Archives for April 2017

Thursday, April 20, 2017 – Another Long, Hard Travel Day, Another Flat Tire

After what seemed like a pretty short night's sleep, we finally crawled out of bed with the third snooze of the alarm, and started our final packing, skipping breakfast today because we have a 5+ hour drive, plus several stops along the way, so we knew it would be a long day. We managed to get out of camp around 8:45, a little later than I hoped but that was partly due to the fact that we stopped at the Hunt camp up the road, where there was a water spigot, to fill up the horse trailer tank and the new big tank on the pickup, so at least we wouldn't have to worry about that later. While we were there, a large horse trailer came in with two guys, apparently they lead rides out through the forest on occasion. Nice work when you can get it! Anyway, our next stop was to grab breakfast at Burger King, then we pulled into a rest area in Alabama where Sani-dumps had said there was a free RV dump, but couldn't find it, so we moved on. The next stop was Walmart in Dothan to get fuel, because their diesel price was a good forty cents a gallon cheaper than anything we'd seen in Florida, and at least fifteen cents cheaper than any other gas station we'd see in Alabama. We also did most of our shopping, to get that out of the way, though I did it alone while Hubby filled up the van. We did find another RV dump at a Kangaroo Station, which, when I called on the way, a woman told me she thought it was closed for repairs, but that we MIGHT be able to still use it, so we stopped and dumped there. I don't know what kind of maintenance they were doing, it didn't look like it had been touched for years! No water to flush, but at least we were empty. Just after passing through Troy, Hubby called me on the walkie-talkie to tell me someone was flagging him over, that he had a problem, so we pulled off onto a side street and discovered one of the tires on the horse trailer has shredded, dang it. Well, we pulled enough stuff out of the tack room to get at the spare tire, only to discover it was flat, with a plug in the sidewall that we must have put there in desperation at some point. Can't remember when it happened (though I'll look back in my diary later to see how long we've been ignoring the problem), but obviously we uncharacteristically forgot about it somehow, and now we were stuck. The man who had flagged us over stopped, and so did another man, to see if they could help. I LOVE THE SOUTH! They haven't forgotten how to be good Samaritans, or how to spread that Southern hospitality. One man took the spare to his house across the street and filled it with air, just to see if it was usable, but it was leaking way to much. While he was on the phone calling his local tire connections (who didn't have the tires to fit), I called the Walmart in Troy, and sure enough, they had three tires that size, so I loaded up both wheels and headed back through town. I had to pass through a construction area where the road narrowed to one lane, and as I got closer, I was next to a mobile home. I was just about to slow down to get behind it, when a woman two cars in front of it slowed down and waved me to come in front of her! I LOVE THE SOUTH! I know this happens in other regions, too, but this kind of kindness just seems to be more prevalent down here. Thank you!! After all the craziness of driving in Malaysia, this was like a huge breath of fresh air. Anyway, I got to the Walmart, and was told it would take about an hour, so I made a quick lunch for us and waited. Jeff, bless his heart, hurried the job along, and I was out of there in less than an hour, so it wasn't long before I got the tires back to Hubby, and on the trailer, and on the road, saving the spare to put back later. Off we went, with just one other stop at another Walmart in Clanton to finally pick up water in the RV. I don't like to carry too much water long distances in the RV, it's hard on the tires and harder to drive, with the weight sloshing around inside. On this last leg up I-65, the temperatures outside were in the low 90's and we were doing some climbing, and the van started overheating as well, so while we were getting water, Hubby got some more coolant put in, and rinsed the dust off the radiator. As he always follows me, on these dirt roads he tends to get everything very dusty, so both things, plus the stop, brought his temps back to normal. Finally, we were off on the final leg of the journey. Despite gaining an hour by moving into Central time, we still didn't arrive at camp until after 5:00. That last four miles was a fairly narrow dirt road, passable but with lots of potholes, and not many places for passing traffic, so we were glad we didn't run into anyone. When we finally arrived at camp, we were surprised to find another guy in a van already here! I introduced myself to him (and he courteously started calling me Miss Jeanette, as they do here in the South!), and he told me his name was Ryan and that he had been here for two days. He offered to help us set up, but of course, we have our process so we said thank you, no. I put the horses on anchors, as there hadn't been any mowing done in the campground, and though it was mostly weeds, I figured they could help trample it down a bit. We opted to use the fence today, though there are plenty of trees for a highline if we wanted, got everything parked and opened up, and even managed get a satellite signal going before we finally crashed with a beer just after sunset. I even discovered that there is a good enough cell phone signal to use my internet out here in the boondocks! Yeah! ..... Whew! What a day! Watched a movie before falling into bed, thoroughly exhausted, but happy with our new, very quiet and remote home!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017 – A Lovely Ride In the Lake Talquin, A Diamond in the Rough

