Hi Sweetie!
Still very warm here, keep waking up early because it’s so hot. Fingers crossed the promised cool front comes in tomorrow! Well, today would normally have been my day to start packing up, but everything’s been in a state of flux while I wait for Sandy to decide whether she wants me to help with her logistics on getting her horse home. After waiting most of the day, and thus, not packing up anything, I finally contacted Trish and learned that she and Candy just can’t get their schedules to mesh in a way that works before the second week of July at the earliest, so Sandy finally decided to let me just bring her. I mean, I’m only 85 miles away, it doesn’t make sense for the Indiana gals to drive eight hours round trip to get her when I’m still in her back yard! Anyway, that’s settled, and they’re even going to deliver her to me here so I don’t have to worry about finding a trailer and making that trip. Seems like it might be Tuesday, which is no problem, I’ll probably stay an extra day so the horses get to know each other a little before putting them together in the trailer, but we’ll see. Tomorrow I’ll reorganize some things to make room in the last stall for her as well. I also had a visit from one of the rangers and from the campground host today, just about the only folks I saw today, except a few passers-by that just came and went. A very quiet, hot day, kind of glad I didn’t have to do much today. Was going to do laundry but changed my mind because the next place has electricity, figured I’d save it until then, so I won’t be sweating on clean sheets, either. Anyway, things will be busy this week, so a rest day was probably a good idea. Off to shower and bed soon, so good night, my darling! Love you!
Archives for June 2021
Saturday, June 19, 2021 – Hike to Waterfall and Trailer Wash
Hi Darlin’!
Another warm night, but slept okay for the most part. After chores I decided that rather than ride today (there’s not enough trails here to make it interesting), I decided to hike the waterfall trail, which is evidently the highlight of this park. Lola had to be on a leash for some of it, which was fine. There’s an “improved” trail much like some of the horse trails (improved with gravel, unfortunately!), that’s flat and straightforward, and I took that the half mile to the waterfall, which, since we haven’t had rain in a while, had no water in it! The cliffs were quite striking, and covered with ferns (thus the name of the park), but the whole thing was much to civilized for me, ruining a “natural” spot like they so often do. Elaborate bridges, decks so you don’t have to walk on uneven ground, benches, etc. Since the purpose of the hike was to give my knee a challenge, on the way back I climbed up a trail that took me to the top of the waterfall, then around the back of it, then eventually over to a campground, which was the wrong direction but wasn’t even on the new map (how crazy is that?), but eventually came back down again to the main trail and back out to the parking lot. Just under two miles, with lots of ascending and descending, so it was a good workout and my knee did just fine! Drove back to camp, grabbed a quick lunch, then had a conversation with Amy, camp host extraordinaire, who stopped by and chatted for awhile. After she left I decided to take the opportunity to wash the trailer. Somewhere along the line I accumulated a lot of dirt, especially on the hay loft, it was really an interesting mosaic. It looked like someone took a bunch of leaves, covered them with black paint, then plastered them all across the roof. It would have looked lovely if it weren’t for the fact that it was dirt! Well, it took several hours to get that done, but working with water wasn’t a bad way to spend a hot afternoon. Had to run the generator again, not getting as much charge out of the solar panel as I had hoped, probably because I have both extensions on it to reach where the sun actually is. No problem though, since I refilled two propane tanks yesterday anyway. During the evening I spoke with Sandy, who has finally decided to buy the horse she saw in Kentucky, so my plans may change in order to help her get the horse up to her. She’s working on some logistics now, hopefully I’ll know better tomorrow. I was planning on leaving Monday, but it looks like a lot of rain in the forecast for that day, so I may just stay another day anyway, and if she wants me to pick up the horse, it will probably be Tuesday anyway. She may just want me to get her in Indiana after Trish and Candy go get her, but that’s all in flux right now. We’ll see! Meanwhile, I’ve had my shower and watched a movie, so bedtime has come! Good night, babe! Love you!
Friday, June 18, 2021 – Shopping Day
Hi Sweetie!
