Archives for 2024

Hiya Darlin',
Was very happy to finally get a bunch of rain last night, and the first thing I did after my morning chores was to transfer all the water I had captured in my buckets and on the tarp in the back of the truck into the truck tank. I collected over 30 gallons, and that was even after I filled the horses' water tub! That's almost enough to completely refill my fresh water tank! Of course, I put a chlorine tablet in it to sanitize it. Very happy with that outcome! It will certainly allow me to do laundry on Sunday without having to run into town for a refill. Had breakfast after that, then decided my bookkeeping was overdue, so I spent most of the day doing that. It was too wet to ride, but I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. It's certainly cooler, thank goodness! Was getting tired of the very hot afternoons! I let the horses graze most of the day, until another trailer came in and I put them away for awhile. I let them out again after I went over and had a chat with them. A nice quiet day, so happy I was able to retrieve so much water! Next week they're forecasting a lot more rain as well, so hopefully, that will be enough, though I plan on making a run into town next week anyway, so if I have to fill up the tank, I will. Meanwhile, I'm grateful I'll be able to go to bed in cooler temps, and am looking forward to a better night sleep! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Another good night sleep, still with campfire smoke blowing my way, but I managed to sleep through it. I've been ready for the forecast rain, but every time I check it, it gets pushed back later and later in the day. The biggest portion seems to have missed us to the north, unfortunately. I wasn't counting on it in any event, so today I took a drive into a nearby town, Hamilton (home of Colgate University), which I was happy to discover had a Tractor Supply. I took two propane tanks in to them to be filled up, and they were kind enough to let me fill my water tank up there, though it took a very long time. I also was happy to see they carry Nutrena Balance right on their shelf, so I will likely pick up another bag next week. Then a quick stop at the Price Chopper next door to pick up a carton of grapefruit juice, before heading back to camp. I kept looking at my weather, and they said rain was coming in at 6:00, so just before that, I put the horses away and fed them early to avoid the rain. True to form, the rain finally started at about 8:40, which finally gave me an opportunity to get the various buckets lined up. I managed to mostly fill two small buckets, which I dumped into the horses water bucket, but left them in place in case it rains again overnight. I also had put the canvas on the back of the truck, and that caught a bit, but I'm not worrying about that until tomorrow. Not too much, but every little bit helps, I suppose. I'm just grateful for the cooler temps that will be following this, high only in the mid-70's tomorrow, thank goodness! Finally settled in for the evening, the usual. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Woke up early, got up around 7:00, and even so, it took me about two hours to get out of camp. Because it's a fairly short drive today, just over 100 miles, I left some stuff to be packed this morning, thus the later departure. I had a bit of a scare on the way down to Watkins Glen. The road is very steep in a few places, and I didn't do a very good job of managing the hills (I've been a little spoiled as the engine braking on the truck seem to be working just fine), and I didn't downshift the way I should have, and by the time I got to the main street, my brakes were literally smoking. I pulled over by the park and let them cool a little, but then I was reading that if you stay still too long the brakes could warp and stick, so after about 15 minutes, and since I knew I would be climbing uphill rather than down, I headed out, making sure I did a much better job of managing the hills. The only other bad spot was going downhill into Ithaca, but I handled that a lot better, so no overheated brakes. I stopped twice in Cortland, once at the Tractor Supply for propane and another muck bucket (to catch as much rain as possible, since water is problematic at Brookfield), and again at Walmart for a few last minute grocery items. We finally reached out destination around 2:00. I took it nice and slow! Last time we were here (in 2012!!) we parked in the Assembly area, which turned out to be more of a group camp, but this time I headed straight to the actual campground. Took me about an hour to scope out the best spot and get situated, then another hour to get settled in. There's a nice big grassy area next to me, so I put Apollo on the anchors and let Flash free, and they had a great time grazing most of the afternoon. I've decided to put them in the standing stalls overnight, as there really aren't any good trees for highlining here, and I imagine it's probably frowned on anyway. I will let them graze until too many other folks show up. I was thrilled that the place was empty when I arrived (and so was Sugar Hill when I departed, first time since I got there!), so I had my choice. Water is a hand pump only, no spigot, so I'll need to figure out how I'm going to fill up my tank. Fortunately the nearest town is only about 10 miles away, so that may be the easiest answer. I also was considering how well my new impact wrench might work on the little drill pump I have, but I think I might need an adapter for that. Anyway, got settled in, though it's quite hot, but there's rain in the forecast later this week, hoping I can recover some water from the awning, not the first time