A quiet night last night let us have a leisurely morning, then we put the new tire on and replaced the spare back up under the RV, which only took about 15 minutes. We then saddled up and headed out, following a series of trails I had drawn from the map I got from the office the first day. Unfortunately, the first "trailhead" off the road was completely unmarked, and even though I thought I knew where it was from a map, I had to force Apollo up a sharp incline over a ditch to get into the woods, and then after two steps he tripped on something, and when I looked back I realized he had tripped over the bottom string of a barbed wire fence! The top strings had been removed, but I've never seen any kind of trailhead that had barbed wire across it, so we decided we must be in the wrong place, and stayed on the road until we hit Deer Pen Road, which was the next crossing that would get us where we wanted to go. Hubby didn't like being on the gravel road, but Deer Pen was grassy and dirt, so it was much better from then on. We eventually picked up the route I had planned, and the farther we got along the route, the less traveled the trails were, but it was lovely! We had some nice straight-aways for canters, then lots of un-maintained forest roads that had some deadfall, but nothing too hard to get around. On the way back from the farthest loop, we decided to try my original plan backwards, so we could see if we just missed the entrance on the other end. By now we knew what kind of condition the trails were in and could easily identify them, so we followed along, adding a few side trips along the way, until we finally came out at exactly the same location where we had tried to get on the trail in the first place! So my map had been right, but the trailhead was all but invisible from the road! And I've never heard of anyplace that hadn't at least removed the barbed wire from the entrance, or put a culvert of some kind over the ditch, or had some kind of trail marking that at least let us know we were going in the right direction! But once you're on the trail, it's lovely, just under-maintained, so a lot of downed branches. This place is really a diamond in the rough! I was told by a ranger that there is another equestrian trail that is still unofficial, but better marked by a local equestrian club with pink flags, but that's more on the north section, not near the campground. Of course, the group camp on the other side of the lake, with corrals and trails, but ONLY group camp, so we weren't about to stay there! In any event, we did more than eight miles before I took Apollo down to the boat ramp for a drink. Of course, Lola immediately went to find her ball to start putting it in the GoDogGo fetch machine, despite having just covered eight plus miles! We grabbed a beer and sat at the picnic table chilling for a bit, then Ranger Bill came along and chatted with us for awhile, and I shared some of my ideas for making this a much more attractive place for horse campers. Dinner and some chores preparing for our departure later, and we are ready for an early night sleep!

Tuesday, April. 18, 2017 – New Tire

As we lay in bed last night, I heard some music and chatter in the distance, so I guess the pier is a neighborhood hangout. It didn't bother me until there was a major argument, with one woman caterwauling and screaming in an overly-dramatic way to some effect. Eventually that moved along and blessed sleep arrived. Was up early, with a beautiful sunrise just over the lake, and started the day by finding a tire at a nearby Goodyear store. The woman ranger I met yesterday at the office stopped by to chat and take pictures of the horses to post on the park's Facebook page, though I couldn't find which one when I went looking. After breakfast I made the drive to the tire store, and they whipped a new tire on my rim in no time. Stopped at Publix for a couple of things, and drove by the Pilot to see where the dump was, in case we decided to pay the $5 for the privilege. We used to always get our gas there when the dump was free, now almost never, because their diesel prices are so much higher than other stations these days. Anyway, later I found a free dump right on our route just on the other side of the Alabama border, so that's our new plan. Free is always better, in my book! We had a pretty relaxing day today, which we needed, decided not to put the tire on yet, maybe tomorrow or when we're pulling out on Thursday. Got the ride all planned out for tomorrow, though, so that's done. Almost got up enough energy to pull out my fishing pole, but then fell asleep while I was reading, so not this time! A very nice quiet day, very peaceful here, though when the wind is just so, you can hear the road traffic, and of course, there are occasional motorboats passing by. The horses got in lots of naps, too, with Apollo really stretching out, and Mama Clio watching over him as if he were a newborn instead of 20 years old! A beautiful day!

