Hiya Darlin',
It's really amazing how much time I have on my hands when I decide not to ride and I don't have any pressing repairs to do on the trailer or the truck! I can't remember ever having so much free time! Again, I spent the day reading, playing a few games of computer Scrabble, watching a couple hours of TV, ordering a bunch of stuff from Amazon that I need since I have a friend at the next place willing to accept my packages, and just settling down for the evening. It was another warm one, though nice enough to go riding, I just don't like these trails very much, so I decided to let the horses rest for the week. Apollo keeps nickering at me every time I come out of the trailer, I think he's bored. Even Flash looks like he might welcome a ride, but I'm not worried, because next week I'll have him on the trails as often as possible! It was pretty busy in camp today, lots of new neighbors, though I kept to myself. I'm surrounded camp campfires, but thankfully, the breeze is sending their smoke away from me, so no problem. Won't be long out of bed again, enjoying the book series I'm reading, so despite not having a lot of demands on my time, I'm enjoying the quiet and solitude. Heading to bed shortly! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Archives for July 2025
Friday, July 11, 2025 – Another Quiet Day
Had another good night sleep, didn’t get up until nearly 8:30, then before I was able to finish my chores, young Brandon came by to chat once more. It was after 11:30 by the time we completed out exhaustive discussion on our differing philosophies of the universe, and he went to pack up and leave while I continued my chores, including filling up the truck tank so I would have enough water for laundry (though the weather on Sunday isn’t looking too promising at the moment, though that’s likely to change as always!) and finally got around to breakfast (well, now lunch!), then spent the afternoon mostly reading and doing research on Amazon. It’s the last “Prime Day” and I wanted to get a few things while the sale was going on, though I have a bunch more to order tomorrow. Finally settled down to a new series and a quiet evening. Quite warm today, but it still seems to be cooler here than where I’m going next, which is surprising as it’s further north. Oh, well, we can only find 70 when we can! Good night, Babe! Love you!
Thursday, July 10, 2025 – Mostly Quiet Day Again
Hiya Babe,
Despite my napping yesterday for several hours, I ended up having an excellent night sleep, and woke up really refreshed. It was a beautiful day, except for one thunderstorm that passed through rather quickly, as they all seem to be doing lately. I did a few chores, including mending the border around the exterior rug, but it was mostly a very quiet day of mostly reading. My neighbor for the past ten day, Brandon, was going to stay until Monday but had overstayed his two weeks and was asked to leave, even though he had received permission from the assistant ranger, but someone else complained, so he's leaving tomorrow. He came by and we chatted for a couple of hours, and we finally had clear enough skies to watch the ISS flyover. I've been looking for it for the last few nights, but it's been too cloudy, but after today's storms, we had a perfectly clear sky tonight, and it came through so early, it was even before the stars came out, so easy to spot. Sorry to see him go, but I imagine I'll run into him at some point. Which reminds me, I forgot to mention that yesterday at Tractor Supply, I actually ran into someone who had stayed at the Goethe Trailhead and immediately recognized me when I went in! Small world! It took me a bit to remember where I knew him from, but he mentioned they had a bus that didn't make it back to NY, and I remembered him and his girl stayed a few extra days, too, because they were waiting for paperwork and parts for their bus or something, that was delaying them. Amazingly small world! Anyway, it was a beautiful day, albeit quiet, but I'm sure I'll make up for it at Otter Creek next week, where the riding is much better. I can't remember sitting around doing nothing for so long, except during the time leading up to my knee surgery, and I'll be glad to get busy again. Anyway, good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Wednesday, July 9, 2025 – Shopping and Visit With Neighbors
Hey Darlin',
Had trouble getting to sleep, read until after 2:00 before I was finally able to drift off. Got up and did all my usual chores, then decided to take a drive down to Painted Post to get some supplies. I had two tanks of propane to fill at the Tractor Supply (still the best place to get tanks filled!), plus some horse feed, then Walmart to get a few groceries, managed to escape with paying just under the usual $100 cover charge :-)! After I finished putting everything away and settled in my chair, I dozed off for a couple of hours, much to my surprise! Hope that doesn't mean I won't sleep tonight! After dinner, feeding and walking Lola, I stopped over at a campsite near Brandon's to meet some folks he met, and we had a nice chat. They were Russian, and had a lot of questions about traveling with horses, which, of course, I was more than happy to answer. The least I can do with living this dream is to share it as much as possible! The matriarch's name was Vera, and I gave her the grand tour and she asked to buy a book, which is always nice! Anyway, won't be long out of bed, though I hope I didn't spoil a good night sleep with too much napping today! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 – Just Another Mundane Day
Hiya Sweetie,
Nothing much happened today, again. Took a few walks and did my PT exercises, which I've been doing intermittently, and spent the rest of the day mostly reading. It was very foggy this morning, and it didn't even clear out until nearly 2:00, with a couple of short drizzles (right when I was feeding the horses, naturally!), but otherwise a mundane day. I had to run the generator for a bit since I didn't have any solar power, but I've really used my generator so sparingly since I've been here, I have no complaints! Just killing time until I get to Otter Creek, where at least there are good trails to ride on. Not sure I want to go out again here. Forecast is more rain this week, so that will solve the issue anyway. Not much else to say, relatively boring day! (Which I know you hate to hear, but I don't mind the occasional boring day) Good night, babe! Love you!