we've done that! You know I'll find a way, somehow! Hot and sweaty, heading to my shower and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Had a great night sleep, so glad I went to bed early. Spent the day doing a couple of loads of laundry, gorgeous day for outdoor drying, and started to pack up everything for our departure tomorrow. Used their garden rake to level off some of the ground that the horses stirred up, and scatter the manure further into the woods. Tomorrow I'll cover it all with leaves, so in a few days, you'll hardly know we were there! It's a fairly short drive tomorrow, so I'm planning on stopping at Tractor Supply along the way to refill the propane tanks. I was amazed that the last tank I opened last Sunday, and which I ran for about half an hour each day, plus the hour+ for laundry today, is still working! That means more than an entire week on one tank, which is fabulous! I haven't had to run any extra fans, much less AC here, so it's been very efficient, plus I've had enough sun on most days to help keep the batteries up. Looking forward to a change of back yard, though I learned from a phone call I made the other day that the water situation at the next camp may be challenging. Evidently, all they have is a hand pump at the horse camp, and some kind of wheel pump at the other, with no spigot to attach, so I may have to get creative, or I may just decide to only stay a week instead of two. We'll figure it out once we get there. My truck tank is about 2/3 full, as well as the trailer tank, so that will last us for most of the week anyway. Headed to shower and bed shortly, want to get another early night in! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Had a hard time sleeping last night, probably because of all the sugar in the two bottles of wine Steve and I drank yesterday, after 2:00 by the time I got to sleep. Dragged myself out of bed after 9:00, then spent the rest of the day reading and playing computer games. I half thought of going on a ride today, but just couldn't muster the energy. I did spend a little time moving the little door frame around the sewer area, though I had no success actually removing the screws, despite numerous efforts with my new screw removal kit. I did end up drilling the screws until they got so hot they actually melted the plastic frame, so at least I was able to get the frame off. There's so much damage and rust, the whole metal framework will need to be replaced, so I'm on the lookout for a mobile welder somewhere near the next few camps. A very lazy day, which I figure I needed, and I will be good and rested for tomorrow when I have to do laundry, repair the yard, get packed and generally get ready to go on Monday. Watched a couple of Warehouse 13's at dinner, planning on going to bed early tonight, don't want another 2:00 morning! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
A late night followed by a medium late morning, got my chores done, had a small breakfast as I was expecting my old friend Steve to come by today. The last time we saw him was at his wedding in Alfred, NY, hard to believe it was nearly five years ago now! He arrived right on time around 11:30, we chatted for awhile, then drove down to Matt's Place, the nearest restaurant, and one that you and I used to ride to when we were here, and had a great burger. Got back to camp where we broke open a bottle of wine he brought, which was later followed by a bottle of Biltmore wine that I had from my time volunteering there, and we had a spectacular afternoon of talking about times, old and new, and generally getting caught up on each other's live. We reminisced about the various Republican National Conventions that we all worked at as speech coaches, all of our family lives, and just never ran out of conversation all afternoon. We also climbed up the tower so he could have a good look at the wonderful view up there. He finally left after 7:00 just as a thunderstorm was making it's towards us, and I finally settled down for the evening. What a wonderful, memorable day. Again, feels like old home week visiting with all these high school buddies! So glad I decided to come to NYS this summer! Wish you were here! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Woke up early to the alarm, did my chores and breakfast, then headed over to Rock Stream Diesel so Luke could do the work we spoke about on Monday. It took considerably less than an hour to replace the belt tensioner (the new ones have a plastic wheel, so I expect I'll be changing that out again at some point!), remove the faulty vacuum pump, and reprogram my computer so that it no longer thinks it's a California emissions engine. All my codes are now gone, the noise is gone, and it runs perfectly! A very reasonable $348, I think. Was back in camp by 10:00, but I had noticed the other day that my brake controller was on the fritz again, so I spent some time working on that until I got it working again. Seems like no matter how much I tidy up the blue power wire, it keeps coming undone, even though it feels perfectly tight! Today I really squeezed them together with some tiny pliers, and that finally did the trick. Can't pull this trailer without my brake controller, especially on these NY hills! Spent the rest of the day reading and playing computer games. I considered taking Apollo for a ride but decided to wait until tomorrow, I'm still a bit tired from yesterday's long ride, plus getting up earlier than usual this morning. Lazy me! But I got the one big chore done that I wanted to do today, get the truck fixed, and happy about that! Settled in as usual, dinner and a movie, next shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!