Monday, April 17, 2017 – Long, Tough Drive Day to Lake Talquin, with Flat Tire Stop

All the best laid plans, of course. We were up and out of the campground before 9:00, with only a few stops and a four hour drive, but, of course, stuff happens. About two hours into the drive, on I-75, we had our last original tire on the RV lose it's tread, and unfortunately, it badly bent the panel of the RV by the wheel well. It's not the greatest design, the wheel wells on this Open Range, as any time a tire blows, it takes out the lower panel as well. At least it's a separate panel and not the entire side of the RV, but it's an awkward shape. Last time we wanted to repair it on the other side when the same thing happened, the cost of shipping was going to be almost twice as much as the actual cost of the panel! We ended up ordering it and making arrangements to go to the manufacturer in Indiana to just put it on for us to keep the costs down. Well, we were headed that way anyway that year, so it didn't matter. This year may be different, we'll see. Anyway, we pulled of onto the shoulder and got busy changing out the tire, and were back on the road in about 20 minutes. Our next stop was supposed to be an RV dump, but we could never find it, but we picked up lunch at Wendy's while we were stopped. Our next stop was at a little Walmart near Lake Talquin, just west of Tallahassee, and a gas station nearby that was very difficult to maneuver around in. Finally, we went to the ranger station to check in and discovered the place where I had intended to spend the night was just a day parking area, and that the horse camping area was further back into the woods, which was fine, though the ranger said it might be hard to maneuver our big unit around back there, which gave me pause. The clincher was that it was a group site, and in spite of the fact that we weren't a group, we would have to pay the group rate of $20 a night. Well, I don't mind paying $20 if there are some amenities there, but this had nothing! Well, it did have corrals, apparently, but no water or anything. We considered staying for one night, but it seemed like a lot of work to get into a small site for just one night. Finally, we all agreed the best course of action was to go to the High Bluff Campground on the north side of the lake (which I had been wanting to check out anyway, because it's pretty close to I-10), which wasn't technically a horse camp, but they did allow horses to stay. Again, no water, but it had designated sites, a vault toilet and a nice fishing pier. I wasn't worried about water so much, we filled our new 100 gallon tank in the back of the pickup before we left brother Jeff's, so we should be good for a week of use on that, and Hubby had been filling up the RV at the ranger station while all these discussions were taking place, so we were good to go. We drove around the lake, through a rather dubious neighborhood with multiple speed bumps (my heart went out to a puppy on a leash that was being beaten by a black boy for no apparent reason while his two friends looked on), until we finally reached the wide dirt road that was the edge of the forest. A couple of miles later we reached the lake and the campground. Maneuvering was still a challenge among the many beautiful trees, but we managed to slip into a site with our picture window overlooking the lake, framing a gorgeous view. At High Bluff, there's an iron ranger so we didn't have to pay at the office, and it's only $10/night, which is more reasonable for a more primitive site. By the time we got set up, we were exhausted! We opted for the electric fence today, as there weren't really any trees for a perfect highline, and there was some grass, though we could have made a highline work if we had to. I took a walk with the dogs down to the pier, and saw a gator floating nearby. At first I thought it was a gator, but then it didn't move for a long time so I thought maybe it was a log after all, but when I got to the end of the pier and looked again, it had turned 90 degrees to face me, so then I knew for sure! I made sure Lola didn't stay in the water for very long! Finally settled down for the evening, no satellite signal here, but we have lots of stuff recorded. Weren't long out of bed though, it's been a tiring day!

Sunday, April 16, 2017 – Easter Sunday

Once again, Easter has rolled around. It seems impossible that this is the 8th Easter we’ve seen on the road with our horses! It’s been a great time, with no sign of letting up! We spent much of the day doing chores and packing up, with laundry at the top of the list, it was a beautiful day to hang clothes on the line. With several relaxing breaks in between, we managed to get everything packed up so that our departure in the morning should go quickly, before settling in for the evening.

