Archives for December 2021

Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021 – Rest and Recovery Day

Hey Darlin’,
Was in bed around 9:30 last night, and slept almost to sunrise, then stayed in bed and read a few hours, nodding off and on for awhile, since that’s part of my plan to rest today. Did my morning chores, treated myself to French toast and ham for breakfast, then spent most of the day reading and binge-watching Expanse, exactly the kind of relaxing day I needed! It rained in the morning and I managed to catch enough water to mostly fill up the two big horse buckets, so that give me at least another day or so less water I need to take out of the truck camp. I should be okay through next Monday when we leave. I planned my ride for tomorrow, spoke to Pistol briefly about when she’s coming, and Anita about a few things on the OTL, but other than that, I did next to nothing today! Yay! Heading to bed early again tonight, want to stay in the habit for now. So I’m heading off to my short shower and long night in bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Monday, Dec. 20, 2021 – Travel Day to Lower Hillsborough Oak Ridge Equestrian Area

Hey Babe,
Well, my body has adjusted to early hours, I was awake by 6:30 this morning. Read for awhile, then finally got up and started packing up. Got delayed a bit because of a couple of conversations I got involved in, one with one of the rangers and another with the main office manager when I went it to pay for my camping. They took out the paybox now, everything is supposed to go through ReserveAmerica, but they were happy to take my check, sans booking fee. It was a cloudy but uneventful drive until my arrival. There is a parking area right off the main road, but then a narrow limestone road back to the campground. I called the office to make sure I was headed in the right direction, since it looked like the kind of road I didn’t want to get stuck in if there wasn’t anywhere to turn around. I made the unfortunate discovery that the water source is a hand pump, which I hadn’t seen before in Florida, dang it! That’s going to complicate things a bit, but I’m only here for a week, so no biggie. I slowly worked my way in, the road had potholes you could lose a VW bug in, and I was astonished that I didn’t drag going into a couple of ditches that will no doubt fill up with water when it rains tonight and tomorrow. To my surprise, instead of finding the campground empty like I usually do on a Monday, there were more than half a dozen tents out here with some young adults hanging around. Maybe a Christmas vacation? I don’t know, but they were quiet and seemingly well-behaved, so we’ll see how that goes. Instead of backing up into an area, I decided to pull in so I was facing the woods, and a couple of nice trees for a highline. I had been hoping to let the horses graze out here for awhile, but can’t with all these other folks around. Had some trouble with the jack, saw some sparks flying when I was trying to lower it, not sure what that’s about but I’m going to have to take a look at it. I thought maybe the battery was just too low so I put on the generator, and eventually got it moving, though I don’t know it that was, in fact, the cause. Didn’t need THAT problem right now! Once I get everything set up, I drove up to the Tractor Supply at Zephry Hills to fill up two propane tanks. It’s supposed to be getting quite chilly the next couple of nights and I didn’t want to be caught short. Made a quick stop at Walmart for fuel and a couple of groceries, then another at Publix for their eggnog ice cream, which I discovered is absolutely delicious as an a la mode to pumpkin pie, one of which I bought for the holidays. Stopped once more at a Home Depot because I forgot to fill up my water tank in the truck at Walmart, and they let me fill it up there. I had emptied into the trailer, and put every bucket that will hold water around at all the places where water will collect, like the gutters and the awning. I’m hoping to catch enough water to last the horses for a couple of days. With a little luck and careful planning, I should have all the water I need for the week. It was dusk by the time I got back, just managed to get the horses fed before dark, made some soup and settled down for a couple of episodes of Expanse before calling it a night, very early. I’m crashing now, after all of the energy I’ve been using for the past two weeks, non-stop, so I’m glad it’s going to rain, so no guilt for taking the day off! Heading off for my quick shower and hopefully LONG night! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021 – Marker Pickup, Change of Plan

