Archives for April 2022

Hey Sweetie,
A pretty good night sleep, then chores, then James got here just before 10 and we headed into town to buy up a bunch of spray paint for the trails. Then he took me over to their maintenance area where he showed me all the stuff they have lying around, all the posts and gates and fencing, and bunches of signs that are just hanging out in the shed. It’s a drop off area for whatever junk they don’t want anymore, but there’s some stuff that’s salvageable as well. Lots of big equipment, a lot they don’t use anymore, so just rotting away at the moment. He has plans to clean a lot of that up this summer, get rid of what they’re not using. We grabbed some signs and arrows that I can use on the trail. Now that I have paint I can get busy marking trails, which I feel like I’ve been waiting weeks to do! Can’t wait! Also got some stencils so I can paint the wheelbarrows and manure rakes with SFWMD just to hopefully prevent them from getting taken, though so far, we haven’t had a problem with that. Then we had a meeting with a couple from the Palm City equestrian group, sort of a power couple that James learned has a lot of influence and connections that can hopefully help us in a number of ways, and it was a great meeting. I think we’ll be able to get a lot done with their help as well. It was a beautiful day today, after that front moved through yesterday, and even better tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to getting back on the trail again. Not sure if I’m going to take Flash or Apollo tomorrow, I’ll see how they are in the morning. Anyway, I still have my last rounds to do, and my shower to take before bed, so I’ll say good night now. Love you, darlin’!

Hi Hon,
Well, I had to reset the GFI fault on the well pump several times today, there must be some load on the line somewhere that’s causing it to trip. I was surprised at the number of campers that came in today, I thought after Easter it would drop off, but it was pretty busy today. I took some time in the morning to measure all the boards that need replacing in Barn 2, as well as checking out the water spigots, James was talking about replacing the framework around them, so I figured out what we needed for that, too, though there’s one that’s in pretty good shape that doesn’t have a spigot inside it anymore, so I’m thinking we could dismantle it and use the boards to fix up the other ones that need it. James ended up having another meeting after his first one, and it took all afternoon, so we didn’t get a chance to go shopping, which is too bad because I was really looking forward to getting out on the trails tomorrow to start marking them. A front came through this afternoon, which brought some heavy thunderstorms and quite a bit of rain, yay! Didn’t last long, but dumped a lot in a short time, which we needed desperately, it hasn’t rained in months! Since I’m on concrete, I didn’t have my screen room pegged into the ground like I usually do, so that was whipping around in the winde, and I had a pretty good leak in my bedroom window that I’m going to have to check out. You remember I resealed it last year, I’m disappointed that it’s leaking, but it might be an easy fix. I hope so! So other than welcoming campers and flipping the switch for the well pump, it ended up being a pretty boring day. We’re schedule to go shopping in the morning, hopefully this time it will come to pass, and maybe I can even get some of the trail done tomorrow, though I doubt it, but that’s okay, since it’s supposed to be cooler for a couple of days. I hope I can get everything done that I want to get done by the end of the week, then we have the workday, then I have to start planning my departure, which will probably be within two weeks of that. I’m not going to rush north, though, because everytime I look at the forecast for upstate NY, they’re still calling for snow! But northern Florida, GA and SC are starting to look pretty good. No rush, I’ve got a sweet setup now, with 50 amp electric, big paddock and easy water access, so I’m not in that much of a hurry, but I am looking forward to some new trails. Besides, I’ll be back in the fall, and that will come in the blink of an eye! Not sure if I’ll find any new places to go in NYS, but I supposed I can bounce around between Sugar Hill, Brookfield and Otter Creek during the hottest part of the summer, then ease my way south after that. Maybe I’ll find someplace new, we’ll see. Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Got to bed kind of late, so got up a little late, but I had every intention of going riding this morning, but as soon as I was getting hay for the horses, one of the campers came by to tell me that the water in the shower house wasn’t working, so I ended up going over there and looking it over. At first, I couldn’t find anything wrong, it seemed like an electrical problem rather than a water problem, so I closed it all up and put signs on it to use the other bathhouse. Then I took another look at it, and eventually found that the GFI on one of the electrical outlets out in the pump area had clicked off, so I reset it and that seemed to solve the problem.By the time I did that and had breakfast, it was getting too hot to ride, so once again, I ditched it, and spent the afternoon reading, on the computer and binge-watching TV. Figured I’ll get busy again tomorrow. Supposed to go shopping with James for trail-marking supplies, so I should be out on the trails by Tuesday morning doing that. There’s a cool front coming in tomorrow afternoon, so Tuesday it should be really nice, perfect for riding and marking. If I can get yellow and white mostly done Tuesday, the rest shouldn’t take too long, they’re mostly in better shape. But I’m going to have to take better note of where we want to put posts and arrows where they are really needed, until we can get the better intersection markers approved. Anyway, getting past my bedtime, so good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Got up pretty early this morning, I had a busy morning shopping. I discovered the Ace Hardware in Indiantown sold hay, so in an effort to save myself a trip to Okeechobee, I went in and checked it out. It wasn’t too bad, though the bales were pretty small, so I bought ten for now. Then I went to the Tractor Supply because I had completely run out of Flash’s food last night, they didn’t even get any breakfast except hay this morning, and also to pick up the Balance that I had ordered, only to discover that the manager had trouble finding it so he hadn’t ordered it. I waited for him to get back from running an errand and helped him walk through finding the right stuff, and he says he’s going to order it on Monday so hopefully I’ll get it before I run out of the one bag I have left. After that I went to the IGA to do some grocery shopping. Even though things are a bit more expensive there, it saves me all those miles, so I figure at over $5.00 a gallon for diesel, I’m spending less in the long run. By the time I got back it was getting too hot to do much else, so I ended up hibernating in my air conditioning and binge-watching Friday Night Lights, did a few rounds through the day, had to straighten out one young guy who had hooked up his hose to a shared spigot and was washing his RV. I explained that there were no hookups, and that considering we haven’t had rain in three months and are in a drought, it wasn’t a good idea to waste water on vehicle washing, very diplomatically, of course. Had a couple of conversations with some of the horse folks, but other than that, it was a pretty quiet, even boring day. You see, I’m getting ready to move on, because you know how I hate boring! Anyway, just got back from my 10:00 gate walk, time for shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Didn’t do very much today, except have a meeting with James discussing various things about the trails and the camp and my hosting and so on. The rest of the day was mostly checking folks in, since it’s Easter weekend and there’s a hog hunt going on, though there were still a lot of empty spaces despite the fact that all the permits were out. Once again, lots of people make reservations and then don’t show up or cancel them. Nevertheless, there were quite a few folks here, so I had to keep making rounds. Did my bookkeeping and put some things away, that was pretty much my big activity for the day. I’m starting to hanker for a road trip, starting to get in a bit of a rut here, even though I’m doing a lot of good. I promised James I’d stay through at least when the mowers come in early May, and I’m also waiting to find out when my Vegas job gets rescheduled, was hoping it would be before mid-May so I can leave my critters with my brother while I’m gone, but it’s going to be getting really hot down here by then, so we’ll see. So it’s been a mundane day, and you know easily I get bored when I have too many of those, which is why I’m starting to plan my trip north. Meanwhile, shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
While I had great plans to get a bunch of little stuff done and go for a ride, in the end, I just didn’t feel like doing anything, so I just lazed around all day. Other than greeting some campers, I pretty much just binge-watched TV and ate today. Not much else to report! A nice change, though! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Well, the day you always dreaded has come and gone! You know how focused I have to be on taxes, and I’m sorry that sometimes made me grumpy, but I got it done today! Been hanging over my head, but glad it’s over. I even managed to do a couple of loads of laundry as well, nice to have electric so I can use my dryer and not have to run my generator, so a productive day. Getting myself a routine here at camp, so I can check on everyone a couple of times a day, then before I go to bed, check the front gate. Haven’t gotten to that yet, but I will. Settled down for some more Friday Night Lights, my current binge, feeling a lot more relaxed than I have in awhile. I might even take a ride tomorrow, one without an agenda! Won’t that be nice! Meanwhile, just enjoying a beautiful evening, won’t be long out of bed. Good night, my love!