Saturday, April 15, 2017 – A Great Ride at Colt Creek

Another lazy morning, it's so quiet here, it's lovely to indulge in sleeping late! It was after noon before we started getting ready to go for our ride. Though the forecast had said upper 80's, it was just overcast enough to keep from heating up too much. Though we were staying in the State Park, we decided to risk taking Lola along, she listens well enough that I know she won't bother anyone. She's actually gotten in the habit of steering clear of any people or horses, going way off the trail until everyone gets sorted out, then rejoins us on the other side, a perfect trait for the trail, especially for those folks with horses that aren't used to dogs. She literally disappears long before we meet up! Though today, we didn't meet any other horses on the trail, we did pass a jogger, a couple of park rangers (who, thankfully, didn't say a word about Lola out the trail, maybe because she came to us instantly when I called her), and a family of folks picnicking and fishing at a pavilition, and who were evidently not used to animals, because when three of the kids saw Lola they started running away from her. Of course, she thought they were trying to play and started to follow them, but I called her back. When we got closer, I asked the adults if they wanted us to come and say hello, and they welcomed the teachable moment for the kids. One little girl was even brave enough to feed Clio a nugget! The rest stayed further back, but lots of pix were taken, and they seemed happy that we stopped by. Of course, that got us off the trail, and we missed a turn, which made us have to go right past a ranger building, so I stopped and put Lola on a leash until we crossed the road and started to head the last mile to camp. We made a great discovery today, though. Since our last ride a couple of days ago, where Hubby was getting short of breath often and we had to keep the pace really slow, today he brought along a bottle of 5-hour energy. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT highly caffeinated, which would be bad for his heart, it's actually a vitamin B compound, similar to injections they give to provide more energy, to both people and horses. After the first trot, he got a little out of breath, so he drank half a bottle. Then, before he trotted and cantered her again, he would take a few deep breaths to get himself oxygenated. Since he always lags behind me anyway, we figured out that if he just prepared himself, then started off when he was ready, we could hear him coming from behind, and join him in a nice canter. He never got out of breath again the rest of the day, even though we must have cantered a dozen times! What a great ride! I'm so happy we solved the problem, because the last ride we took, having to go so slow was really frustrating for me, but whatever it takes to keep Hubby healthy, I'll do. Today, though, was fantastic! My horse tired out before his did, and even though he still kept shying at nothing along the way, we now have a path toward getting him over it, something we have never really been able to do before. By the time we got halfway through the ride, his horse had settled down to a lovely lope, also something that we've also never really been able to do before. This looks very promising for future rides! Of course, once we're away from Florida and back up in the mountains, the chances for canters will decrease somewhat, but, hey, we'll take whatever we can get! The ride was about 7.75 miles today, arriving back in camp around 3:30, just in time to have a chat with our neighbors, who were just pulling out. They had come in and tried to ride, but evidently were discouraged by the horseflies (which have hardly bothered us at all, thank you Bronco Fly Spray!) We chatted for just a few minutes before they departed, leaving Hubby and I alone again, naturally! We got the horses in, and started our evening, since it was just about beer-thirty anyway!

Friday, April 14, 2017 – Shop and Visit Day

Slept late this morning, didn't get up until almost 9:00, and by then, our neighbors had moved out and we had the place all to ourselves. After breakfast and chores, as well as doing some computer work, we headed out, first to drive to one of the free campgrounds here in the West Tract of the Green Swamp Wilderness, discovering there were actually two campgrounds that allowed horse camp, but the Ashley Camp was beautiful, with lots of old, gorgeous trees and a good shot at a satellite signal, so that one's on our list for when we head back down next winter. Then we went over to the new Richer Farms near Trilsby to visit our friend Cherryl. We had boarded with her for a few days on Staten Island back in October 2011, and had so enjoyed each other's company, I contacted her when I discovered we were right in her back yard while staying here at Colt Creek. I knew from our facebook connection that she had just finished remaking her 20 acres into a horse boarding facility, and we were interested in how it came out. She welcomed us with open arms, and our planned one hour over coffee turned into 2.5 hours of rapid conversation and a tour of her incredible new barn and facilities. We finally had to part, and then Hubby and I made two more stops, one to get gas and the other to pick up a few things at Publix, before heading back to camp. We discovered just one other camper had come in during the day, so despite the holiday weekend, it's going to be quite quiet for the rest of our time here, which is perfectly fine with us! Had a relaxing evening, as usual!