Sunday, July 6, 2025 – Laundry and Housekeeping
Hiya Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, then eventually got around to doing a couple of loads of laundry, hanging them on the line for the first time since I left Florida for a change! Did some housekeeping, mostly read, then finished the day with a fun little movie called Heads of State, and again had a perfect picture, HD and no buffering! What a pleasure! I did put Apollo out on a line for awhile just to get him out of the paddock, and otherwise just enjoyed a quiet day. Not much else to report! Love you, sweetie! Good night!
Satuday, July 5, 2025 – Ride on Flash to Matt’s Place Restaurant
Hey Sweetie,
After spending the morning doing some research and trying to solve my internet problem, I think I've come up with a solution. When my cell phone signal is on the weak side, I'm having a terrible time doing livestreaming once it reaches the choke point and slows down. I've been considering Starlink, but that's a pretty expensive solution. I finally contacted Verizon and learned they could up my plan for $35 more a month and give me nearly three times the gigs, more than I typically use, without reaching a choke point, so I opted to do that to see if it worked. More on that in a minute. Once I did that and some other research, I saddled up Flash and headed out to Matt's Place, a restaurant about five miles south of here, and reachable by trail. I had trouble keeping his boots on, even though I taped the old one, but it nearly lasted until we got there. I was disappointed in the restaurant. I had looked up their menu online and they had some cool stuff, like a Monte Cristo sandwich, taco salad and club sandwich. When I got there, however, and saw their current menu, it was nothing but pizza, burgers and wings. Not really what I was in the mood for, but oh, well. I ended up getting a Philly cheesesteak, and while the bun was nice, and the homemade chips were wonderful, it was all way too salty. Had a Guinness, which was a high point of the meal. Anyway, it was an okay destination, but I don't think I'll be doing that again. Headed back up the Mohawk trail, and again, the boots didn't last half a mile, so I ended up just taking them off, which was a tough choice. The problem here is that there are a lot of rocks and stones, and a lot of mud, the worst combination. Flash wasn't thrilled about the rocks or the mud, but at least I didn't lost any more boots along the way! Got back to camp around 5:30, did my usual chores and settled down for the evening. I finally cranked up the TV to see if my new service plan had improved my live streaming, and I was immediately able to get my Prime going, something I haven't been able to do since I've been here! Yay! Watched an episode of Night Sky, and was so happy to not have any buffering at all! So hopefully this will make my viewing experience better in the future. Another good thing, we've had so much sunshine so far this week, and I've used so little power (since I haven't been able to watch TV, I suppose!) I've only had to run the generator ONCE so far! Though tomorrow is laundry day, so I'll be running it for an hour or so tomorrow. So, despite the less than stellar ride and meal, it was another good day all around. Finishing my usual evening shortly! Good night, baby! Love you!
Friday, July 4, 2025 – Fabulous Fourth of July Ride and Fireworks in Tower
Hi Babe!
