June 2020 – Page 4

Hi Babe!
In spite of the 20 mile ride yesterday, Lola still woke me up at 4:30 this morning to go out, and it took me a bit to fall back to sleep, and I was still a bit tired and achy when I got up later, plus it was just so dang hot today, so I decided to be super lazy today. The only thing I did besides read, play computer games and watch TV was go out and pick up some hay. I found a guy on Marketplace who was less than 20 minutes away, so I picked up 10 bales at $4 a bale, which should hold me through almost two weeks. For the first time since I’ve been here, there’s another trailer out here in the field with me, looks like some Mennonites with tents and a big stock trailer. There’s actually another group of Mennonites in the shady part of the primitive camp as well, the only other campers in this entire section. I imagine, though, with July 4th coming up this weekend that it will start getting crowded over the next few days. We’ll see! Meanwhile, I’m going to have to keep Lola leashed up for the duration, can’t have her running around visiting with the strict enforcement they’re likely to be undertaking for the holiday. I’m beginning to think that two weeks might actually be too long to stay at one place, with rare exceptions. Maybe I’ll consider a 10-day schedule at some point, just to keep things moving. There aren’t many places that have so many trails that I couldn’t do them all in 10 days, though there are still a few trails here I haven’t hit yet. I’m hoping to get another good ride in tomorrow, even though it’s hot, the humidity is supposed to be lower tomorrow, fingers crossed! I never imagined it would be this hot for so long in Indiana, so obviously, I need to be further north by mid-June next year! Of course, next year I plan on being in NY at Watkins Glen for July 4, thinking about putting together my own personal reunion up there, have my NYS friends join me there. By the way, those women who I met last week, one of them bought my book online (she should have got it from me and saved herself shipping!), and another one is gathering five friends and meeting me up at Salamonie Lake State Park, my next stop! She was very impressed with my recitation of the Snowy River poem, and she’s told them all to watch the movie, but hasn’t told them why, but she’s apparently got them all interested in meeting me and hearing about my travels. She was definitely asking the most questions about what it was like to travel full-time when I met them, I get the impression that might be a goal for her. Anyway, another relaxing day, I only hope Lola gets through the night tonight, since we didn’t get much exercise today. So I’m off to shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
What a crazy, busy day! I had trouble getting to sleep last night, and then woke up before the alarm, so I started out a bit tired, but I got the horses fed before heading over to breakfast, which turned out to be a MUCH longer affair than I supposed. With the new health restrictions, they couldn't do a buffet, so the process of getting food was so much more complicated, so then I was almost late getting Flash saddled up and out to the start of the ride. I had decided to take the full day ride, because what I thought I heard at the meeting last night was that it was a fast ride, but I evidently heard wrong, it wasn't fast at all. Poor Flash, he did his best, but I spent all morning having to hold him back, and the trail was full of downed trees they hadn't had time to clean up yet (we've had so many storms this year, and saturated ground with straight line winds and tornadoes make for a LOT of downed trees). It wasn't a bad ride, though we stopped more than I typically like. They did a great job with lunch, though, they had some tables and chairs gathered in a wooded area that was apparently going to be where Loretta's husband was going to build her a house, so we got some local color along the way, and brought hamburgers hot off the grill, so it was pretty good. After lunch, though, Flash was getting more antsy from the slow pace, and finally we ended up on some open fields and he started going nuts. He was prancing, dancing sideways, cantering in place, until finally I just had to apologize to the trail boss that I just had to let him run before he got any worse, so I passed everyone and just started gaiting him fast, and cantering, and whatever it took, up a few hundred yards, then back again, up and back, until we finally reached the turn back into the camp. He calmed down a little, so I decided to take him into the extreme trail competition elements, I particularly wanted to see what he would do on the teeter-totter, and I was amazed! He went up with very little hesitation and just a bit of urging before it flipped down, and he stayed with it! I ran him through it half a dozen times, and he only hesitated briefly before doing what I asked. He was brilliant! Now if I can only get him to side pass, it would be great! Anyway, I got back to camp, rinsed him down and put him away, got back to the trailer and discovered that the little leak I had under the trailer had turned into a leaking hose, and my neighbor had turned the water off, so that was my first chore. Fortunately I only had to take the clamp off, cut the hose a few inches, and clamp it back up again. It was a job I knew I had to do but hadn't gotten around to, so I was glad to get it done. Then I put on my bathing suit and Lola and I went down to the creek for a session of frisbee-throwing, and ended up joining a group further down the creek and chatting with them for awhile, all the time Lola was getting some exercise. After awhile, we came back and I got dressed for dinner, another long line for spaghetti, and sat by myself at a picnic table. As I was walking back to camp afterward, Callie and her mom came by in the truck, evidently they were so bored this afternoon they came down and cleaned the paddock and brought the hay bags back to the trailer for me, how nice! They parked the truck and helped me finish feeding the horses, then we chatted for awhile before calling it a night. After taking Lola on her last walk, I went around to a couple of the other camps and mentioned the ISS was going to do a flyover, and several people were interested (though some were decidedly not), so we watched a perfect four minute pass before I came back in the house. Now it's just shower and bed, I need a good night sleep! Off I go! Love you, babe!

Archives for June 2020

Wednesday, July 1, 2020 – Lazy Hay Day

Monday, June 1, 2020 – First Full Day of June Ride at Loretta Lynns