Archives for 2026

Hey Babe,
Got up nice and early and still didn't quite get to the beginning of the riders coming in, just a little miscalculation on my part. There were only about a dozen riders today, and because of the rain in the forecast, it was decided that all rides would start at 6:00 a.m. Once again I was pulse timer, but I also did a little packing up, because we were all worried about me not being able to get out once the rain started falling. Once all the riders were in, I finished packing and attempted to move out of my spot, with the plan of circling around and ending up on the gravel driveway, but couldn't quite make it. I tried it from several angles, with and without boards under my tires, etc., but it was a no go. Robin had already called the DNR guy for help, so rather than try again, I let him pull me up out of the worst of it. Was a bit worried for a minute when HE started slipping, but it all worked out. I managed to swing around and get situated on the gravel before the rain got too bad. It was just a light drizzle for a couple of hours while the camp was breaking down, but by late afternoon, it was pouring for hours! Though I wasn't thrilled at the idea of moving AGAIN, it was the right choice. The field was a lake before long. Put blankets on the horses when I fed them in the evening, and walked Lola while there was sort of a break in the rain. Well, not much of a break, but I put on my full rain suit and managed to keep dry. Started a new binge-series, a Canadian one called Being Erica, which has been nice and entertaining. Headed for shower and bed soon! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Woke up early with the premise of starting my work day at 8:00, but some of the 50 milers were going so fast, they came in at 7:36, and Robin came looking for me just as I was finishing brushing my teeth. When I quickly made my way over to the pulse box, I soon realized that of the two clocks they were using, one was on Eastern and one was on Central, and they had been using Eastern, which would have made it look like I was late, when in fact, I was early. Whatever, it didn't matter, and I went to work. The day passed quickly at a nice steady pace, adding a couple of walks in between. One of the other pulse timers offered to put a special kind of K-tape on Lola's leg to secure her torn ACL, so she came over at the end of the day to do that for me. Then it was potluck dinner and awards, followed by another walk with Lola, and a camper tour for our neighbors Mary and Margaret. It was a busy day, so soon off to bed, because everyone is fretting over the forecast of rain tomorrow. They're suggesting I pack up and move over on to gravel before days end tomorrow, though I don't relish the idea of have to make yet ANOTHER move this week! I'm waiting until the forecast and actual data for tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm exhausted, heading to shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had an excellent night sleep, thanks to a very quiet and cooperative Lola-girl! I think moving her bed to the bottom of the stairs did the trick, I hope! We'll see how it goes tonight. She was a bit strange today, I put her on the cable and she crawled under the camper and stayed there for literally hours. She didn't move the whole time I was out working. Had a busy day, lots going on with dozens of trailers coming in during the day. I was all set to go out and work on trails, but then Robin decided to take me along to put out water troughs, which was fine, because Deb had her two sisters come in to help on the trail, and the UTV would have been too crowded. We put up tents and canopies, set out the awards, particularly some five gallon water jugs, which everyone seems to love, and generally kept busy all day. One driver went a bit too close to the treeline and ended getting stuck, so we spent some time dragging her out of there. We had her truck, then Robin tried to pull her out, but that didn't work, then I hooked up in front of her and that didn't work, until we disconnected the trailer. The truck came out easily, then we had to drag the trailer out far enough to hook up on dry land, and my truck seemed best suited, so we did that. Probably took about an hour all told to get that job done, but it was a nice break in the day! Reminded me of my old wrecker days! I finally got Lola out from under the trailer and took her for a walk. Helped a bit getting the volunteer dinner ready, pigged out on that, sat through the rider meeting, took Lola for a walk, did her PT and red light treatment, now I'm ready for shower and bed! I'm a bit afraid since Lola rested all day that she's going to be restless again tonight, but we'll see! