Archives for 2024

Pix to come!

Hey Babe!
Well, today was more like it! A good night sleep, easy chores, then out on the trail before 11:00, with a much more interesting trail that was much more to my liking! Rarely on the road, lots of hilly terrain, seventeen miles, Flash really got a workout today! He's been a flatlander for so many months, and even though he's very fit, he had to work harder than usual today. Nevertheless, he came shining through with his usual aplomb! The trailmaster here, a man named Stagg, had generously given me some tour tips for this trail, which included a stop at an outdoor venue with a big pavilion tent, a statue of Diana, and an incredible view of the front of the Biltmore house, with a whole layer of mountains beyond it. Truly spectacular! I had to put Flash on a hitching rail and walk over, and then managed to get a woman there to take a couple of pix for me. Got back to camp, worked up the trail details, and discovered it was a bit longer than it was supposed to be, something I"ll have to talk to Stagg about when I get the chance. Had a quick dinner, then attended the last half of the ride meeting (I didn't know it was going on, never got a schedule, first one I've ever missed), then back to the trailer. Bonni came by to take me out to where my spotting and crosswalk duties were to be done, getting back around 8:00. Having a little trouble with my TV streaming today, no doubt because there are so many folks in camp using up the bandwidth. Heading to bed soon anyway, got an early start in the morning! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
Went to bed early, took awhile to get to sleep because I realized the increased altitude had made the bed much firmer than I like. I forgot to deflate it before I left the last place, not realizing what a big mountain I had to climb just before getting here. I thought about it as I was climbing, and hoped I wouldn't do any damage to the new air mattress, and evidently I didn't, it was just too firm. I finally fell asleep but woke up just after 4:00 and had a hard time getting to sleep, again, because it was too hard! Before going to bed tonight, though, I've let some air out, so hopefully it will be a more comfortable night's sleep. Had a wonderful ride today, my first here at Biltmore. I was instructed to check the lime green trail and the purple trail, most of which was shared with just a few places that were different. It wasn't as pretty as I had hoped, lots of roads, going around perimeters of fields, and some areas that had been logged so it was a case of trail by bulldozer, not my favorite. There was one section on the purple trail I really enjoyed, with tower pines and a fern floor. It was short-lived, unfortunately, I would have like to see a lot more like that. I understand the red trail, which I'm doing tomorrow, is supposed to be nicer, and the white trail, where I'll be picking up glow sticks on Sunday, is the nicest of all, so I'm looking forward to that. I put boots on Flash because I didn't know that the terrain was like, and I was glad I did, as there were quite a few sections with gravel, though I could tell Flash wasn't that happy about it, but he went along with it. We passed some bearded goats and lots of geese, heard some cows bawling but never saw them, and had to deal with a lot of cars and runners. It's a busy place! The end of the purple trail finished where the riders are camping, and I saw Patsy's truck, so I went over and chatted with her for a few minutes before heading back to my trailer. Once Flash was back in the paddock, he spent a lot of time laying down. It's the most comfortable place he's had to lay down in in a very long time, and he is taking full advantage! The grass is about a foot high (though they've been munching on it and rolling on it, so it's getting flatter all the time), so it's a very lush bed, so I can't blame him. Apollo's been doing some rolling as well, so they're both happy campers at the moment! Went down to Patsy's for dinner, then to a volunteer meeting where I finally met Bonni, who is the volunteer coordinator, and we got along great! She had several volunteers that had to cancel at the last minute, so she's very grateful I called, and I'm very grateful to be here! After our meeting I came back to camp and found that my new neighbors are the same volunteers I met at the meeting, and they have a very energetic, 14 month old Doberman that Lola (who came with me to the meeting) wasn't sure about, but once they met off-leash back at camp, they started running around and playing together, so I can see Lola getting plenty of exercise, which she'll need since she can't come with me on the trail here. She was mad at me when I got back from my ride, but there's nothing I can do about it here, so this is good that she has a playmate next door. Finally settled down to a Northern Exposure, a bit of bourbon and a small cup of ice cream for the evening. Just about ready for bed, now that it's going to be more comfortable. I do love that bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had a hard time getting to sleep last night, read until the wee hours, but was up and ready to ride by 10:00, but Patsy was running last and didn't get here until after 10:40, but we were out on the trail with her friend Cynthia by just after 11:00. There was a lot of dog activity today, evidentally a