Hi Sweetie!
Up before dawn AGAIN this morning, I won’t be sorry to see this early morning schedule change back to normal soon! Got chores and breakfast done, then hit the trails as soon as DeDe arrived in her side by side, moving along at a very good pace. We managed to get all the trails done before 1:00, then headed over to Willards for lunch, joined by Helen, Jo and Barb, where once again my order of a medium rare burger was disappointingly well-done, and that was even after I mentioned to them that the last one I ordered was overdone. This one was actually worse! Oh, well, that’s why I cook my burgers on my own grill, so I can get it the way I want it! My original plan was to rest tomorrow and travel on Tuesday, but the weather forecast is really bad, almost a sure bet for rain all day, so I decided to go ahead and leave tomorrow. It sprinkled a bit this morning but mostly cleared up in the afternoon, so I was able to get everything packed up, even getting the truck hooked up, so it won’t take me long to get out in the morning. Rain is supposed to move in during the afternoon, so hopefully I’ll be settled in to my new back yard before that happens. Tuesday will be a great day to just veg out, which is something I really need right now, after so much non-stop activity for so long! I can feel a crash coming on, I just have to hold off until I get there! Anyway, I managed to watch a little TV and relax a bit, though I have to put new sheets on the bed. Lola has been so crazed lately, she’s managed to break into the bedroom and “fluff” all my bedclothes, getting all the sand on her feet all inside my sheets. She’s done this practically every day for the last week, no doubt because she’s bored and mad that I keep leaving her behind (even though I did bring her out with us one day), hopefully things will get back to normal starting tomorrow! Heading to bed soon, on my way to my shower, so good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021 – Ride Day Finally Here!

Hey Babe!
Only for the love of this event would I get up 90 minutes before dawn! Got the road signs put out first, then fed the horses and Lola. With a start time of 7:30, I was out by the road by then helping stop traffic so horses could cross at the trailhead, then again at 8:00 on the crossing north of the Equestrian Center. Then I put out some of the gorgeous alfalfa, then headed over for a quick breakfast at Helen’s house, which was the start of the ride, put a few more road signs out on the way. Got back to the trailer and actually was able to sit down and rest for awhile, imagine that! Feels like the first time I rested in ages! Silly Apollo is so bored, he kept grabbing the big water bucket with his teeth and tipping it over, FIVE TIMES today! I finally put one of the buckets over on Flash’s side so at least he had water, and left Apollo’s empty for awhile. I was assigned the job of marking in the finishers in the 50 mile race, with the finish line right here where I’m camped, so that kept me captive all afternoon. Not busy, just captive, which was fine, I actually got to read for several hours, what a change! All the horses finally got through just as it was getting dark. I ran over to turn in my login sheet, but there wasn’t anything else to do so I came back, picked up the last couple of signs, watched an hour of TV and now I’m super ready for my shower and bed, even though it’s barely 8:00. Tomorrow we have to go out and retrieve all the markers, so another busy day! That’s it, I’m done, good night! Love you!

Friday, Dec. 17, 2021 – Final Check on Trails, Riders Dinner and Meeting

Hey Darlin’,
Another busy day here at Goethe! I did my chores, then cleaned out the water trough first thing, which is a tougher job than you might think because it’s screwed into posts so you can’t tip it up, and the screws are stripped so you can’t take them out, so it was a matter of siphoning off as much algae-infested water as you can, then scooping the rest out with a strainer, then sponging the rest out, a yucky job, but at least it’s done. Had a quick breakfast, then DeDe arrived and it wasn’t long before we were off. We ran all of the trails today, adding a few markers and some signs in a few spots to make things even MORE clear, and had a chance to see the work that Kelsey and Alex had done, which was very good, with just a couple of additions on a couple of their left turns. Got back to camp at around 4:00, took down my laundry at last, then relaxed for half an hour before doing my evening chores, then driving over to Helen’s for dinner and the ride meeting. Not surprisingly, I’m exhausted again, but it’s going to be an early night to complement the very early morning tomorrow, so I’m off for my shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021 – Final Bit of Trail Marking, Then More Stuff!

