the top ten trails by some group somewhere. All I could think of was that it had to be by the American Gravel Association or some such organization, or that the gravel had been added afterward so that the rangers could run around on their ATV’s and “maintain” the trail that way. Anyway, by the time we got back, we were so disgusted with the place we decided that we weren’t going to stay as long as we had planned. We had been on most of the trails already, and I wasn’t about to subject my horse to another mile of gravel, I was already heartbroken that he had had to endure 14 miles already! Very disappointing. Indiana really fell down on this one. I was actually going to put the extra “horse permit fee” in with my camping fee, but frankly, considering the state of the trails, they weren’t worth a plug nickel. The only good thing was that we can check it off the list (state #32) and never come back again. Oh, and I forgot to mention the vast areas of the forest that had been recently logged, and the logging crew that was hauling logs out that day, and the ugliness of most of the forest, with only a few areas that were actually pleasant to ride in. Very few. This National Forest has it’s priorities pretty screwed up.Tuesday, May 29, 2012 – Travel Day to German Ridge Campground, Hoosier National Forest
Got another early start (though not 5:15 :-), packed up and out of the campsite by 8:00. Headed north on IL 1 until we came to a little cafe that Hubby had noticed when he came out for generator gas over the weekend. They had been closed on Saturday, but open M-F. What a fantastic little place!! It was called the Crossroads Cafe and the SE corner of IL 1 and 13, it just opened up a few weeks ago, apparently, and it was clean and cozy, and had the best home fries we’ve had in AGES! The waitress was attractive and charming, and the cook did a fantastic job. Highly recommended to anyone in the area or passing through! From there we headed east, crossed the Ohio River again, stopped in Evansville IN at a farm supply store called Tri-State Pet and Vet Supply, who, remarkably, had lots of horse boots of all kinds and sizes in stock, so Hubby picked up a pair of Boa’s for Clio, plus other things we needed, like a new manure rake, fly spray, and a replacement bridle throat strap for Clio as well. East again to the Walmart at Tell City, where we did grocery shopping and picked up water for the RV, as we were told by the Hoosier NF office that all they had at the German Ridge Camp was a cistern with non-potable water. Followed a crude detour around some road constuction on IN 66, and soon found our campground, tarmac all the way, for a nice change. We circle the campground scoping it out, and discovered it wasn’t a cistern at all, but numerous spigots scattered around every few sites. Unfortunately, they were the kind of spigots that had been intentionally adapted so that it was difficult to use them. In other words, the threads were incompatible with a garden hose, and most of them had a spring-loaded handle, which meant you had to hold it open manually, you couldn’t just open it and leave it, which means you need two people to do any job dealing with water. One to hold the handle and the other to let you know when the tub (or whatever) is full. We’ve only seen it in a few places, but it truly is dumb, and obviously designed to keep people from “stealing” too much water, which I’m sure is a BIG problem in some campgrounds….NOT! Of course, a little clever engineering with a bungee solved that problem. Most of the sites weren’t level in the least, but there were some fairly large ones. After awhile, we settled on Site 14, next to a vault toilet and a spigot. There was a highline already there, but the previous occupant had apparently decided that cleaning out their own horses’ manure was too much for them, and it looked like an entire weekend’s worth of non-shoveling was left behind. I started to clean it up, but there was so much there, I decided it would take longer than I was willing to make my horses wait in the hot trailer, so we just picked out a couple of trees and set up our own highline. Really, folks, there nothing more rude than not cleaning up after your own animals, expecting someone else to do it. I can’t remember seeing a site this bad since the corral at Wild Mare Horse Camp in Oregon. We managed to get settled in, Hubby managed to find a partial satellite signal, and we relaxed the rest of the evening.Monday, May 28, 2012 – Fantastic Ride Around the Garden of the Gods
Set the alarm for the earliest yet, 5:15!! Civil dawn was already breaking, we had a bowl of fruit for breakfast, packed up the horses and headed out to the Garden of the Gods. Arrived just before 7:00, found the parking area empty except for one fellow sitting in a chair apparently waiting for someone. We saddled up the horses and headed out, map in hand, across the road onto the River to River Trail (labeled 001) heading east. It was rocky, and we were glad we had put the horses’ boots on, but the trail followed under a ridge of rock formations that were truly spectacular. The trail was narrow and very interesting, and Apollo was immediately engaged, picking his way carefully up and down the terrain. Eventually we left the rockier areas and were surrounded by lovely woods. Par for the course these days, we made a wrong turn and got all the way to a road before realizing it, which unfortunately meant we had a steep descent and climb going both ways. Not sure why I don’t look at my GPS more, guess I just want to resist a LITTLE bit of technology. Oh well, it was only a couple of miles, so we got back on track, and the trails got even better, with lots less stone, mostly really good footing along the way, and beautiful trees, a very natural forest, no logging, thank goodness. We took the most outside perimeter loop to the west, including our favorite trail, I think it was number 652, that took us along some more gorgeous rock formations, which eventually led us back to 001. From there it was straight east back to the trailhead around 11:00, a fantastic ride, and done before the heat got too bad! Plus, it was cooler it the woods this time. A great way to finish off Illinois, the 31st state we’ve ridden in!! Headed back to camp, which we now found empty, as our two neighbors had already packed up and left, and we spent the afternoon getting ready for our departure tomorrow as well.Sunday, May 27, 2012 – Walk Around the Garden of the Gods
Persuaded Hubby to drive with me over to the big attraction of the Shawnee National Forest, the proverbial Garden of the Gods, a magnificent grouping of rock outcroppings that provide a fantastic view and a nice ¼ mile walk. We also wanted to reconnoiter the area to see about trailering the horses over tomorrow, since it seems there are bridle paths throughout the area. It was a great time, the walk and views were fabulous, and we found the trailhead where apparently horses were allowed. As we were driving back, we noticed a group of horse trailers parked along a bare patch of the road, we thought it looked like a private campground so we pulled in to chat. Turns out there’s a small cabin and a lot of corrals which are shared by a group of riders, kind of a neat cooperative! Anyway, they were very nice, very helpful, gave us some good ideas, showed us some maps, which gave us some ideas. They also recommended we check out Pine Knob, a private campground with well recommended trails (a passing ranger had said the same thing ath Cadiz Camp), so we headed out there, if nothing else but to satisfy our curiousity. It was closer to the camp than Garden of the Gods, but we had to go up several miles of a dirt and gravel road to get there. It turned out to be quite disappointing, actually, little more than an open field with horse trailers parked willy-nilly, a string of highlines along each edge of the parking area, no notable features except that scattered throughout the area they had humorously put up facades of typical wild west buildings, like “livery” and “jail” and “post office.” They had an actual camp store (essentially a metal barn), and we went in to get the particulars. Had a chat with a girl with a stud in her nose about day parking, and she was nice enough to give us a Shawnee Forest Map, and to sell us a map of the trails that are around their campground. I don’t know if it was partly because of the heat (it was pushing close to 100 degrees by then) or just the atmosphere of the place, but something just didn’t sit right with us about it, so we decided that rather than park there the following day, we would return to trailhead parking at the Garden of the Gods. We figured if we got there early enough, we would have plenty of room the park the trailer, even though the lot was just about full when we had gone through there earlier, no doubt busier than usual because it was Memorial Day weekend. We wanted to beat the heat anyway, so early it would be! After some initial reluctance, Hubby ended up enjoying the day, the walk, and the exploring, so we celebrated with a steak and had an early night.