Archives for October 2026

Hey Darlin',
Sleeping well out here, despite the colder weather, my new wool cap from Peru is doing a terrific job of keeping me warm! Got up slightly earlier so I could help Steve and Cam get packed up, they've decided to go home after Steve's fall yesterday. The trail gals all came by to help as well. After chores, breakfast, and helping them, I finally saddled up Flash (since I obviously can't ride Cam's horse as planned!), though it took me awhile to get a bute tab in him. He's learned all my tricks for hiding that obviously nasty-tasting pill, so I had to break it up and hide it even more before I managed to get it in him. We finally got on trail around 11:30. The whole orange trail is over 16 miles long, but several miles of it had already been checked, so I managed to cut it down to about 14 miles, which was plenty! Flash did pretty well, all things considered, even though I could tell he was tired. After all, he's done more miles this week than he has in the past two months! He's a trooper, though, and kept his spirit up enough so the last mile was at a nice fast pace, despite his weariness. We managed to get into camp about 3:20, and by 3:30, I was in the truck driving back up to Whole Foods to get my final package, a new tailgate handle for the truck, since it was nearly impossible to get the tailgate up and down with the broken one, and I'm going to need that to hook up! Wrangled with traffic, got back by about 4:30, and immediately started to do that repair. While I was gone today, the camping area really got filled up, so lots more people. I lent my truck inverter and a corkscrew to a neighbor who needed to blow up their air mattresses, finished repairing the tailgate handle, so now it works like new! Shortly after that I put a chair in the back of my truck and headed down to the volunteer supper and ride meeting, where, in addition to the usual information, they showed a nice promo video about the history of horses at the Biltmore and the families responsible for the legacy. Nicely done! Just about dark by then (and getting quite cold!), got back, blanketed the horses and gave them more hay before heading inside to warm up! Steve let me take his couple of bales of hay, much nicer than anything I've seen in awhile, so I can't wait to finish off this crappy stuff I got in TN and let them start on this. Won't be long out of bed, since Art and I need to be at the bridge by 8:00, and it will be a long day tomorrow, just like it was a long (and productive) day today! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Another good night sleep, another gorgeous day, cool in the morning but warming up perfectly in the afternoon. Just the sort of day that makes life perfect! Got my chores done, watched as my neighbors Steve and Cam headed out, had a chat with a new Ride & Tie neighbor, Sara, then saddled up Flash and headed out on the Black Trail. I seem to remember much of this was previously the white trail, or more commonly known as the River Trail, as it follows the French Broad River for quite awhile. In the beginning, there's a lot of bikers and hikers, so they all had to stop and admire Flash, who was a perfect gentleman while everyone loved on him. Once we got through the lagoon area, it's a gravel surface, so it's not my favorite, but eventually it goes through one of the prettiest sections on the north side of the estate where the footing is much nicer. I gave Flash another bute pill this morning, and it seemed to work wonders, he was much better, so whatever is ailing him, muscles or sore feet, was helped by the bute. The Black trail turned out to be over 13 miles, and we had some challenges, going under a couple of overpasses, meeting up with a bunch of cows feeding, and finally, just as we were only a little over a mile out of camp, I met up with Rachel who happened to be going by just as I was crossing by the lagoon, and she told me Steve had taken a fall and was on his way to the ER. It didn't take much urging to get Flash to canter most of the rest of the way back to camp (it was back to camp, after all!), and we did nearly 10 mph and was there in no time. I arrived just as they were pulling away from their camper, and we stopped for a minute and chatted, and I made sure they knew I would do whatever needed doing to look after their critters, and off they went. In the morning, Cam had offered me her horse to ride tomorrow, since he (Teddy) is younger and more rested than Flash, who has done more miles this week than he has all month, and I'm hoping we can still do that, since I've been assigned the 15+ mile orange trail, and I'm not sure Flash would be totally okay with that. Probably, but this is a better alternative. Anyway, since it was going to be a long ride tomorrow, I decided to run into Asheville and pick up my mail and packages, and was hoping the last package would be there, and I got everything except the last thing I ordered, which didn't show up until after 7:00! I had no idea it would be so late, so I'll just have to go back in sometime over the weekend. At least the Whole Foods, where the Amazon pickup is, is open over the weekend. I really needed my mail, and that would be closed over the weekend, so I went into town and picked that up, along with the other packages that were already there. Got back to camp in plenty of time, gave all the critters some food and water, then was happy to see my friend Art, the Canadian vet, arrive. We chatted for a minute, but it was just getting dark, so he left to go set up his trailer, I finished up my chores, and settled down for the evening. Around 9:30, Steve and Cam finally showed up, I helped get them settled, and they've decided to leave in the morning, so I guess it's just Flash and me on the orange trail tomorrow! Heading to shower and bed, it's been a long day! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, woke up to another chilly morning, did my usual morning chores, had a nice chat with Steph and Annie, the two trail gals here, then saddled up Flash and was heading out, this time on the lime green trail, just before noon. Flash was a bit sluggish today, no doubt because we haven't been riding much lately and he's a bit out of shape, plus the gravel here is bad, and he probably feels it right through his boots and boot insert. I'm going to see if I can find something a bit thicker and tougher, hopefully that will make a difference. While yesterday, the yellow trail was impeccable, today's trail had a few brambles and branches I had to remove, plus I found three different instances of stakes with signs down on the ground, and one intersection where I suggested one more confidence marker. What a beautiful day! Not a cloud in the sky except for the occasional jet contrail, cooler in the morning but warmed up nicely during the day, reaching the low 70's. The forecast is the same for the rest of the week! First time I've been here when I didn't have to deal with rain at some point! Riders are going to love it this weekend! Ran into a lot of day riders, and my friends Steve and Cam showed up a little after 6:00, so they were setting up in the evening. We'll get caught up tomorrow and over the weekend. Meanwhile, had a thoroughly enjoyable ride, albeit a little slower than normal, so I gave Flash a bute when we got back for his presumably sore muscles. Since I couldn't help much with their setup, I relaxed during the evening, until it's time for shower and bed. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Got to bed at a reasonable hour, slept pretty well, woke up once around 5:30, finished a book and fell back to sleep, not waking up until 9:30! Guess I needed the sleep! It was another chilly morning, temps about 37 degrees, so staying in my nice warm flannel sheets did feel good! Finally got up, and by now the sun had started to warm things up nicely. It’s a lot faster in an open field than in the deep, dark woods, that’s for sure! Did my chores, then saddled up Flash for our first ride, on the yellow trail. I don’t think I’ve ridden the yellow trail before, or at least not this rendition, as there were sections I don’t remember ever being on before, but I could be wrong. I was very glad I booted up Flash, because we had quite a bit of gravel to contend with, but it was a beautiful ride, and of course, he was brilliant, as always! We managed to do the full 12 miles in about 2.5 hours, averaging well over 4 miles and hour. Good boy! Gave him a nice rinse off, then settled down to do some work on my computer, making plans for upcoming stays, booked my two weeks at Woods Ferry, except this time I’m splurging and reserving the double site, which had a lot more room, obviously, enough for me to put up a paddock instead of using their small paddocks, and also a better chance at getting my Starlink signal. I didn’t get my senior discount, but still, $200 for a two week stay is pretty good, even if the single sites with the discount would only be about $50. Cheap rent any way you look at it! It might be farther to a water spigot, but that’s a problem easy to solve, as always, by filling my truck’s water tank. I ordered a new 100′ hose after losing my other one, so I think I’ll be able to reach one anyway, but no matter. Anyway, settled down for a quiet evening, off to bed soon! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Woke up about 7:30 without the alarm, which turned out to be just perfect. It's still dark here in the woods then, but the sun was just coming up, so by the time I had breakfast and finished packing, I managed to get out around 9:30. Grateful to have an uneventful drive with a single stop at Buc-cees in Kodak, TN, and only about a 10 minute slowdown on I-40 through the mountains even though it's down to one lane each side for quite awhile. Arrived at Biltmore just after 2:00, passed the horse gals on the way in and was greeted warmly by them, got down to the volunteer camping area and was met by the head coordinator Rachel, who got me in the right place, though it's a bit different than past years. I actually have more room, so no objections there! Got everything set up and the horses settled in before 4:00, so had a lovely, relaxing evening. They really appreciate their volunteers here, everyone made me feel so welcome! Love it! Heading to an early bedtime, have my first ride tomorrow! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Woke up to a very chilly morning, down to 36 degrees! Stayed warm in bed for a lot longer than I probably should have, but since it was a relatively slow day, and the horses still had hay, so I just bundled up in my blankets and waited until the sun finally broke through the forest. Did two loads of laundry, did some packing, and was grateful that my neighbor headed into town to get propane and was able to take two of my tanks to refill. I was going to stop there on my way out tomorrow, but then I'd have to carry them inside the truck, so this worked out much better. We chatted for awhile, then I got busy doing a little packing. Mostly just read, brought the laundry in, put some stuff away and generally did my usual "night before" packing before settling down to my evening routine. Horses are not really liking this last batch of hay very much, surprised that none of the hay I've been able to get in TN has been very good, I typically get decent hay. Oh well! Won't be long out of bed, and happy that I know I'll have enough propane to get me through next week, hopefully. Temps are staying in the upper 30's and low 40's, so the furnace will be running more than usual, but I can always put on more layers! Decided at the last minute to put my flannel sheets on, just to be on the warm side! Glad I have plenty of hot water, though I'm having to do a lot more power managing than I had hoped, I can't run more than two or three small things at once, and using the electric fireplace, I can only use one other thing. Sigh. Not the solution I was hoping for. Oh, well! Hopefully as I go farther south, there will be less need for that anyway. Heading to bed soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Babe,
A bit earlier, but still later than I planned going to bed last night, lazy morning. After chores, I filled up my truck tank with water, then mostly read and worked on my travel plans before I finally got confirmation that my FedEx package from La-Z-Boy had been delivered to the Dollar General Store up the road. Only took me a few minutes to get there, a greatly improved situation than having to drive all the way the Chattanooga to get it! Picked it up, got back to camp, and proceeded to finally install this last critical piece. Only three bolts, which sounds easy, but, of course, it wasn't. I had to finagle with it a bit to get it right, but finally managed to do so. The toughest part is getting the back lined up properly, but I finally managed to get it right, and voila! It now works the way it's supposed to! Yay! I decided to reward myself and spend much of the rest of the afternoon in it, in the proper position, in the hopes that it will help the back problems I've been having lately. I haven't taken painkillers since last night, so fingers crossed, my back will be better by morning! Read, watched TV, was too lazy to walk after struggling with repairing the recliner, so the rest of the day just breezed by. The only excitement was early in the morning, a couple of teams with wagons and a woman on a beautiful but spooky blue roan went by, but within a few minutes, that blue roan was moving past my window, fully tacked but with no rider. Of course I went out immediately, and it had stopped on the road staring at my horses on the highline, and it let me walk right up to it and catch it. I walked it back out to where I saw them go and soon reunited it with the owner, who was just managing to walk after her unexpected fall. Glad no one was hurt, and I was able to help in a small way. No other excitement for the day, pretty mundane otherwise. Just happy my chair is finally fixed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Went to bed ridiculously late last night, and ended up sleeping ridiculously late this morning. After chores, I spent a lot of the day just working on my computer and trying to sort out my travel plans for March, when I'm signed up to go to the north end of Sweden for northern lights viewing, snowmobiling, and horseback riding. It's complicated, there are a lot of connections that don't connect very well, requiring a couple of overnight stays at the beginning and end. I think I have it pretty well sorted out, it's just a matter of confirming everything. Good news, I FINALLY managed to get a tracking number for my recliner part, though I had to call again to ask for it, but tracking as of tonight says it will be delivered in Delano tomorrow, so I should be able to wrap up my chair repair by tomorrow afternoon, yay! I'm not sure the ride yesterday helped my back any, I'm still having to take pain killers to keep the spasms down, thought I did take a decent walk down to the group area and along the river at the Gee Creek campground. Found an actual trail that had signs along the way designed for kids, sponsored by the Dolly Partin foundation. That woman did so much for Tennessee, so sorry to lose her! After the walk, did my evening chores, settled down for a couple of hours of TV and plan on getting to, bed at a little better hour tonight, as soon as I finish my Sleepytime tea! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!