A warm night last night, no breeze, so a bit uncomfortable sleeping, but I’m getting used to not having air conditioning. Did my morning chores and a few other things, then headed out with Lola to do some shopping. The nearest Tractor Supply was almost 50 minutes away, in Harrisburg, which also had a Walmart, so that’s where we went. I filled up two propane tanks (I just switched over late yesterday), and got some horse feed. Wouldn’t you know, they normally carry the hard-to-find Balancer, and it was on sale, but they were out of stock! Just my luck. I didn’t need too much at Walmart, so we were back on the road again before long. I filled up with fuel at a station halfway back to camp that was much cheaper than in town for a change, so I’m good to go on Monday. The Campground Host, Amy, texted me to say she came over to check on the horses (I mentioned I would be going out today) and that everything was fine, so sweet of her to do that! Got back around 4:00, got everything put away, fixed the hoses in a few more places (I might be caught up now, but it seems to keep springing leaks in new places every time I hook it up and turn the water on!), then finally settled down for the evening. I had to use the BeatIt! Charger to start the generator today, first time in a long time, but I’m in so much shade and I wasn’t here to move the solar panel around to catch the most sun, so I’m not surprised. Doing pretty well, though, so far, but I must admit I’ll be glad when this cold front comes through on Monday and cools things down a bit. The next place appears to be a bit more out in the open, though I’m not positive about that, so hopefully I’ll get more solar power going, though it does stay cooler in the shade. Anyway, finished off the series I was watching, then watched a movie, now I’m off to shower and bed. A cool shower, mark my words! Good night, babe! Love you!
Thursday, June 17, 2021 – Second Ride at Ferne Clyffe
Hi Babe!
Another warm morning, another relaxing morning, finally saddled up Apollo for a short ride today. I wanted to check out the northbound trail that is part of the River to River Trail, thinking I might take Flash on Saturday, though a long section goes right beside a road in order to get the the next section of it. That didn’t exactly work out, though. We followed the creek trail, which is pretty nice, though a bit narrow, then turned up the northbound trail. It was fine for awhile, then we came across a very steep climb that was almost entirely large smooth rocks, exactly the kind the Flash was slipping on yesterday. I had put the boots on Apollo hoping that it would help with traction, but even with those on, we didn’t get 10 yards up before he started to slip. Well, I’m not out here to prove anything, and with another 30 or so yards of climbing, I wisely chose to turn us around. I dismounted and walked him down, not wanting to fall onto any of that rock. Honestly, I don’t know how horses with shoes even make it up that slope considering how much worse they are for slipping. Anyway, we diverted over to another trail that took us past some hunting fields, which were generally much easier and safer, before heading back to camp on the creek trail. Despite the boots, Apollo was till trying to avoid the gravel, so I got online and ordered some comfort pads for the Cavallo boots, figures if I was going to keep doing this rocky trails I had to do something! I also looked at some other boots I’ve heard about, and am particularly intrigued by the Scoot boot. They look well-designed, though maybe a bit flimsy-looking, but they have folks raving abouth them, so I may have to give those a try next time I need to replace boots. I like the fact they don’t rub on the bulb, which is Flash’s problem right now. The Cavallo folks just told me I had to break the boots in slowly, but how am I supposed to do that? I ride when I ride, I can’t do 20 minutes here and there for days or weeks on end. Anyway, they’re sending me something they say will help, we’ll see. Meanwhile, I’ve been mostly letting the horses graze in the yard until bedtime, watched a couple of episodes of The Duchess of Duke Street, and old BBC series I’ve been watching, took my shower early to cool off (we’re having a heat wave, lower nineties the next few days before a cold front moves through), be ready for bed soon! Love you, darlin’! Good night!
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 – First Ride at Ferne Clyffe
Hi Darlin’!
Had a wonderful quiet night sleep without earplugs, so lovely! The temps cooled down just as I thought it would, so I slept like a baby. Got up and did my chores, had breakfast, then saddled up Flash for our first ride here. There aren’t a lot of trails, but I did manage to plot out one loop, plus a litte extra just for fun. Just before I left a man came and parked in the lot here, I thought he was just having lunch but evidently he was doing some kind of bible study. We started off on a short linear road down to one of the parking lots. The first part had some small gravel on it, not enough for me to worry about boots yet, then it changed to a nice grass road that didn’t bother Flash too much. It was only half a mile, so we were back to camp in no time. We passed through and followed the horse trail, and it was a bit gravelly at times, enough for me to put the boots on, then about 100 feet later it turned into grass again, so I took them off again. Really, it’s tiny gravel anyway, and I thought it would be worse to put the boots on and irritate his bulbs, which are still healing from last week. It was fairly straight forward for awhile, then it started getting much more challenging as we started to climb. It reminded me of the “extreme” trail at Hocking Hills in Ohio, with some slippery rock (even though it was dry!), and some fairly steep and narrow sections. I kept having to push trees away from my knees again, not a fan of trails with trees practically growing in them! Then we had one wrong turn that gave us pause. The real trail switchbacked off to the right, but the trail we were on appeared to go straight ahead, so I never saw it. We didn’t get very far, lots of fallen trees, and the trail kept getting narrower, so I finally dismounted and tied Flash up and walked back to see where we must have gone wrong. I found the turn, not too far back, fortunately, so I went back and walked Flash out of that mess. He was slipping on rock like crazy! Finally it got flat enough to mount back up and we carried on, and weren’t far off from the top where it smoothed out again. Think this is one of those “one and done” trails, not sure I want to go back on that one! It was nice and wide for awhile, then the final turn home was along the creek, where it got more narrow and trickier, but not as bad as the earlier section. Met up with a church group on a hike, so naturally they all wanted to say hi to Lola and Flash, so I stopped for a minute. Got back to camp just before two, the bible study guy was STILL there, but he left shortly afterward. I had to fix the hose again before rinsing off Flash, then finally settled down for the afternoon to some computer work and reading. It was evening when the camphost came by to collect the fee, just $8 a night here, not bad! There’s a manure bin, there’s good access to water, and I managed to get a couple of hours of sun on my solar panel. I did run the generator for about thirty minutes to charge the battery and my electronics, and put the AC on just to blow the hot air out. Took my shower, too, so I’m all settled in for the evening. All this quiet and fresh air are lulling me back into earlier bed times, which is just fine with me! One more show on TV and I’ll be off to bed, so good night, my sweet! Love you!