Hi Sweetie,
Got a good night sleep, almost got caught up, actually woke up before the alarm! I immediately started a load of laundry, long overdue, the finished my chores and breakfast, doing a second load as well. My little voice in my head told me to put the sheets and whites in the dryer while I was running the generator, which I never do, but I don’t have a lot of clothesline space, so I decided to do that, figuring I could finish it off later this evening when I usually run my generator anyway. Good thing I listened, too, as you’ll soon see! After breakfast I saddled up Apollo to finish off one last bit of trail marking that couldn’t be reached by motorized vehicle. One of the things I love about horses, they’re the original four wheel drive! It was just a short section, just about two miles up and back, but Apollo was happy to get off the highline. He’s been bobbing his head for a couple of days now, obviously bored with standing around, so he was ready to go. We were only out for about 45 minutes though, it’s all I had time for, but he seemed happy for the attention. Since Jo wasn’t coming until almost an hour after we got back, I indulged him with a nice bath, then did a few more chores that I’ve been ignoring the last few days, like putting away feed and putting washer fluid in my truck. Then Jo arrived and we headed out to do a bunch of running around, to pick up signs, put signs out, pick up water barrels, put those out, it was a long day! And to really complicate things, this day that had no rain in the forecast has multiple downpours! Some were really heavy, so you can image what happened to the wash I left on the line! Fortunately, not my sheets, they were still in the dryer, so once I put the generator back on, I finished those off, so I have clean sheets tonight, a few days later than normal, but the best I could do under the circumstances. Anyway, I finally settled down for the evening, heated up some roasted chicken, watch a couple of episodes of Expanse, now I’m headed to an much needed shower and another good night sleep! Good night, babe! Love you!

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021 – Second Day of Trail Marking, South Loop Done!

Hi Babe,
Once again, up before daybreak, a quick round of chores and breakfast, and then DeDe arrived in her Mule and we shortly headed off onto the trails to mark the south trail. Margarita had some business to take care of but joined us at about 10:00, and we worked through the long day, but got it done! We took Lola with us, and at first she just ran beside us, but then she started stealing my seat every time we stopped and I got out, silly girl. In the end she earned her keep, though, because there were a few places where we weren’t sure how deep the water was and whether the Mule would get through it, so I threw a stick out into the puddle, and of course, Lola went chasing after it, and then we could judge how deep it was! So she became our official “Depth Finder!” Jo came by and met us for a few minutes once we got back to camp, then Margarita went home and DeDe and I finished off the last quarter mile before being completely done. The two girls Alex and Kelsey confirmed they had completed the final loop for the fifty, so all trail markings should be done! DeDe and I will be taking one final check on Friday. I feel utterly exhausted, having not getting to bed until after 11:00, but tonight I’m heading to bed extra early, plus I’ll get to sleep a little later in the morning, so hopefully I’ll be fully recovered by then! That’s all she wrote today, so good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2021 – First Day of Trail Marking, North Loop Done!