Thursday, April 13, 2017 – First Ride Day at Colt Creek State Park

Thursday, April 13, 2017 – First Ride Day at Colt Creek State Park

After a pretty good night sleep and a leisurely breakfast, Hubby and I saddled up and headed out on the trail, heading to a lake in the north section of the Hampton Tract of the East side of the Green Swamp Wilderness that the ranger had told us about when we first signed in. We took Lola with us, but decided to leave Billy home, as it was quite hot out, and the trip was going to be at least eight miles, and we thought that might be too much for him. The trail was more like a forest road, and at times, a dirt/sand road suitable for vehicles. It started out nicely in the woods, then opened up into a long stretch in the hot sun, before turning into the woods again for a bit. We started out slow, then started some trots and canters. Unfortunately after the second trot, Hubby felt a tightening in his chest that he said felt like he did when he was taking a chemical stress test at the doctor's last year, so we had to slow down after that. We reached the lake hoping to get the horses down for a drink, but the sides were too steep. We stopped at an overlook for a picture, and just as we were turning away, we heard a big splash, the kind a large alligator might make when getting into the water, so we were kind of glad we hadn't found a way down to the lake! As we headed back south again, we passed a small pond, and I noticed a little baby alligator near the shore about a foot long. After further inspection, I noticed half a dozen little alligators hanging around the pond, a regular little gator nursery! Knowing that mother wasn't probably too far away, we scooted on down the road. We tried the occasion trot and canter, just short ones, and Hubby felt mostly fine for the rest of the trip, with only a couple of minor problems along the way. As it got more into the heat of the day, Lola was rubbing her hot back on every patch of cool grass she could find, and toward the end, she was literally running from one shady patch to another. I stopped once and poured a bottle of water over her, which she really appreciated. We arrived back in camp around 4:00, grateful for another great day on the trail, and to be back on the road again, looking forward to all our new future adventures! Spend an hour with our neighbors again before settling down for the evening.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017 – Rest Day

Though we had sort of planned to go riding today, Hubby slept really late, and decided he wanted to pace himself during our first week back on the road and put off our first ride until tomorrow, which was fine with me. I spent some time visiting with our neighbors, Lynda, Wendy and Penny, all from around the Naples, FL area, and we discovered we all had a lot in common. Lynda had been on the Great Florida Cattle Drive that we participated in last year, and they knew some folks we met at Picayune Strand a few years ago, two women who had lost their horses that we had helped by giving them water and letting the ranger know where they were. We chatted for a bit, and two of them even bought copies of my books! Eventually I came back to the RV, fixed dinner, and had a relaxing rest of the day.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 – Back on the Road Again, Yippee!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got up early with the alarm, but it was still after 10:00 before we managed to hit the road. We only have about 3.5 hours of actual travel time, but several stops along the way will make our arrival later. Our first stop was the Dundee Feed Store, where we picked up horse feed and alfalfa, some of the most tightly packed alfalfa I've ever seen, nice and green. Next stop was Walmart just north of Lakeland for supplies, then finally arriving at Colt Creek State Park around 4:00. We paid our $10/night (5 per person) and made our way back to the horse campground, a beautiful spot with lots of tall pine trees, surrounded by lots of old Florida scrub palms. There were numerous water spigots around, a porta-potty, hitching rails, plenty of good trees for high lining and grass for portable corrals. There were three other campers here, three women who were camping together, whom Hubby and I spoke to briefly before we got set up. Later, when they came back from a short afternoon ride, they came by to tell us that they had been swarmed by horseflies and deerflies on the trail, and they hoped it was only a fluke, or the time of day, because if they were always like that, it wasn't going to be much fun for the next few days! We managed to get the horses on a highline and the satellite dish up, though we could only lock onto one satellite, but that was fine. We settled in for the evening, enjoying a beer in our loungers for awhile before being chased in by the bugs.