Tuesday, June 15, 2021 – Travel Day to Ferne Clyffe State Park, Illinois
Hi Sweetie!
Woke up early, about the same time as yesterday, my body clock apparently reset itself to the crack of dawn. Stayed in bed for a bit anyway, then finally got up to finish packing and adjust the brakes. I was halfway done with the brakes when Joe showed up, we chatted for a bit while I finished adjusting the brakes and doing the rest of my chores. He finally said his good-bye and I loaded up the horses and headed out. Left the dump right at 10:00. A few miles on the highway and my phone blew up with all the voicemails, texts, messages and phone calls I had missed for the last two days. Sandy was wondering if I would go ride that horse she was looking at, she can’t get her out of her mind. A great “I told you so” moment, I had suggested several times she at least RIDE the horse to see if she liked it, but she didn’t. 🙂 It’s only about 85 miles away, so if she wants me to, I’ll drive back down and do that for her. Maggie made it home LATE because her second flight was delayed by more than three hours, apparently due to storms in the Orlando area where she was landing. Fortunately, I have a very good cell phone signal at my new location, so I can handle all of these things when I have a few minutes. Arrived at Ferne Clyffe just after noon, missed a turn and ended up having to turn around in a very small loop at the end of the picnic area, then had to make a sharp turn to get on the correct road. This is a very small camping area, with just enough room to turn around and back up into one or two spaces, the rest are good for tents, but not much else. There’s one spigot and a couple of pit toilets, and it’s VERY shady, so it feels SO MUCH COOLER than the last place. I thought the forecast said it would be cooling down, but now it’s saying it’s not, but I think with all this shade and cooler nights, it will be just fine. I managed to find a spot to get my solar panel going, though I’ll have to keep moving it to follow one or two spots with sunshine. Beautiful day today, though! A nice uneventful drive, except for that narrow loop in the picnic area, but we’re here! I put Apollo on an anchor and let Flash and Lola run free, there’s no one else around for quite a ways, but there is some grass to graze, which they did while I finish getting set up. I did some repairs on the longest hose as well, it’s leaking in three different spots, I managed to repair two, and might do the other one next time I run water through it to find the hole. Finally made some dinner (a burger, of course, I have to get rid of them before they or their buns go bad!), and settled down for a lovely evening, planning my ride for tomorrow. Not a lot of trails, and no real loops to speak of, just have to explore what’s here! There is a section that’s part of the River to River trail, another linear, but that’s a lot longer so I’ll save that for another day. Tomorrow is just to find out how the footing is and whether Flash can handle it or not. Anyway, it’s early, but I need a shower to cool off, so off I go! Good night, babe! Love you!