Hi Darlin’!
Another long and very busy day! Pre-dawn alarm followed by chores and breakfast, DeDe arrived right at 8:00 with Margarita moments behind. We packed up everything into her side by side (she calls it her Mule, though it’s not really), and headed off for trail clearing and marking. What a team! We all worked great together, everyone doing whatever needed doing, and it was a very productive and fun day. We managed to get all the way up to about a mile from camp where there is a deep water crossing where a creek comes in, then we doubled back and went to lunch at Willards, though it was past 2:00 by the time we headed that way. A great little eatery, but the service can be extremely slow when it’s busy, which it was today. Nevertheless, we left around 4:00, Margarita headed home since we were almost done anyway, and DeDe and I went back to finish the last mile starting at the other side of the creek crossing, got it done before 5:00. She headed out and I promptly started organizing for tomorrow. Everything was all mixed up and we had trouble finding some things when we needed them, and I figured I would have to make more orange markers for tomorrow since we’ll last time we used two different colors where this time we’re only using one. Then Alex came by, she and Kelsey are marking the third loop tomorrow, so I gave them the stuff they needed to make markers for that loop, so that was a good job delegated! Now I’ll have plenty for tomorrow for my loop! It took me until after 9:00 to get everything organized, but now we should be able to find whatever we need immediately, and not take along anything we don’t need, which we did this morning. So by end of tomorrow, everything should be marked, leaving Thursday to do what needs to be done, like water buckets and any last minute stuff. On Friday, DeDe and I plan to run all the trails again in her Mule just to confirm it’s all okay, then job done! Well, at least until we have to take everything down again after the ride! Long, tiring but productive and fun day, but now I won’t be long out of bed, heading for the shower momentarily! Good night, babe! Love you!

Monday, Dec. 13, 2021 – Truck Fixed! And ANOTHER Recon Ride!

Hey Babe!
Up at the crack of dawn today, had an appointment to take the truck in this morning and I wanted to be there when they opened at 8:00. Jo was kind enough to pick me up, then she took me to breakfast at a little hole in the wall in town that had great food. Picked up a few things a Publix, including a six-pack of Yeungling’s Hershey Chocolate Porter, couldn’t resist that combination! Filled up two propane bottles, making sure I was stocked up on everything since I thought my truck was going to be out of commission for at least several days, she even said it might be Friday before I get it back. Got back to camp and was soon out riding on Flash to recon the Orange Short loop today. Trails are in good shape, fortunately, drier than I can remember seeing them, but there were still a number of really bad spots that were mud churned up by big tires, so really deep trenches in a few spots. It was clear the ranger was out doing some work today, too, there was a large hole that was filled in and flattened by the time I got there, looking good! Found one more tree down, sent the coordinates to Scottie, so hopefully he can take care of those, too. Got back to camp after 3:30, and just a few minutes later, got a call from the truck shop that my truck was done! Apparently once they dropped out the drive train, they found the U-joints had seized, so they replaced those, plus a support, and that was it! Five hours of labor, but it was well worth it, since the drive home was judder-free! Yay! It was dusk when I got back, fed the horses, and myself, watched less than an hour of TV before tackling the job of finalizing the trails on Google Earth. Turns out it appeared to be a little long (though I have a little conflicting information), so I cut one corner and now it’s as right as I can get it with the tools I have. Hopefully the trail I moved to will be in good condition, we’ll find out in the next day or two! Did some work on the OTL mailing list as well. I’m BUSHED! Had my shower, off to bed forthwith, with another “crack of dawn” morning pending! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021 – Another Recon Ride, Lots of Computer Work

Hey Sweetie!
What a busy day! I spent a lot of time on the phone today, working out some stuff on the OTL for February, then finally got back to focusing on the immediate job of the Goethe Endurance Ride. I planned out a route that I hoped would be good for the first loop of the ride, then saddled up Flash and got out around noon. I was happy with most of the trails, though it’s impossible to avoid every area of deep sand or road or mud or water, I think what I came up with worked pretty well. I did have to change on section completely, it was just too wet, but when making up for it, I found a couple of other lovely trails that will work just fine. I had to finagle a little bit once I got back, but it looks like it will be a good length, too. Once I got Flash settled back in, I got busy working on OTL stuff again, updating the mailing list, getting more people to send me their email addresses, adding some stuff to the Facebook page, trying to figure out how people can pay us online, just a lot of computer work. Barely had time to watch an hour of TV and even then I wasn’t really paying attention. Time slipped away, as it always does when I’m online! Anyway, it’s just about past my bedtime, I still haven’t showered, and I have to get up early in the morning to take my truck into the shop. Busy, but productive! Good night, darlin’! Love you!