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Lola was restless like crazy last night, so my sleep was constantly being interrupted, sorry to say. Still haven't figured out what makes her sleep through the night sometimes, and not at other times. It's almost like when I give her the pills, sometimes they actually make her worse! Last thing I need are sedatives that make her anxious! Decided to cut back her dose this morning just to see what happens. She seemed fine all day, although she was still barking for no apparent reason. Sigh. Anyway, finally met the ride managers today, first Deb, who had to tell me that I was parked in the crew area and would have to move, darn it, and later Robin. I helped put up Deb's popup camper, and unloaded some stuff from her truck and trailer, then went about moving my trailer, which was a bit tricky. The ground is still a bit soft and slippery, and though I managed to pull up on the gravel, I then backed a good ways into the field before doing a circle around to the position I wanted. Then I wanted to back up a bit closer to the treeline, and didn't get far before my tires started slipping, but at least I was far enough off the road in. It took about an hour or more to get everything moved. I put the horses on their anchors, though I tied them off to a tree, and moved their highline to another set of trees that will work just fine. I'm hoping it won't get too breezy, since I'm now broadside to the prevailing winds, but the stairs do fit better now. Getting out will be interesting, since it's supposed to rain on Sunday afternoon, and the turn is too sharp and the bumps a bit too big, which means I may be scraping bottom, etc. Not the ideal situation, unfortunately. The biggest problem is that I had to leave my rain barrel in place, no way I was going to empty that with no way of filling it back up again. Fortunately, it's not too far away from the horses' new highline position, so it's just a matter of me having to transfer some water by hand as needed. Helped Robin put up a fence along the road for security, using her posts and my fence charger, which was great because it meant I didn't have to move all my hoses to get to my fence posts. Finally settled down to a steak dinner, watch the series finale of my Drop Dead Diva binge, then joined Robin and my neighbors for a little group socializing before coming home, doing dishes, and now I'm ready for shower and bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Had a decent night sleep, only got woken up once by Lola barking, but she settled down and I was able to get back to sleep. The rain came in around 10:00 in the morning, and I was glad I put my portable rain barrel together yesterday. I positioned the awning so all of the rain would drain to one corner, put the rain barrel and another storage box at that corner, and it didn't take long for the rain barrel to be filled! In fact, I didn't realize I had left one of the spigots open, about halfway up, but when I saw it draining and closed it off, it continued to fill all the way to the top. That's about 50 gallons! Then I used a small bucket to transfer enough to fill the horses buckets, and then it rained again and filled it almost to the brim again! So I don't have to worry about water anymore, very happy about that! Did not relish the idea of either using the hand pump or having to take another trip to fill up my truck tank, which still has over 60 gallons in it, so I'm good to go. Spent the day reading, on the computer, or watching TV, a nice, relaxing day. By the late afternoon, the sun came out, mist was forming in the field, and it turned into a beautiful evening. Bodes well for the rest of the week! Ready for bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Rough night. Lola just wouldn't settle down. I was up thrice during the night to let her out. Barking all the time. No idea what was going on with her, but she was inconsolable, even without storms. Finally managed to doze off in between, but not a very restful night. The morning was gray, cloudy, and we had a little rain, so I decided to get out the portable rain barrel that I had bought awhile back and had yet to use. It was for those rare times when water was an issue and there was rain in the forecast, and this week fits that to a T. It didn't take long to put that together, but then the rained stopped, the wind picked up, and the clouds moved out. I had to pull in the awning because of the strong gusts, but I'm grateful I parked with my tail end to the west, so at least the wind isn't hitting me broadside. Once the sun came out and it warmed up, I decided to take a ride. The ladies I spoke to yesterday said the trails were in pretty sad shape, quite overgrown, so I took my trimming equipment with me and headed out on the south loop. I confirmed with the ride manager that there are basically only three loops here, two six mile and on five mile loops, and I managed to do one of the six mile loops. It did need a lot of TLC, there was a lot of growth, so it took some doing, but I was glad to get it done. Flash was his usual brilliant self, patiently letting limbs drop on his head while I did clearing. Such a good horse! It's supposed to rain most of the day tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to get the northern loop done until Thursday, but at least I'll be here to collect rainwater! Took Lola for several long walks, including one all the way down the field and back, which I figure was nearly half a mile each way, and the more she moved, the faster she got, so evidently we're working on strengthening her bad leg. Finally settled down for the evening, and was delighted when I had no problem getting my Prime Video tonight! I think there must have been some updating going on or something, but I was able to enjoy several episodes of the last season of Drop Dead Diva, which I've really been enjoying. Totally a suspension of disbelief, but a very enjoyable one! Ready for a better night sleep, and I hope Lola is ready, too! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Well, today was full of surprises, both good and bad! The first surprise was climbing out of the bedroom and discovering that Lola had managed to get herself into my recliner! That's her favorit spot to sleep, and I was thrilled that she was able to accomplish it. It didn't take too long to get breakfast and finish packing up (and I slept late, thanks to a quiet Lola!), but there was no hurry, we only had to move 80 miles or so. Left the site shortly after 10:00, stopping at their marvelous RV dump just at the entrance, and was leaving there before 10:30. It took about 20 minutes to get to the freeway, but after that it was clear sailing. The next pleasant surprise was that I was looking for fuel, and a few placed had really come down on price. I remembered reading that some kind of truce or treaty was supposed to be signed with Iraq and the Hormuz Strait was to be reopened to all, so I imagine that has something to do with it. That made me look up my investment portfolio, and sure enough, we were at more record highs! I tried to stop at a Casey's before getting on the freeway, but it wasn't easy to get into, so I skipped it. As I was driving along, I still had enough fuel, but I didn't want to cut it too close (nothing worse than running out of diesel, so much trouble to fix that!), but then I noticed I was coming up on something that looked an awful lot like a Buc-cee's! Countless aisles of pumps and plenty of room to get around, so I quick pulled off to check it out. Price was $4.69, just about the cheapest I've seen, and I had no problem pulling straight into an aisle. It was called Wally's, and it barely showed up as a blip on GasBuddy, which rather annoyed me, but at least I saw it in time! The rest of the trip went fine, I came in the back way just because the freeway had suddenly gotten really bumpy and I figured the back roads would be better. They were fine, and I arrived at the camp where I got a few more surprises. The parking area was tiny, the gate into the camping area was tiny, there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to get into any of the gravel sites, or even make it around the loop! There were a couple of women there I chatted with, and they were just leaving, so I was able to use part of the space they occupied to turn around in a way that would let me back into an open space on the lawn, that looks like I won't have any trouble getting out again, as long as it doesn't rain too much! There were a couple of trees where I put up a nice long highline, though they have to stupid metal hitchrails here, which I'm no way, no how using. Then I had my next surprise, and not a very nice one. The water supply here comes from a hand pump, and according to the ladies, not a very good one! I was sure I had been told there was a spigot here, but then again, that was from someone in the office, which, as we know from long experience, is typical. They have no idea what's out here. So, since I was under the delusion there was a spigot here, I didn't fill up my water before I left, which I could have easily done had I known. Anyway, I had enough in my tank to half fill a couple of buckets for the horses, so I got them situated on the highline and mostly set up before I headed out to the nearest Walmart about 20 minutes away. I stopped at a couple of places hoping I could find some rope to replace the fraying ones on the anchors, but Ace didn't have any 1/2" cotton, and Tractor Supply wanted $2.29 a foot! That's crazy, over $200 for 100 feet of rope! I asked at the counter if it was by foot or by yard, and he said foot, but I could hardly believe that. I looked it up on Amazon and found 50 feet of the same stuff for less than $20! So I'll wait until I have an address, probably next week, and have it sent. BTW, my package that was sent to Joyce is still stuck at the Indy distribution center, even after it was sidelined to Fort Wayne. I have no idea what the problem is! After Tractor Supply, I finally got to the Walmart, found their outdoor spigot (next to the fire hydrant), and filled up my water tank. I forgot to bring a hose, so I had to unhook the one from the tank, and getting it back on was not easy, but I finally managed it. Picked up a few things at Walmart and got back to camp before 3:30, transferred water to the camper and to the horses' buckets, and still have about 60 gallons left, which should be enough. I seem to recall the ride manager here telling me that the forest guys will be bringing out a tanker, so if I can get them to water the horses (or fill up my tank again), I shouldn't need to make a second trip into town. Anyway, finally settled down to a light dinner (I better lose some weight tomorrow!!), but even though I have two bars of signal here, I couldn't get any streaming services on any of my devices. Not happy about that! Seriously looking into Starlink again, I'm getting tired of having slow or nonexistent service, even if I have to pay more for it. Grrr! I was really looking forward to some new TV after a week of nothing! Nevermind, I'm still living the dream! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had another excellent night sleep, again with only a little bit of a disruption from Lola early, but she settled down again. She is doing so much better! Today she not only walked when I had a leash on her, but when I was packing up and doing yard cleanup, she wandered around on her own, sometimes following me, other times just exploring on her own. Definitely getting stronger! Spent the day doing laundry and packing, with a little research and planning thrown in, finally ending with first a rather depressing Australian movie called Animal Kingdom, about a criminal family with no real plot, but I followed that with an old Hopalong Cassidy film just to end on a lighter note. Heading to bed shortly, hoping my next location will have a better cell signal so I can actually upload my pix! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had another full night sleep, with just a little barking early, but I had my earplugs in so I was able to ignore it, and happy when I discovered there was no accident as a result, which was my fear after doing all the cleaning yesterday! Woke up to a lovely morning, did my usual chores, than after breakfast, I saddled up Flash and we took a nice ride. I had marked off the trail I wanted to take according to their map, since I ended up on a snowmobile trail last time (those are mostly shared anyway), but wanted to try to stay on track a bit better. That didn't exactly work out. Where the map said to go in a few places was more like a barely visible deer trail, so I stayed on the main trails as best I could. Followed some trails that weren't even on the map, and some of it was what I did earlier this week only backward. Came across a couple of major tree falls, but nothing I couldn't get around. When I hit about mile 5 or 6, I started hearing thunder and seeing thick clouds come in, despite the weather forecast saying it wasn't going to rain here until nearly midnight. Worried that I would get caught in it (and I had left some windows open in the camper), I tried to find the shortest route back to camp, which took me along the road, but with a good grass swale on the side, so Flash and I were able to canter and gallop most of the way home, so it didn't take long. Of course, the storms missed us anyway, which I didn't think was possible when I looked at the radar, but they just fell apart before they arrived. No matter, it was a lovely ride. I forgot to mention that on my other ride earlier this week, at one point I heard a mewling sound, and saw some fur babies along the trail. I thought they were kittens at first, but then they crossed the trail behind me and it turns out there were three adorable baby raccoons! They were darling! They all started climbing a tree, very brave for such a young age. So glad I saw them! There are a lot of deer in the park as well, I even saw some in the campground munching. I let the horses graze on their anchors again, and was once again amazed that no one else arrived today. I get that there's not a huge amount of trails, and they are pretty poorly mapped (though the markings aren't too bad), but it would be good for a weekend, at least! So reasonably priced, and the facility is nice, so it is surprising to me. Not that I mind having the place to myself! Everyone knows I'm perfectly comfortable being on my own. once I got back to camp, since it seemed like the rain was holding off, I ponied Apollo around the camp at a trot, which he seemed to enjoy immensely! Afterward, we all settled down for the rest of the day, doing a couple more walks with Lola, and for once, she didn't just bark at me endlessly after dinner. Maybe because I finally put her bed back up where it belongs instead of on the ground. I hope she doesn't try to get down during the night, but she does seem strong enough to handle it. Here's hoping she stays that way through the night! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
So grateful I had a full night sleep! Lola was spectacularly quiet until morning, so I managed to get some decent sleep. Of course, that meant I had a lot more energy today, so I decided to put it to good use! Not a cloud in the sky, much drier today, so I took out the runner carpet and washed it. Lola had had a few accidents on it earlier in her convalescence, so the camper was getting a kennel smell to it, so my goal today was to try to get rid of that, now that she seems to have more control over herself. I also washed her bed, vacuumed and mopped the floor, took her for four walks (I measured them, one loop is about 1/3 of a mile), and even gave Apollo a bath with fly shampoo, just for good measure. They wandered around the property on their anchors today, as there was no one else around, but of course, they eventually ended up right outside the screen door looking in! I am actually pretty astonished that not a single new camper arrived today! This is a pretty nice horse camp, and the weather was perfect today, and will be again tomorrow, so I'm amazed that I'll apparently have this place all to myself, even over the weekend. Spent the rest of the day as usual, and am ready to settle down for the night! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!