Monday, June 14, 2021 – Maggie Leaves and Pack Up Day
Hi Babe,
Well, it certainly was an early morning, plus I had a hard time getting to sleep last night (as did Maggie, because Lola was restless), but we managed to get dressed, get hay and water to the horses who are now on a highline, and still get out in about thirty minutes. It was a beautiful morning, actually got down into the upper 60’s, a beautiful day for flying. We had an uneventful drive to the airport, which was busier than usual so our good-byes were rushed, but I enjoyed having company these last few weeks, was sorry to see the both of them go. Stopped at the post office on the way back to drop off a priority mail book order, then stopped again at the gatehouse to let them know I’d be leaving early and to arrange for a refund. Then I discovered their cancellation policy is NO REFUNDS, PERIOD! Can you believe that? Regardless of the fact that I only made the reservation for this week at the gatehouse last Tuesday, they fully intended to keep every penny I paid for the extra six nights I wouldn’t be here! I’ve never heard of such a thing! Well, naturally, I made a fuss about it, refusing to accept that ridiculous policy, and eventually, after about 45 minutes, one assistant superintendent finally succumbed to the absurdity of the situation and issued a refund for five nights at least. Still, what a crazy policy! Yet another reason not to come back to Wranglers. I finally made it back to the trailer and started putting things away, took down the screen room, etc., though since my next stop is less than two hours away, and it’s supposed to be cooler in the morning, I thought I’d leave some of it until then. I did a load of laundry, then kept falling asleep all afternoon on and off while I was reading. Joe came over later in the afternoon to chat for awhile, we exchanged contact information, then after he left I decided to put more stuff away. I don’t really like breaking down and setting up all on the same day, so I got as much done as I could. I’ve also decided that it might be a good opportunity to adjust my brakes, since I’m in a long driveway and I can just keep pulling forward to get it done. Mileage-wise it may not need it, but I figure better safe than sorry, since I’m not sure what kind of terrain I’ll be driving through tomorrow, and brakes are my most worrisome thing mechanically. Got everyone fed and finally settled down around 7:30 with soup for dinner and a movie. Got my shower done, now I’m heading off to bed for hopefully a better night sleep! Good night, darlin! Love you!
Sunday, June 13, 2021 – Feed and Hay Pickup, Runaround Day
Hi Darlin’!
Slept well again last night, no rain or storms, but still pretty hot this morning, and again we deferred from taking a ride because of it. I had called Tractor Supply yesterday and they said they thought they had my Balancer, and they’d put two bags aside for me to pickup today. I also made arrangements to pick up hay up in nearby Benton, just 20 minutes away, which was advertised as $4, but when I got there I discovered that was for last year’s hay, but he had this year’s hay for the premium price of $5! I opted for that, getting 10 bales, 8 for me and 2 for our neighbor Joe, who also has a paso fino and is also a full-time horse camper. After hay we went to TSC, then back up to The Pond Restaurant, a local favorite specializing in catfish, before coming back to camp. I dropped off the hay to Joe, and he ended up coming by later to talk about some of the places I’ve been, comparing notes, and ended up buying a book. Nice guy, former insurance guy, more white collar than you usually find in a horse camp, so a refreshing change. Anyway, we had a nice chat, but I also got a lot of stuff packed up, all the camping stuff since Maggie will be sleeping inside tonight again, that was put away up in the attic. Checked all the fluids and tires on the truck, that’s good to go. Oh, and a ranger came by this morning and told me I had to take down my fence. I widened it this morning in order to provide better pasture management, it was staring to get a bit worn down but there was plenty of clover still next to it, so I expanded a little, and management suddenly discovered it and ordered me to take it down. I complained that their highline area was dangerously muddy, asked them for more mats, which they never delivered. So I put up a highline from one of the posts to a tree in the back, plenty long enough for both of them, and got them hooked up there, took down the fence. Strange, their rules say no electric fences but metal panel are okay. Not sure what the difference is, when I didn’t have the electric turned on anyway. Well, just another reason not to come back here, not happy with the rocks on the trails, not happy with the heat, now not happy with the rules, so this will be the last time I come here. On that note, I’ve decided to leave on Tuesday, already got the answers I needed for Ferne Clyffe and it looks great, albeit primitive, and the weather is supposed to be cooling off a bit, plus I’ll be further north, so hopefully six days there will go well. Maggie’s all packed up for her flight home tomorrow, so I have a long day of driving ahead of me, plus packing what’s left to pack in the afternoon so I can get out of here on Tuesday. With that said, it’s getting late, and we have a VERY early morning, so I’m off for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Saturday, June 12, 2021 – Too Hot to Ride, Everyone Left
Hi Sweetie!