Had a great night sleep though I woke up early, read for awhile before getting up for chores. After breakfast I went over to fill up my truck tank to make sure I had enough for laundry on Sunday, only to find the garage where the hose it was still locked, but fortunately a ranger was there and he opened it for me. Got that job done, then got the horses saddled up. I had offered to let my young neighbor Brandon ride Apollo, so both horses (and Lola!) would get some exercise. It's always nice when both horses can go out together. My planned 3.5 mile route ended up being just over five miles, and there was some good climbing, but everyone did fantastic! I think we're all getting back into shape now that we're on the road again. This is the second time in as many weeks that Apollo has been ridden with Flash, and I think they both enjoy going out together. I was especially delighted that Lola stayed with us, and was even leading most of the way! I think the cooler temps make a big difference with her, she even tried to get us to play fetch with a ball when we got back to camp! She hasn't done that in awhile! And Apollo didn't seem at all worse for the wear, despite the climbing. So happy! Once we got back to camp and got them put away, we sat under the awning and had a lot conversation, mostly about spirituality and religion, comparing notes on our differing beliefs, very entertaining. Finally quit long enough to have dinner, then finished a book just at sunset, so I climbed up the 92 steps of the firetower and saw the remnants of a gorgeous sunset, and stayed to watch the numerous fireworks that dot the landscape around this incredible 360 view. I didn't expect to be back here this year, but it has been nice being back in NY with the cooler temps, though it is supposed to get hot over the weekend, briefly.Anyway, a gorgeous day, a beautiful ride, a fantastic fireworks display, and now, tea, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Thursday, July 3, 2025 – A Lazy Day in Camp, Except for HAIL STORM
Hiya Darlin',
Spent most of this lazy day reading and doing some overdue bookkeeping, as well as some research and online shopping for my upcoming Yellowstone trip. It was a gorgeous day, perfect weather, right up until the storm hit. I received a warning about thunderstorms, which didn't bother me, but when it hit, it came in fast with straightline winds that gusted well into 40+ mph, and brought huge hailstones, which I was NOT expecting. The horses ran down to the end of the paddock and put their tails to the wind, but thank goodness they didn't crash through the fence, though it looked for a minute like they might! It only lasted a couple of minutes, but several tents were swept away and ruined, and there were hailstones on the ground. I was very happy that I didn't have any dings in my truck, I was afraid it would get damaged! The radar showed a couple more bands coming, so I ended up putting the horses in the trailer just to be safe, but they both petered out to almost nothing, so I brought them out again. The temps got cooler, but it soon cleared up and turned into a beautiful afternoon and evening. Should be good sleeping weather tonight! Of course, lots more people came in, and they all have a campfire going, so it's pretty smoky out there tonight. Glad it will be cool enough to close my windows and keep the smoke out! Other than that, a pretty mundane day! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 – Ride Day On Flash, Hay Day
Hey Sweetie!
A decent night sleep, though once again I woke up to a generator being turned on right at 7:00. Did chores and breakfast, then saddled up Flash for my intended ride over to the Templar Falls. A Facebook memory came up of you recently standing at the top of those falls, and I thought it might be nice to revisit them, but we never made it. The trail was so overgrown and untended that it became impossible. At one point, we went through a shrub so thick I just put my head down and let him lead the way, but then a thick branch caught me anyway and almost swept me out of the saddle. Thank goodness Flash is just as good at Whoa as he is at Go, and he gave me a chance to untangle myself before moving on. We finally reach a spot where the trail was so washed out that it would have required a very steep crossing down and up again, and I decided it just wasn't worth it. Nothing to prove here, and as much as Iike a challenge, when it gets to the point of just being stupid, I'll pass. We turned around until we found another trail that my past GPS history had indicated we had taken, but didn't get 50 yards before it became impassable. So we went back the way we came until we hit the road, then I rode him north to where there was a trail that looped east, and was part of the more maintained horse trails.That brought us to Tower Hill Road, which we took back to camp. We ended up doing just over seven and a half miles, so not a long ride, but enough to get us out of camp for awhile. Put Flash away, then made some calls about hay, and headed out to a haymaker about 15 miles south. It was their first time using FB marketplace, and they had just posted it the other day, so I was lucky to find it. They managed to get about 90 bales of hay so far this year, which is amazing since it seems almost no one else has been able to do that with all the wet weather. Since I decided to stay another week, I bought 16 bales at just $4 a bale, though the bales were fairly small. I like that, though, it makes them much easier to handle. Got back to camp and Brandon offered to help me unload, so we got that job done in no time. Then we sat around and chatted for a long while, eventually being joined by our other neighbor John, and had a lovely afternoon. Eventually it was time for feeding everyone, and I resumed my normal evening schedule, though no TV tonight, it was too late. Heading to shower and bed shortly! Good night, babe! Love you!