field trial competition (the shooting started even earlier than usual, at 7:45 a.m.), so she led us out to a detour around the working areas, mostly on the Red arrow trail, which was quite nice. As usual, Flash was in the lead, and Lola came along, and soon we were way out front with his four mph walk. I had to canter him out a few times just to settle him down, but overall he did very well. We ended up going about ten miles on some very nice trails, just a little bit of the road. After they left, I got ready to go into town to pick up the part for the truck, but that ended up being delayed. I went into Walmart to get Lola's prescription, but there turned out to be a problem with it, they didn't have the right dosage, but that turned out to be a mistake on the written Rx, as I learned after I got home. Going to have to figure that out tomorrow as well. Got a few things there, topped of the fuel tank so hopefully I have enough to get all the way to the Biltmore on Tuesday, went to the AutoZone and had to wait for the delivery. I had been told 4:30, turned out to be 5:30, but at least I have the part in hand now. I sure hope they can put it in for me in the morning, or at least let me have a corner to do it myself, in case I need their help. Finally settled down for the evening to a fun Sly Stallone movie, Avenging Angelo, and heading to bed forthwith! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Had a good night sleep, puttered around in the morning, did a little research of possible places to go after this. I emailed some folks at the upcoming Biltmore ride, and they were happy to take me on as a volunteer! I've always wanted to go there, but as you know, it's pretty pricey, but as a volunteer, I was delighted to learn I can get free camping! Very happy I checked that out! So I extended my stay here until next Tuesday for now, depending on whether I can get into Biltmore Tuesday or Wednesday, and thankful they didn't make a fuss about the maximum camping time, which may or may not be 14 days, I don't know, I didn't check. Anyway, once I got that and a few other things sorted out, I finally groomed and saddled up Apollo, though I also had to trim his back feet, they were if dire need of trimming. I thought I had a sign to pick up out on the green trail, but when I got there, there wasn't one, and after seeing where it was, way, way off the road, I can understand why. Note to self, take a better inventory of what we put out so I can keep track of what we need to get back! I did find two more signs by the road that belong to the other group, so I after getting back to camp, I drove out and picked those up. It was a great ride! Apollo finally got some exercise (we went about 7 3/4 miles!), and Lola came along, her first ride in a very long time! I trimmed her sore nail as much as I could, and it didn't seem to bother her one bit, thank goodness. She's been sleeping all evening, so it was obviously a good run for her, which she badly needed. Had dinner (I've been eating nothing but hot dogs, beans, and mac and cheese leftover from the ride all week, and probably have enough for another week!), watched a Northern Exposure and a quirky Robin Williams movie called the Big White (when aren't his movies quirky?), now I'm heading to bed, hopefully early. Starting to feel like my summer is shaping up, particularly if I can keep following the endurance ride circuit, though I'll be in NYS less than I had originally thought, which is fine. Been there, done that, anyway! And believe it or not, most of my fairy lights are STILL LIT tonight! Amazing! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
Well, despite all the sleep and rest I had during the day, I had no trouble having a good night sleep last night, and woke up pretty refreshed this morning, still laying in very late while I waited for the temps in the 30's to warm up a bit. This is the coldest night, and will improve this week, so I wasn't too worried. Did my chores and had breakfast in a leisurely manner, finally saddling up and getting on the trail around noon. Flash was in a pretty lazy mood so it took us a bit long to take the lights down than I thought. I was amazed at how many of them were still lit! I thought they were only supposed to last 24 hours, but many were still going strong three days later! Even as I'm getting ready for bed, a lot of them are still lit! It was a beautiful day, so it was a nice ride, though I am getting a bit bored with the blue trail, as this is our third time riding it, not to mention putting signs out. My intention was to pick up one FEI sign, but then I ran across more than half a dozen other signs, so I picked those up as well. Turns out they belong to Angie, but Patsy didn't know where they were, so didn't know to pick them up. Anyway, I got all the ones on the blue trail, as well as the sections of yellow that is shared, hopefully I can get them back to Patsy before I leave here, or at least leave them somewhere where she can get to them. Arrived back in camp around 4:00, fixed the highline as it was sagging and I wanted to shorten one end to fix that, finally settled down for dinner and a movie. Ready for another nice night, not so cold as yesterday so I'm hoping to leave the window open a crack for some fresh air. No nearby generators to shut out now! Looking forward to another good night sleep! Good night, sweetie! Love you!