Had a terrible night, tossed and turned for hours, until I finally took a Tylenol PM around 3:30. I guess there was a lot of caffeine in that Frappe I got last night, didn’t think of that until this morning. So woke up tired, only to discover that all of my friends from Indiana had packed up and left, the heat and humidity was just too much for them. Sandy finally came to the decision to not buy the horse she was looking at, realized she wasn’t really ready for that, too much work to do, and she still wants to do some traveling, so in light of that, and the fact that the girlfriend she’s meeting up with is already there, she packed up and left before 9:30 as well. So now we’re back down to just Maggie and me! It was really hot and humid today, and I’m still a bit worried about resting the horses, so we opted not to even try riding today. We pretty much just sat around inside in the air conditioning, reading and watching a little TV and eating and generally just chilling out. I extended the horses’ paddock a bit, they’re overgrazing the area they’re in, so a little pasture management was in order. I’ve looked at the schedule, and I’ve decided I don’t want to stay here another week, the trails are just too rocky and hard on their hooves, and with the early heat, I want to get north asap. I’ve been in touch with my next planned stop, Ferne Clyffe in southern Illinois, a primitive camp but it looks nice for a few days, and am making arrangement to move there, probably on Wednesday. I put together a preliminary schedule for the next month, which will get me to Sandy and Bill’s around the third week of July, and that will likely be my northernmost point this year. Managed to find a good enough signal in the day parking area to contact the local Tractor Supply, looks like they finally got in the feed that I need, so tomorrow we’ll run around and get hay and feed. Lots of lightning as I’m writing this, so I think Maggie will likely stay in the recliner tonight rather than her tent, can’t say I blame her! Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!
Friday, June 11, 2021 – Second Ride with Group at Wranglers
Hi Babe!
Had a good night sleep, then did chores. Maggie and Sandy both decided not to ride today, Sandy had a brief dizzy spell which we attributed to a bit of dehydration from the ride yesterday, so ended up riding Socks again today. Pat decided not to come along on her other horse, and the two new girls, Joyce and Sean came along, so it was just the four of us. They wanted to do the lake trail, so we took that one. I tried to figure out where I lost the trail last time, and still managed to miss it somehow, but it was a very nice ride, much more relaxing because my two slowpokes weren’t holding us back, which made it a much faster ride as well. We were back in camp just after noon, though Sandy and Maggie had gone off somewhere to find a wifi signal. I went looking for them, and they were just coming, back to camp, so we ended up deciding to find a place where we could have lunch, a wifi signal and air-conditioning for a few hours. We ended up with an additional bonus, waterfront, because we went to Cindy’s on the Barge, down by the Marina. A nice little, inexpensive grill with a gift shop where Sandy bought a T-shirt for her husband. After lunch they drove down to the barn so they could get another look at the horse Sandy is considering buying, I stayed behind to do a bunch of overdue work on my computer, including uploading this week’s worth of diary entries. When I finished that, I called the ladies to see if they were still at the barn, but neither answered, so I thought maybe they had already got back to camp so I drove there. They weren’t there, so I went and visited Trish and her group for a bit, and we all decided to take a run out to the Bison and Elk sanctuaries they have here. Once everyone got organized, we headed to the north on first, where there was an unexpected $5 entry fee, but we paid and drove around about a two mile (if that) loop where we saw one tiny herd of about 10 bison at the top of a hill, barely visible. Not exactly worth it, but hey, we did it! Then we headed south to the other bison viewing area, but we got about six miles or so south when we learned the ladies in the other truck were running low on fuel. Rather than head back north (which would have been shorter), we kept going south, all the way down to Dover, TN to find fuel. Trish knew of an ice cream place in town so we drove there, only to discover they were “closed for maintenance” at 5:00! Crazy! So then we went back to the McDonalds, because now I was really in the mood for something sweet, and when I asked for ice cream or a milkshake, I was told they weren’t available at the moment! REALLY?? Oh, well, I managed to get a Caramel Frappe which satisfied my sweet tooth and need for something cool on my tongue. We headed back towards camp, and saw a single rogue Bison on the south viewing range by some corrals, then another herd further up a hill, actually more than we saw in the paid viewing area, so I guess we got our money’s worth. By the time we got back to camp (and I went the back way to show them the crazy road I drove in on with the trailer and ran into a short, heavy downpour) Sandy and Maggie were back. We chatted for a bit, exchanging stories about our adventures, and all the new information Sandy learned about the horse she’s looking at, sounds very promising for her! We even are considering that I bring her up to her when she’s visiting her daughter and granddaughter in central Michigan, if we can get the timing to work out. Then just as we were settling down to watch Silver Streak, all the ladies showed up for a tour of the trailer (those who hadn’t seen it yet) and to chat about tomorrow. They’re getting bummed out by the heat and are considering leaving in the morning rather than riding, which kind of changes all our plans, but nothing too serious. They’ll make a final decision in the morning. I mean, yeah, it’s hot, and really humid with all the rain, but it’s a lot cooler in the woods so for me it’s no big deal when you’re riding, but I guess it matters to some folks. We’ll see. Anyway, after they left, we watched a little more of the movie while Sandy’s pillow was in the dryer, then they both headed out to their respective tents. Now it’s my turn for a shower and bed, at least I downloaded my next two books while I was out, I ran out of reading last night, horror of horrors! So I’ll say good-night now, my darling! Love you!