Hi Sweetie,
Another morning of sleeping in, a lot later than I had planned, but I was up in time to say good-bye to Steve as he finished packing and headed up to Hickory Hammock. I started breaking down, though I mostly just piled stuff up to be moved later. After Steve left, James and the new Land Manager Andrew came by and we had a very productive meeting about the map and the future of the trails. After they left, I headed into Indiantown with my little horse trailer and my propane tanks, since I found it was the valve stem that was leaking so I went to the tire store and got that fixed. Amazingly, they didn’t charge me a thing, even though they put on a nice metal valve stem! Surprised me there. But they also pointed out that the other tire on the same driver’s side is looking like it’s ready to shred, so I’m going to have to have that replaced, though I figure I’ll wait until I need it next season, since it’s just going to be parked for the summer back at Jeff’s anyway. Then I went to the Tractor Supply, only to learn no one has yet been trained on how to dispense propane (it was only a “soft” opening, they didn’t have everything up and running yet), so I had to go to Suburban where I got one of the three tanks filled. Now that I’m going to be on a full hookup, I won’t be using much propane anyway, but I didn’t want to be left with only one tank. I had to wait for someone to fill it, but at least they didn’t tell me I had to drop it off and pick it up later! Then a quick stop at the post office to send off a package, then back to camp. I dropped off the little horse trailer next to the shed where James had suggested, then hooked up the big trailer and moved it into the Camp Host spot. I am WAY too long for this spot! Even parked as close as I could to the carport (too close, actually, because I can’t open my back doors all the way, but enough for my purpose), my front stanchions are way in front of the concrete slab, and my screen room is hanging over the fence. I put out my carpet but it’s in the wrong place because someone put this weird eyehook sunken in the concrete, evidently it’s supposed to be used to hook straps onto to keep a trailer from flying off in a hurricane or something. It’s right next to the door, so I have to be careful not to trip over it! So not the most ideal setup, but at least I have 50 amp service, which helps. I finally finished that setup, then moved all my hay over and tucked that back under the gooseneck, so all is back to how it was before. Then I took a walk around (my rounds, I guess!) and checked in with everyone that was here. I made up a sheet for the week so I could keep track of when folks are leaving which helped. The plumber came today, and was supposed to be working on leaky faucets in the newer showerhouse, which have been leaking, and lo and behold, they were still leaking! I had to close up two of the showers and turn off the water to them, again. Finally, I moved the horses from the paddock they’ve been in to another one a little closer, and that had some grass in it. The old one is well and truly fertilized, so I’m betting it will have some GREAT grass in there by the end of the rainy season! Got them fed, then made myself some dinner and settled down for the evening. I’m going to take one last walk out to make sure the gate is closed, a good suggestion made by Steve, since it seems a lot of people don’t lock the gate behind them very well, then I’m heading for my shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Had a great night sleep, nice and cool, only woke up once and had to read myself back to sleep for a bit, but ended up getting about 10 much needed hours. Woke up refreshed and ready to go! Didn’t want to overdo it though, thought I would maybe take the day off, but you know me, I can’t sit still very long, so I decided to change the oil in the generator. Did it in stages, though, letting it warm up, then waiting to drain it for awhile before finishing it off. Really glad I bought a special little oil filter wrench, one that fits on a ratchet and spins three “fingers” around the base, got it out with no problem. It was much easier than last time when I had “help,” before I discovered there’s a little drain cock that simplified things. Didn’t take too long, but did stretch it out over a few hours. Steve gave me the keys to everything and we walked around a bit to some of the new campers so I can get a feel for being a campground host. Will probably move over tomorrow afternoon after I run some errands in the morning, or maybe wait until Tuesday, since it’s staying on the cooler side and I don’t need AC yet, though I will be later in the week. Looks like I’ll barely fit in that host spot! I think I’ll move the horses over into a shadier paddock as well, just to be closer, and to give their paddock a chance to recover. Finished up making the last .kml files for James, so he should have everything he needs now to finish the map, though we need to discuss how it will finally look. I also am going to see if I can put some safety suggestions on the back, I learned a lot about what will help First Responders find a lost rider, and I’d like to share those on the map. Otherwise a fairly quiet day, gorgeous day really, having gotten down into the 40’s last night and only up to the low 70’s with a nice breeze today. Finally settled down for dinner, only to have Steve interrupt me so I can check someone in, since he’s already mentally checked out. Can’t blame him! I’m sure I won’t be quite as fastidious as Steve, but I’ll do my best to get the job done. Anyway, time for shower and bed, so good night, babe! Love you!